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PASCAGOLA, Mississippi -- Pascagoula High School art teacher David Magee went to Edgewater Mall in Biloxi over the weekend to get an autograph from New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

He returned home with much, much more as the Super Bowl MVP purchased the 41-inch tall painting Magee hoped to get signed.

Magee declined to say how much cash Brees paid for the image Magee created of Brees holding his infant son after the Super Bowl victory.
The deal included some other autographed items and some home football tickets.

"He actually bought it," Magee said. "I'm still in shock! My painting, my work is going to be a family heirloom for the Brees family."

Magee said he and Brees had a conversation and shook hands. Brees told Magee that he was going to give it to his son.

"You dream that it will go that way, but you never really expect it to happen," Magee said. "Wow! For him to want it for his son was by far more important than getting any money for it."

Like most Saints fans, the big Super Bowl win made an impact Magee's life, but the image of Brees holding his son in celebration was especially powerful.
Magee took that image and turned it into a painting that he finished in April.
"I thought it was such a powerful moment during the Super Bowl that I wanted to paint it," said Magee, about to start his 10th year of teaching at PHS.

"That is how I work. I see something I like, and I do it. That is one good thing about being a teacher. I get to choose what I want to paint."
When he finished the painting, he entered it in an art show at the Pascagoula Depot throughout the month of May. When the opportunity arose to get it autographed, Magee decided that would make it more marketable.
Over the weekend, Brees was scheduled to sign autographs -- any item for $150 -- at Edgewater Mall.

Magee wasn't sure whether or not to make the trip to Biloxi and pay the fee but decided to make the investment.

"The signature along with a sticker to make it official was a good deal, and I hadn't been able to sell it yet," Magee said. "I figured I could get my money back on the investment. I was hoping Brees wanted it for himself, but if not, I was going to get it signed so that I could, hopefully, sell it."

But when Brees saw the painting, Magee said it was like a dream come true.
Magee and his wife, Renee, live in Pascagoula with their children, Davis and Haley. He is a 1991 graduate of Pascagoula High School and earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Mississippi in 1996.

Picture perfect moment: PHS art teacher sells painting to Saints' QB Drew Brees | gulflive.com