Drew Brees

Class of 2026

At Purdue University, Drew Brees demonstrated his ability to combine being an outstanding athlete, student and community member and was recognized with the 2000 Maxwell Award as the nation’s outstanding player and as the Academic All-American of the Year. In the NFL, he continued to perform at league-leading and record-setting levels on the field while, at the same time, garnering recognition for his community contributions.

The San Diego Chargers selected Brees in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. His career started slowly, finally gaining some momentum in 2004, when he earned the 2004 AP Comeback Player of the Year award, PFWA Most Improved Player of the Year award and a Pro Bowl invitation.

After joining the New Orleans Saints in 2006, Brees began to flourish. Over the next 15 seasons, he led the league in passes completed and passing percentage (including five seasons in excess of 70.6 percent). He led the NFL in passing yards seven times and tallied five seasons in which he exceeded 5,000 yards passing. In the 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012 seasons, Brees led the league in passing touchdowns.

Throughout the course of his 20-season career, Brees accumulated 80,358 yards passing and 571 passing touchdowns — both second all time for NFL quarterbacks.

His on-field efforts led to 13 Pro Bowl selections, AP first-team All-Pro recognition (2006), two AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year awards (2008, 2011), and a Super Bowl XLIV title and MVP award. In 2009, Brees earned the Bert Bell Award as the NFL Player of the Year.

In 2010, the Associated Press named Brees as its Male Athlete of the Year, while Sports Illustrated selected him as Sportsman of the Year.

Off the field, Brees has been recognized for his work several times. He was chosen as the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year in 2006 and received the 2011 Alan Page Community Award for positive impact in his hometown.

			Passing							Rushing
Year	Team	G	Att	Comp	Pct	Yards	TD	Int	Rating	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD	Fum
2001	San Diego	1	27	15	55.6	221	1	0	94.8	2	18	9	0	2
2002	San Diego	16	526	320	60.8	3284	17	16	76.9	38	130	3.4	1	2
2003	San Diego	11	356	205	57.6	2108	11	15	67.5	21	84	4	0	5
2004	San Diego	15	400	262	65.5	3159	27	7	104.8	53	85	1.6	2	7
2005	San Diego	16	500	323	64.6	3576	24	15	89.2	21	49	2.3	1	8
2006	New Orleans	16	554	356	64.3	4418	26	11	96.2	42	32	0.8	0	8
2007	New Orleans	16	652	440	67.5	4423	28	18	89.4	23	52	2.3	1	9
2008	New Orleans	16	635	413	65.0	5069	34	17	96.2	22	-1	0	0	6
2009	New Orleans	15	514	363	70.6	4388	34	11	109.6	22	33	1.5	2	10
2010	New Orleans	16	658	448	68.1	4620	33	22	90.9	18	-3	-0.2	0	9
2011	New Orleans	16	657	468	71.2	5476	46	14	110.6	21	86	4.1	1	1
2012	New Orleans	16	670	422	63.0	5177	43	19	96.3	15	5	0.3	1	5
2013	New Orleans	16	650	446	68.6	5162	39	12	104.7	35	52	1.5	3	6
2014	New Orleans	16	659	456	69.2	4952	33	17	97	27	68	2.5	1	7
2015	New Orleans	15	627	428	68.3	4870	32	11	101	24	14	0.6	1	5
2016	New Orleans	16	673	471	70.0	5208	37	15	101.7	23	20	0.9	2	5
2017	New Orleans	16	536	386	72.0	4334	23	8	103.9	33	12	0.4	2	5
2018	New Orleans	15	489	364	74.4	3992	32	5	115.7	31	22	0.7	4	5
2019	New Orleans	11	378	281	74.3	2979	27	4	116.3	9	-4	-0.4	1	0
2020	New Orleans	12	390	275	70.5	2942	24	6	106.4	18	-2	-0.1	2	6
Career totals		287	10,551	7,142	67.7	80,358	571	243	98.7	498	752	1.5	25	111