Drew Brees tells New Orleans ‘you trusted me with the soul of the city’ in Hall of Fame speech

CANTON, Ohio (WVUE) - New Orleans trusted Drew Brees with the soul of its city. On Saturday, he told the city he never forgot.

Brees delivered his Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement speech Saturday, tracing a 20-year NFL career that took him from Texas to Purdue, San Diego and ultimately New Orleans.

Some of his strongest words were reserved for the city where he spent 15 seasons and became a Super Bowl champion.

“New Orleans…you accepted me, you embraced me, you believed in me but more importantly, you trusted me with the soul of the city and I would have died to protect that calling,” Brees said.

Brees reflected on arriving in New Orleans in 2006 as the city was recovering from Hurricane Katrina and described how quickly he and his wife, Brittany, learned what made the community different.

He recalled neighbors delivering crawfish étouffée, jambalaya and gumbo to their new home. For 15 years, Brees said neighbors Steve and Kathy Price made his family red beans and rice and cornbread every Monday night.

“It was the perfect representation of what New Orleans is all about,” Brees said.

Brees then turned to what the city had endured.

“Storms teach us that our greatest treasures aren’t the things we own…they’re the people we love and the way we show up for one another,” Brees said. “It reminds us to hold our loved ones a little closer, to love a little harder, to laugh a little louder, and to never take a single day for granted.”

He also spoke directly to the Who Dat Nation and referenced two moments that helped define his time in New Orleans: Steve Gleason’s blocked punt during the Superdome reopening in 2006 and the Saints’ victory in Super Bowl XLIV.

“It was your spirit that allowed us to be special, smell greatness, and finish strong,” Brees said.

Brees was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility after a 20-season career that included 15 years with the Saints, 80,358 passing yards, 571 touchdown passes, 13 Pro Bowl selections and a Super Bowl XLIV MVP award.

Brees honors Sean Payton

Brees also devoted part of his speech to former Saints coach Sean Payton, who presented him for enshrinement.

He recalled their detailed meetings before games, when Brees would ask exactly when Payton planned to call certain plays.

“Coach, you were brilliant…I saw myself as an extension of you on that field,” Brees said. “I always had something to prove to you…and I always wanted to make you right. And I know you trusted me, and that allowed us both to be great.”

Brees also shared a lighter memory of Payton extending celebratory flights home after victories in Dallas.

“By the way, folks, that’s only supposed to be an hour flight, but Sean would have the pilots circle 10 times so we could soak up the celebration on the plane for a bit longer,” Brees said. “You never missed an opportunity to enjoy the moment.”

He told Payton, “I love you for it.”

Brees thanked his father, siblings and late mother, Mina Ruth Akins, who he said died 17 years ago Friday.

“So much of her lives inside of me and I know how proud she would be, even more so of her grandchildren,” Brees said.

He spoke directly to his children, Baylen, Bowen, Callen and Rylen, telling them they helped keep his love of football alive late in his career.

“You are forever my greatest inspiration,” Brees said.

Brees also thanked Brittany, recalling how she covered their home with pictures and inspirational quotes after one of the lowest points of his early career with the Chargers.

“My love, you have always had the ability to remind me of who I am and what I’m capable of,” Brees said. “So much of what we accomplished was because I knew you were by my side and you believed in this calling.”

As Brees reached the end of his speech, he returned to the teammates who helped define his career.

He said the relationships built away from football - dinners, charity events, trips, Bible studies and time spent together- became as important as anything that happened inside the Saints facility.

Brees said he ultimately played as long as he did because of his teammates.

“But you want to know what it really was…. for the love of my teammates,” Brees said.

He connected those relationships to the gold jacket he received Friday night.

“You all make up the golden threads of this jacket,” Brees said. “It represents the history of this game, the great men who pioneered its existence, but most importantly, it represents YOU!”

Then Brees ended his Hall of Fame speech the way Saints fans might have expected.

“God bless you, and Who Dat!”

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