Drew Brees was taking orders behind the counter at a Raising Cane's in Canton, Ohio, on Friday, greeting New Orleans Saints fans a day before he receives his Pro Football Hall of Fame gold jacket, when three of his former teammates ambushed him mid-shift. Rickey Jackson, Willie Roaf, and Morten Andersen — all Saints Hall of Famers themselves — popped up behind the counter to surprise Brees, turning a promotional stunt into an emotional reunion of Saints greats on the eve of his induction.
The surprise, first reported by WDSU, came as Brees teamed up with the Louisiana-founded chicken chain for a shift meant to connect with Saints fans making the trip to Canton for Enshrinement Week. Jackson, Roaf, and Andersen represent three of just four Saints players previously inducted into Canton before Brees, a group that also includes the late linebacker Sam Mills, according to WWL-TV. That scarcity is what made the counter ambush land as more than a photo-op — for a franchise that has waited years between Hall of Fame honors, watching three of its own show up to welcome in a fourth carried real weight.
A First-Ballot Call Two Decades in the Making
Brees was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility on Feb. 5, 2026, headlining a five-member Class of 2026 that also includes Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri, and Roger Craig, the station's report notes. Over a 20-season career split between the San Diego Chargers and the Saints, Brees threw for 80,358 yards and 571 touchdowns, numbers that still rank second all-time in NFL history, per the same account. He also won Super Bowl XLIV MVP honors with New Orleans, cementing the résumé that made Friday's shift feel like a fitting warmup for Saturday's ceremony.
For his official presenter, Brees chose former Saints head coach Sean Payton, who guided him through all 15 of his seasons in New Orleans. Brees asked Payton to do the honors during an emotional FaceTime call in April, according to WWL-TV. The two will share the stage Saturday when Brees becomes just the fifth Saints player enshrined in Canton.
Fast Food and Franchises Fuel the Celebration
The Raising Cane's shift wasn't the only fast-food tie-in tied to Brees' big weekend. Smalls Sliders rolled out a limited-edition souvenir cup honoring the induction, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Brees Dream Foundation, WWL-TV reported. Jimmy John's, where Brees is a multi-unit franchisee, also partnered with him this month on a limited-time PB&J Cookie, donating a quarter from every sale through October to the Jimmy John's Foundation and the Brees Dream Foundation, according to the Williamson Source.
None of it is out of character. Since retiring, Brees has built an extensive business portfolio as a franchisee and investor across restaurant and wellness brands including Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux, Jimmy John's, Everbowl, and Smalls Sliders, according to FranchiseWire. Raising Cane's itself, founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, served as an official sponsor of the entire 2026 Enshrinement Week, including the Concert for Legends headlined by country singer Lainey Wilson on Sunday, per the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Canton's Big Week Around Brees
Brees' visit is unfolding inside a jam-packed schedule of public events, including Thursday's Hall of Fame Game between Carolina and Arizona, Friday's Hall of Famer Walk, and a downtown Canton parade along Cleveland Avenue on Saturday morning ahead of the noon enshrinement ceremony, according to ALT 92.3. Enshrinement Week as a whole draws roughly 700,000 attendees to the region and generates an estimated $43 million for Stark County and $77 million statewide for Ohio, according to Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce data relayed by Hoodline. The week officially kicks off the NFL's 107th season, giving Brees' counter surprise an outsized backdrop among the roughly 700,000 fans expected in town.
Saturday's ceremony will make Brees the fifth Saints player ever enshrined in Canton, joining Jackson, Roaf, Andersen, and Mills in a distinction that has taken the franchise more than three decades to build. For a group of teammates who spent years chasing championships together, showing up behind a fast-food counter to catch Brees off guard was one more way of marking how rare — and how earned — that gold jacket really is.
