brittany brees
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A $2 million gift from former Boilermaker All-America quarterback Drew Brees and his wife Brittany will boost the academic side of Purdue University's intercollegiate athletics program.
The gift, to be announced Friday night (Sept. 28) at the Purdue Athletics Directors Dinner in the Ross-Ade Pavilion, will enhance an academic area to be named the Drew and Brittany Brees Student-Athlete Academic Center in the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility.
Drew, now the starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, played for the Boilermakers from 1997 to 2000 and earned a bachelor's degree in industrial management. As a student-athlete, he received the inaugural Socrates Award, recognizing the nation's finest athlete in terms of academics, athletics and community service.
Brittany also attended Purdue, earning a bachelor's degree in organizational leadership and supervision in 2000. She runs the Brees Dream Foundation full time in its mission to provide education and create opportunities for disadvantaged children, especially those suffering from the debilitating effects of cancer. The Brees Dream Foundation also is involved in a campaign with Operation Kids, dedicated to serving the many needs of New Orleans children their education, health, welfare, safety and well-being.
"Drew Brees was an outstanding scholar-athlete at Purdue, and he and Brittany have been exemplary citizens of New Orleans," Purdue President France A. Crdova said. "By investing in academic support for the members of our Boilermaker teams, they are helping us build on Purdue's tradition of strong competitive sports and excellence in academics."
The Student-Athlete Academic Center currently consists of a computer lab and study, research and tutor areas totaling 6,500 square feet. Plans call for the space to increase to 11,000 square feet after offices currently occupied by coaches and administrators are moved into Mackey Arena as part of that facility's makeover, which is scheduled to be completed in 2011.
"Drew and Brittany's gift reinforces their commitment to having it both ways championships and diplomas," said Morgan J. Burke, Purdue's director of intercollegiate athletics. "Drew was a great student and a great athlete and, when we talked about this opportunity, he told me this just fits for him because he wanted to give back to Purdue for his experience, while at the same time showing that at Purdue you can be successful in competition and in the classroom. The naming of the Student-Athlete Academic Center for Drew and Brittany will serve as a beacon for future generations of Boilermakers.
"It is fitting that the signage on the Student-Athlete Academic Center will overlook a walk Drew took on a regular basis from the football locker room in the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility to Ross-Ade Stadium. It is a linking of two venues in which he had great success."
Brees arrived at Purdue from Austin, Texas, as a little-known quarterback. He left as one of the most-decorated players in school history.
* He holds two NCAA records, 12 Big Ten Conference records and 18 Purdue records.
* He was a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist, two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and two-time first team all-conference selection.
* He won the 2000 Maxwell Award as the nation's outstanding player and the "Chicago Tribune" Silver Football as the Big Ten Most Valuable Player.
* He was the 2000 Academic All-American of the Year.
A member of head coach Joe Tiller's first Purdue recruiting class, Brees became a starter his sophomore year and went on to carry the Boilermakers to heights not reached in more than three decades. As a senior, Brees led Purdue to a Big Ten championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl. He was a Heisman Trophy finalist his junior and senior seasons, finishing fourth and third, respectively.
Brees was selected in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers and played with them for five seasons before signing as a free agent with the New Orleans Saints in March of 2006. He is a two-time Pro Bowl selection, was the 2004 Comeback Player of the Year and co-winner of the 2006 NFL Man of the Year Award. In his first season with the Saints, Brees rewrote the club's record book, led the team to its most successful season and helped an entire community looking to rebound from Hurricane Katrina in the process. He led the Saints to the NFC championship game after completing 356 of 554 passes for an NFL-high 4,418 yards with 26 touchdowns.
Brittany was born in Cleveland, grew up in Buffalo Grove, Ill., near Chicago, and finished high school in Indiana.
As a rallying point on the road to pre-eminence, Burke and his senior administrative staff coined the term "25/75 Club" to articulate a vision of an intercollegiate athletics organization that achieves an average finish in the top 25 across all sports and graduates 75 percent of student-athletes.
The only universities to attain this are Duke University, the University of North Carolina, the University of Notre Dame, Penn State University and Stanford University.
For the 2006-07 academic year, Purdue finished 35th in the Directors' Cup standings among 300 NCAA Division I programs and had a graduation rate of 72 percent.
Source: Purdue University
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Knowing what Drew Brees means to Purdue University, Boilermakers basketball player Chris Kramer appreciates the quarterback's $2 million gift.
"For someone as well known around the world as Drew Brees to give back to his alma mater means a lot," Kramer said. "This means he is a true Boilermaker."
The Drew and Brittany Brees Student-Athlete Academic Center will fill 11,000 square feet in the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility adjacent to Mackey Arena. The academic center in that facility now occupies 6,500 square feet.
The New Orleans Saints quarterback set 12 Big Ten and 18 Purdue records and led the team to the Rose Bowl after the 2000 season.
Brees earned a bachelor's degree in industrial management, compiling a 3.4 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale.
Neither Brees nor his wife, also a Purdue graduate, was available Thursday for comment.
The Brees Center is scheduled for completion in 2011.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is giving $2 million to his alma mater, Purdue University, for a student athlete center.
The Drew and Brittany Brees Student-Athlete Academic Center will fill 11,000 square feet in the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility next to Mackey Arena. The academic center in that facility now occupies 6,500 square feet.
The Brees Center is part of Mackey Arena's renovation project scheduled for completion in 2011.
"Drew and Brittany's gift reinforces their commitment to having it both ways -- championships and diplomas," said athletic director Morgan Burke, who will announce the gift Friday night during the Purdue Athletic Director's Dinner.
Brees set 12 Big Ten Conference and 18 Purdue records and led the team to the Rose Bowl after the 2000 season. He is in his seventh NFL season, his second with the New Orleans Saints.
Brees' wife Brittany also is a Purdue graduate, earning a bachelor's degree in organizational leadership and supervision in 2000. She heads the Brees Dream Foundation for disadvantaged children.
Drew Brees expects to have friends at the RCA Dome on Thursday night, which is not to say he's looking for much support.
community-minded: The Saints' Drew Brees has been active in helping rebuild New Orleans. - Alex Brandon / Associated Press
Colts vs. Saints
"At least we'll have some loyal Boilermaker fans there," the former Purdue All-America quarterback said. "They'll all be wearing Colts jerseys I'm sure, but maybe it will count a little bit for us."
For support, Brees will have to look to his New Orleans teammates, who will meet the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts in the NFL's season opener. He certainly gave the Saints a boost last season, when he passed for 4,418 yards, a league-best total that exceeded the Colts' Peyton Manning by 21 yards.
Brees arrived in New Orleans when just about everyone else seemed to be leaving. The city had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, and Brees was a little shaken himself.
His old team, San Diego, had held the door when he tested free agency after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum and a partial tear of the rotator cuff Jan. 5, 2006. The Chargers were eager to try backup Philip Rivers, the fourth pick in the 2004 draft, and quarterbacks with scarred throwing shoulders can be expendable.
The Saints decided to take a chance on a player who otherwise wouldn't have been available. Coach Sean Payton first studied his history:
Brees led Westlake in Austin, Texas, to a 16-0 season and the state 5A championship as a high school senior.
In the 2000 season, he took Purdue to its first Rose Bowl since 1967.
He played at a Pro Bowl level in 2004, when San Diego came off a 4-12 season to go 12-4 and make its first playoff appearance in a decade.
"It's just kind of followed him," Payton said, "and I don't think that's by any accident."
There was more of the same with the Saints last season.
After signing a reported six-year, $60 million contract in March, Brees set franchise records for passing yards, completions (356), 300-yard games (eight) and passer rating (96.2). Coming off a 3-13 season, New Orleans went 10-6 and reached the NFC Championship Game for the first time.
The battered city's spirit soared.
Brees was named the conference's Pro Bowl starter. No free agent had a greater impact last season.
"I feel like everything happens for a reason," he said. "At the time, as disappointing as it was to leave San Diego under those circumstances, I got an opportunity here in New Orleans that I think doesn't come along for most people in their lifetime.
"New Orleans had as much confidence in me as I had in myself."
Brees did more than play. He invested himself in the community.
While the vast majority of Saints players live in the suburbs, he and his wife, Brittany, bought an antebellum home in the city's historic Uptown district.
They put the Brees Dream Foundation to work on a variety of fronts: a charity fishing tournament, a youth football classic, events and activities for children's hospitals, and a $2.5 million drive to raise funds for youth programs and rebuilding schools, parks, playgrounds and athletic fields.
In May, Brees issued an invitation to his old fraternity, Sigma Chi. More than 80 members, a third of them from Purdue, came to New Orleans for a week to work with Habitat for Humanity rebuilding homes and experience the city's unique culture.
Community and quarterback embraced. The NFL honored Brees as its Walter Payton Man of the Year, an award he shared with his old San Diego teammate, LaDainian Tomlinson.
"Drew lives not too far from my parents," said Manning, a New Orleans native, "and he committed himself to New Orleans and I commend him for that."
It's a new season. Brees and the Saints must do it all over again, but Brees has been here before. He completed 22-of-33 passes for 255 yards and one touchdown at the Dome in 2005 as the Chargers ended the 13-0 Colts' hopes of an unbeaten season 26-17.
Sean Payton would know that. He has studied Brees' history.
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