QBREES9

As he continues to make the Super Bowl victory tour, the travels of Drew Brees have taken him all over the country. Next week, it's the ESPY awards in Los Angeles on Wednesday, July 14, where he and the New Orleans Saints are nominated for awards.

Brees was in-studio at ESPN as a guest on Mike and Mike in the Morning with Mike Greenberg on Thursday. Brees is touring to promote his new book, "Coming Back Stronger." He also was scheduled to appear on ESPN's "First Take" on ESPN2 during the Bristol, Connecticut, visit.

On June 20, Brees threw out first pitch at Yankee Stadium prior to the final game of the 2010 Subway series between the Yankees and Mets, holding his son Baylen in his hand. Despite his success on the big stage as a Super Bowl winning quarterback, Brees experienced a bit of anxiety.

"Have you ever throw a first pitch off of a mound? If you're not used to it, that ball is going about 10 feet in front of the catcher," Brees told Greenberg.

The Yankees infielders were already in place. C.C. Sabathia was waiting for Brees to throw the pitch so he could take to the mound. Brees said that he felt the pressure of hurrying up and getting out of the way.

By the way, his pitch reached catcher Francisco Cervelli on the fly just fine, accurately, as you would imagine for a quarterback who completed 70.6 percent of his passes in 2009 and hit on 32 of 39 passes (82%) in Super Bowl 44. Brees was once a good baseball player who dreamed of playing major league baseball. The art of throwing a baseball certainly isn't foreign to him.

On his book tour, Brees has recently appeared on Fox News with Greta Van Susteren and on Good Morning America (ABC) with Robin Roberts. He is making more television, radio and book signing appearances in the northeast, southern California and then back in New Orleans before training camp, 2010 convenes in Metairie on Thursday, July 29.

The book details Brees' journey--from his childhood to high school to college to the NFL.

Brees left San Diego with a serious shoulder injury. Options were few--New Orleans and Miami and Miami balked. He came to New Orleans. The rest is history. The parallels of Brees recovering from a serious setback and New Orleans recovering from a serious setback have been documented previously but they are on full display in the book and on Brees' tour promoting the book.

"Drawing the parallel from coming back from the injury and how New Orleans has come back from the hurricane. "I talk about some things I really haven't talked about before, including the death of my mother.

I talk about quite a few things from my childhood, including my parents getting divorced," Brees told Greenberg. Brees also talks about high school in Austin, Texas and an injury he had to overcome then and about his college experience at Purdue.

While his family, including his wife, Brittany, son Baylen and another son due in October are the focal point of Brees' life, Drew added that perhaps the most important aspect of his life is spiritual.

"I talk about my faith a lot (in the book) and what an important role it has played in my life. It's about taking the mentality about facing adversity and how it molds you into the person you will be," Brees said.

In the book, Brees talks about how you need three qualities to be a great quarterback: toughness, intelligence and heart.

Brees overcame a very serious shoulder injury. He doesn't miss games. He is tough. He is as smart as anyone in the NFL, running one of the most intricate offenses in the NFL in elite fashion. He has the heart of a champion, reflected on the field, with family and through the details in the book.

Brees clearly came back stronger from the torn labrum injury of 2005. New Orleans came back stronger from the event of August 29, 2005. Saints fans are hoping that Brees and the black and gold come back stronger in 2010 then they were in 2009 when they won the NFL's strongest man competition.

Here is a complete listing of where Brees will appear to sign copies of the book:

Saturday, July 10

BARNES and NOBLE--9 a.m.-11 a.m. 3721 Veterans Blvd.--Metairie

BOOKS-A-MILLION--12:30 p.m.-2 p.m. 401 North Hwy. 190--Covington

BORDERS--3:30-5 p.m. 3338 St. Charles Avenue--New Orleans

Sunday, July 11

SAM'S CLUB--2 p.m.-4 p.m. 6336 College Grove Way--San Diego, CA

Saturday, July 24

BARNES and NOBLE--10:30 a.m.-Noon 1200 Airport Blvd.--Pensacola, FL

BOOKS-A-MILLION--2:30-4:30 p.m. 3960 Airport Blvd.--Mobile, AL

Sunday, July 25

SAM'S CLUB--10 a.m.-Noon 10431 Old Hwy. 49--Gulfport, MS

BORDERS--3 p.m.-5 p.m. 6401 Bluebonnet Blvd.--Baton Rouge

WALMART--6:30-8:30 p.m. 300 West Esplanade--Kenner

Monday, July 26

BOOKS-A-MILLION--9 a.m.-11 a.m. 1539 Martin Luther King Blvd.--Houma

OCTAVIA BOOKS--1:30 p.m.-3 p.m. 513 Octavia St.--New Orleans

SAM'S CLUB--4-6 p.m. 3900 Airline Hwy.--Metairie

www.sportsshooter.com/johnjcoleman

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foreverfan

SmashMouth

He's gotta be getting distracted by now .... In Drew we trust .... but I sure hope all of the saints will be ready come training camp.

Rugby Saint II

I think he's marketing his book so heavily because he wants people to read it........not just buy it. He has some strong messages.

73Saint

I just bought it, I can't wait to read it...gonna be great!

RaginCajun83

Got about 200 pages done, hard to put to down but I got to get things done around the house. Its a very good book and I cant' wait to starts Coach's book after I'm done with Drew's

QBREES9

I got yesterday.