36 days until Saints' season opener: Every player to wear No. 36

In 36 days, the New Orleans Saints will open their 2025 regular season at home against the Arizona Cardinals, marking their 59th year in the NFL. Second-year defensive back Rico Payton wears No. 36 for the Saints at the moment. He is the 23rd player to wear the number in franchise history. Here's a look at the full list.

Saints' History of No. 36

• RB Don McCall (1967-68, 1970)
• RB Vic Nyvall (1970)
• RB Dick Davis (1970)
• TE Don Burchfield (1971)
• TE Robert Brown (1972-73)
• RB Andrew Jones (1975-76)
• RB Greg Boykin (1977)
• RB Rueben Mayes (1986-90)
• RB Stanford Jennings (1991)
• RB Derrick Ned (1993-95)
• S Corey Harris (1999)
• S Michael Hawthorne (2000-02)
• RB Lamar Smith (1998, 2003)
• RB Corey McIntyre (2006)
• RB Darian Barnes (2008)
• RB Marcus Mailei (2009)
• RB Kyle Eckel (2009)
• S Marcus Ball (2014)
• RB Daniel Lasco (2016)
• S D.J. Swearinger (2019-20)
• CB Jordan Miller (2021)
• CB Isaac Yiadom (2022)
• CB Rico Payton (2024-current)

Don McCall was the first to wear No. 36 as a Saint, and the first player drafted in the franchise's first ever draft in 1967 to do it. A fifth round choice in 1967 out of USC, McCall rushed for 786 yards over three seasons and 29 games with New Orleans. The bulk of that came in 1968, when he led the team with 637 yards on the ground. After one year with the Steelers in 1969, McCall came back to New Orleans in 1970 for the final season of a four-year career in the NFL.

McCall was also the only one of the first seven players to wear No. 36 with the Saints that wore it for more than two years through 1986. The other six wore No. 36 for a combined 67 games. Of the 23 players who have worn No. 36 in New Orleans history, 18 of them wore it for two seasons or fewer, with 14 of those wearing the number for a year or less.

Rueben Mayes was one of the exceptions, and the one who wore it best. A Round 3 pick in the 1986 NFL draft from the Washington State Cougars, Mayes is also the highest drafted player by New Orleans to wear 36. Mayes led the Saints in rushing as a rookie, picking up 1,353 yards on the ground on his way to Offensive Rookie of the Year. He picked up 917 rushing yards during a 1987 season shortened by strike to 12 games, earning a second straight Pro Bowl berth. Unfortunately, knee injuries got the best of Mayes, costing him the entire 1989 season and limiting him to 1,138 combined rushing yards in 1988 and 1990.

New Orleans traded Mayes to the Seattle Seahawks in 1992, where he limped through the last two years of his career. Mayes played four years and 59 games for the Saints, the most of any player to wear No. 36. He was second on the team's career rushing list at the time of his retirement and remains seventh in career rushing yardage. In 2004, Mayes was inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame.

The Saints wouldn't have a defensive player wear No. 36 until Corey Harris in 1999. Michael Hawthorne was the only defensive player drafted by New Orleans to wear the number as a Round 6 selection the following season. Hawthorne played three seasons and 28 games for the Saints, the most by any player to wear a No. 36 jersey to date. That could be surpassed if Rico Payton makes the team and plays at least 13 games this season in the 36 jersey.Lamar Smith was best known for his success as a running back with the Miami Dolphins. Before his stint in Miami, he played two seasons for the Saints after beginning his NFL career with the Seahawks. Smith appeared in 27 contests with New Orleans between 1998 and 1999, rushing for a combined 662 yards. He'd return to the Saints for four games in 2003 to finish his NFL career, but wore No. 26 at that time.

Since Smith, there have been 10 players to wear 36 over the past 22 years. Unless Rico Payton breaks that trend, not one of them lasted as many as two full seasons in the number. Isaac Yiadom began his New Orleans career wearing No. 36 in 2022, but switched to 27 the following season. Yiadom returned to the Saints this offseason but remains in the No. 27.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 36 days until Saints' season opener: Every player to wear No. 36