“Wipe that whatever off your face,” or “Come here spot,” are just some of the remarks that a young Drew was told at his small Dallas school. Drew Brees, the quarterback for the New Orleans Saints football team, was born with a birthmark on his right cheek, which caused him a lot of trouble growing up.
“There are lots of kids that have something that they will be made fun of,” Drew Brees said. “Their name, the way they look, they way they talk, and laugh. It’s so unfair but it’s reality. We need to know how to handle it.”
It is so very important in today’s very superficial culture to be confident and unique, and Brees shows us how to embrace our differences, despite our imperfections because we all know, no one is perfect.
“I just got to the point where I brushed it off,” Brees said. “I just remember my mom telling me as a kid, hey that’s where an angel kissed you. So I guess that’s how I handled it. I would use it as motivation.”
Aside from being a contender on the field, Drew is also a contender for putting a stop to bullying through public service announcements. “I want my fans to know that if you are bullying someone because they are different, you are no friend of mine,” Brees says in an ad aired on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “Making fun of someone because they are different from you is not being tough. It’s being ignorant. Appreciating people from how they are different from you, that’s what it takes to be a friend.”
It’s unlikely that his childhood enemies would have much to say to him now. Drew Brees is the quarterback for the New Orleans Saints football team and is a 3x First-Team player, 9x Pro Bowler, and MVP of Super Bowl XLIV. Not to mention he’d be a pretty solid pick to have on your Fantasy Football team this year. Without a doubt, the man has been had a tremendous career and it is hardly over.
It’s great that champions like Drew Brees give advice concerning their past and how they have personally prevailed in overcoming difficult life situations. Without a doubt, Drew Brees is a role model to many people, kids, and adults alike. In fact, after hearing his story, the loyal New Orleans fan base has even created a sticker shaped like his birthmark to wear on game days.
No one said the road to becoming a champion was easy, but perhaps a kiss from an angel will give you further guidance.
Time For A Champion is a film that can teach us how to cope with our insecurities and inner turmoil through the eyes of Elena, a future track star from Mexico who is adopted by an American family from Pharr, Texas. For more information on how you can help with bullying in your community check out these following organizations below:
Cool Kind Kid: Social Skills and Anti-Bullying Activities for Kids
