Death of Drew Brees' mother ruled a suicide

Mina Brees died of a prescription drug overdose
Updated: Friday, 20 Nov 2009, 6:36 PM ESTPublished : Friday, 20 Nov 2009, 6:36 PM EST
GRANBY, Colo. (AP) - The death of the mother of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has been ruled a suicide.
Mina Brees, an attorney from Austin, Texas, died Aug. 7 while visiting Colorado. Grand County coroner Brenda Bock concluded this week that the 59-year-old Brees died of a prescription drug overdose and ruled the death a suicide.
Bock said Brees died while staying at the home of a friend in Granby near Rocky Mountain National Park.
It took longer than three months for autopsy results to be released, but Bock said that's typical for cases involving toxicology tests.
The Austin American Statesman reported that three days before Brees died, the Texas attorney general's office subpoenaed her business records.
She had allegedly sent letters to some restaurants in Austin and Houston stating that they had lost their rights to use their names to a company she represented, Chicksports, but they could win the rights back by paying up to $25,000. She was also the president of Chicksports but that wasn't mentioned in the letter.
Relations between Drew Brees and his mother were strained at times and the quarterback asked her to stop using his picture in TV commercials touting her candidacy for a Texas appeals court seat in 2006.
Mina Brees said she had not anticipated upsetting her son and sent out replacement commercials omitting mention of him.
At the time, Drew Brees called his relationship with his mother "nonexistent," saying it crumbled six years earlier when he refused to hire her as his agent.
Austin attorney Marty Akins, the brother of Minda Brees, declined comment late Friday.

Mina Brees

Mina Brees, a prominent Austin attorney and former president of the Austin Bar Association who was recently subpoenaed by the Texas attorney general's office, died Friday in Colorado, a family member said. She was 59 .Marty Akins, Brees' brother who is also a lawyer and former University of Texas quarterback, said he was told Friday morning that Brees died in Colorado, where she was visiting her son Reid. Akins said he did not know the cause of her death."It's my understanding that she was at her girlfriend's house," Akins said. "That's all I know. I just know that she passed away, and I loved her very much."Brees, the mother of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, a former Westlake High School standout, had her business records subpoenaed Tuesday after she sent letters informing a number of prominent Austin and Houston restaurants that they had lost the legal right to use their business names but could get them back for up to $25,000 each.The mailings, bearing the letterhead of Brees' law office and dated July 20, said Brees represented a company, Chicksports Inc., that had assumed ownership of the restaurant names because the current owners neglected to reserve them or failed to renew them under Texas business codes.The letters did not mention that Brees was the president of Chicksports or that the corporation shared her law office's address and phone number.The Texas Restaurant Association, however, alerted its members to Brees' activity, saying there was no reason for restaurants to pay Chicksports for continuing to use their names.Brees received the Austin Bar Association's 2005 professionalism award for legal ethics and professionalism. In 2006, she came within 22,168 votes of being elected to the state 3rd Court of Appeals in 2006, losing to Republican incumbent David Puryear by 4.5 percentage points. Brees ran as a Democrat.Brees' campaign was hurt when Drew Brees asked his mother to stop using his likeness in campaign ads. He said his relationship with his mother had soured and was nonexistent.Drew Brees, who could not be reached for comment, left training camp with the New Orleans Saints Saturday and did not participate in the team's annual Black and Gold scrimmage.Coach Sean Payton said he was unsure when he would return to practice.News of Brees' death was met with shock and sadness within Austin's legal and political communities Saturday. "She was one of those lawyers everyone in the local bar (association) knew about because she was someone who gave so much to the community," said former Austin City Councilmember Brewster McCracken. "She organized other lawyers in volunteer efforts and played a big role in getting people to volunteer."Martha Dickie, a past president of the Texas Bar Association, said Brees was a popular figure in Austin's legal community. "She was viewed as a high-energy advocate," she said. "She was an interesting person."On Tuesday, the attorney general's office issued a subpoena indicating that Brees was being investigated for possible violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act.Travis County records show Chicksports reserved the name of 34 restaurants in January, including Threadgill's, Fonda San Miguel, Stubb's barbecue, Chez Nous, Hyde Park Bar & Grill, Eastside Cafe, Shady Grove and Matt's El Rancho.Such "assumed name" filings cost about $14 each and are valid for 10 years. It was not known whether all 34 establishments received a letter from Brees, a lawyer for nearly 30 years.But records show that Chicksports abandoned its claim on all 34 restaurant names July 28 - the same day the Houston Chronicle reported that scores of similar letters had been sent to Harris County restaurants, generating a spate of negative publicity.Two days later, Brees dissolved Chicksports' incorporation in a filing to the Texas secretary of state.Kevin Robbins, Joshunda Sanders and Jeremy Schwartz, American-Statesman staff

Mina Brees Suicide

Drew Brees,30, is the American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League.
He was originally drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Purdue.Brees has been selected to the Pro Bowl three times in his career – with the Chargers in 2004 and the Saints in both 2006 and 2008.
He was named the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2004 and the Offensive Player of the Year in 2008.
Drew Brees mother died on 7th August 2009,has been ruled a suicide.
Mina Brees, an attorney from Austin, Texas,while visiting Colorado. Grand County coroner Brenda Bock concluded this week that the 59-year-old Brees died of a prescription drug overdose and ruled the death a suicide.

Mina Brees’ death ruled a suicide

Brenda Bock, coroner in Grand County, Colo., today announced in a news release that she has ruled the death of Austin solo Mina Brees as a suicide. Bock declines comment on the ruling. Brees, the mother of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, died Aug. 7 at a residence in Granby, Colo. According to Bock’s news release, an autopsy and investigation found that Brees’ death was “attributed to ingestion of a large quantity of prescription medications." At the time of Brees’ death, the Texas Office of the Attorney General was investigating her and a company called Chicksports Inc. in connection with letters sent to Austin and Houston restaurants offering to sell them the rights to their business names. On Aug. 4, the OAG sent a civil investigative demand — similar to a subpoena — to Brees, requiring her to furnish all material she had with regard to the letters. As noted in the CID, Brees had until Aug. 11 to produce the material.--

Mary Alice Robbins

Mina Brees' Death Ruled A Suicide

Drew Brees' mother died three months ago at the home of a friend in northern Colorado. A coroner now says she killed herself by ingesting "a large quantity of prescription medications.".