'The ACL injury was a defining moment in my life,' says Brees in Coming Back Stronger. He led the JV team to a 10-0 record and then, the following season, tore is own ACL after leading the Westlake varsity team deep into the playoffs. However, Brees would have to stare down adversity again.

When Johnny Rodgers, a QB with a higher-profile and better family connections than Drew, went down with a torn ACL, Mina's advice to her son turned prophetic and Brees got his shot. You never know when it's going to come, but all it takes is one play.' But remember this: when you least expect it, that opportunity will present itself. Mina Brees 'didn't freak out' says Brees but told her son, '.you don't have to play.

He told his mother, 'Mom, I think I might want to quit football.because I don't feel I'm ever going to get an opportunity to play.' Akins led Texas to a 1973 Cotton Bowl victory over an Alabama team coached by Bear Bryant.īrees felt lost in the shuffle in his early days at Westlake High School in Austin and his passion was for baseball not football. His mother Mina was a Texas all-state athlete in three sports and his uncle, Marty Akins, was an All-American quarterback at the University of Texas. We cried ourselves to sleep a lot during that time.' 'Reid (Drew's brother) and I spent many nights awake long after-lights out, hoping and praying that our parents would get back together. His first challege in life was overcoming the pain of his parent's divorce as a young boy growing up in Austin, Texas. It is loaded with an inspiration at a time when people have never needed it more.įrom the moment the doctor snipped the umbilical cord, Drew Brees has had to battle adversity and search for the hidden power contained within it. In a city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina and a nasty oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, just call 'Coming Back Stronger', Chicken Soup for the BP fatigued soul. The crowds at the book signings come as no surprise as Brees and Saints fans have always mixed like a cool glass of Tanqueray and Tonic served up at Pat O'Briens on Bourbon Street on those steamy New Orleans Summer nights.

This place used to be a funeral home but the only people who looked distressed are the frazzled staff as this event has temporarily disrupted the norm of the place: a quiet atmosphere to peruse a book or two while sipping a cup of Seattle's Best.

Coming back stronger by drew brees