Countdown to New Orleans Saints Kickoff: A History of....Nothing

The day is finally here! The New Orleans Saints open their 2017 regular season tonight, taking on the Minnesota Vikings in Minneapolis, MN.

For the last 100 days, Canal Street Chronicles has run with a "Countdown to Kickoff" series, featuring some players from each number of days remaining until gameday, 99 through 1. Today is the culmination of our series. And to borrow a phrase from the sitcom "Seinfeld", today's big series finale is a show about NOTHING. There have been very few players to wear the No. 0 or 00 in a regular season game in NFL history, but two of them have played for the New Orleans Saints.

Obert Logan (S, 1967; wore No. 0)

Logan was selected by the Saints in the 1967 expansion draft after spending his first two years with the Dallas Cowboys. He intercepted 3 passes as the franchise's first starting free safety. He was released just before the start of the 1968 season, bringing an end to his career. Logan was the last player to wear No. 0, before use of the number was discontinued by the league. He died in 2003, at 61 years old.

New Orleans Saints

Ken Burrough (WR, 1970; wore No. 00)

Burrough was drafted by the Saints with the 10th overall selection of the 1st round in 1970. He had 13 receptions for 196 yards and 2 touchdowns during his only year as a Saint. After the season, Burrough went to the Houston Oilers, with whom he would go on to be a 3-time Pro Bowler in a successful 11-year career. Burrough was the last player to wear "00" as a number, after an NFL rule change in 1973 that all players would wear numbers between 1 and 89. The rule was later expanded to cover No's. 90 through 99 in 1987. Burrough and Raiders’ Hall of Fame center Jim Otto, who retired in 1974, were allowed to continue wearing the No. 00 under a "grandfather" clause in the rule, but it would no longer be issued to future players.

Well that's it Saints fans, our Countdown to Kickoff series is finally complete, Saints players featured from No. 99 all the way down to 0/00.

Thank you to much needed assists from Tee Word, Roy Anderson, and of course our terrific editor here at Canal Street Chronicles, John Hendrix. We hope you enjoyed reading them even more than we did writing them. Now, it's off to the 2017 regular season!