Drew Brees is a modern football legend who was known for having one of the best passing arms in the history of the National Football League.
Brees had a rocky start on the San Diego Chargers but blossomed after joining the New Orleans Saints.
Now that he has retired, Brees has more time to focus on his family, his charity foundation, and his business ventures.
Brees is best known for his work on the field, but Drew Brees continues to find success off the field as well.
What Is Drew Brees’s Net Worth?
Drew Brees has a net worth of $160 million and earns an annual salary of $22 million, much of which comes from one of the many businesses that he owns.
Brees was born in Dallas, Texas on January 15th, 1979.
When he was only seven years old, Brees’s parents got a divorce, which was incredibly difficult for the young Brees.
During this time, Drew Brees relied heavily on his older brother, and the two boys were able to form a strong bond.
In high school, Brees began to play flag football, along with whatever other sport he could make the team for.
After recovering from a knee injury, Brees began to focus on playing football for his high school and was able to throw 50 touchdowns and 314 completed passes before even graduating.
Despite his incredible track record, only two schools were interested in Drew Brees: the University of Kentucky and Purdue University.
Brees was glad to have the opportunity to go to Purdue University, where he would eventually earn his degree in Industrial Management.
Purdue’s football coach Joe Tiller wouldn’t have Brees start playing on the team until his second year at the university.
For his first year on the field, Tiller decided to make Brees the offensive captain and teach him the unusual spread offensive strategy known as “basketball on grass”.
Before Brees had joined the team, Purdue had been the unsuccessful underdogs of the college football world.
Adding Brees to the team allowed them to win against teams that nobody would have thought possible before Brees.
One of the most notable games of Drew Brees’s college football career was the game against Ohio State where threw 4 interceptions, but had a game-winning 64-yard touchdown pass.
His performance in college made him a surefire candidate for the 2001 draft.
Drew Brees On The San Diego Chargers
Twenty years ago, the San Diego Chargers chose Texas high school football star and Purdue graduate, Drew Brees, to join their team as a quarterback.
Brees was the first pick of the second round and was the second quarterback to come off the board.
During his rookie year, Brees served as backup to Doug Flutie and was signed to a four-year contract for $3,605,000.
This contract also came with a $1,845,000 signing bonus and an average salary of $901,250.
When Brees had originally been drafted, his main concern was how high he could get drafted. It didn’t take long to learn that the draft meant little to nothing, and it was vastly more important to be the right person for the right team.
Drew Brees was drafted by the San Diego Chargers alongside his high school all-star teammate, LaDainian Tomlinson.
Tomlinson and Brees had wanted to play alongside each other in the National Football League ever since they were in high school, so it was an easy decision for them to join the Chargers together.
In the first professional game that Brees ever played, he managed to finish with 221 passing yards and throw his first professional touchdown.
It was a 20-yard pass that was captured by tight end Freddie Jones.
In 2002, Brees began taking over as the starter for Flutie.
By the final year of his first contract with the Chargers, Brees had helped lead the Chargers to a 12-4 record.
This helped him become the third-best quarterback in the National Football League at the time, only falling short of Peyton Manning and Daunte Culpepper.
In 2005, San Diego gave Brees a one-year contract for $8,078,000 with no average salary or signing bonus.
Joining The New Orleans Saints
Joining the New Orleans Saints would be a life-altering decision for Drew Brees, who would later go on to devote his time to helping his new home state grow its communities.
Brees had proven that he was worth every penny that a team was willing to throw at him and the Saints knew that they wanted him for a long time.
In 2006, Brees signed a six-year contract with the New Orleans Saints for $60 million.
They also added a signing bonus of $8 million and gave him a salary of $10 million.
On March 14th, 2006, Drew Brees signed the contract the Saints offered, officially becoming a member of the New Orleans Saints.
Right before signing with the New Orleans Saints, Drew Brees had injured his throwing shoulder and was recovering from surgery.
This made many people concerned that Brees wouldn’t be able to perform as he had before.
Although Brees had a rocky history with the San Diego Chargers, everyone on the New Orleans Saints was excited to have Brees join their team.
However, many fans were angry about the money potentially being wasted on someone who wouldn’t be able to play as he could before the injury.
In his first season with New Orleans, Drew Brees proved that he was an excellent addition to the team by getting the Saints to the playoffs and the National Football Conference Championship game, which was more than the team had done in years.
The New Orleans Saints won Super Bowl 44 against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, with Drew Brees being the most valuable player of the championship game.
In 2012, Brees had earned himself a five-year contract for $100 million.
Later, Brees would have a $24 million, $50 million, and $1 million contract extension.
Brees Dream Foundation
With Drew and Brittany Brees being parents, ensuring that underprivileged children are getting the care that they need is a major priority for the couple.
Another cause that is dear to their hearts is helping cancer patients, especially since they both have lost loved ones to the disease.
In 2003, the Breeses created the Brees Dream Foundation that donates money and supports those in need in memory of the aunts that they lost to cancer.
Their first major goal was to help advance cancer research and to help all of the children in need around the country.
One of the aspects of cancer treatment that Brees likes to focus on is relaxation for patients while receiving chemotherapy.
Brees and a slew of other football players from the professional league like to go around and hand out duffle bags full of toys and electronics to help young cancer patients pass the time.
When patients are going through chemotherapy, they become extremely sensitive to stress.
Chemotherapy is a stressful experience for anyone involved, but this is especially true for young patients.
By helping them focus on something other than the pain and illness they’re feeling, they can have more successful chemotherapy treatments.
The Brees Foundation would also host trips for celebrity athletes to go visit military troops in Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates.
These trips help improve military morale during difficult times for the military personnel.
The foundation also helps support the National Football League’s Play 60, which is an initiative to convince children to exercise for at least an hour each day.
To help kids have more space to play and be active, the Brees Foundation has built playing fields and parks all over San Diego, New Orleans, and Indiana.
The Brees Foundation has contributed $45 million to global causes.
Drew Brees’s Franchises
In 2015, Drew Brees became the co-owner and partner of Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar, a sports bar that specializes in southern food.
From the first time Brees walked through the door of one of their New Orleans locations while playing for the New Orleans Saints, he knew he wanted his hand in their business.
What Brees appreciated about Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar most was the inviting atmosphere of the restaurants.
Brees felt that he could bring any group together for a meal at one of the sports bar’s locations, whether he was bringing his family, teammates, or even business partners.
When deciding to purchase Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar, Drew Brees also got a cut of its sister locations, Happy’s Irish Pub.
This purchase also included Walk-On’s catering services, Walk-On’s Catering.
The co-founder of the sports bar, Brandon Landry was elated to have the quarterback superstar join his brand.
What Landry didn’t expect was the level of business knowledge that Drew and Brittany Brees brought with them.
The couple came into the business with plenty of vision that would help it to expand and bring in even more customers.
They had both come to see New Orleans as their home and wanted to see one of their hometown businesses find national success.
In addition to owning a sports bar franchise, Drew Brees also owns multiple Jimmy John’s locations.
In order to qualify to be a Jimmy John’s franchisee, you must have $200,000 in liquid assets and have a minimum net worth of $1 million to open up to three restaurants.
You are also required to pay a franchise fee of anywhere between $30,000 and $35,000.
The total investment will normally run between $316,100 to $558,600.
Brees also owns multiple Dunkin locations, 69 of which are planned to be opened in Louisiana.
Owning A New Food Delivery Service
In 2017, Drew Brees invested in a small food delivery service called Waitr that was started in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Ever since he joined the New Orleans Saints, Brees has made it his mission to invest in businesses around Louisiana to create more opportunities for the people who live there.
In 2021, Drew Brees would come back as a partner rather than an investor in the service.
Since he had first invested in Waitr, Brees was able to expand his other business ventures, which included a chain of restaurants.
Brees wanted to make Waitr different from other food delivery applications such as GrubHub or DoorDash by helping to make it easier for people to order from smaller local businesses.
He also wanted to focus Waitr’s attention on second cities and smaller towns, where many small businesses act as the backbone of their communities.
Joining Waitr as a partner allowed the service team to get the exclusive opportunity to deliver Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar, Happy’s Irish Pub, Dunkin, and Jimmy John’s.
Although Brees has primarily been a partner for the business, he has also appeared in commercials as a delivery driver and helps out the company’s charitable events.
Drew Brees has also made helping the communities of Louisiana one of his primary goals, which is something that he inspires his businesses to do as well.
One of the biggest events that the company holds is its Share Thanksgiving Program.
Through its holiday program, Waitr was able to feed thousands of people who couldn’t normally afford it.
Since the massive success it found in Louisiana, Waitr and its sister company Bite Squad have expanded to more than 700 different cities around the United States.
Brees has proven that he’s an excellent team player on the field, in the kitchen, and in his community.
Co-Owning Title Boxing Club
Title Boxing Club is a fitness club that wants to train and inspire potential students at any level of fitness, looking to help each student reach their maximum potential through confidence and positive motivation.
The way that Title Boxing Club instills values of determination, acceptance, and encouragement are what brought Title Boxing Club to Drew Brees’s attention.
The company may have started in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but it has made its way to South Tampa, Florida.
Another attribute about the fitness club that grabbed Brees’s attention was its dedication to helping Parkinson’s patients through specialized plans that take their needs into consideration.
Brees wasn’t the only major co-owner to add their name to the company’s list.
Drew Brees and founder John Rochte were joined by David Barr, Shelly Sun, JD Sun, and Lawrence Cohen.
Each of the new co-owners had a history of running successful franchises, but only Brees has a history of running down the field to match his successful franchise experience.
By 2016, the company was named the fastest-growing franchise and had a reported revenue of $46.2 million.
At the time, there were only 150 locations, but they had plans to expand the brand with an additional 400 locations.
His Endorsements Throughout The Years
Drew Brees has been a popular athlete on the field and in marketing plans for many businesses.
Brees has been the face of Nike, Microsoft, Verizon, PepsiCo, Wrangler, Smoothie King, Marriott, Carnival, PointsBet, AdvoCare, Dayquil, and Nyquil.
From all of these endorsements, Drew Brees earns about $15 million per year.
He funnels this money into his other projects, such as his own American flag football league called America ‘N’ Football.
Part of the money has gone towards creating better helmets for the young players in his football league, which doubled in size in 2021.
The league started with 24 teams but has expanded to include 48 teams.
Drew Brees as Co-Chair Of The President’s Council Of Fitness
In 2010, the fight against obesity was in full swing, and First Lady Michelle Obama had just reconfigured the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports to become the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition.
Drew Brees was chosen to serve as co-chair of the Council alongside Olympian and United States gymnastics champion Dominique Dawes.
Brees and Dawes were added to the council in hopes that they would inspire children to eat healthy and exercise regularly.
Drew Brees was the perfect role model for children at the time.
His name was thrown around everywhere, and he was constantly in commercials on television for the brands that sponsor him.
Every kid wanted to be as popular and beloved as Brees.
Brees was even a parent-approved role model thanks to his charitable efforts and history of kindness.
While Brees was an excellent football player, he is also mindful of the way that he spends his fortune.
He teaches children the importance of giving back to their community and dedication to their work.
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