Saints Countdown To Kickoff With The History Of Number 97
Saints Countdown To Kickoff With The History Of Number 97 originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The New Orleans Saints are only 97 days away from the official start to their 59th NFL season. On September 7, the Saints will host the Arizona Cardinals in their 2025-26 regular season opener.
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Sporting uniform number 97 for the Saints this year is defensive tackle Khristian Boyd, who is in his second season with the team and in the league. Here's a look back at the other players that have worn 97 during a regular season game for the Saints.
Saints History of 97
Jan 8, 2023; Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold (14) is pressured by New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Malcolm Roach (97). Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
• Jumpy Geathers, DE (1984-89)
• Renaldo Turnbull, LB/DE (1990-96)
• La'Roi Glover, DT (1997-2001)
• Jonathan Sullivan, DT (2003-05)
• Josh Cooper, DE (2006-07)
• Jeff Charleston, DE (2008-11)
• Glenn Foster, DE (2013-14)
• Sam Barrington, LB (2016)
• Al-Quadin Muhammad, DE (2017)
• Mario Edwards, DE (2019)
• Malcolm Roach, DT (2020-23)
• Khristian Boyd, DT (2024-present)
New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Jumpy Geathers tackles Los Angeles Rams running back Eric Dickerson. Credit: NOLA.com
The first to wear 97 in Saints history was Geathers, an underrated pass rusher for one of the league's outstanding defenses in the 1980s. Geathers had 26 sacks in his six years with New Orleans, including 21.5 in his first three years.
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New Orleans selected Turnbull in the first round of the 1990 NFL Draft. He had 9 sacks as a pass rush specialist in his first season, then succeeded the iconic Pat Swilling after a trade three years later in 1993.
Turnbull had a team-high 13 sacks that season to earn a Pro Bowl berth, but never had the same fearsome impact of Swilling. In seven years with New Orleans, the longest to wear 97 in team history, Turnbull totaled 44.5 sacks and forced 9 fumbles.
Oct 3, 1993; New Orleans Saints linebacker Renaldo Turnbull (97) sacks Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jim Everett (11). Mandatory Credit: Peter Brouillet-USA TODAY NETWORK
Glover joined New Orleans in 1997 and would be a key cog in one of the NFL's most disruptive defensive lines. In his five years with the Saints, he had 50 sacks, including an NFL-best 17 in 2000 that ties him with Swilling for the single season franchise record.
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Over his last three seasons with New Orleans, Glover had an eye-popping 42 tackles for loss. Glover was inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame in 2013.
The sixth overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft, Sullivan is considered one of the biggest draft busts in franchise history. He played only three seasons for the Saints before being completely out of the league. In that disappointing span, he had only 1.5 sacks and 5 stops for loss.
New Orleans Saints defensive tackle La'Roi Glover (97) pressures Carolina Panthers quarterback Kerry Collins (12). Credit: neworleanssaints.com
After Geathers, Turnbull, and Glover, the Saints had little success with the number 97. Charleston, Foster, and Edwards all had decent stints but were unable to significantly develop. Muhammad is the forgotten member of the Saints outstanding 2017 draft class. He spent only one year with the team before having success in other stops.
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Roach was a nice undrafted addition in 2020. In his four years with the team he didn't fill up a stat sheet. However, he was a solid rotational player and extremely underrated run defender.
After Roach departed, the Saints plummeted to an abysmal 31st against the run last season. Now in his second year with the team, Boyd will need to showcase his interior power to improve that rush defense if he hopes to make the squad.
Related: Saints Countdown To Kickoff With The History Of Number 98
Related: Saints Countdown To Kickoff With The History Of Number 98
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
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