Drew Brees Finally Puts Hands on His NFL Hall of Fame Gold Jacket

The best player in Saints history will be enshrined in Canton on Aug. 8

2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinee Drew Brees talks about his items on display at the Hall of Fame during the unveiling ceremony Friday, April 17, 2026. | Kevin Whitlock / Massillon Independent / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A couple of months ago, the worst-kept secret in football was released when Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts knocked on the door of Drew Brees to share the news.

The NFL’s second-leading passer of all time was leading the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 and will be enshrined in Canton on Aug. 8.

On Friday, the Saints released video of Brees opening the box that held his gold jersey while his wife, Brittany, recorded the moment on her own cell phone.

Drew Brees' first look at his @ProFootballHOF gold jacket 👀 pic.twitter.com/f3w46jcL2t

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) April 17, 2026

“Oh, wow. You see the buttons on this, babe” he said. “It has my name! It’s shinier than I imagined.”

Brees will become just the fifth player who played a majority of his career in New Orleans to make the Hall, along with Rickey Jackson, Willie Roaf, Morten Andersen and Sam Mills. Former General Manager Jim Finks also was enshrined in 1995, one year after he died.

When he left football following the 2020 season, he held many record across the NFL, including most passing yards with 80,358, which was more than 8,000 more than New Orleans-born Peyton Manning. Since then, Tom Brady has passed him.

Brees also will enter the Hall of Fame second in passing touchdowns (571), passes completed (7,142) and highest passer rating among non-active players (98.7). He also is the best all-time among inactive players in completion percentage (.677).