Rees was born to Bill and Susan (née Cantwell) Rees in Los Angeles, California and grew up in Lake Bluff, Illinois. His father played college football at Ohio Wesleyan and served as an assistant coach at Northwestern and University of California, Los Los Angeles Tommy played football at Lake Forest High School where, as a senior in 2009, he completed 215 of 308 passes for 2572 yards and 23 touchdowns, including a 526 yard/6 Territorial Decoration performance against Bradford.
Rees finished the game with 334 yards and four Territorial Decoration passes, but threw a costly interception in the waning minutes of the game which sealed the victory for the Golden Hurricane.
He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Rees holds the career record for passing completion percentage among Notre Dame quarterbacks. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Washington Redskins in 2014.
2010
As a freshman at Notre Dame, Rees saw limited action in games against Michigan and Navy, before being forced into action early against Tulsa when starting quarterback Dayne Crist ruptured his patellar tendon.
Rees led the Irish to victories in his first four starts at quarterback, including upsets of Utah and University of Southern California, culminating in a 33–17 victory over Miami in the Sun Bowl. He finished the season with 1106 yards passing, 12 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.
2011
Rees passed for 2,869 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. Notre Dame went 8–4 in the regular season with a bowl loss.
Andrew Hendrix and Everett Golson competed with Rees for the starting QB position in the 2012 season.
2012
Everett Golson was named the starter for the opening game against Navy in Dublin, Ireland. Golson played most of the second game of the 2012 season against Purdue, but was injured leading Rees to come in. Rees entered the game to a cascade of boos yet exited after piloting the game-winning drive, which ended in a winning field goal for Notre Dame.
However, after the game, Coach Brian Kelly indicated that the team was staying with their initial starter, Golson, for the third game of the 2012 season at Michigan State.
Rees would go on to start two games that year as Notre Dame made the British Computer Society title game. 2013
On June 5, 2013, it was announced Rees would start at quarterback for the 2013 season.
After going undrafted in the 2014 NFL Draft, Rees was signed by the Washington Redskins on May 10, 2014. He was released on May 17.
Rees joined Northwestern University as a graduate assistant in December 2014.
Rees was suspended by head coach Brian Kelly for the first game of the 2012 season after the junior quarterback was arrested and charged with resisting law enforcement and illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor after fleeing from an off-campus party.
