By Ross Jackson
Selected to join the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class, New Orleans Saints legend and quarterback Drew Brees capped off his incredible playing career with the NFL’s highest honor. Along with the Walter Payton Man of the Year award he received in 2006, Brees has now been recognized with some of the league’s most prestigious acknowledgements. Those highlight the most unique area of the quarterback’s career: his unwavering connection and commitment to excellence both on and off of the field.
Brees’s gold jacket is the latest confirmation of the gold standard he’s set as a member of the Saints.
Every generation has its standard. For New Orleans, it wore #9.@ProFootballHOF | @drewbrees pic.twitter.com/EtGz5Af3s8
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) February 6, 2026
Years after his retirement, Brees is still the yard stick by which being a Saint is measured. Success isn’t just found on the field, though the first Super Bowl win in the franchise’s history has certainly helped to endear him to the fanbase. Many choose instead to remember his contributions to the community.
From post-Katrina relief work to opening Zyland, an inclusive playground, with Brittany Brees and the Audubon Nature Institute in 2017, Brees built a genuine and lasting connection with the city of New Orleans.
Brees’s commitment was so obvious that sniffing out falsehoods, disingenuous attempts or a lack of desire to embrace the community has become routine for Saints fans. Brees established a standard that some fell short of, but others like former New Orleans passer Jameis Winston and rookie sensation Tyler Shough chose to lean in on to great success.
The Brees family’s Brees Dream Foundation is another perfect example.
Brees wasn’t alone in cultivating this relationship. Defensive end Cameron Jordan and linebacker Demario Davis, the Saints’ two most recent Walter Payton Man of the Year award nominees, have further fortified the benchmark.
While the on-field play and results undoubtedly shaped him as the greatest player in franchise history, it was genuine love for the people of New Orleans that further entrenched him as a part of the culture. From jerseys to window placards to goat-shaped bumper stickers, Brees is still an ever-present part of the Crescent City.
A path was paved that has both been followed both with great success and has resulted in the weeding out of others. That path was painstakingly shaped by Brees, who is the barometer for what it means to be a Saint. His first-ballot Hall of Fame nod, the first of the New Orleans franchise’s history, only further cements that.
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