Countdown to New Orleans Saints Kickoff: A History of No. 76

The New Orleans Saints begin their 2017 season in just 76 days. On Sept. 11, the Saints will travel to Minneapolis, MN to take on the Vikings. Canal Street Chronicles continues your preparation for the regular season with our numerical countdown. Today we will look at the Saints players that have worn the number 76.

Dave Rowe (DT, 1967-1970)

Rowe was a star defender at Penn State that would go on to a 13-year NFL career and was a Super Bowl XI champion with the Oakland Raiders. Originally however, he was a member of the very first New Orleans Saints team, a 2nd round draft choice of the new franchise that year. Rowe, surrounded by aging veterans and players largely unwanted by the rest of the league, was a monstrous and athletic defensive lineman for his time. He would be a strong presence in the Saints defensive line until 1970. Older Saints fans can still recall Rowe as a disrupting, feisty force in the opposing backfields.

Don Morrison (OT, 1971-1977)

The Saints drafted Morrison with a 5th round pick in the 1971 draft, and he thanked them by starting all 14 games as a rookie. Morrison started 83 games in his 7 years as a Saint, protecting a young New Orleans backfield of Archie Manning at quarterback, the later on running backs Tony Galbreath and Chuck Muncie.

Jonathan Goodwin (C, 2006-2010, 2014)

Goodwin came to the Saints after spending the first four years of his career as a part-time starter for the New York Jets. His first two seasons in New Orleans produced similar results, until finally earning the full-time center position in 2008. Goodwin would anchor the New Orleans line through the 2009 season as well, contributing to a Super Bowl championship and earning a Pro Bowl bid.

After starting every game again in 2010, Goodwin departed for San Francisco, where he would start 48 consecutive contests for the 49ers through the 2013 season, and starting in the 49ers XLVII loss to the Ravens. In 2014, Goodwin returned to the Saints as their starting center, this time wearing the number 55. Goodwin's career ended after 2014 with 122 starts, 61 of which with one of the most productive offenses in the league with New Orleans.

Akiem Hicks (DE, 2012-2015)

The Saints selected Hicks in the 3rd round of the 2012 draft, their top selection in that season's draft. Despite being considered a raw project, Hicks appeared in 14 games in his rookie season, and was a 16 game starter for a highly ranked Saints defense the following year. He started 14 more games in 2014, contributing 6.5 sacks over those two years.

Feeling that he hadn't fully capitalized on his potential, the Saints surprisingly traded Hicks to the New England Patriots early in the 2015 season. Hicks played the remainder of that year with the Pats, then signed a free agent deal with the Chicago Bears, where he remains entering 2017.

Other Saints players to wear No. 76: Kevin Hunt (1978), Jim Pietrzak (1979-84), Dwaine Board (1988), Keno Hills (1996-98), Tutan Reyes (2001), Pat McQuistan (2011), Tony Hills (2015-16), Tony McDaniel (present)