50 Fun Facts About Drew Brees

Which team drafted Drew Brees in 2001 after trading away the number one overall pick?

The San Diego Chargers sent the top pick to Atlanta, then landed Brees with pick 32. He spent five seasons there before leaving as a free agent.

Drew Brees was the 32nd overall pick of the 2001 NFL draft, which placed him in which round?

Second round: the NFL had only 31 teams in 2001, so pick 32 came first after the opening round. He had been projected to go in the middle or late first.

Which team picked Daunte Culpepper over Drew Brees in 2006 after its doctors doubted his recovery?

The Miami Dolphins broke off talks and traded for Culpepper, so Brees took a six-year, $60 million offer from New Orleans.

Whose 27-year-old record for passing yards in a season did Drew Brees break in December 2011?

Dan Marino's mark of 5,084 yards had lasted since 1984. Brees passed it with a game to spare and finished the season on 5,476.

Which team did Drew Brees and the Saints beat 31–17 in Super Bowl XLIV after trailing 10–0?

The Indianapolis Colts still led 10–6 at halftime before the Saints took over. It was the first league championship in the franchise's history.

Which quarterback, taken first overall by Atlanta, was the only one drafted before Drew Brees in 2001?

Michael Vick was the first player chosen, by a team that had traded up to get him. Brees waited 31 more picks to become the next quarterback off the board.

Which part of Drew Brees's body was badly injured in his final game for his first NFL team?

Shoulder surgery followed after he tore his labrum trying to recover his own fumble against Denver. The injury was described as potentially career-ending.

Which first-year head coach took over the Saints in 2006, the same year Drew Brees signed?

Sean Payton inherited a team that had gone 3–13 while displaced by Hurricane Katrina. He and Brees won the division in their first season together.

Which team beat Drew Brees's Saints in the 2018 NFC title game after a missed pass interference call?

The Los Angeles Rams won 26–23 after an uncalled foul stalled a late Saints drive. The outcry led the NFL to let coaches challenge such calls the next season.

Which mark on Drew Brees's right cheek led to bullying when he was younger?

A birthmark made him a target as a boy, and in 2010 he recorded an anti-bullying message for the It Gets Better campaign.

Whose career passing yards record did Drew Brees break in 2018 with a 62-yard touchdown pass?

Peyton Manning's total fell during a 43–19 win in which Brees completed 26 of 29 passes. He later became the first quarterback to reach 80,000 career yards.

Which quarterback's Buccaneers beat Drew Brees in his final NFL game, a playoff loss in January 2021?

Tom Brady's team won 30–20 and went on to take Super Bowl LV. Brees had beaten him twice during that regular season.

Which rookie quarterback did Drew Brees's first NFL team acquire in 2004, putting his job in doubt?

Philip Rivers reported late after a contract holdout, so Brees kept the job and answered with a Pro Bowl season. Rivers took over two years later.

Fans voted Drew Brees onto the cover of which video game series two months after his Super Bowl win?

Madden NFL 11 was the first edition to let fans choose its cover athlete, and Brees won the vote.

Which magazine named Drew Brees its 2010 Sportsman of the Year, citing his part in rebuilding New Orleans?

Sports Illustrated honored him for the Saints' first title and for helping lead the city's rebirth after Hurricane Katrina. The Associated Press also named him its Male Athlete of the Year.

Which scandal cost Drew Brees and the Saints their head coach for the entire 2012 season?

Bountygate was a scheme that paid Saints defenders for knocking opponents out of games. Without their suspended coach, Brees's team lost its first four games.

Which quarterback beat Drew Brees to the 2018 MVP award in his first season as a starter?

Patrick Mahomes threw 50 touchdown passes for Kansas City that year. Brees, who set a completion percentage record the same season, finished as runner-up.

Which USC running back did the Saints draft number two overall in 2006, weeks after signing Drew Brees?

Reggie Bush and Brees arrived as the Saints returned to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and they reached the NFC title game in their first season.

Which surprise play opened the third quarter of Super Bowl XLIV and set up a Drew Brees touchdown drive?

An onside kick, a call the Saints nicknamed Ambush, had never before been tried in a Super Bowl ahead of the fourth quarter.

Scouts doubted Drew Brees's arm strength before the 2001 draft, along with which physical measurement?

Height was the worry: at six feet he was short for a professional quarterback, and teams also wondered whether his college offense had flattered him.

Which postseason game did Drew Brees reach as a Purdue senior, the school's first trip there since 1967?

The Rose Bowl ended in a 34–24 loss to Washington on New Year's Day 2001. Purdue earned the trip by sharing the Big Ten title and beating its co-champions head to head.

In which Texas city was Drew Brees born before his family moved to the Austin area?

Dallas was his birthplace, and an often-repeated story held that he was named for a Cowboys receiver. Brees has called that tale just legend.

Which network hired the newly retired Drew Brees in 2021 to call Notre Dame football games?

NBC also put him on its Sunday studio show, Football Night in America, but he left after one season.

Which Big Ten rival did Drew Brees beat in 2000 on a late 64-yard touchdown after four interceptions?

Ohio State lost 31–27 when Brees found Seth Morales with 1:55 left, and Purdue fans rushed the field. The win helped Purdue to its first Big Ten title since 1967.

Which national player of the year honor did Drew Brees win in 2000 while finishing third in Heisman voting?

The Maxwell Award capped a senior year in which he took Purdue to a share of the Big Ten title. He had also placed fourth in the Heisman race the season before.

Which future star of The O.C. was a flag football teammate of Drew Brees at an Austin school?

Ben McKenzie, later Jim Gordon in Gotham, was in the same year as Brees at St. Andrew's Episcopal School. Brees did not play tackle football until high school.

Which veteran quarterback started every game in Drew Brees's rookie year, then lost the job to him?

Doug Flutie had been a boyhood idol of Brees and became his mentor. Brees's only rookie appearance came when the veteran left a game with a concussion.

Which NFL award did Drew Brees win in 2004 after keeping his job ahead of a highly drafted rookie?

Comeback Player of the Year honors followed a 12–4 season with 27 touchdown passes and only seven interceptions. A year earlier he had been benched during a 1–7 start.

Which team did Drew Brees's Saints beat in overtime to win the NFC and reach their first Super Bowl?

The Minnesota Vikings fell 31–28 to an overtime field goal. Brees passed for only 197 yards that day but threw three touchdowns.

Drew Brees wore number 9 throughout his NFL career in honor of which late baseball great?

Ted Williams wore the same number for the Boston Red Sox and batted .406 in 1941, a mark no American or National League hitter has reached since.

Whose 52-year-old record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass did Drew Brees break in 2012?

Johnny Unitas's son Joe was in the Superdome to watch his father's mark fall. Brees went on to stretch the streak to 54 games.

Which seventh-round pick from Hofstra joined Drew Brees in 2006 and became the Saints' top career receiver?

Marques Colston caught seven passes in the Super Bowl XLIV win, yet he was never selected for a Pro Bowl in his career.

Which Saints receiver broke the NFL record for catches in a season in 2019 while playing with Drew Brees?

Michael Thomas passed Marvin Harrison's mark with his 144th catch of the season and finished the year with 149.

Which defensive tackle's hit injured Drew Brees's thumb in 2019, costing him five games after surgery?

Aaron Donald's hit tore a ligament in the thumb. Backup Teddy Bridgewater then won all five of his starts before Brees returned.

In which HBO series did Drew Brees make a guest appearance in 2010, months after winning the Super Bowl?

Entourage featured him in its seventh-season finale. The same year he released a memoir and landed on the cover of a football video game.

Which 2010 memoir by Drew Brees opened at number three on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list?

Coming Back Stronger was co-written with Chris Fabry and carries the subtitle Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity.

Against which team did Drew Brees throw a record-tying seven touchdown passes in a 52–49 win in 2015?

The New York Giants lost a shootout in which Brees completed 39 of 50 passes for 505 yards, the second 500-yard game of his career.

Which team did Drew Brees finally beat in 2018 to complete a set of wins over all 32 NFL franchises?

The Baltimore Ravens fell 24–23, and in the same game Brees threw his 500th career touchdown pass.

In which city outside the United States did Drew Brees beat his former team 37–32 in 2008?

London was hosting a regular-season NFL game for only the second year, at Wembley Stadium, and Brees threw for 339 yards and three touchdowns against the club that let him go.

Drew Brees bought a 25 percent stake in which sports bar chain, founded in Baton Rouge, in 2015?

Walk-On's gave him a chance to apply lessons from his years as a Jimmy John's franchise owner, and he opened a branch in Midland, Texas, in 2019.

Which SEC school was the only one besides Purdue to offer Drew Brees a football scholarship?

Kentucky was his only other suitor, even though he had come back from a knee injury to win a state title. He picked Purdue for its academics.

Which Purdue head coach gave Drew Brees his first start and ran the offense nicknamed basketball on grass?

Joe Tiller came to Purdue from Wyoming in 1997 and stayed through 2008. He had learned the wide-open scheme from fellow coaches Jack Elway and Dennis Erickson.

Which teammate caught the nine-yard touchdown that gave Drew Brees the single-season yardage record in 2011?

Darren Sproles had also been his teammate at their first NFL club, and he set a league record for all-purpose yards that same season.

Which Austin high school did Drew Brees lead to a 16–0 record and a Texas state title in 1996?

Westlake never lost in his two seasons as the starter, going 28–0–1, even though he had torn a knee ligament as a junior.

Which Olympic gymnast co-chaired President Obama's fitness council alongside Drew Brees from 2010?

Dominique Dawes, a gold medalist with the 1996 United States team, was appointed alongside Brees in June 2010 as the council took a new name.

Drew Brees reigned over which New Orleans Mardi Gras parade krewe one week after winning Super Bowl XLIV?

Bacchus was the first krewe to put celebrities in its parade, and Brees rode as its monarch for 2010. He had been the parade's grand marshal three years earlier.

Which former Major League pitcher, later a guru to quarterbacks, was Drew Brees's mechanics coach?

Tom House was an Atlanta reliever in 1974 when he caught Hank Aaron's record 715th home run on the fly in the bullpen.

Which rookie caught the 62-yard touchdown that made Drew Brees the NFL's career passing yards leader?

Tre'Quan Smith, a third-round pick from UCF, scored on the play late in the first half. Brees later sent personalized footballs to the players who had helped him reach the mark.

The Big Ten's quarterback of the year award pairs Drew Brees's name with which earlier Purdue passer?

Bob Griese is one of three Purdue quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl, along with Brees and Len Dawson. The Griese–Brees award was first given in 2011.

Drew Brees's uncle Marty Akins was an All-American quarterback in the 1970s for which college team?

The Texas Longhorns never recruited Brees heavily, even though his grandfather Ray Akins was one of the winningest high school coaches in the state.