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Drew Brees Biography & Facts

Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is second all-time in career passing yards, career touchdown passes, career pass completions, and career completion percentage. Brees also holds the record of consecutive games with a touchdown pass, breaking the record held by Johnny Unitas for 52 years. He is regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Brees played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers, where he set the Big Ten Conference records for completions, attempts, and yards. Due to questions over his height and arm strength, however, he was not selected until the second round of the 2001 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers. Brees initially struggled before having a breakout season in 2004, earning him Pro Bowl and Comeback Player of the Year honors. Re-signed to a one-year contract, Brees suffered a potentially career-ending injury the following season, which resulted in the Chargers allowing him to leave in free agency. Joining the Saints, he brought new success to a franchise that had only seven winning seasons, five playoff appearances, and one postseason win during the 39 years prior to his arrival. From 2006 to 2020, Brees led the Saints to nine playoff appearances, seven division titles (including four consecutive from 2017 to 2020), three NFC Championship Game appearances, and the franchise's first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XLIV, earning him the game's MVP award. By the conclusion of his 15 seasons in New Orleans, Brees had extended his total Pro Bowl selections to 13 and was twice named Offensive Player of the Year. He also led the NFL in passing yards a record seven times. Brees retired after the 2020 season and spent the following year as an analyst on NBC Sunday Night Football. He returned to Purdue as an interim assistant football coach in 2022. Early life and high school Brees was born on January 15, 1979 in Dallas, Texas, to Eugene Wilson "Chip" Brees II, a prominent trial lawyer, and Mina Ruth (née Akins; died 2009), an attorney. His grandfather fought in the Battle of Okinawa. A Sports Illustrated article stated he was named for Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson but in a 2014 interview Brees said this story was "just legend". He has a younger brother, Reid (born 1981). When Brees was seven, his parents divorced and shared custody of the boys, who split their time between both parents' homes. Today, he admits that it was a very tough and challenging life after the divorce; however, Brees and his younger brother, Reid, supported each other and became very close. They have a younger half-sister, Audrey, from their father's remarriage to Amy Hightower, daughter of the late U.S. Representative (D-TX) Jack English Hightower. Brees was raised Baptist. Both of Brees's parents had athletic backgrounds. His father played basketball at Texas A&M, and his mother was a former all-state athlete in three sports in high school. His maternal uncle, Marty Akins, was an All-American starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns college football team from 1972 to 1975, and his maternal grandfather, Ray Akins, had the third-most victories as a Texas high school football coach, in his three decades at Gregory-Portland High School. His younger brother, Reid, was an outfielder for the Baylor Bears baseball team, which made the 2005 College World Series; Reid now resides in Colorado, where he works in sales. After moving to the Austin area, Brees did not play tackle football until high school and was on the flag football team at St. Andrew's Episcopal School, where his teammates included actor Ben McKenzie, who was in the same year. In high school, he was a varsity letterman in baseball, basketball, and football, and was considering playing college baseball rather than football. College recruiters quickly ran after Brees blew out his knee in the 11th grade. After overcoming the ACL tear, he was selected as Texas High School 5A Most Valuable Offensive Player in 1996 and led the Austin Westlake High School football team to a 16–0 record and a state championship. 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. When Brees started for two seasons, Westlake went 28–0–1 and beat a Dominic Rhodes-led Abilene Cooper 55–15 in the 1996 title game. He was given honorable mention in the state high school all-star football team and the USA Today All-USA high school football team, alongside former San Diego Chargers teammate and longtime friend LaDainian Tomlinson. Brees had hoped to follow in his father's and uncle's footsteps and play for the Texas Longhorns or Texas A&M Aggies, but was not heavily recruited despite his stellar record. College career Brees received offers from only two colleges, Purdue and Kentucky, choosing Purdue for its highly rated academics. He graduated in 2001 with a degree in industrial management, and is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. After a relatively uneventful freshman season, Brees was given his first start during his sophomore year by Boilermakers head coach Joe Tiller and became an integral part of Tiller and Jim Chaney's unorthodox "basketball on grass" spread offense, serving as offensive captain during his junior and senior years. In the 1998 season, in a game against Wisconsin, Brees tied an NCAA single-game record with 55 completions and set the NCAA record for pass attempts in a single game with 83. He finished 31–24 loss with 494 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions. He had the option to make himself available for the 2000 NFL draft but chose to return for his senior year to complete his studies. In 2000, he led the Boilermakers to memorable last-minute upsets against top-ranked Ohio State and Michigan en route to the Boilermakers' first Big Ten championship (shared with Michigan and Northwestern) since 1967. The Ohio State game was replayed on ESPN Classic and is widely remembered for Brees's four interceptions and 64-yard touchdown pass to Seth Morales with 1:55 remaining to seal a vital 31–27 win, prompting commentator Brent Musburger to exclaim "Holy Toledo!" and a post-game field rush. Brees helped lead Purdue to a #9 ranking in the AP Poll, the program's highest spot since the 1980 season, during the year. Due to head-to-head victories over Michigan and Northwestern, Purdue won the invitation to the 2001 Rose Bowl, which was the school's first appearance there since 1967. 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 the NCAA's Today's Top VIII Award as a member of the Class of 2001. Brees was also fourth in Heisman .... Discover the Drew Brees popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Drew Brees books.