New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - Article Drew Brees is The Times-Picayune's New Orleans Saints Athlete of the Decade

Perhaps no free agent in NFL history has impacted his new team and his community as much as New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who has helped resurrect both since arriving in 2006.
On the field, he has led the Saints into uncharted territory, first the NFC championship game in his debut season, and now a team-record 13 wins and counting this season. He has broken the franchise record for career touchdown passes with 121. And he nearly set the NFL record for passing yards in a season with 5,069 in 2008, the second-highest performance in league history.
Off the field, he and wife Brittany have embraced New Orleans. They moved into a restored Uptown home, and they have been heavily involved in the community. They raised $1.8 million through their Brees Dream Foundation for 12 specific projects, in addition to countless other charitable endeavors.
Brees was honored as a co-recipient of the NFL's Man of the Year award in 2007.
But as much as Brees has done for New Orleans, the 30-year-old quarterback insists that the relationship has worked both ways. Not only was it a turning point in his career, he said, it was "a turning point in my life."
"I would say it was a defining moment in my life, " said Brees, who signed with the Saints just two months after suffering a major shoulder injury that scared off his former team, the San Diego Chargers, and just about every other potential suitor. "I think about all the things that have happened since I've been here. It was kind of like a resurgence of my career -- I mean, not to say it was going downhill or anything. I felt like I was on my way to being a good player, a great player, what I wanted to be. But the injury was a huge setback. And just all that doubt came into my mind and my heart, and it was just like, 'God, what am I going to do?'
"And then coming here and having the opportunity to be involved from a community standpoint with everything going on in the city. And starting a family here. All those things were just huge deals. So when I think about the three most important things in life -- faith, family, football -- I mean all of those things got taken to the next level when I came here."

Drew Brees is The Times-Picayune's New Orleans Saints Athlete of the Decade | New Orleans Saints Central - - NOLA.com