Sports at Lunch, Drew Brees

12-06-2005

By Tom Shanahan, San Diego Hall of Champions

Bob Breitbard couldn’t have picked a better lunch partner than Chargers quarterback Drew Brees. Although Brees’ sport is football, he wears No. 9 for the Chargers in honor of the late baseball Hall-of-Famer from San Diego, Ted Williams.

Breitbard, the founder of the San Diego Hall of Champions and a childhood friend and Hoover High classmate of Williams, hosted Brees for Sports at Lunch on Dec. 6 at the Hall. As is Breitbard’s custom, he shared Williams memorabilia with Brees such as a bat Williams used to hit .406 in 1941.

Williams saved and signed only two bats from the 1941 season, the last time a Major Leaguer has hit .400, and he gave them both to Breitbard many years ago long before sports memorobilia became today's lucrative market. Brees cherished holding one of the bats in his hands in Breitbard’s office and posing for photos. The other bat Breitbard has loaned to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

But Breitbard soon learned Brees knows more about Williams than most young pro athletes that he invites up to his office. It turns out Brees was a perfect fit for San Diego long before he was drafted by the Chargers out of Purdue in 2001.

“When I came to San Diego, I was already a huge fan of Ted Williams,” Brees told the Sports at Lunch audience. “I didn’t realize the connection with San Diego. But when I got here and learned this is his birthplace, I thought, ‘What the heck – it’s time for a fresh start. What better number to throw on my back than the Splendid Splinter’s?’ “

Brees grew up in Austin, Texas, and said he had a baseball video of Williams that he and his younger brother, Reid, who played for Baylor in last year’s College World Series, would watch before heading down to the diamond.

“I’ve always been a baseball guy growing up and my dream was to play professional baseball,” said Brees, who bats left-handed like Williams but throws right-handed. “I thought I had a better chance in baseball than to play professional football.

"Growing up I played as many sports as long as I could because I was a sports junkie, but once I got to high school I narrowed it down to football, basketball and baseball. I almost quit football my sophomore year in high school. I was a backup and I didn’t think there were opportunities to play. But I lived in Texas and in Texas you play football. I stuck with football and baseball.”

Brees also talked about the Chargers’ season last year and the playoff hunt this year, play calling, the Raiders and the best football player he’s ever played against or with – Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

What did he say on those subjects? You should have been at Sports at Lunch.

Tom Shanahan can be contacted at 619-699-2334 or toms@sdhoc.com.