The Bloomberg/Businessweek 2012 Power 100 ranking of the most powerful professional athletes in the U.S. has Drew Brees at the top of the list and includes 26 football players.

CSE's Analytics team evaluated more than 3,000 athletes across a variety of sports, with 50 percent based on "off-field" measurements and 50 percent on "on-field" performance. CSE's proprietary analytics utilizes a range of industry statistics, including data from E-Poll.

Brees (No. 1), Aaron Rodgers (No. 2) and Tom Brady (No. 3) took the top three spots in the rankings.

"Using our proprietary analytic measurements, CSE once again created the only list that provides a true comprehensive analysis of the athletes listed; taking into account not just salaries and endorsements, but various fan touch points, including trustworthiness, likability and awareness," said David Newman, CSE's vice president of analytics. "Using data that is both psychographic and endemic to the various sports, the list provides a unique 360-degree view of each athlete, which can then be applied by any brand or company when considering sponsorship opportunities."

The most notable drops this year include injury-plagued Peyton Manning dropping from No. 1 to No. 51 and golfer Phil Mickelson dropping from No. 4 to No. 18.

In addition, this year's Power 100 rankings also emphasize the importance of team sports, with the NFL dominating the list with 26 players ranked in the top 100. The National Basketball Association came in second with the most athletes on the Power 100, with 20, followed by MLB baseball (16), tennis (10), golf (8), motorsports (6), Olympics (4), soccer (4), hockey (3), boxing/MMA (2), and action sports (1).

Here are the NFL players in the top 100 and their ranking: