Drew Brees: Biography, Facts, and Stats

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Andrew Christopher Brees, known now as Drew, was born on January 15, 1979, to parents Mina and Chip Brees, in the Lone Star state city of Dallas.  Several years later, the family moved to Austin, where Drew Brees grew up.  Like many professional football players, Drew Brees came from a “football family.”  His grandfather, Ray Akins, is a legendary Texas High School football coach, and his uncle, Marty Akins was the starting quarterback for the University of Texas.

Drew Brees as a High School Football Player

Once enrolled in Westlake High School, Drew Brees tried a variety of sports, but found that he excelled at football, basketball, and baseball.  In 1995, while a junior at Westlake, Drew earned the role of starting quarterback for the Westlake Chaps.   While Drew was a noteworthy quarterback, that year he suffered an injury to his knee toward the end of the season that prevented him from participating in the football camps of the following summer.  However, when he returned to the field in the fall of 1996, Drew performed as if there had never been a setback.

As a senior, Drew led Westlake to a perfect 16 – 0 record, taking home the state championship.  He played against other football players who would also become stars in the NFL, including Dominic Rhodes and LaDainian Tomlinson.  Brees put up impressive stats as a high school quarterback, finishing the season with 3,528 passing yards and 31 touchdowns.

His success on the field led to two different scholarship offers: one from Kentucky and one from Purdue.  Wanting to play where he could be most successful, Drew opted to attend Purdue, as Kentucky already had a standout quarterback.

Drew Brees College Career at Purdue University

Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana, was a long way from home for the Texas-raised quarterback.  The Purdue Boilermakers had a multiple consecutive losses in the decades prior to Brees’ arrival.  In his freshman season, Drew Brees played little, attempting just 43 passes.  However, for the first year in a long time, Purdue finished with a winning 9 – 3 season.

In 1998, after studying the film of the team’s opponents, as well as their defensive playbooks, Drew Brees was ready to lead the Boilermakers into their next football season.  The team finished with a season of 9 – 4 and arrived as the un-ranked underdog at the Alamo Bowl.  A late pass by their opponents put the Boilermakers down by 3, but an 80-yard drive and 24-yard last minute touchdown pass moved the Boilermakers ahead, winning the game.

Drew Brees continues to enjoy a solid season in 1999, when the team dropped to a record of 7 – 5.  Drew threw for 3,531 yards and 21 touchdowns.  The Boilermakers made it to the Outback Bowl that year, and while they had a 25 – 0 lead against Georgia, the defense lost the game, allowing Georgia to rally and defeat Purdue 28 – 25 in overtime.

For a time, Drew Brees considered leaving after this disappointing year and heading straight into the NFL. Peyton Manning, who was drafted to the NFL the year that Brees started at Purdue, advised him to stay in school.  In his senior year, the Boilermakers opened the season strong, but key losses set back Brees’ chances for winning the coveted Heisman trophy.  During Brees’ senior year, the quarterback led the team to their first Rose Bowl appearance since the 1960s.  Though the team lost during Brees’ final performance as a Boilermaker, Brees was awarded his second Big Ten Player of the Year Trophy, and he took home the Maxwell Award as the nation’s top player.  He finished as Purdue University’s all-time leader in passing yards (11,792), touchdowns (90), total offensive yards (12,693), completion percentage (.611), completions (1,026) and attempts (1,678).

Drew Brees and His Career in the NFL

While Drew Brees is currently the starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, he was originally drafted as the 32nd overall pick by the San Diego Chargers in 2001, serving as a backup quarterback to Doug Flutie.  Brees only played in one game that year, against the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Chargers finished the season with a 5 – 11 record.

As the starting quarterback for the Charges in 2002, the Chargers had a rebound year, winning six of their first seven games.  While they lost the remaining four, Drew threw 17 touchdowns that season, and started every single game.  Drew Brees started for the Chargers again in 2003, but his poor performance in the first half of the season led him to be replaced by Doug Flutie as the starting quarterback.

After Flutie retired, San Diego drafted rookie quarterback Philip Rivers to the team.  However, Rivers had a contract dispute for most of training camp, which meant that Brees had been working out as the default starter. He rallied for the season, winning the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award, throwing 27 touchdowns, only 7 interceptions, and an impressive quarterback rating of 104.7.

2005 brought a solid performance by Drew Brees, but the Chargers narrowly missed the playoffs.  Brees suffered a torn labrum in his final game of the season, and required surgery for the problem during the offseason.  Instead of accepting the largely incentive-based $50 million contract extended by San Diego, Drew Brees opted to head to New Orleans on a $60 million contract, shortly after the City of the Saints had been demolished by Hurricaine Katrina.

One year after his major surgery, Drew Brees had an exceptional year.  He led the league in the number of total yards, and he finished as the third highest for touchdowns and quarterback rating.  The team finished the season with a 10 – 6 record, clinching a bye in the first round of the playoffs for the first time in team history.  During the playoffs, the Saints defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, advancing to their first NFC title game in history.  Though they lost to the Bears, the rallying spirit of the city had returned to New Orleans.

2007 brought a disappointing year for the Saints, but in 2008, Drew Brees had one of the best performances of his career.  He fell just shy of Dan Marino’s records for the most yards passed in a single season.  In 2008, Drew Brees surpassed the 4,000 yard mark for the fourth consecutive year.  He led the league, once again, with 34 touchdowns, and his quarterback rating was an astounding 109.6, the sixth-highest single-season ranking in NFL history.  The Saints scored a team record of 510 points during the regular season and was the league’s highest-ranked offense for the third time in just four years.

Fun Facts About Drew Brees

Drew Brees and his wife Brittany welcomed their son Baylen into the world on the same day that Drew turned 30.

Drew Brees is also part of the Brees Dream Foundation, which supports research in the fight against cancer, as well as providing care, education, and opportunities for children in need.

While playing high school football, Drew Brees met famous football player Roger Stallbach.  During his career at Purdue, Brees would sometimes call on Stallbach for advice.

Drew Brees Football Stats

Because Drew Brees is currently playing as the starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, the following statistical information is only complete through the 2009 – 2010 season as presented by the National Football League.

Over his career thus far, Drew Brees has attempted 4,164 passes and completed 2,697 for a completion rating of 64.8 percent and a total of 30,646 yards.  He has scored 202 passing touchdowns and also has 7 rushing touchdowns in his statistics. H has also been sacked 159 times and has thrown 110 interceptions.

Resources about Drew Brees

NFL.com Information about Drew Brees
Espn’s Drew Brees player profile
The Brees Dream Foundation was founded in 2003 with a mission to advance research in the fight against Cancer and provide care, education and opportunities for children in need.

Resource by AnnaBelle

Annalise Kaylor is a freelance writer, editor, and consultant specializing in search engine optimized content for the web. As a writer, her work has appeared across the United States in print ads for Whirlpool, Maytag, Home Depot, and Lowe's, among others. As a consultant, she has worked primarily in the education sector, helping universities increase their web visibility and construct and implement social media strategy. Annalise is an avid reader, knitter, organic gardener and baker, as well as the author of the popular baking blog, Knead To Be Loaved. Annalise enjoys fly fishing, camping, and hiking.

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