Former NFL quarterback Drew Brees speaks at Christus Spohn Lyceum

Super Bowl champion quarterback Drew Brees may have never played for an NFL team in Texas but his ties to the Lone Star State run deep.

Brees was born in Dallas, attended high school at Austin Westlake and is the grandson of Hall of Fame Gregory-Portland football coach Ray Akins.

Brees was in Corpus Christi on Wednesday to serve as the guest speaker for this year’s Christus Spohn Health System Lyceum at the American Bank Center.

The event was raising money for renovations at Christus Spohn South, which are expected to be complete by the fall of this year.

"I'm excited to be at an event that is raising money for the expansion of the Christus Spohn South Hospital," Brees said. "They've been doing incredible work down here as Corpus Christi continues to grow."

It was the first time Brees was in the Coastal Bend since 2009 when Gregory-Portland named its football stadium after Akins.

Brees said he spent many years in Portland with his grandparents when they were teachers and coaches at the high school.

"There's so many great memories down here," Brees said. "My grandfather influenced a lot of people when he was head football coach and athletic director. He coached just about every sport throughout his 38-year career from 1950 to 1988... He was here for 22 years and turned around a program that hadn't seen much success until that point."

Brees, who won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints in 2010, retired from the NFL after 20 seasons in 2021 and spent the following season as an analyst on NBC Sunday Night Football. Brees was also as an interim assistant football coach at Purdue.

Brees passed for 80,358 passing yards during his NFL career and is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026.

As of this year, Brees said he has no plans of returning to the broadcast booth or coach football. His priority now is to spend time with his wife and four children.

"I had a mentor tell me, 'It's not retired, it's rewired," Brees said. "I'm in a good position to where I can pick and choose. Right now, my priority is my wife and my kids. My boys are 14, 12 and 10 and my daughter is 8. This is a really fun age and there's a lot happening in their lives and I want to be a part of every bit of that. I want to be available first and foremost."

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Former NFL quarterback Drew Brees speaks at Christus Spohn Lyceum