Saying goodbye is hard. Saying goodbye is hardest when it’s someone that means so much to you. I want to first applaud Brian Pavek for giving Jahri Evans the send off he deserves. Sadly, Evans is not the only all time Saint superstar and Super Bowl title team pillar the Saints are parting ways with this offseason. The other would be the one and only Marques Colston. As much as Evans did a remarkable job keeping Drew Brees clean and safe all these years, it was buying him time to unload the football to Colston. Colston wasn’t flashy and he wasn’t explosive. But he was steady, reliable, consistent and Brees’s safety place. Consider all the weapons Brees has had from 2006 to 2015: Deuce McAllister, Reggie Bush, Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem, Darren Sproles, Jeremy Shockey, Lance Moore, Darren Sproles, the great Jimmy Graham… Colston outlasted every single one of them in New Orleans.
Consider the statistics for a minute, because they are substantial and they deserve proper recognition. Colston is the career team leader in receptions with 711. Next best is Eric Martin with 532, which means Colston has a margin of 179 catches. Colston is the career team leader in receiving yards with 9,759 yards. Next is Martin with 7,854, meaning Colston has a margin of 1,905 yards. Colston is the career team leader in touchdown receptions with 72. Next best is Jimmy Graham with 51, meaning there’s a 21 touchdown margin. Colston is also the team leader in career touchdowns scored by a 17 touchdown margin over Deuce McAllister, who has 55. Any way you slice it, Colston has obliterated every Saints receiving record and it will be extremely difficult to ever see his records fall. As far as single season records, his 98 catches in 2007 are second most all time in Saints history to Graham (99). He holds the 7th, 8th and 9th most receiving yards in a single season in Saints history. He holds the 2nd and 5th most receiving touchdowns in a season in Saints history. Pro Football Reference rates him as the 5th best Saint ever of all time in “Approximate Value” behind only Brees, Rickey Jackson, Evans and Stan Brock. He’s also one of the best players in NFL history to never make a Pro Bowl. He’s 13th in team history with 146 games played as a Saint.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vASBzZEE34M]While the body of work he posted on paper over his 10 year career with the Saints is unprecedented in team history, Colston’s legacy is so much more than that. His quiet demeanor earned him the nickname “Quiet Storm”. This was a refreshing and shocking personality for a superstar receiver in the NFL. In some ways it likely had partly to do with why he never made a Pro Bowl. Colston played in a small market, never called attention to himself and he talked very little. He was not a self promoter and always a team first player. Colston was even more unassuming than McAllister in his prime, which is saying something. Humility is embedded in the guy’s DNA. Anytime he made a huge catch for a game changing first down, or scored a huge touchdown late in the game, he’d hand the ball to the referee, subtly hug his teammates and go back to the huddle or sideline. In his prime he was unflappable mentally. The only just comparison I can really give is Pete Sampras in terms of approach and demeanor. I mean that as the ultimate compliment as I view Sampras as the most classy and consummate professional of all time in any sport. But it’s that classiness combined with greatness that make both of these athletes similar and unique. Like Sampras, deep inside Colston burned a fire desperate for greatness. That’s what made Colston such a special and unique athlete, better than so many of his flashier and more explosive contemporaries. Colston, like Sampras, was a great athlete with plenty of his own world class abilities – but it was his mental toughness and his ability to harness emotions that allowed him to tap into a level of peak performance that so few master.
Colston came to the Saints out of a little known small school named Hofstra in the 7th round of the 2006. Hofstra, by the way, no longer has a football team. Colston was the 252nd player selected, just 3 picks away from being “Mr. Irrelevant” which is the last player picked in the NFL draft.
When he was selected by the Saints, he was listed as a tight end/wide receiver “tweener”, viewed as needing to add serious weight to be a tight end at the next level and too slow to be productive and create separation as a wideout.
2006:
As a rookie, Colston came to rookie camp overweight and out of sorts. He dropped numerous balls and looked like a 7th round pick destined for a 2 year career on the practice squad – at best – before his NFL career was over. At that time, receiver coach Curtis Johnson and head coach Sean Payton told Colston that he’d need to lose weight and gain consistency if he wanted any shot of an NFL career, even as a backup, or he’d be cut in short order. Colston struggled to pick up the playbook and understand his responsibilities.
Come training camp, Colston returned a different person and player. He had complete mastery of the playbook, knew every assignment by heart, caught every ball in sight and showed up in the best shape of his life. He had taken the advice given to him by the coaching staff to heart. As he rocketed up the depth chart, Donte Stallworth who was former 1st round pick and fresh off a career season that saw him produce 70 catches for 945 yards and 7 touchdowns, started screwing up. He drew Payton’s ire for being unreliable, reportedly sleeping in late, and generally having punctuality issues. Stallworth was quickly traded to the Eagles before the season started, vaulting the unknown Colston into the starting lineup to the shock of everyone. Keep in mind, the Saints had also drafted a receiver in the 6th round that year and most fans were much more excited about the prospect of Mike Hass. Hass would never catch a single pass in his NFL career.
Colston caught 4 passes for 49 yards and 1 touchdown in his first career start in Cleveland, helping the Saints to a 19-14 win. In week two, Colston caught 4 passes for 58 yards and a touchdown to help the Saints beat the Packers. In the memorable first game back in the Superdome in week 3 when Steve Gleason blocked the punt, he had 7 receptions for 97 yards. The Saints were 3-0, and Colston was quickly establishing himself as a primary target on a team contending for the playoffs. By week 9 and 10, he posted stat lines of 11-123-1 against the Bucs and 10-169 against the Steelers in back to back weeks. It was clear at this point, the “rookie” was an NFL star. He would add 10 more receptions in the playoffs, including a touchdown at Chicago in the NFC Championship. He finished the regular season with 70 catches for 1,038 yards and 8 touchdowns, despite missing the majority of 4 games and the entirety of 2.
2007:
His best statistical season. While the team went 7-9 and had less success in terms of wins, Colston was developing into a household name in the NFL. He finished with 98 catches for 1,202 yards and 11 touchdowns. He played in all 16 games and had at least 8 catches in half of them. He never had huge monster games but was steadily consistent in his performances. His best game was a 10 catch 159 yard performance against the Jaguars.
2008:
Like 2007, the Saints would go 7-9. Unfortunately the Saints would lose Colston for an extended time due to injury and he’d only end up playing in 10 games – a big reason for their struggles (the Saints went 2-4 without Colston, 5-5 with him). Colston finished with 47 catches for 760 yards and 5 touchdowns. Surprisingly, the Saints went 0-3 in games where he had over 100 yards receiving.
2009:
We all remember this season. The Saints had a lot of weapons and a very potent running game. Colston was less of a factor in this offense and more of a stabilizing force that moved the chains. He’d go over 100 yards twice in this season but still total a steady 70 catch, 1,074 yard, 9 touchdown season. He’d add 15 more receptions for 188 yards and a touchdown in the playoffs. This was the year he won the Super Bowl title.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIYNzM9O2JM]2010:
Finished with 84 catches for 1,023 yards and 7 touchdowns. His best game was an 8 catches, 113 yard 2 touchdown performance in a win over the Seahawks. Unfortunately, the Saints would lose to that same team in the playoffs.
2011:
This was the most explosive year on offense in NFL history. Colston finished with 80 catches for 1,143 yards and 8 touchdowns. He finished the season with a 7 catch, 145 yard and 2 touchdown performance in a huge win over the Panthers. In the playoffs, Colston posted two huge games, 7 catches for 120 yards against the Lions and 9 catches for 136 yards and a touchdown at San Francisco.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGiGtdpLjSw]2012:
Scored 3 touchdowns in a game against the Chargers. Finished with 83 catches, 1,153 yards and 10 touchdowns. This was the disappointing Bountygate season. The Saints finished 7-9.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQa1rbtSb-w]2013:
He missed one game due to injury and finished with 75 catches for 943 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also posted 11 catches for 144 yards and a touchdown in the playoff loss to the Seahawks. This was perhaps a slight down year compared to other seasons, but not by much.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMcePpzN90U]2014:
Despite playing in 16 games, he finished with 59 catches f0r 902 yards and 5 touchdowns. A good season by any standard, but also the first signs Colston was starting to slow down and wasn’t quite the player he used to be. He only had 2 100 yard games (both losses).
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tenkMpOK1rE]2015:
Played in 13 games and by this point injuries really slowed him down. The ball security issues continued and he eventually became a 3rd and 4th option in the passing game. Finished with 45 catches for 520 yards and 4 touchdowns. Most receivers would kill for a stat line like that – but this was clearly the worst season of his career.
While he faded a bit like any aging player does, Colston deserves recognition for being the best receiver in Saints history and so much more than that. Thanks for the memories, the Super Bowl title and for being you, Quiet Storm. There will never be another one like you. As Saints fans we are forever indebted for the 10 years of entertainment and joy you gave us.
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