New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees
Former Purdue & San Diego Star Seems a Perfect Fit in Big Easy
Oct 10, 2008 Carroll Trosclair
Some observers thought Drew Brees had seen his best days after the 26-year-old former Purdue All-American suffered a serious shoulder injury at San Diego in the last game of the 2005 season. But he recovered in time to negotiate a six-year contract with New Orleans and to lead the Saints to a 10-6 season, the NFC South Division championship and their first ever appearance in an NFC championship game.
In the course of bringing the Saints to new heights, he also was named the 2006 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, the FedEx Air Player of the Year, the Amtrak/Westwood One Player of the Year and first team all-pro. He was also runnerup in the voting for the National Football League Most Valuable Player of the Year award.
All that, plus a reported $60 million contract and a loving city, should have made it easy to forget San Diego. The Chargers, apparently concerned about his shoulder, reportedly offered him an incentive-laden $50 million contract, but guaranteed him only $2 million per year to stay.
Runnerup to Brady
Things did not go well in 2007 as the Saints slipped to 8-8, although Brees led the league with an NFL record 440 completions and was second to New England’s Tom Brady with 4423 passing yards.
But Brees and his wife Brittany had already won the hearts of New Orleans fans with his passing and their support and contributions to the city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina. The love affair was still going strong five games into the 2008 season as Brees led all NFL quarterbacks in several categories, including most passing yards and most completions, and was a regular face on New Orleans television.
His early 2008 stats were marred by three Saints losses, by a total of 10 points, in their first five games. His nine touchdown passes were accompanied by six interceptions.
Brees Dream Foundation
Stats and team records aside, Brees has begun approaching Archie Manning’s popularity in New Orleans with his extensive civic and charitable work, much of it in connection with the city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina. He and Brittany brought their Brees Dream Foundation over from San Diego to provide care, education and opportunities for children facing adversity. Among other things, the Foundation contributed over $1.6 million to a dozen New Orleans projects in 2007 as part of its Operation Kids Initiative.
Brees, a native of Dallas, was the Texas Class 5A Most Valuable Player at Westlake High School in 1996. At Purdue he won the 2000 Maxwell Award as the nation’s most outstanding player, was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, a first team all-American and an Academic all-American with a 3.41 grade point average in industrial management and manufacturing.
Rated Second to Vick
Though he was rated second only to Virginia Tech’s Michael Vick among quarterbacks in the 2001 draft, he was not selected until the second round when San Diego took him as the 32nd player picked in the draft. At 5-11 he was considered short for a pro quarterback, a negative that pops up each time he has a pass blocked by an opposing lineman.
He started three seasons for the Chargers but never had the statistics he has registered with the Saints.
Midway in the 2008 season, Brees faced an interesting matchup with Philip Rivers, the quarterback who replaced him at San Diego. The Saints-Charger game was scheduled in London October 26 in the NFL’s annual test of the European market.
Sources:
- NFL.com/draft/history
- NFL.com/players
- Drewbrees.com
- Neworleanssaints.com
- USA Today July 5, 2007
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