Tag: Rickey Jackson

Former Saints trainer Dean Kleinschmidt recognized by Pro Football Hall of Fame

Former New Orleans Saints athletic trainer Dean Kleinschmidt was recognized by the Pro Football Hall of Fame with its 2024 Award of Excellence:

Here’s some well-deserved recognition for longtime New Orleans Saints athletic trainer Dean Kleinschmidt. The Pro Football Hall of Fame honored him Thursday with its 2024 Award of Excellence for his efforts in treating athletes and helping to cultivate the game. He’s spent his years away from the NFL working with the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

“I’ve enjoyed 43 years in the NFL,” Kleinschmidt told Mobile Bay Magazine’s Breck Pappas. “But I’ve really loved 50 years in Mobile.”

Kleinschmidt was with the Saints from 1969 to 2000, having worked with a host of future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees: Rickey Jackson, Willie Roaf, Sam Mills, and many other great players, establishing some long-lasting friendships. At times early in his career he was tasked with watching Archie Manning’s sons Peyton, Eli, and Cooper while their father received treatment or worked out at the team practice facility.

“We’re in that business of trying to speed healing,” Kleinschmidt said in back in 1998, per the Herald Times’ Mike Wright. “We do everything we can to get these guys ready, within safety limits, to play on the next deadline, which is noon the following Sunday.”

He continued to work in the NFL after leaving the Saints, most notably joining the Detroit Lions as their coordinator of athletic medicine. Kleinschmidt retired from the NFL in 2015 and has since been enshrined at the Saints’ team Hall of Fame as well as the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame. Now the Pro Football Hall of Fame is making room for him, too.

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Countdown to Kickoff, Day 94: Cameron Jordan is the Saints Player of the Day

Countdown to Kickoff, Day 94: Cameron Jordan is the New Orleans Saints Player of the Day. What are expectations for him in 2024?

There are 94 days to go until the New Orleans Saints kick  off their 2024 season with the Carolina Panthers, which means Cameron Jordan — the current owner  of the No. 94 jersey — is our Saints Player of  the Day. We’re counting down to kickoff by highlighting each player in the corresponding jersey number until Sept. 8.

Jordan is coming off of a down year, which may feel inevitable this late in his career. But before we get to his goals for 2024, let’s reflect on the road that brought him here:

  • Name (Age): Cameron Jordan (34)
  • Position: Defensive end
  • Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 287 pounds
  • Relative Athletic Score: 8.86
  • 2024 salary cap hit: $13,852,250
  • College: California
  • Drafted: First round in 2011 (New Orleans Saints)
  • NFL experience: 14 seasons

Jordan is the Saints’ official all-time sacks leader (with 117.5 of them) but he only had two sacks last season before an ankle injury limited his snap counts. In 2022, 5 of his 8.5 sacks came in just two games. He isn’t the same pass rusher he once was, and the Saints shouldn’t keep asking him to play the same role in their defense. But they don’t have many better options with Payton Turner and Isaiah Foskey developing so slowly. Tanoh Kpassagnon’s injury takes  him off the board, too. The hope is Chase Young can add enough to thee pass rush opposite Carl Granderson to make up for Jordan’s decline, but he’s dealing with his own injury.

It isn’t a great situation. By all accounts the Saints are still intending on Jordan playing a lot of snaps and starting with Granderson. Until someone steps up to help Jordan shoulder the load, he’s going to continue playing heavy minutes on Sundays. He maintained an impressive pace of at least 7.5 sacks per season from 2012 to 2022, but those days may be behind him.

If that’s the case, we’re saying Jordan should aim for 5.5 sacks in 2024. That would be an improvement and tie Rickey Jackson for the Saints’ unofficial all-time record at Pro Football Reference. Sacks were not officially tracked until 1982, which didn’t include Jackson’s rookie season in 1981, so his unofficial total is 123. Seeing Jordan tie that would be good. Beating it would be great.

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Saints announce 2025 Saints Legends Fan Cruise

The New Orleans Saints announced their partnership with Seaside Events to launch the Saints Legends Fan Cruise in April 2025:

Here’s a new one. On Monday, the New Orleans Saints announced their partnership with Seaside Events to launch the Saints Legends Fan Cruise in April 2025, which you can read more about here. The seven-night cruise on the Norwegian Getaway will tour the Western Caribbean with stops in Mexico, Belize, and Honduras.

What’s unique is that this gives diehard Saints fans the opportunity to interact with some of their favorite players at meet and greets, group dinners, panel discussions, and autograph sessions, among other events. Additionally, the first 50 cabin bookings will receive seats at the Suite or Club level for a 2024/2025 Saints home game.

Saints owner Gayle Benson announced the cruise in a statement from the team: “We are thrilled to join forces with Seaside Events for this exciting venture, offering Saints fans an exclusive opportunity to interact with our Legends in a vibrant and exclusive atmosphere, fostering memories that will endure for a lifetime.”

So who will be in attendance? Pro Football Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson has already committed for the cruise, and so has fan favorites like Pat Swilling, Michael Lewis, Joe Horn, and Fred McAfee, and many other former Saints players. There aren’t many other events like this one, so be sure to check it out.

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Demario Davis approaching rare territory with fifth straight All-Pro nod

Demario Davis is approaching rare territory with his fifth straight All-Pro nod. He’s joined a small group of Saints players who went on to the Pro Football Hall of Fame:

Just five players in New Orleans Saints history have earned five placements on the All-Pro teams from the Associated Press, and now Demario Davis is one of them. The veteran linebacker was recognized as an All-Pro for the fifth year in a row on Friday, his fourth appearance on the second team. He started this run by making the cut for the All-Pro first team back in 2019.

And of the other four Saints players to achieve this distinction, two are already in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: outside linebacker Rickey Jackson and left tackle Willie Roaf. A third, right guard Jahri Evans, is a finalist in this year’s class and is waiting for word on whether or not he’ll be chosen for induction in just a few weeks. The remaining member of this group, all-time great quarterback Drew Brees, is expected to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer once he’s eligible in 2026.

Here’s how they compare in All-Pro appearances while with the Saints:

  • Rickey Jackson: Five years on the second team
  • Willie Roaf: Two years on the first team, three on the second team
  • Jahri Evans: Four years on the first team, once on the second team
  • Drew Brees: One year on the first team, four on the second team
  • Demario Davis: One year on the first team, four on the second team

Does this mean Davis is on his way to the Hall of Fame as well? Maybe so, maybe not. It’s tough to say. Jackson and Roaf each accomplished more with other teams, whether that’s earning Pro Bowl recognition, more All-Pro attention, or having won a Super Bowl. Davis doesn’t have the same number of Pro Bowls and first-team All-Pro awards (that distinction between the first and second teams matters), though his longevity is impressive. And there are other considerations like records set, stats met, and titles won.

Still, Davis is securely one of the greatest players in franchise history. He’s the best free agent signing the team has ever made — after Brees, of course. It’s a shame that popularity contests like the Pro Bowl factor in so heavily to Hall of Fame resumes, but that doesn’t diminish what Davis has achieved with the Saints in recent years while leading one of the league’s best defenses. Whether he’s bound for the Hall of Fame someday or not, the Saints are very fortunate to have him.

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Opinion: Saints shouldn’t wait much longer to memorialize ‘Dome Patrol’ legends

The Saints shouldn’t wait much longer to memorialize their ‘Dome Patrol’ legends. Permanent recognition for their first great team is long overdue:

Steve Sidwell died Wednesday evening. For New Orleans Saints fans of a certain age, he was one of the first members of the team whose name they remembered — for good reasons. He was the Saints defensive coordinator from 1986 to 1994, also coaching the team’s linebackers at times, and he was one of the people most responsible for building, developing, and maintaining the greatest defense in franchise history.

Now he’s gone. So are two of his former linebackers who helped make up the “Dome Patrol” defense: Pro Football Hall of Famer Sam Mills (who died far too young, back in 2005) and fan-favorite linebacker Vaughan Johnson (who passed more recently in 2019). Rickey Jackson, also a Hall of Fame inductee, is still with us as is Pat Swilling.

But the Saints shouldn’t keep putting this off. Installing a permanent memorial to their first great team, insuring that those legendary players will not be forgotten by future generations, should be an easy decision. Saints fans seem to bring it up every summer. And the precedent is there.

Mills has already been immortalized with a bronze statue outside the Carolina Panthers’ stadium in Charlotte; he was a founding member of that franchise as a player and coach before his tragic death, and fans of both NFC South-rival teams came together to celebrate his Hall of Fame induction with his family.

If the Panthers can make tribute to Mills, why can’t the Saints? Why shouldn’t the Saints do it for the entire four-man linebacker corps, the only group in NFL history to be invited to the Pro Bowl at the time in 1992? Their defense powered New Orleans to its first winning season and playoff appearance in 1987. They gave fans something more to root for than Tom Dempsey’s legendary field goal or Archie Manning’s futile heroics.

The Saints recognized them last year with reprints of the iconic posters that young fans all across the Gulf South proudly displayed in their youth, and all four linebackers have places in the Saints Hall of Fame. But they can do more. And they should, with a larger public gesture. Late owner Tom Benson placed a statue of himself in Champions Square back in 2014. The Caesars Superdome is also home to a Vietnam War Memorial near Poydras Street. And of course there’s Steve Gleason’s all-time great “Rebirth” statue, which has become a landmark and pilgrimage for many fans visiting town for the first time.

There’s room for a “Dome Patrol” memorial on the Superdome grounds. There’s appetite for it among the fanbase, too. And with time working against them, the Saints shouldn’t put this easy decision off any longer. People should be given their flowers while they’re still with us to appreciate them. It’s too late for Mills, Johnson, and Sidwell to have that time in the sun. That doesn’t mean the Saints can’t make things right with their families and the legendary players and coaches still among us.

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Former Saints ‘Dome Patrol’ DC Steve Sidwell dead at 78

Former Saints defensive coordinator Steve Sidwell has died at 78. Dennis Allen paid tribute to one of the architects of the legendary “Dome Patrol” defense:

This is tough news. The New Orleans Saints announced the death of former defensive coordinator Steve Sidwell on Thursday, paying tribute to one of the architects of their storied “Dome Patrol” defense.

Sidwell coached the Saints defense from 1986 to 1994, helping to draft and develop some of the greatest defenders in franchise history on Jim Mora’s staff. Two of his linebackers, Rickey Jackson and Sam Mills, were selected for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

And Saints head coach Dennis Allen paid tribute to Sidwell during his Thursday press conference after practice. After expressing condolences to Sidwell’s family, Allen acknowledged what Sidwell accomplished in New Orleans.

“He was a tremendous defensive coach in our league,” Allen began. “Ton of success. Led the Dome Patrol defense which is really the standard of defense for the New Orleans Saints. It’s what we kind of aspire to be defensively. It’s a sad day for our organization, and again our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

Sidwell is survived by his wife Kathleen and their town sons Brad and Scott. We’ll be wishing them the best in this difficult time.

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Voters describe Cameron Jordan as a likely Hall of Famer, but not yet a lock

These Hall of Fame voters described New Orleans Saints sacks leader Cameron Jordan as someone likely to be inducted, but not yet a lock:

Is Cameron Jordan a future Hall of Famer? That’s something a lot of New Orleans Saints fans take for granted, but he isn’t in the clear just yet, despite having won the team’s official sacks record last season. Just ask the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters at the The 33rd Team: Vic Carucci, Paul Domowitch, Clark Judge and Barry Wilner, who surveyed a number of Hall of Fame candidates to share their take this offseason.

They describe Jordan as a special talent who is likely to reach enshrinement, but if his career ended today he wouldn’t be a lock for the Hall of Fame. Here’s their explanation:

“With 115.5 career sacks and at least 7.5 a season since his 2011 rookie year, Cam Jordan made the 2010s All-Decade team.

The New Orleans Saints rarely have been a defense-first club, particularly when Sean Payton was coaching, and Drew Brees was behind center. 

‘It’s unusual for just one defensive player to stand out on a contending team built around its offense,’ Wilner notes. ‘Jordan would be that guy in New Orleans. He’s been as much a difference-making defender as most of his peers.’”

Jordan’s 115.5 career sacks and 8 Pro Bowl nods are impressive, but there are players who have logged more sacks than him and nearly as many Pro Bowl appearances, with more recognition on the Associated Press All-Pro lists, that are still waiting on their call from the Hall of Fame. Here are just some of them:

  • Jared Allen: 136 sacks, 5 Pro Bowls, 4 All-Pro lists
  • John Abraham: 133.5 sacks, 5 Pro Bowls, 2 All-Pro lists
  • Leslie O’Neal: 132.5 sacks, 6 Pro Bowls

If Jordan can continue to bag 7.5 or more sacks per year and agree on an extension to close out his career with the Saints, he’ll likely have a strong enough resume for Hall of Fame induction. But that’s exactly the voters’ point. He hasn’t separated himself from his peers with Defensive Player of the Year awards or league-leading sack numbers. He’s had the bad luck to share his time in the NFL with rare talents like Aaron Donald and J.J. Watt. If Jordan is going to earn a bronze bust in Canton, it’ll be because he continued to meet his high standards of play after his rivals called it quits. He’s on the right track. He just needs to keep it going for a couple more years.

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Saints ‘Dome Patrol’ legend Rickey Jackson earns his Pitt degree at age 65

After assembling a Hall of Fame career on the ‘Dome Patrol’ Saints defense, Rickey Jackson completed his college studies to earn his degree at Pitt:

Now this is cool. Rickey Jackson achieved a Hall of Fame-worthy career with the New Orleans Saints as the best player on the vaunted “Dome Patrol” defense, but he recently completed another lifelong accomplishment: earning his college degree, not long after celebrating his 65th birthday in March.

Short by a couple of history courses when he declared for the NFL draft back in 1981, Jackson chose to return to school late in life because it’s something his parents would have wanted him to do.

“I was so close to it that it made no sense to not get it,” Jackson said, per the university’s website via Nick France. “My mother would’ve loved it, my father wanted me to get it. I know they’d be proud of me.”

He walked the stage to receive his degree in social sciences from the school’s College of General Studies on April 30, removed nearly 42 years to the day when he turned pro as a Saint.

Jackson spent a year taking online classes to complete his studies, and it’s an accomplishment he’s very proud of. He’s done it all — he owns a Super Bowl ring, a gold jacket from the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the adoration of a fanbase that still puts him up there with the greatest defenders of all time.

But because this was an individual accomplishment, Jackson values it a bit more than those other achievements. He added to France, “I’d put it up with the Super Bowl and all. This is something I achieved personally on my own, so I’d put it right up with that.”

Now he’s urging his old football friends like Lawrence Taylor to go back and finish their studies, too, when they’re golfing together in South Florida. Jackson told the Palm Beach Post’s Tom D’Angelo, “Anybody can do this. I did it. It just takes commitment.”

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Cameron Jordan thanks Matt Ryan for all his help in winning Saints’ sack record

Cameron Jordan made time to thank Matt Ryan for all his help in winning the Saints’ sack record. He didn’t forget his longtime rival while celebrating a career milestone:

Cameron Jordan made NFL history with the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, with his third sack on the afternoon raising his career total to 115.5. That’s half a sack ahead of Pro Football Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson, famed leader of the Saints’ old “Dome Patrol” defense. This big game also put Jordan’s season total to 8.5 sacks, landing him in rare company. Hall of Fame inductees Reggie White and John Randle are the only other players to have bagged at least 7.5 sacks in as many consecutive seasons as Jordan (11).

Jordan turned retrospective in celebrating his accomplishment after the game, thanking dozens of teammates and coaches by name who helped him get to this point — as well as the many opposing quarterbacks he brought down over the years.

“There was some Josh Freemans in there, there was like a myriad of Tampa Bay quarterbacks. Lots of Matt Ryan,” Jordan joked. “He’s been good to me. Happy New Year, Matt Ryan, if you see it.”

Ryan certainly has been good to him: Jordan sacked the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback 23 times in 11 seasons, setting an NFL record for the most sacks of an opposing passer by a single defender in their career. It’s quite a unique NFL record they put together.

When asked how much longer he sees himself playing, Jordan quipped: “I don’t know, Tom Brady is like 75. So half that? I’ll take 37.”

Jordan turns 34 this summer, and it sure doesn’t seem like he’s slowing down that much. He could very likely play three more years at this level. If he can remain healthy and productive, he could put the sacks record so far out of reach that it endures as long for him as it did for Jackson (28-plus years, or 10,591 days). We’ll see how the defensive line changes around him in the offseason, but Jordan should continue to be a fixture for New Orleans. When he’s ready to hang up his cleats, he’ll have quite a case to maybe join Jackson, White, and Randle in the Hall of Fame himself someday.

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Cameron Jordan breaks the Saints’ all-time sack record with big game vs. Eagles

Cam Jordan is all about the next level, and now, he’s reached the mountaintop as the Saints all-time sack leader, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

191 games is all it took for New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan to set the franchise record for career sacks. He did so with a fantastic performance against the Philadelphia Eagles wherein Jordan harassed quarterback Gardner Minshew, bagging three sacks on the afternoon. Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker and member of the esteemed Dome Patrol, Rickey Jackson officially held the record at 115 sacks. He did amass his tally over 195 games, four more than Jordan.

The 2011 first-round pick has long stated that he wants to be a legacy player in New Orleans. He often referenced playing his entire career with just one team, as his father did with the Minnesota Vikings, and reaching the franchise sack record as career goals. Now, he has achieved one with the very real possibility of accomplishing both.

Of Jordan’s 115.5 sacks, his largest share came against former NFC South rival Matt Ryan when he was the quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons. The two were well known for their consistent meetings which led to Jordan sacking Ryan more than any individual player has sacked a specific quarterback in NFL history. With one game left to play against the Carolina Panthers next week, the Saints mainstay will have a chance to continue to extend his record before the season draws to a close.

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