6B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN ▼ NFL SPORTS THURSDAY. MARCH 16. 2006 Brees signs with New Orleans AP Photo/Bill Habea New Orleans Saints and former San Diego Chargers quarterback Drew Brees escorts his wife, Brittany, from a news conference at the New Orleans Saints training facility in Metairie, La. Wednesday. Brees, a free agent from the Chargers, signed a new contract with the Saints. BY BRETT MARTEL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW ORLEANS — All the concerns about whether hurricane damage would deter free agents from coming to New Orleans didn't stop Drew Brees. Brees, who won 20 games in the past two seasons with the San Diego Chargers, agreed Tuesday to a six-year contract with the Saints — a team that, like its home city, is rebuilding. The Miami Dolphins also had seriously pursued Brees, but ultimately traded for Minnesota quarterback Daunte Culpepper instead. Brees, who turned 27 in January and has played his entire five-year career for San Diego, underwent surgery and said last weekend he will need four or five months to be ready. Barring unforeseen complications with Brees' rehabilitation of his throwing shoulder, which he injured in the last game of the 2005 season, the Saints now have a proven replacement at quarterback for Aaron Brooks. That could account for the terms of the contract, which guarantees money only in the first year. The deal calls for the Saints to pay Brees about $60 million over the life of the contract, including a $10 million bonus up front and a $12 million option in the second year. "Drew was sufficiently impressed with the organization and the head coach in New Orleans," said Brees' agent, Tom Condon, referring to new Saints coach Sean Payton. "New Orleans was also very comfortable with the risk-reward, based on his rehabilitation from the injury, and Miami didn't have that same level of comfort, so New Orleans made a lot of sense for us." Saints general manager Mickey Loomis met briefly with reporters at the Saints' suburban training facility Tuesday night, but declined to take questions. "Obviously there are great coaches on both teams, but I just felt that energy in New Orleans," Brees said Tuesday night. "From the very beginning, there was a genuine feeling that they wanted me there. They believe I can come back from this shoulder injury and lead them to a championship. They were as confident as I am, and that meant a lot." "I'm just here to confirm we Brooks is expected to be released by New Orleans after his worst season since taking over as the Saints starter after Jeff Blake's injury during the 2000 season. Loomis said last week that the Saints were ready to "move on" at quarterback and that Brooks would likely be playing elsewhere next season. have an agreement in principle with Drew to become a New Orleans Saint", Loomis said "We're real excited about that." Loomis declined to discuss the rationale behind the structure of Brees' new contract. New Orleans has lost top center LeCharles Bentley, defensive end Darren Howard, linebacker Sedrick Hodge and cornerback Fakir Brown to free agency. Brees has thrown for more than 3,000 yards in three of the past four seasons. He led the Chargers to a playoff appearance in 2004. The 32nd overall pick in the 2001 draft, Brees struggled in his first few seasons, leading the Chargers to trade Eli Manning to the New York Giants for quarterback Philp Rivers on the day of the 2004 draft. But Rivers spent the past two seasons on the bench as Brees flourished. NCAA TOURNAMENT BY NANCY ARMOUR THE ASSOCIATED PRESS This year's NCAA tournament is a family affair for the Dixons. Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon is taking his Panthers to the men's tournament for a third straight year. Not to be outdone, little sister Maggie led Army to its first bid in the women's field, six months after getting her first head coaching job. "What can I tell you? It's beyond belief," said their proud father, Jim Dixon. "It's a wonderful, wonderful thing." Historical too. The Dixons are believed to be the first brother and sister to coach in the Division-I tournament in the same year. "It was never determined, went from walking off the street to being a recruiting coordinator in two years." "This is what you're going to do, be the first brother and sister in the NCAA tournament," Jim Dixon said. "You never thought about those implications. But since this is what we've got, we'll take it." coordinator. Maggie Dixon had thought about coaching, and even sent out a few resumes. But the talk with her brother accelerated the process. Maggie had hoped to play in the WNBA after graduating from the University of San Diego. When the Los Angeles Sparks cut her after a tryout in May 2005, she was devastated. Naturally, one of the first people she called was her big brother. Maggie Dixon Army women's basketball coach Jamie was already well into his coaching career by then. After stints at UC-Santa Barbara, Hawaii and Northern Arizona, he followed Ben Howland to Pitt in 1999 as Howland's associate head coach and recruiting "He said, 'If you want to do this coaching thing, do something drastic.'" she recalled. "That's what I did." A friend was moving to Chicago, and Maggie offered to drive with her. When she got to Chicago, she dropped in on DePaul coach Doug Bruno and asked if he'd hire her. Though he didn't know her, Bruno offered her a job working one of his camps. A few weeks later, he hired her as a graduate assistant. Dixon was promoted to full-time assistant the next May, and Bruno's recruiting coordinator a year after that. In May 2004, Bruno made her his top assistant. "I went from walking off the street to being a recruiting coordinator in two years," Maggie Dixon said. "Jamie and I always joked that I was going to be a head coach before he was." When Army found itself without a coach last October, two weeks before practice began, the Black Knights called Maggie Dixon. "I knew she'd have success," Jamie Dixon said. "I knew it was going to happen, but obviously didn't know it would happen this quickly. The timing did not lend one to believe there would be immediate success in the first year." 1226 E. 23rd Street 842-5451 Between Haskell and Harper on 23rd Street. 4661 W. 6th Street 830-9090 Just west of 6th and Wakara. Come see us at Gregg Tire Call us for all of your tire and auto care needs! 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