New Orleans Saints

As members of the NFC South – the New Orleans Saints have been around the National Football League since the 1967 season. The Saints are the pride of New Orleans and are known for some of their rabid fans in all of the league. The Saints have a little shorter history than some of the other teams in the league. Let’s take a look at some of the most important information when it comes to the Saints.

When the Saints started their franchise, they started play at Tulane Stadium. The Green Wave and the Saints shared the venue from 1967-1974. The Superdome was then built, and the team started their seasons there in 1975. They have continued to play there even today.

The Superdome was the original name of the venue, while some know it as the Mercedes Benz Superdome and also the Louisiana Superdome. It is a multi-purpose location that has seen a ton of great action. The first National Football League game was played in 1975 when the Saints were smacked by the Cincinnati Bengals.

The National Football League has hosted 7 Super Bowls at the Superdome. The most recent was in 2013. Super Bowl LIX in 2025 is projected to be at the venue as well. Also, the College Football Playoff has been played here as well.

There are many other events that take place here, including other College Football games, Arena Football, Baseball, and even Men’s Basketball Final Four. Of course, the Super Dome also hosts concerts. The very first concert at the Superdome was in 1978. That saw the Rolling Stones with Van Halen and the Doobie Brothers.

The venue is also a very popular location for folks that were needing shelter in 2005. Hurricane Katrina came through and brought major damage to the city. After it was a shelter for people, it sustained its own damage and was shut down for nearly an entire year.

The franchise adopted its name due to the rich Catholic identity that the city of New Orleans once had. The city also had a connection with Louis Armstrong, and his famous song “When the Saints Go Marching In” was very popular and symbolized the franchise. The team was founded on November 1st, which is known as “All Saints Day”.

The franchise comes into the 2023 season with 403 wins in the history of the team. New Orleans has just 10 postseason wins as well.

Drew Brees is and has always been known as the most popular player to play with the team. Brees was fantastic, finishing with over 68,000 passing yards and 491 touchdowns. Morten Anderson is another name that Saints fans will not forget. His 1,318 points in his career is the leader for the franchise.

Sean Payton is another name fans will not forget. He won 152 games as the head coach of the franchise, an all-time leader.

Rickey Jordan finished his career with 115 sacks. Currently, Cam Jordan is doing his best to chase that number down.

Mark Ingram is the official franchise leader in rushing yards. Ingram finished his career with more than 6,200 yards on the ground. Ingram also has the most career-rushing touchdowns for the franchise. He finished with 51, while Deuce McAllister had 49. Alvin Kamara seems to be on pace to break all running back records for the franchise.

The 2011 Saints were one of the highest-scoring teams in all of the National Football League, with 547 points. That is an average of 34 points per game. On the flip side, the 2016 Saints allowed just shy of 30 points per game.

The New Orleans Saints have only been to the Super Bowl once in their franchise history, and that was a winner. The Saints won Super Bowl XLIV to close out the 2009 season. Super Bowl XLIV win came over the Indianapolis Colts. Sean Payton and his Saints trailed at halftime 10-6, but scored 25 second-half points to win the game. This game was played in Miami in front of 74,000 fams in attendance. Drew Brees picked up MVP honors with 288 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. His 32 completions in the game tied Tom Brady for a Super Bowl record.

The Saints have won their division 9 times in franchise history. The Saints were winners of the NFC West in 1991 and 2000 and now the NFC South 7 times, with the most recent coming in four straight years from 2017-2020.

New Orleans has made the postseason 14 times. The best stretch, again, was the 2017-2020 seasons, although they did make it three straight seasons in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

The New Orleans Saints have some very popular names under center over their franchise history. Drew Brees, of course, is the best of those names, as he started 228 games in franchise history. Brees won 142 starts and is second to Bobby Hebert for win percentage. Hebert played in only 78 games, though,

Brees has the most passing yards, with 68,010, and touchdowns, with 491. Next on the list is Archie Manning. Manning won 129 games food the Saints and threw for over 21,000 yards and 115 touchdowns. Aaron Brooks is the only guy standing in the way, as he finished with 120 passing touchdowns. One more guy is on the Top 5 list for the Saints, and that’s Jim Everett, with 60 touchdowns in his career.

New Orleans has not had a ton of postseason success. All but one win in the postseason for the Saints came from Drew Brees. Brees finished his career with 6 wins in 11 games in the postseason. The only other quarterback to win in the postseason was Aaron Brooks. He went 1-1 in 2000. Before those guys, Bobby Hebert went 0-2, and Steve Walsh lost his only start in 1990.

The New Orleans Saints have four guys they can “call their own” in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There are 4 others that played with the Saints during their career, and additionally, two coaches and executives. Until the selection of Rickey Jackson in 2010, there were no Saints that had their time primarily as Saints to get inducted in.

After Rickey Jackson came offensive tackle Willie Roaf, Roaf played from 1993-2001 with the Saints. He was inducted in 2012. The last two guys from the Saints inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame were Morten Andersen, a kicker from 1982-1994, and Sam Mills, a linebacker from 1986 to 1994. Andersen went into the Hall of Fame in 2017, while Mills was inducted in 2022.

The names of the players that were only with the Saints for a small portion that is in the Hall of Fame include Jim Taylor, Doug Atkins, Earl Campbell, and Ken Stabler. Two coaches and executives that had a short stay with the franchise have been inducted. Jim Finks in 1995, and Hank Stram in 2003.

Here are some final tidbits about the New Orleans Saints that you may or may not have known:

1.It took the Saints 20 seasons before reaching the postseason for the first time.
2.The Saints were one of the first teams to play a game outside of the USA. The Saints and Eagles played in Mexico City back in 1978.
3.During the 1980 season, the team lost their first 14 games of the season. Many referred to them as the “Aints,” and fans wore paper bags over their heads for home games.
4.The song “When the Saints Go March In” is played every time the team scores a touchdown at home.
5.The Saints have two mascots: Sir Saint and also Gumbo the Dog.
6.The Saints cheerleaders are called the Saintsations.