Drew Brees (born January 15, 1979 in Austin, Texas) is an American football quarterback for the San Diego Chargers in the NFL.

Drew Brees was the Texas Class 5A Most Valuable Player in 1996 while leading Westlake High School to a 16-0 record. Brees attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He left Purdue with Big Ten Conference records in passing yards (11,792), touchdown passes (90), total offensive yards (12,693), completion percentage (.611), completions (1,026), and attempts (1,678). He also led the Boilermakers to the 2000 Rose Bowl, Purdue's first appearance in Pasadena since 1967. Brees was a finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's best quarterback in 1999. Brees won the Maxwell Award as the nation's outstanding player of 2000. Brees was also a finalist for the Heisman Trophy in 1999 and 2000. Drew Brees is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

Drew was drafted by the San Diego Chargers with the first pick in the second round in 2001. He played in his first-career game on November 4, 2001, against the Kansas City Chiefs. Brees won the starting job over Doug Flutie during training camp before the start of the 2002 season, but was later replaced during the 2003 season by Flutie.

Drew's career with the Chargers was put in jeopardy after San Diego drafted N.C. State's Philip Rivers with the fourth pick in the 2004 NFL draft, but Brees perserved to remain the starter throughout the 2004 season and jump to near atop the league's statistical rankings. Brees was selected to the 2005 NFL Pro Bowl as a reward for his impressive 2004 season.

Brees became a free agent after the 2004 season, and was not entirely expected to return to San Diego, which had already committed a large sum of money to Rivers. However, the team chose to designated Brees as a franchise player, giving him a one-year contract that quadrupled his pay to $8 million for the next season.

Under the terms of the "franchise player" contract, Brees is eligible to be traded away at any point in the next year, but the Chargers would have to receive two future first round draft choices in return.