The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced that 183 former NFL players have been nominated for their Class of 2025 Seniors category. Five former New Orleans Saints are included on their list.
To be eligible, a player must have played at least five years in the league, had last appeared in a game no later than 1999, and had received at least one postseason honor.
The Seniors Committee has recently been created to help with the screening process of a potential Hall of Fame candidate who finished their playing days at least 25 years ago. This list will be reduced to around 50 players over the next few weeks. Before the end of this season, the committee will reduce the list to three Senior finalists for possible induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
Here are the former New Orleans Saints legends on the nomination list.
Mel Gray, RB/KR
Saints: 1986-1987
Gray was a second-round selection by New Orleans in a special 1984 Supplemental Draft held for players in the USFL or CFL. Once the original USFL folded, Gray was among several stars that joined the Saints from the expansion league.
Gray spent just three years with New Orleans. He is better known for a spectacular career as a kick returner with the Detroit Lions from 1989 to 1994 before finishing his career with the Houston Oilers.
In his three seasons with the Saints, Gray had only 22 offensive touches for 141 yards from scrimmage. It was his ability as a returner that made him valuable for the Saints and his other NFL stops.
Gray averaged nearly 28 yards per kick return for New Orleans in 1986, returning one 101 yards for a touchdown. In 1987, he’d lead the NFL with a 14.7 average on punt returns and had 988 combined yards on kickoff and punt returns.
Bobby Hebert, QB
Saints: 1985-1992
Another USFL refugee, Hebert came to the Saints in 1985 after winning a USFL championship and advancing to another title game with the Michigan Panthers. He’d continue his success in the NFL, leading the Saints to their first ever winning season and playoff berth in 1987.
In five years as the New Orleans starter (he was a backup in 1985 and 1986 and sat out the 1990 season in a contract dispute), Hebert went 46-21 and helped steer his team to the playoffs three times. He completed 58.5% of his passes with New Orleans for 14,630 yards with 85 touchdowns and 75 interceptions.
Hebert finished the last four seasons of his career with the hated Atlanta Falcons. A native of Cutoff, LA, Hebert returned home after his retirement and has been a prominent member of the Saints media team for decades.
Hebert is still fourth in franchise history for passing yardage and passing touchdowns. He is one of only three quarterbacks in the Saints Hall of Fame.
After playing collegiately at N.C. State, Johnson was another star that defected to the Saints from the USFL. New Orleans made him a first-round choice in the 1984 Supplemental Draft when he was with the Jacksonville Bulls.
A member of the fearsome Dome Patrol linebacking corps, Johnson changed the momentum of games and sent fear through opposing offenses with his thunderous hits. Despite not having the statistical production of his Dome Patrol counterparts, two of whom are in the Hall of Fame, he was certainly respected throughout the NFL.
Johnson earned four consecutive Pro Bowl trips from 1989 to 1992. In eight years with New Orleans, Johnson recorded over 660 tackles, recorded 12 sacks, intercepted four passes, and forced 11 fumbles.
Vaughan Johnson finished his career with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1994. He was enshrined in both the Saints Hall of Fame and Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, Johnson passed away from kidney disease in 2019.
Pat Swilling, LB
Saints: 1986-1992
Selected in the third round of the 1986 NFL Draft out of Georgia Tech, Swilling was the final piece of the vaunted Dome Patrol. After a somewhat quiet rookie year (4 sacks), he’d make at least as big an impact as his other three intimidating teammates.
In seven seasons with New Orleans, Swilling had 76.5 sacks, forced 24 fumbles, and intercepted three passes. With Swilling on one edge, Hall of Fame LB Rickey Jackson on the other, Vaughan Johnson and Sam Mills manning the middle, and an underrated defensive line, the Saints had a unit that battered opponents.
While with the Saints, Swilling had five years of double-digit sack totals, earned four Pro Bowls, and two 1st Team All-Pro honors. His NFL-high 17 sacks in 1991 remains a single-season franchise record and helped earn him the 1991 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.
New Orleans traded Swilling to the Detroit Lions in 1993. He’d go on to five more productive years with the Lions and Raiders before retiring in 1998. Swilling was inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame in 2000 along with Dome Patrol teammate Vaughan Johnson.
It’s a travesty that Pat Swilling wasn’t inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a modern-era candidate. His pass rushing production was on par with the league’s best at the time, as was his ability to affect opposing offenses.
Dave Whitsell, DB
Saints: 1967-1969
Rather than starting his NFL career with the Saints like the others on this list, Whitsell instead ended in New Orleans. He’d join the Saints for their inaugural season after being selected in the 1967 Expansion Draft.
Over his first nine seasons, first with the Lions then with the Bears, Whitsell showed ball hawking skills with 27 interceptions. He’d carry that same ability to an expansion New Orleans squad.
Whitsell had an NFL-best 10 interceptions in 1967, returning two for touchdowns. Those 10 picks remain a New Orleans franchise record for a single season. It also earned him a Pro Bowl in 1967, the first Saints player to receive the honor.
In his three years with New Orleans, Whitsell had 19 interceptions. That’s still good enough for fifth on the franchise’s career list. Whitsell was elected to the Saints Hall of Fame in 1996. Along with Dave Waymer, inducted the same year, he is the first New Orleans defensive back in the team’s Hall of Fame.
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