Drew Brees, the quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, had a tremendous 2006 season in leading the Saints team where it had never gone before.  The Pro Bowl QB threw for 4418 yards and 26 touchdowns as the Saints appeared in the NFC Championship Game for the first time in their 40 year history.  He was also recognized for his off the field contributions as he was awarded the co-NFL Man of the Year along with LaDanian Tomlinson, his close friend and former teammate with the San Diego Chargers.  The goal of Drew's Brees Dream Foundation, established with his wife Brittany in 2003, is to one day find a cure for cancer and to improve the quality of life of those persons with cancer.  Here is a link to the Drew Brees foundation:      www.drewbrees.com/about/

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Early Days

Drew Brees was born January 15, 1979 in Austin, Texas.  His future success as a star NFL quarterback surfaced in high school, where in 1996, as a senior at Westlake, he led his squad to a 55-15 victory in the Texas 5A state championship.  Brees attended Purdue University, where he passed for 11,792 yards and 90 touchdowns, both Big Ten records when he left.  Drew won the Davey O'Brien award as the nation's best college quarterback in 1999, and was 3rd in the Heisman voting in 2000.

NFL

Brees was drafted in the second round of the 2001 draft by the San Diego Chargers, and the rest is history.  Although passing for over 3000 yards each season except for 2003, the Chargers drafted Phillip Rivers out of NC State, concerned about Brees' perceived lack of arm strength.  In the last game of the 2005 season, Brees injured his throwing shoulder and his jeopardized his chances of remaining the starter at San Diego.  As a free agent, he took the opportunity to look around the league to see if there was a better fit for him-there was.  The New Orleans Saints signed Drew Brees to a 6 year, $60 million contract on March 14, 2006.

Leadership

In Drew Brees, the Saints and the city of New Orleans got much more than a good quarterback.  They got a community leader that they sorely needed.  After the destruction of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the team and the city got a reason to have hope and to smile again.  Brees passed for an NFL high mark of 4,418 yards and led the Saints to the NFC South title.  After beating the Eagles in the first round of the playoffs, the Saints eventually lost to the Chicago Bears in the NFC title game.  But Saints fans were not completely deflated-this was farther than their team had ever gone before. 

Bright Future

Saints fans can hardly wait for the 2007 season to begin.  With the success of the team in 2006, and with stars like Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, Duece McAllister, and Marcus Colston, the future is indeed very bright for the New Orleans Saints.