List of career achievements by Drew Brees

Drew Brees is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). After a prolific college football career at Purdue University, he was chosen by the San Diego Chargers with the first pick in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He left college as one of the most decorated players in Purdue and Big Ten Conference history, establishing two NCAA records, 13 Big Ten Conference records, and 19 Purdue University records. As of 2018, he remains the Big Ten record-holder in several passing categories, including completions (1,026), attempts (1,678), and yards (11,792).

Brees holds the NFL records for career pass completions, career completion percentage, career passing yards, and is 2nd in career passing touchdowns. In 2012, he broke Johnny Unitas' long-standing record of consecutive games with a touchdown pass. He has passed for over 5,000 yards in a season five times—no other NFL quarterback has done so more than once. He has led the NFL in passing yards a record seven times and in passing touchdowns a record-tying four times. He was the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year in 2004, the Offensive Player of the Year in 2008 and 2011, and the MVP of Super Bowl XLIV. Sports Illustrated named Brees its 2010 Sportsman of the Year. Brees is one of three QBs to beat all 32 teams.

College

Statistics

Year

Team

1997

Purdue

1998

Purdue

1999

Purdue

2000

Purdue

Total

Records

Big Ten conference records
  • Most career passing yards (11,792)
  • Most career pass attempts (1,678)
  • Most career pass completions (1,026)
  • Most passing touchdowns in a season (39; 1998)
  • Most pass attempts in a season (569; 1998)
  • Most pass completions in a season (361; 1998)

Awards

  • Maxwell Award (2000)
  • Socrates Award (2000)
  • Big Ten Player of the Year (2000)
  • National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Award (2000)
  • 2× Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year (1998 – media, 2000 – coaches & media)
  • Alamo Bowl MVP (1998)
  • Outback Bowl MVP (2000)
  • Academic All-America Team Member of the Year
  • Big Ten Medal of Honor (2001)
  • Today's Top 10 Award (Class of 2001)
  • Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame (inducted 2009)

Professional

Statistics

Legend

Bold

Regular season

Year

Team

G

GS

Comp

Att

Yds

Pct

Avg

TD

Int

Lng

YPG

Sck

SckY

Rate |- style="background:white;*

2001

SD

1

0

15

27

221

55.6

8.2

1

0

40

221.0

2

12

 94.8

2002

SD

16

16

320

526

3,284

60.8

6.2

17

16

52

205.3

24

180

 76.9

2003

SD

11

11

205

356

2,108

57.6

5.9

11

15

68

191.6

21

178

 67.5

2004

SD

15

15

262

400

3,159

65.5

7.9

27

7

79

210.6

18

131

104.8

2005

SD

16

16

323

500

3,576

64.6

7.2

24

15

54

223.5

27

223

 89.2

2006

NO

16

16

356

554

4,418

64.3

8.0

26

11

86

276.1

18

105

 96.2

2007

NO

16

16

440

652

4,423

67.5

6.8

28

18

58

276.4

16

109

 89.4

2008

NO

16

16

413

635

5,069

65.0

8.0

34

17

84

316.8

13

92

96.2

2009

NO

15

15

363

514

4,388

70.6

8.5

34

11

75

292.5

20

135

109.6

2010

NO

16

16

448

658

4,620

68.1

7.0

33

22

80

288.8

25

185

90.9 |- style="background:white;*

2011

NO

16

16

468

657

5,476

71.2

8.3

46

14

79

342.3

24

158

110.6

2012

NO

16

16

422

670

5,177

63.0

7.7

43

19

80

323.6

26

190

96.3

2013

NO

16

16

446

650

5,162

68.6

7.9

39

12

76

322.6

37

244

104.7

2014

NO

16

16

456

659

4,952

69.2

7.5

33

17

69

309.5

29

186

97.0

2015

NO

15

15

428

627

4,870

68.3

7.8

32

11

80

324.7

31

235

101.0

2016

NO

16

16

471

673

5,208

70.0

7.7

37

15

98

325.5

27

184

101.7

NO

16

16

386

536

4,334

72.0

8.1

23

8

54

270.9

20

145

103.9

NO

15

15

272

356

3,135

76.4

8.33

29

2

72

285

10

77

127.3

Career

260

259

6,494

9,650

73,580

67.3

7.62

517

230

98

283

388

2,769

 97.90

Postseason

Year

Team

G

GS

Comp

Att

Yds

Pct

Avg

TD

Int

Lng

YPG

Sck

SckY

Rate |- style="background:white;*

2004

SD

1

1

31

42

319

73.8

7.6

2

1

44

319.0

2

11

 101.2 |- style="background:white;*

2006

NO

2

2

47

81

597

58.0

7.4

3

1

88

298.5

6

51

  88.3 |- style="background:white;*

2009

3

3

72

102

732

70.6

7.2

8

0

44

244.0

2

15

 117.0 |- style="background:white;*

2010

1

1

39

60

404

65.0

6.7

2

0

40

404.0

1

7

  95.4 |- style="background:white;*

2011

2

2

73

106

928

68.9

8.8

7

2

66

464.0

5

34

 110.1 |- style="background:white;*

2013

2

2

44

73

559

60.3

7.7

2

2

52

279.5

3

9

  81.9 |- style="background:white;*

2017

2

2

48

73

670

65.8

9.2

5

3

80

335.0

3

23

 100.8

Postseason

13

13

354

537

4,209

65.9

7.8

29

9

88

323.77

22

150

 100.7

NFL records

  • Most games with 300+ passing yards – 114
  • Most games with 400+ passing yards – 16
  • Most touchdown passes in a single game – 7 (Tied), 11/1/2015 "NFL Single Game Passing Touchdowns", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  • Most consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass – 54
  • Most consecutive home games with at least one touchdown pass – 60
  • Most Seasons with 5,000+ passing yards – 5 (2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016)
  • Most consecutive games with 20+ completions – 57 (2009–2013)
  • Most pass attempts in a playoff game with zero interceptions – 60 (at Seattle, 1/8/2011)
  • Most pass completions in a playoff game with zero interceptions – 39 (at Seattle, 1/8/2011)
  • All-time leader in completion percentage – 67.3%
  • All time leader in career passing yards – 73,580.
  • Highest career regular season passing yards per game – 283
  • Fastest to reach 50,000 yards passing
  • Fastest to reach 60,000 yards passing
  • Fastest to reach 70,000 yards passing.
  • Most seasons leading league in passing yards (7)
  • Most consecutive seasons with 4,000+ passing yards (12)
  • Most consecutive seasons with 5,000+ passing yards (3)
  • Most consecutive seasons with 20+ touchdown passes (14)
  • Most consecutive seasons with 30+ touchdown passes (9)
  • Most seasons with 30+ touchdown passes (10)

Saints franchise records

Career
  • Most games played – 205 (2006–2018)
  • Most victories, career – 125 (2006–2018)
  • Most pass completions, career – 5,461 (2006–2018)
  • Most pass attempts, career – 7,974 (2006-2018)
  • Highest completion %, career – 68.5% (2006–2018)
  • Most passing yards, career – 62,089 (2006–2018)
  • Most passing touchdowns, career – 440 (2006–2018)
  • Most interceptions thrown, career – 180 (2006–2018)
  • Lowest interception percentage, career – 2.3% (2006-2018)
  • Highest yards per attempt, career – 7.8 (2006–2018)
  • Most pass yards per game, career – 302.9 (2006-2018)
  • Highest passer rating, career – 100.6 (2006–2018)
  • Most fourth quarter comebacks/game-winning drives, career – 29/39 (2006–2018)
  • Most 4,000-yard passing seasons – 12 (2006–2017)
  • Most consecutive 4,000-yard passing seasons – 12 (2006–2017)
  • Most consecutive games 300+ yards passing – 9 (2011–2012; 2012–2013)
  • Most consecutive pass attempts without an interception – 305 (2015–2016)
Season
  • Most completions, season – 471 (2016)
  • Most pass attempts, season – 673 (2016)
  • Highest completion %, season – 74.4% (2018)
  • Most passing yards, season – 5,476 (2011)
  • Most games w/ 300+ yards passing, season – 13 (2011)
  • Most touchdown passes, season – 46 (2011)
  • Most passes intercepted – 22 (2010) (tied with Aaron Brooks)
  • Highest yards per attempt, season – 8.5 (Min. 500 attempts) (2009)
  • Most pass yards per game, season – 342.25 (2011)
  • Highest passer rating, season – 115.7 (2018)
  • Most fourth quarter comebacks/game-winning drives, season – 6/7 (2018)
Single-game
  • Most completions, game – 39 (four times) most recent vs. Atlanta Falcons, 9/23/2018
  • Most pass attempts, game – 60 (tied with Aaron Brooks) vs. Chicago Bears 12/30/2007
  • Highest completion %, game (Min. 20 attempts) – 89.7% vs. Washington Redskins, 10/8/2018
  • Most consecutive completions – 19 (thrice) most recent vs. Los Angeles Rams, 11/27/2017
  • Most passing yards, game – 510 vs. Cincinnati Bengals, 11/19/2006
  • Most passing touchdowns, game – 7 vs. New York Giants, 11/1/2015
  • Highest passer rating, game – 158.3 vs. New England Patriots, 11/30/2009
  • Highest passing yards per attempt – 16.1 vs. New England Patriots, 11/30/2009
  • Longest touchdown pass, game – 98 yards vs. Oakland Raiders, 9/11/2016

Awards

  • AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year (2004)
  • Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award (2006 joint winner)
  • Miller Lite NFL Player of the Year (2006)
  • PFWA George S. Halas Courage Award (2007)
  • NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2008, 2011)
  • Super Bowl XLIV MVP (2009)
  • Bert Bell Award (2009)
  • ESPY Award Best Male Athlete (2010)
  • ESPY Award Best NFL Player (2010)
  • ESPY Award Best Championship Performance (2010)
  • ESPY Award Outstanding Team – New Orleans Saints (2010)
  • Athletes in Action/Bart Starr Award (2011)
  • Byron "Whizzer" White NFL Man of the Year Award (2011)
  • ESPY Award Best Record-Breaking Performance (2012)
  • Texas Sports Hall of Fame (inducted 2013)
  • 2× NFL Alumni Quarterback of the Year (2006, 2009)
  • Walter Payton Man of the Year (2006)
  • Bart Starr Man of the Year (2011)
  • Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year (2010)
  • Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year (2010)
  • PFWA Good Guy Award (2010)