Coming Back Stronger (31 page)

This is my grandpa Ray Akins holding me up. I hold my son, Baylen, like this now.

For as long as I can remember, I have had a football in my hands and that same look in my eye.

My little brother, Reid, and I always had a special bond growing up. We were best friends.

Hoisting the MVP trophy after beating #4 Kansas State in the Alamo Bowl in 1998

Brittany and I outside the Le Petit Bofinger restaurant in Paris right after we got engaged

On the beach in Okinawa, Japan, in March 2008. This is the actual beach where my grandfather Ray Akins stormed in as a 19-year-old Marine, April 1, 1945. It was a very emotional day.

Christmas 2008: Brit was 8½ months pregnant with Baylen at the time.

Brit and I before the Raiders game at Qualcomm Stadium in 2002

Dr. Andrews told me that if he had to do the surgery over again 100 times, he couldn’t do it as well as he just did. Now that is what you want to hear!

My buddy Micah’s courageous battle against Hodgkin’s lymphoma gave us the strength to accomplish all we did in the 2009 season.

On the 2007 “Brees on the Seas” fishing event with some of the kids from Children’s Hospital of New Orleans

Getting the kids pumped up before the 2005 Brees Gridiron Classic at Qualcomm Stadium

I really appreciate the opportunity to support the men and women of our armed forces. Here I am on my third USO trip (2008) with my two former teammates, Donnie Edwards of the Chargers (fourth from left) and Billy Miller of the Saints (far right).

Brittany, two-month-old Baylen, and me in Maui in 2009

Baylen’s first Christmas (2009)

Swinging with Dad in Audubon Park in New Orleans, 2009

Teaching Baylen how to putt like a pro (2010)