Exactly one week separates us from the New Orleans Saints regular season opener. In seven days, the Saints will play at the Detroit Lions to kick off their year. Second-year safety Jonas Sanker recently switched from No. 33 to No. 7 for New Orleans. Sanker will become the ninth player to wear that number in Saints history. We look at each of them in our continuing countdown to kickoff series.
Saints History of No. 7
- K Toni Linhart (1972)
- QB Guy Benjamin (1980)
- K Morten Andersen (1982-94)
- QB Danny Wuerffel (1997-99)
- P Steve Weatherford (2006-08)
- QB Luke McCown (2013-15)
- TE/QB Taysom Hill (2017-25)
- S Jonas Sanker (current)
Toni Linhart was the first to wear No. 7 with New Orleans. He suited up for only two games, making 2 of 5 field goals and 5 extra points. Guy Benjamin spent three years as the backup to Joe Montana with San Francisco in the early 1980s. Before that, he appeared in two games as a reserve with the Saints in 1980, completing 7 of 17 passes for 28 yards and an interception.
Morten Andersen was the first and highest drafted Saints player to wear No. 7. A Round 4 and 86th overall selection, Andersen's 196 games with the team are the most of any player to wear a 7 jersey. His 13-year New Orleans career was a large chunk of a 25-year NFL career that culminated with an induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is only one of three pure kickers to receive that honor so far.
Andersen converted 77.6% of his field goals and nearly 99% of his extra points as a Saint. He holds every conceivable career kicking record in New Orleans. A six-time 1st or 2nd Team All-Pro, Andersen was voted onto the NFL All-Decade team of the 1980s and 1990s. In addition to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Andersen was also inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame, Louisiana Hall of Fame, and the Saints Ring of Honor.
Danny Wuerffel followed Andersen in the No. 7 and also as a fourth round draft choice. The 99th selection in the 1997 NFL draft, Wuerffel was with the Florida Gators where he won the Heisman Trophy and a national championship among a slew of awards. He was also part of a ridiculous quarterback carousel during the horrific tenure of head coach Mike Ditka in the late 1990s. Wuerffel was with the Saints for three years and 16 games, including six starts with 2-4 record. He threw for 1,404 yards with 9 touchdowns, 16 interceptions, and a 48.8% completion percentage.
Punter was often not a heavily used position during the historically prolific era of Drew Brees and Sean Payton. Steve Weatherford was the team's punter for the first three years of the Payton-Brees pairing. Weatherford quietly had an impressive gross average of 43.5 yards, but a net of just 36.9 with only 10.2% of his kicks getting downed inside the opponent's 20. He was eventually replaced in 2009 by a rookie named Thomas Morstead.
Luke McCown had more success than any other regular quarterback that wore No. 7 for New Orleans. As a backup to Brees from 2013 to 2015, he didn't get many opportunities, throwing passes in just three contests. He did have a memorable start in place of an injured Brees in 2015 against the Carolina Panthers. Albeit in a loss, McCown completed 31 of his 38 attempts for 310 yards.
In 2017, the Green Bay Packers made an egregious error when they cut an undrafted rookie quarterback from BYU named Taysom Hill. Sean Payton and the Saints immediately signed Hill, who then worked his way into a special teams role by that year's end. By the middle of 2018, Hill was a jack-of-all-trades weapon for the Saints. For the next eight years, he threatened NFL defenses in more ways than perhaps any other player.
Injuries slowed Hill in his last two years, though he'd still flash effectiveness along with his always tremendous effort. His 118 games are more than any other Saint to wear No. 7 other than Morten Andersen. Hill had 45 total touchdowns, a few blocked kicks, and has made big plays as a runner, thrower, and receiver. He had 2,551 career rushing yards with an average of 5.6 per carry, 110 receptions for 1,034 yards, and a 63.3% completion percentage as a passer for 2,426 yards and 12 more scores. While limited at quarterback, he's even gotten nine starts at that position with a 7-2 record. One of the most polarizing and entertaining athletes in New Orleans sports history, Taysom Hill affected games in countless ways and will some day be enshrined in the Saints Hall of Fame.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 7 days until Saints opener: Every player to wear the No. 7 jersey
