33 days until Saints season opener: Every player to wear No. 33

USA Today

3 days ago

Hall of Famer Tyrone Hughes tops the list of players who have worn No. 33 in Saints history
The New Orleans Saints are 33 days away from their matchup against the Arizona Cardinals to kick off their 2025 regular season. Wearing No. 33 for the Saints is rookie safety Jonas Sanker, trying to become the first successful player that the Saints have had in that number for quite some time. Here's a look at all who wore that jersey number for New Orleans.
Saints' History of No. 33
The first player to put on a No. 33 jersey for the Saints was Randy Schultz, who picked up a total of 489 yards and scored twice in two years and 17 games with the team. Steve Preece was the first defensive player to wear 33, intercepting one throw in one season as a Saint. The first player that was drafted by New Orleans to wear No. 33 was Mike Strachan, selected in the ninth round.
Strachan had a productive career with the Saints, playing 62 games over six years. It remains the second longest stretch that a player has worn No. 33 with New Orleans. In that span, he rushed for 1,902 yards and scored 14 touchdowns. Unfortunately, Strachan is just as remembered for a cocaine trafficking conviction in 1982 while with the Saints that sent him to federal prison.
A St. Augustine High School product that starred collegiately for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Tyrone Hughes returned home as a Round 5 selection in the 1993 NFL draft. Hughes made an instant impact. He returned 2 punts and 1 kickoff for touchdowns as a rookie, leading the NFL in punt return average (13.6) and yardage (503) while ranking second in kickoff return average. That earned him All-Rookie accolades as well as Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors.
In 1994, Hughes intercepted 2 passes and returned 2 of his 3 fumble recoveries for touchdowns while leading the NFL with 128 fumble return yards. He led the NFL in kickoff return yards, returning 2 for touchdowns. Both returns came during a game against the Los Angeles Rams, where Hughes set NFL single-game records for kickoff return and combined kickoff/punt return yardage while also having an interception in that same contest.
Tyrone Hughes was a standout corner and elite return specialist for New Orleans for 63 games from 1993 to 1996, the longest stretch of any Saint to wear No. 33. He led the league in kickoff return yards for three consecutive seasons and punt return yardage once. In 2015, Tyrone was inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame. He remains second in franchise history in both kickoff and punt return yards, holds the longest punt return in team history, with his five combined kick and punt return touchdowns tops in franchise history.
Safety Rob Kelly was the highest-drafted player by the Saints to wear No. 33. A second round and 33rd overall choice from the Ohio State Buckeyes in 1997, Kelly would play all four of his NFL seasons with New Orleans. He only wore 33 as a rookie, wearing a different number in each year with the Saints. Of the 21 players to wear 33 in New Orleans so far, only three have done so for more than two seasons, with 15 of them wearing it for one year or less.
Jabari Greer was the last New Orleans player to wear 33 for longer than a year. Greer was with the Saints for five seasons, switching from No. 32 to 33 in 2010. An outstanding cornerback, Greer helped transform the New Orleans defense to a championship caliber unit during their 2009 Super Bowl XLIV title run. He had 9 interceptions over his Saints career, returning two for scores while breaking up 48 passes.
Easily the most disappointing player to wear 33 for the team was Stanley Jean-Baptiste. A second round choice in the 2014 NFL draft, Jean-Baptiste was the second highest drafted player by New Orleans at 58th overall to wear the 33 jersey. He played only four games for New Orleans and was gone from the team the following offseason, bouncing around the practice squads of five different teams over the next four years. Safety Jonas Sanker, a Round 3 selection in this year's draft, now gets his chance in No. 33. Sanker will be the seventh different player to wear the jersey in the last 12 years, but is expected to be a crucial part of the New Orleans secondary.