​My Sunday column marks 63 days until the New Orleans Saints open their regular season. This year, the Saints kick off on the road with a Sunday, Sept. 13 matchup against the Detroit Lions. Rookie Michael Heldman, wearing No. 63, is in training camp as the Saints sort out their edge-rushing rotation. An undrafted addition, Heldman is vying for a spot in the Saints’ pass-rushing group and, barring a number change, could become the 11th player in team history to don the 63 jersey. Our countdown to kickoff continues with a look back at all the players who wore the number.
Roy Schmidt was the first to wear 63 for the Saints, doing so during the franchise’s first two seasons. He appeared in 19 games, mostly in reserve duty. Norman Davis followed, posting 14 appearances as a backup. Steve Baumgartner became the first defensive player and the first Saints draft pick to wear 63. A second-round selection, 51st overall in 1973, Baumgartner remains the second-highest-drafted Saint to wear the number. He played in 61 games, the second-longest tenure for a Saints player to wear 63, and compiled 3.5 sacks along with 5 fumble recoveries.
Barry Bennett, a third-round pick in the 1978 NFL Draft, next wore 63. Bennett appeared in 60 games, a near match with Baumgartner’s tenure, and before moving on to contribute to the Jets’ famous “Sack Exchange” defense, he totaled 5 sacks across his four seasons with New Orleans. The Saints then drafted another 63, this time on the offensive line. Brad Edelman, selected in the second round at 30th overall in the 1982 draft, became the highest-drafted Saints player to wear 63. Edelman’s 90 games with the Saints are the longest 63 tenure in team history. A fixture at left guard for eight seasons, Edelman is remembered as one of the franchise’s premier interior blockers, earning All-Rookie honors in 1982 and a Pro Bowl selection in 1987.
After Edelman, Karl Dunbar wore 63 in 1993 and Donald Willis in 1996, continuing the decade-long tradition. Dunbar played 13 games as a reserve, while Willis appeared in four games in his lone season. Following them came Wally Williams, a powerful blocker who anchored the Saints’ line into the early 2000s, leaving a lasting imprint on the team’s interior trench work. Today, Heldman carries the legacy of 63 as the Saints assess his potential to join the club’s edge-rushing rotation. If he remains in place, he would join Roy Schmidt, Norman Davis, Steve Baumgartner, Barry Bennett, Brad Edelman, Karl Dunbar, Donald Willis, and Wally Williams in the list of Saints’ 63 wearers. The countdown to kickoff moves forward as the Saints prepare for the 2020s season with training camp underway and Heldman aiming to add his name to the storied lineage of No. 63.