Charity Showdown: Brett Favre vs. Drew Brees

As Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings prepare to do battle with Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints for the NFC Championship this evening, we thought we'd take a moment to pit these two quarterbacks against each other on another field.

The best part about this battle? They both walk away winners, because both Favre and Brees have set up foundations that rival their throwing arms in terms of reach and power.

Favre, along with his wife Deanna, established his Fourward Foundation way back in 1997, according to his website. With outreach efforts focused on helping disadvantaged and disabled children, the charity has given away more than $3 million and "untold numbers" of signed and in-kind items to charity auctions all over the country.

With a geographical focus in Wisconsin and Mississippi, Favre's foundation has made gifts to Make a Wish, Special Olympics, ARC, and the Boys & Girls Clubs, among many other causes.

On the Saints side, the Brees Dreams Foundation, founded in 2003 by Brees and his wife, Brittany, is dedicated to advancing research in the fight against cancer and providing care, education and opportunities for children in need. According to Brees website, the Foundation has dedicated more than $4.5 million to doing just that, while also helping to rebuild schools, parks, playgrounds, and athletic fields in the New Orleans, San Diego, and Purdue communities.

Let's break that down: Favre has given away $3 million over the last decade plus, while Brees has doled out $4.5 million in seven years.

So if we had to score today's game based on charitable output alone, we're giving the edge in this one to Brees.

The best part is, wherever you put your money in this charity showdown, you come up a winner. Congrats to both of these great quarterbacks for stepping it up off the field with the same passion they've always shown on it.

Brees photo via Wikimedia Commons

Favre photo via Wikimedia Commons