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CANTON, Ohio — Football’s most famous Election Day is here. And Drew Brees will celebrate his enshrinement to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday with a massive group of friends, family and supporters. Brees’ entourage includes nearly 500 friends, family members, former teammates, coaches and support staffers, who made the trek here to see the former New Orleans Saints star join the sport’s most exclusive fraternity. Brees will deliver his Hall of Fame acceptance speech to the sellout crowd at Tom Benson Stadium at approximately 1 p.m. CT during the three-hour ceremony, which begins at 11 a.m. “This is my opportunity to express my gratitude to all the people that have been part of this journey and really made it possible,” Brees said. “That’s what I’m most looking forward to, is all the people I’m going to have a chance to see and let them know just how valued they are.” Former Saints head coach Sean Payton, who teamed with Brees for 15 magical seasons in New Orleans, will serve as Brees’ presenter. His pre-recorded video address will be played before Brees takes the stage to deliver his speech. Brees said multiple times this week that he expects to get emotional during his speech, which he said will extend beyond the 8-to-12-minute time limit officials have suggested. “(The speech) is a 20-chapter book that gets condensed into one chapter,” he said. “I’m just going to roll, because if I don’t, then I’ll get emotional.” Even that might not help. While working on his speech for the past six months, Brees said he wept “no less than 50 times” while reflecting on his legendary 20-year career. “I’ve tried to put myself in the moment, and I get super emotional, so I’m trying to get it all out of the way so that I can be a nice, smooth speech and not make everyone too uncomfortable.” The sellout crowd at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium will be filled with thousands of Saints fans, who migrated to Canton by the thousands this week to celebrate Brees, who led the Saints to their one and only Super Bowl title in 2009. Hundreds of them crowded the streets outside the Hall of Fame on Friday to cheer Brees as he and the rest of the Class of 2026 made the traditional Hall of Fame walk to the front of the museum for the traditional group photo. All three of the Saints’ living Hall of Famers — Morten Andersen (2017), Rickey Jackson (2010) and Willie Roaf (2012) — will be in attendance, as well. (Former Saints linebacker Sam Mills was enshrined posthumously in 2022.) “It’s wonderful for Drew to get in, and there was no doubt that he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Roaf said. “He’s the greatest Saint ever. I’m looking forward to his speech, and I’m looking forward to the fans showing him a lot of love.” Among the notable supporters in Brees’ contingent will be Saints-Pelicans owner Gayle Benson, former Saints special-teams standout Steve Gleason and three former teammates who are on the current Saints roster: Cam Jordan, Alvin Kamara and Zach Wood. Several members of the Saints’ executive team, led by general manager Mickey Loomis, also made the trip on Benson’s private jet, which left New Orleans on Friday afternoon. After the enshrinement ceremony, Benson and Loomis will join former Saints head coach Sean Payton at the official unveiling of Brees’ bust in the adjacent Hall of Fame. Many of them are expected to attend the ceremony and after-party at a local country club, where the contingent will be divided into four groups, with memento-filled rooms dedicated to the primary stages of Brees’ life: - Austin, Texas, where Brees starred as a youth sports sensation and led Westlake High School to its first state football championship. - Purdue University, where Brees developed into a record-setting Heisman Trophy candidate and put himself on the national map by leading the Boilermakers to the school’s first Rose Bowl in decades. - San Diego, where he earned the first of his 13 Pro Bowl invitations and led the Chargers to their first division title and playoff berth in almost a decade. - New Orleans, where he changed the image, perception and fortunes of the Saints organization by leading the team to seven division titles and the club’s first Super Bowl championship in 2009. “I did it this way because each one was so instrumental in this honor,” Brees said. “I wouldn't be here without all of them and all of them together.” Brees said he plans to acknowledge as many people from the four groups as possible at the after-party. He reflected on his four-part journey during a press briefing with reporters at a promotional event in Canton on Friday, citing the championships he and teammates won at each stop along the way. “It’s been five years since my retirement, so I've had a chance to convey my gratitude to so many of those people that may not get mentioned by name in the speech, just because there's only so much time.” Brees said. “This week for me in Canton is really all about showing my gratitude to all the people who helped me on this journey and my appreciation to all the Hall of Famers who paved the way for us to be able to play this game in the environment that we did, under the circumstances that we did.” Brees and his fellow Class of 2026 classmates shared a special bonding moment during the traditional Hall of Famers toast in the bust gallery at the Hall on Thursday night, where they were celebrated by officials and the 117 gold-jacketed Hall of Famers who were in attendance. “I’m just trying to take it all in, and every moment, it becomes just a little bit more real,” he said, adding that the Hall of Fame toast was particularly resonant. “All of a sudden you’re clinking glasses with Lawrence Taylor, and you’re like, ‘Whoa, that just happened.’ It’s pretty special.”