Drew Brees Wins Award

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who this past year became only the second quarterback in NFL history to throw for 5,000 yards in a season, was named Wednesday as the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Year.

The award was announced this week in Tampa Bay at a news conference at the Tampa Convention Center, the NFL Media Center for Super Bowl XLIII.

As part of the awards, FedEx will donate $25,000 each to the Safe Kids USA chapter in New Orleans Safe Kids is a national non-profit organization that works to prevent accidental injury among children.

“I’m very pleased that $25,000 is going to the Safe Kids program in New Orleans,” said Brees, who was on hand to accept the award. “It’s a tremendous program, one that FedEx has put a lot into.”

Brees was honored after throwing for 5,069 yards — just 15 yards short of Dan Marino’s 24-year-old NFL record — and 34 TDs as the Saints led the league in total yards (6,571) and points (463). Both were club records.