Drew Brees

Brees at the Saints' Super Bowl Champions Parade
No. 9     New Orleans Saints
Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth: (1979-01-15) January 15, 1979 (age 33)
Place of birth: Austin, Texas
Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Weight: 207 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High school: Westlake (Austin, Texas)
College: Purdue
NFL Draft: 2001 / Round: 2 / Pick: 32
Debuted in 2001 for the San Diego Chargers
Career history
San Diego Chargers (2001–2005) New Orleans Saints (2006–present)
Roster status: Exclusive rights FA (Franchise tag)
Career highlights and awards
6× Pro Bowl (2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) 4× All-Pro (2006, 2008, 2009, 2011) Super Bowl champion (XLIV) Super Bowl MVP (XLIV) 2× AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2008, 2011) 2× NFC MVP (2008, 2009) 3× NFC Offensive Player of the Year (2006, 2008, 2009) 4× FedEx Air Player of the Year Award (2006, 2008, 2009, 2011) AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award (2004) AP Male Athlete of the Year (2010) Sportsman of the Year (2010) Bert Bell Award (2009) All-time single season passing yard leader (5,476) Co-Walter Payton Man of the Year Award (2006) Other College Awards and Honors Franchise Records
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2011
TD–INT 281-146 Passing yards 40,742 QB Rating 94.0 Passing Attempts 5,479 Completions 3,613 Completion Percentage 65.9% Stats at NFL.com

Andrew Christopher "Drew" Brees (pronounced /ˈbriːs/;^[1] born January 15, 1979) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Purdue.

Brees has been selected to the Pro Bowl six times in his career – with the Chargers in 2004 and the Saints in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. He was named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year in 2004, the Offensive Player of the Year in 2008, and the MVP of Super Bowl XLIV. He was also selected by voters to appear on the cover of EA Sports' Madden NFL 11.^[2] Sports Illustrated named him as its 2010 Sportsman of the Year.^[3]

Brees holds the single-season record for most passing yards in a single season, with 5,476 yards passing during the 2011 season.

Early life and high school[link]

Brees was born in Dallas, Texas, the son of Mina (née Akins), an attorney, and Eugene Wilson Brees II, a medical malpractice attorney.^[4] He was named after Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson.^[5] His uncle, Marty Akins, was an All-American starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns college football team from 1975 to 1977. Chip Brees played basketball for the Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball team, and his grandfather, Ray Akins, had the third-most victories as a Texas high school football coach.^[6]

Brees was selected as Texas High School 5A Most Valuable Offensive Player in 1996 and led the Westlake High School football team to 16-0 record and state championship.^[7] As a high school football player, Brees completed 314 of 490 passes (64.1 percent) for 5,461 yards with 50 touchdowns including, in his senior season, 211 of 333 passes (63.4 percent) for 3,528 yards with 31 touchdowns.^[8] Westlake went 28-0-1 when Brees started for two seasons and beat Abilene Cooper High School 55-15 in the 1996 title game.^[8][6]

College career[link]

Brees graduated from Purdue University with a degree in industrial management.^[9] He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He left Purdue with Big Ten Conference records in passing yards (11,792), touchdown passes (90), total offensive yards (12,693), completions (1,026), and attempts (1,678). He led the Boilermakers to the 2001 Rose Bowl, Purdue's first appearance there since 1967, where Purdue lost by ten points to the Washington Huskies. Brees was a finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's best quarterback in 1999. He won the Maxwell Award as the nation's outstanding player of 2000 and won the NCAA's Today's Top VIII Award as a member of the Class of 2001. Brees was also fourth in Heisman Trophy voting in 1999 and third in 2000. Brees also tied an NCAA record with the longest pass ever (99 yards), to receiver Vinny Sutherland against Northwestern on September 25, 1999

As a senior, Brees was named the Academic All-America Player of the Year, the first Purdue player since Bruce Brineman (1989) to earn national academic honors. Brees also was awarded Purdue's Leonard Wilson Award for unselfishness and dedication. To continue his education and improve his ability to pursue reasoned business ventures and opportunities, Brees also attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business for NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurship in 2008.

Notable awards[link]

• Outback Bowl MVP
• Alamo Bowl MVP
• Big Ten Football MVP (2000)
• Maxwell Award (2000)
• NFL Comeback Player of the Year (2004)
• NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2008, 2011)
• MVP (Super Bowl XLIV) (2009)

Professional career[link]

San Diego Chargers[link]

2001 NFL Draft[link]