Canton, Ohio — Drew Brees wasn't expecting a blitz package Thursday morning at Tom Benson Stadium, next door to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But he took a blindside hit from his own team, the New Orleans Saints, as he approached a statue of Benson, the late Saints owner, located in the west end zone plaza.

The statue was draped in a Brees game jersey, in honor of his induction into the Hall of Fame. The ceremony will take place Saturday.

"That's a big surprise," Brees said, smiling. "I was walking up here expecting to see the Mr. Benson statue, just didn't expect to see my jersey on him.

"That's awesome. That's very sweet of (Saints owner) Ms. Gayle (Benson) to think of that."

Brees and the Hall of Fame's Class of 2026 will attend the Thursday night Hall of Fame game in Benson stadium, after an event-filled day that included autograph and interview sessions. Already around town in Canton, Ohio, Brees connections from San Diego (he played his first five NFL seasons with the Chargers, then 15 with the Saints), Texas (born in Dallas, played high school football at Westlake High in Austin) and Purdue (where he played collegiately) presented a prominent presence.

"It's going to be a fun night, as everything gets kicked off with the Hall of Fame game (between Arizona and Carolina)," Brees said. "Just tons of emotions going into the whole week. I think there's going to be plenty of stuff; they've kept surprises from us like this. The whole family is here, tons of New Orleans folks coming up, folks from Texas, folks from San Diego, folks from Purdue. So we're going to have big contingents from every journey and every part of the journey for me."

And the New Orleans leg of the journey began in 2006, with Tom Benson leading the franchise.

"It's a good look on Mr. B," Brees said. "I saw Mr. Benson in a lot of jackets and ties. I never saw him in a jersey. That would have been a good one.

"The last couple of months, especially as I've thought about the speech. It's like writing a 20-chapter book and consolidating it into 12 minutes, which is pretty difficult to do — in fact, it's impossible to do. But it's just, you think about every person and every moment that have been a part of this journey, and just how you can properly show the appreciation that you want to show in that short amount of time. But certainly, there was a lot of thoughts about Mr. B."