Rickey Jackson wins my award for the second best Saint of all time. I figured I’d owe you all an explanation for why I have two players ahead of Brees, so I’ll start with this one: Rickey Jackson is the lone member of the team to make it to the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame. That is considered the highest award one can ever achieve in the sport. Drew Brees has had 5 dominant seasons with the Saints and Rickey Jackson had 13 of them. Jackson also had more pro bowl invites (6) than Drew Brees has had seasons with the Saints so far (5). Again, I have no doubt that Brees will climb up this list in short order… but as great as his accomplishments are I don’t think he’s achieved “best Saint all time” status quite yet. Rickey Jackson was the complete package at linebacker: intelligence, strength, speed, size, tackling ability, playmaking ability – you name it. He always had a nose for the football and was always the first to any fumble and often times stripped the ball from opponents. To this day, Rickey Jackson is second in NFL history for most recovered fumbles in his career (with 29).
Other notable stats:
His 13 playing seasons with the Saints is tied for the most all time. He left the Saints for 2 seasons to play with the San Francisco 49ers, and became a Super Bowl champion with them. He posted 9 sacks in a season or better 8 times with the Saints (and once with the 49ers). For comparison’s sake, the Saints’ leader in sacks this past season was Sedrick Ellis with 8. He leads the Saints all time in sacks with 115, though his first season with the Saints in 1981, sacks were not officially kept yet as a statistic. Unofficially, it is said that he had 8 sacks that season, which would bump his career total with the Saints to 123. No other Saint in team history even has 85. As mentioned previously, he has recovered more fumbles than any Saint in history, and he’s 2nd in NFL history. Jackson also has a rafter on the Superdome’s wall of fame to acknowledge his stardom with the team. Something we can only assume Brees will have one day as well.
Thanks for the memories #57! The Saints’ defense hasn’t been the same since you left.
The “List”
10. Eric Martin
9. Pat Swilling
8. Archie Manning
7. Sam Mills
6. Joe Horn
5. Morten Andersen
4. Deuce McAllister
3. Drew Brees
2. Rickey Jackson
to be continued…
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