Drew Brees is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of NFL.
So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about Drew Brees.
- His full name is Drew Christopher Brees
- He was born on January 15, 1979
- He is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL)
- After a successful college football career at Purdue University
- He was chosen by the San Diego Chargers with the first pick in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft
- He left college as one of the most decorated players in Purdue and Big Ten Conference history
- Establishing two NCAA records
- 13 Big Ten Conference records
- And 19 Purdue University records
- As of 2018, he remains the Big Ten record-holder in several passing categories
- Including completions (1,026), attempts (1,678), and yards (11,792)
- For his many career accomplishments and records
- Brees has been hailed as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time
- Brees earned the starting job with the Chargers in 2002
- And made the Pro Bowl in 2004
- Nine months after suffering a dislocation in his right shoulder joint and a tear of the labrum and rotator cuff
- Brees signed with the Saints as a free agent in 2006
- He had immediate success in New Orleans, eventually leading the Saints to their first Super Bowl in Super Bowl XLIV
- Resulting in a 31- 17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts
- Since joining the Saints, he has led all NFL quarterbacks in touchdowns, passing yards, and 300-yard games
- Brees holds the NFL records for career pass completions, career completion percentage, career passing yards, career touchdown passes
- Third in regular season career passer rating
- And fourth in postseason career passer rating
- In 2012, he broke Johnny Unitas’ long-standing record of consecutive games with a touchdown pass
- He has passed for over 5,000 yards in a season five times
- No other NFL quarterback has done so more than once
- He has led the NFL in passing yards a record seven times
- And in passing touchdowns a record-tying four times
- He was the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2004
- The Offensive Player of the Year in 2008 and 2011
- And the MVP of Super Bowl XLIV
- Sports Illustrated named Brees its 2010 Sportsman of the Year
- Brees was born in Dallas, Texas
- To Eugene Wilson “Chip” Brees II, a prominent trial lawyer
- And Mina Ruth, 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
- She is the daughter of the late U.S. Representative (D-TX) Jack English Hightower
- Both of Brees’ parents had athletic backgrounds
- His father played basketball for the Texas A&M Aggies men’s basketball team
- And his mother was a former all-state 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 1975 to 1977
- 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
- And now resides in Colorado, where he works in sales
- Brees did not play tackle football until high school and was on the flag football team at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School
- There 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 an ACL tear during his junior year he 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
- 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
- Westlake went 28–0–1 when Brees started for two seasons
- 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 long-time friend LaDainian Tomlinson
- Brees had hoped to follow his father and uncle’s footsteps and play for the Texas Longhorns or Texas A&M Aggies
- But was not heavily recruited despite his stellar record
- In the first game of the season (2019), a Monday Night Football match against the Houston Texans, Brees threw for 370 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception
- As the Saints overcame a slow start to win, 30-28
- Brees married his college sweetheart Brittany Dudchenko in February 2003
- The couple have four children together
- Three sons born January 2009, October 2010, and August 2012
- And a daughter in August 2014
- In 2019, Brees partnered with San Diego Surf Sports to help with the local youth sports scene in the San Diego area
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