Drew Brees

Profile Overview

Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former professional 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, he is second all-time in career passing yards, career touchdown passes, and career pass completions, and third in 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, winning the Maxwell Award and Big Ten Most Valuable Player in 2000 and setting the Big Ten Conference records for completions, attempts, and yards. Due to questions over his height and arm strength, 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 when he led the Chargers to their first playoff appearance since 1995 and first division title since 1994, earning him Pro Bowl and Comeback Player of the Year honors. The following year, Brees suffered a potentially career-ending injury and left the Chargers in free agency.
Joining the Saints, Brees 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, he led the Saints to seven division titles (including four consecutive from 2017 to 2020), nine playoff appearances, nine playoff wins, 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, he was twice named Offensive Player of the Year, extended his Pro Bowl selections to 13, and was selected to one first-team All-Pro. He also led the league 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 also served as an interim assistant football coach with Purdue in 2022. Brees was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026.