57 days until Saints season opener: Every player to wear No. 57
The New Orleans Saints kick off their 2025 regular season 57 days from today at home against the Arizona Cardinals. Currently wearing No. 57 for New Orleans is undrafted rookie linebacker Tyreem Powell. There have been 15 players who have worn No. 57 for the Saints previously. We take a look at all of them today, with none better than a New Orleans icon and first predominantly Saints player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Saints' History of No. 57
Shreveport native and former LSU product Mike Morgan was also the first to wear 57 for the Saints. He was with the team for two seasons, intercepting one pass and returning one of his 3 fumble recoveries for a touchdown in 23 outings. Larry Coombs was the first and only offensive player to wear 57 for New Orleans, doing so for just one game during the 1980 season.
Between Morgan and Coombs in No. 57 was Jim Merlo, the first New Orleans draft choice to wear the number. A fourth round pick in the 1973 NFL draft, Merlo was with the Saints for all of his six years in the NFL, playing 88 games with 68 starts. It is the second longest tenure of any player who has worn No. 57 for New Orleans. Merlo had 8 interceptions in his Saints career, returning three for touchdowns, in addition to 6 sacks and 11 fumble recoveries.There is no doubting that the best to wear No. 57 was Rickey Jackson. An All-American with the Pitt Panthers, Jackson somehow fell to the late second round of a star-studded 1981 NFL Draft, where New Orleans grabbed him with the 51st overall choice. He made an immediate impact for the Saints and throughout the league, quickly developing into an elite talent.
Jackson's 13 years and 195 games are by far the most by any Saints player to wear 57. The initial member of the iconic Dome Patrol foursome of linebackers, Jackson carved out a place at the top of New Orleans record books in several categories. He had 123 sacks as a Saint, along with 7 interceptions and 38 forced fumbles. Jackson was inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame in 1997 and into the franchise's Ring of Honor in 2013. In 2010, Jackson received the highest possible honor in football when inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
After Jackson departed as a free agent to the hated San Francisco 49ers in 1994, there wouldn't be another Saint to wear his number until 2001. Over the 24 years since, 10 players have worn No. 57 for New Orleans during a regular season contest. Only one of them, David Hawthorne, managed to do so for more than two years. Hawthorne had 6 sacks and one interception in his 50 games with the Saints. It is the third longest tenure of anyone to wear No. 57 for the franchise.
Alex Okafor had a short tenure with New Orleans, but probably the most productive one outside of Rickey Jackson and Jim Merlo of the players in 57. Okafor appeared in 26 regular season games as a Saint. Over that span, he'd record 8.5 sacks with 10 tackles for loss and forced 3 fumbles. The three players since Okafor to wear No. 57 have done so for a combined 10 games.
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