{"id":74,"date":"2012-12-07T15:56:46","date_gmt":"2012-12-07T15:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/faculty.wpengine.com\/lori-weintrob\/?p=74"},"modified":"2012-12-10T08:08:13","modified_gmt":"2012-12-10T08:08:13","slug":"drew-brees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faculty.wagner.edu\/lori-weintrob\/drew-brees\/","title":{"rendered":"Drew Brees"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Drew Brees with his son after winning Super Bowl XLIV<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Drew Brees once said, \u201cThere’s not anything, I don’t think, that I can do or accomplish.\u201d[1]<\/a>\u00a0 Brees is the heart and soul of the \u2018Who Dat\u2019 nation that\u00a0gives great\u00a0New Orleans and Louisiana as a whole.\u00a0 On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit the East Coast; changing lives forever.\u00a0 Drew Brees assumed a leadership role by taking the saints to the 2006 NFC South title, keeping the Saints franchise in New Orleans, creating the Brees Dream Foundation, participating in hands on hurricane relief, and moving into the city to experience the recovery process with his fans.\u00a0By doing these things he demonstrated his ability to support the growth of others, to make alliances,\u00a0his openness,and\u00a0collective leadership.<\/p>\n

Brees was born on January 15, 1979, in Austin, Texas. Later, he went on to attend\u00a0 Purdue Univsersity where\u00a0he was a two-time Heisman finalist, steered the Boilermakers to a Big Ten Championship as well as a trip to the Rose Bowl.[1]<\/a> Also while at Purdue he earned a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management from the prestigious Krannert School of Management.\u00a0 Academics was always the focus since he was a child, football came second.<\/p>\n

Three Accomplishments<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Making it to the NFL is one of Brees’s most obvious achievements.\u00a0From the beginning of his football career he experienced challenges.\u00a0 One that became more prominent in his journey to the NFL was his height.\u00a0 Brees is only six feet tall, which is extremely short for a quarterback.\u00a0 This made is very difficult for him to get drafted despite his success at the college level.\u00a0 It was not until the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft, when he was chosen by the San Diego Chargers for the first pick.[1]<\/p>\n

Motivating and giving hope to an\u00a0entire state that is destroyed. In August of 2005 Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.\u00a0 New Orleans particularly was destroyed.\u00a0 The whole city was in pieces and it looked as though it would never be the city it used to be.\u00a0 The Saints did not play in the Superdome that season and the franchise was even debating leaving the city for good. The damage Katrina inflicted on the Superdome made the need for a new or renovated stadium even more pronounced then before the storm. [1]<\/a>Brees was the main voice in deciding to stay in New Orleans.\u00a0 He even moved into the city limits himself to prove to the people of New Orleans that he, and the rest of the organization, was not going to abandon them.\u00a0 That was a life changing decision for many people. Off the field, \u201cThe Who Dat Nation”, the\u00a0passionate fan base of the Saints,\u00a0created a sense of fandom that existed outside the confines of the publicly funded stadium on game day as people encountered indicators of Saints fandom through everyday lived experiences.\u201d[2]<\/a> On the field, he made the Saints a winning team and in 2009 he led the franchise to victory in Super Bowl XLIV, earning the game’s MVP honors along the way. [3]<\/a>\u00a0 The Saints quickly became even closer to the hearts of all the people in the city. Even the media acknowledge the effects of the Saint\u2019s success on the moral of New Orleans. \u00a0It is argued that, \u201csports journalism invoked and negotiated the memory of Katrina and produced a largely uniform media narrative\u2014one which relentlessly employed a winning team as the trope for metaphorical recovery and a means of the collective simultaneously coping with and escaping from traumatic memory.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0 Turning on the television on a Monday night and watching the Saints win gave people something to believe in again.<\/p>\n

Brees’s effect on the city was obvious, but he felt like he could do more. Drew and his wife, Brittany, established the Brees Dream Foundation in 2003 and since then have contributed and\/or committed over $7 million to help advance cancer research.\u00a0 The foundation also raises money for rebuilding parks, schools, and athletic facilities.[1]<\/a>\u00a0 Recently, they have instituted a mentoring program for students<\/p>\n

Critique <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>A critique some people have of Drew Brees is that he focused his relief only on New Orleans when most of Louisiana and the whole Gulf Coast was destroyed.<\/p>\n

Legacy<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2004 he was named Comeback player of the Year.[1]<\/a>\u00a0 His actions on and off the field caused him to be voted \u201cSportsman of the Year\u201d for 2009 by Sports Illustrated Magazine.[1]<\/a> This was an obviously choice for the year of 2009; he even coined the nick name \u201cBreesus\u201d by the people of New Orleans.[2]<\/a>\u00a0 He made the Saints a winning team and in 2009 he led the franchise to victory in Super Bowl XLIV, earning the game’s MVP honors along the way.<\/p>\n

Leadership Lesson<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Drew Brees showed leadership on and off the field, this is what has made him so successful.\u00a0 His leadership success is credited to him always being the leader of a team.\u00a0 He was a part of the New Orleans community that camae together, as a team, to get back on their feet after Katrina.\u00a0 This\u00a0attitude carried over\u00a0into the Saints run to the Super Bowl and could also be referred to as collective leadership.\u00a0 He supported the growth of others by making sure the Saints franchize\u00a0did not leave New Orleans.\u00a0 This gave the public the hope to keep pushing through their problems.\u00a0Brees also showed openness by also keeping an optomistic attidue when other people would have just given up.<\/p>\n

How Does This Relate to Me?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Civic engagement does not have a specific definition; it is completely up to interpretation.\u00a0 Through my experiences mentoring at Port Richmond High School, I have come to the realization that civic engagement is a necessity.\u00a0 Giving back to your community and being active not only helps others but also allows you to grow as a leader.\u00a0 Drew Brees is extremely civically engaged in his community.\u00a0 He recognizes the importance of gaining leadership experience and fosters this growth through his mentoring program which is a part of the Brees Dream Foundation.\u00a0 He played a vital role in the rebirth of New Orleans.\u00a0 The Saint\u2019s success was a determining factor in the city\u2019s return to its former glory<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

[1]<\/a> Drew, Brees. The Brees Dream Foundation, “Foundation.” Last modified 2012. Accessed December 7, 2012. http:\/\/www.drewbrees.com\/bio.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

[1]<\/a> King, Peter. “My Sportsman: Drew Brees.” Sports Illistrated<\/em>, November 23, 2009. http:\/\/sportsillustrated.cnn.com\/2009\/magazine\/specials\/sportsman\/2009\/11\/19\/king.sportsman\/index.html (accessed December 7, 2012).<\/p>\n

Fuerst, Mark. Heart Insight , “National Football League’s PLAY 60 Campaign Tackles Fitness And Nutrition Education To Intercept Unhealthy Habits.” Last modified 2010. Accessed December 7, 2012. http:\/\/journals.lww.com\/heartinsight\/Fulltext\/2010\/11000\/National_Football_League_s_PLAY_60_Campaign.1.aspx.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n

[1]<\/a> Brees, Drew. The Brees Dream Foundation, “About the Foundation.” Last modified 2012. Accessed December 7, 2012. http:\/\/www.drewbrees.com\/foundation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n

[1]<\/a> Matheson, Victor. “Can New Orleans Play It’s Way Past Katrina?.” Holy Cross<\/em>. : 3. http:\/\/college.holycross.edu\/RePEc\/hcx\/Matheson_NewOrleans.pdf (accessed December 7, 2012).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[2]<\/a> Ehrenfeucht, Renia. “We are the ‘Who Dat’ Nation: city identity, narratives of renewal, and football fandom in New Orleans public realm.” Scholar Works at UNO<\/em>. . We are the ‘Who Dat’ Nation: city identity, narratives of renewal, and football fandom in New Orleans public realm (accessed December 7, 2012).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[3]<\/a> E-A Networks, “Drew Brees Biography.” Last modified 2012. Accessed December 7, 2012. http:\/\/www.biography.com\/people\/drew-brees-20950559.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Drew Brees once said, \u201cThere’s not anything, I don’t think, that I can do or accomplish.\u201d[1]\u00a0 Brees is the heart and soul of the \u2018Who Dat\u2019 nation that\u00a0gives great\u00a0New Orleans and Louisiana as a whole.\u00a0 On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit the East Coast; changing lives forever.\u00a0 Drew Brees assumed a leadership role […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebrity-leaders","category-leadership","category-sports-leaders","et-bg-layout-dark","et-background-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.wagner.edu\/lori-weintrob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.wagner.edu\/lori-weintrob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.wagner.edu\/lori-weintrob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.wagner.edu\/lori-weintrob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.wagner.edu\/lori-weintrob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.wagner.edu\/lori-weintrob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.wagner.edu\/lori-weintrob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.wagner.edu\/lori-weintrob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.wagner.edu\/lori-weintrob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}