Chargers legend named finalist for 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class

As the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced its modern-era finalists for the 2026 induction class, the Chargers could see one of their legendary quarterbacks enshrined beside the bevy of prestigious names in Canton, Ohio, as former Bolts icon Drew Brees was named among 15 NFL icons.

Despite a majority of his career being spent with the New Orleans Saints, Brees was selected in the second round (No. 32 overall) by the then-San Diego Chargers in the 2001 NFL draft, which paired the former Purdue signal-caller with eventual Pro Football Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson as part of the Bolts draft class.

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Through 59 regular-season games played during his five seasons in San Diego, Brees threw for 12,348 yards and 80 touchdowns on 1,125-of-1,809 completed passes with 53 interceptions. He also ran for 366 yards and four touchdowns on 135 attempts on the ground, and even caught two passes for 59 yards and a score. Of those 59 games played, Brees started in 58 of those contests.

In his lone NFL playoff appearance during the 2004 postseason, he threw for 319 yards and two touchdowns on 31-of-42 passes with one interception and ran for 17 yards on five attempts in the Chargers' 20-17 overtime loss to the New York Jets.

After the 2005 season, the Chargers let Brees walk in free agency following a torn labrum suffered during that season and the subsequent drafting of quarterback Philip Rivers in the 2005 NFL draft.

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Brees would eventually sign with the Saints, where he would win a Super Bowl in 2009 and throw for 68,010 yards and 491 touchdowns and 243 interceptions through 228 games in the regular season, in addition to 5,047 yards and 35 touchdowns with 14 interceptions through 17 playoff games.

As for the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection process, the slate of candidates in the Modern-Era Players category will be considered when the Hall of Fame’s Selection Committee meets before Super Bowl LX. During that meeting, each member of the committee will vote for at most five former players to determine who will be enshrined as part of the 2026 induction class, with each inductee required to obtain at least 80% of the total vote.

The Class of 2026 will be unveiled publicly Feb. 5 during the “NFL Honors” broadcast from the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California. The program will air on NBC and NFL Network and will be streamed on Peacock and NFL+.

This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: Chargers legend named finalist for 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class