Tag: Bobby Hebert

Jake Haener changes his jersey number ahead of the 2023 season

Jake Haener will switch from the No. 14 jersey moving forward with the New Orleans Saints. The Saints’ third quarterback has picked a new number | @crissy_froyd

Here’s something New Orleans Saints fans haven’t seen in a while. Jake Haener, their team’s fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft, has worn the No. 14 jersey throughout preseason but that’s something that will no longer continue.

Haener is switching to the No. 3 jersey; he’s the fourth quarterback on the 53-man roster behind Derek Carr, Jameis Winston, and Taysom Hill. Haener’s former jersey number at Fresno State (No. 9) is unavailable with the Saints, so that was not an option, leading him to go with his high school jersey number instead. New Orleans has unofficially retired No. 9 out of respect for legendary former Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

It’s been a long time since a Saints quarterback wore No. 3. Bobby Hebert used it from 1985 to 1992, and he is the only non-special teams player to ever wear the jersey number for New Orleans, making Haener just the second to so. Former Saints kicker Will Lutz, who now rejoins Sean Payton with the Denver Broncos, was the most recent Saints player to wear No. 3. Soon Haener will make it his own.

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Tom Dempsey among important players in Saints history impacted by the coronavirus

The New Orleans Saints family has been hit hard by the novel coronavirus, with legendary kicker Tom Dempsey recently testing positive.

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The novel coronavirus has spread rapidly throughout the nation, hitting vulnerable populations like the elderly harder than most. That group includes big figures in New Orleans Saints lore such as the legendary Tom Dempsey, whose NFL-record 63-yard field goal at the old Tulane Stadium stood for 43 years. On Monday, the Times-Picayune’s Ramon Antonio Vargas reported that Dempsey tested positive for the coronavirus.

Dempsey, 73, has been a resident of the New Orleans-based Lambeth House Retirement Community, one of many nursing homes battling coronavirus infections. Because he is battling both Alzheimer’s and dementia, his family and the Tulane University Medical Center (which tested him for the coronavirus) agreed that he should continue to stay at Lambeth House.

Vargas added that Dempsey’s family reports he has so far dealt with just mild symptoms of the coronavirus, and that he has responded well to initial treatment. Still, it’s a very serious situation, which the families of other former Saints players can speak to.

Bobby Hebert Jr. lost his father, Bobby Hebert Sr., after testing positive for the coronavirus. Hebert Jr. played for both the Saints and the Atlanta Falcons during his 11-year NFL career and currently works as an analyst for WWL Radio in New Orleans.

Saints coach Sean Payton said last week that he was clear of infection after previously testing positive himself, though he’s remaining careful to stay at home during this public health crisis. With greater availability of testing raising the total number of cases daily, it feels like it’s only a matter of time until more members of the Saints family are affected by the coronavirus.

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