Sunday brings us to 35 days until the New Orleans Saints regular season opener. New Orleans will travel north to kick off 2026, playing at the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 13. Second-year safety Elliott Davison is wearing No. 35 for the Saints through training camp.
An undrafted rookie in 2025, Davison spent most of his rookie year on the New Orleans practice squad and did not see any game action. He returned on a reserve/future deal this offseason and will try to become the 17th player to wear the 35 jersey during the regular season in franchise history. Here’s a look at all who did it.
Saints History of No. 35
- LB Ted Davis (1967-69)
- RB Jim Otis (1970)
- RB Bob Gresham (1971-72)
- RB Henry Matthews (1973)
- RB Jim Van Wagner (1978)
- RB Earl Campbell (1984-85)
- RB Bobby Morse (1989-91)
- DB Shane Pahukoa (1995)
- CB Reggie Howard (2000)
- CB Chris Canty (2000)
- CB Fakhir Brown (2002-05)
- RB Jammal Branch (2006-07)
- LB Korey Hall (2011)
- RB Austin Johnson (2014-15)
- RB Zach Zenner (2019)
- CB KeiVarae Russell (2021)
- S Elliott Davison (2025-current)
Ted Davis was the first to wear No. 35 as a Saint, suiting up for 38 games over the franchise’s first three seasons. It remains the second longest tenure for any player to wear the No. 35 jersey with New Orleans. Of the 16 players that have worn No. 35 in Saints history, Davis is one of only three to do it for more than two years.
Jim Otis was the first New Orleans draft pick to wear No. 35, doing it for 13 games in his only year with the team after being selected in Round 9 of the 1970 NFL draft. Running back Bob Gresham was drafted in the eighth round the following year. Gresham played 27 games over two seasons, rushing for 764 yards and scoring 9 touchdowns. He is also the highest drafted player by the Saints to wear the No. 35 jersey.
During the 1984 season, the Saints traded for future Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell. Reunited with Bum Phillips, his coach with the Houston Oilers, it was thought that Campbell would team with George Rogers to give the Saints a lethal rushing attack. Unfortunately, Campbell was no longer the elite punishing power back he was with the Oilers after years of physical toll. Campbell played two years and 24 games for the Saints before retiring. He rushed for 833 yards, but only one score and averaged four yards per carry.
New Orleans wouldn’t have a second defensive player wear No. 35 until Shane Pahukoa in 1995. Pahukoa only played one year for the team but did have two interceptions. He was one of nine players to wear No. 35 that did so for a year or less. Of the seven defensive players to wear the jersey, before Elliott Davison potentially this year, only two of them wore it for longer than a year. One of them was Ted Davis. The other was Fakhir Brown.
A graduate of Mansfield High School in Louisiana and Grambling State University, Brown was with the Saints for four years. His 56 games are the most for any player to wear No. 35 for New Orleans. As a Saint, Brown had 2 interceptions and broke up 30 passes while forcing 3 fumbles and recovering 4 others. Since Brown, five players have worn 35 in the last 20 years. None of them have been with the Saints into a third season.
Only Austin Johnson had any reasonable amount of success of the six who have worn the 35 uniform since Brown over two decades ago. Johnson shared fullback duties for 17 games over his two seasons. Elliott Davison now gets his second chance to make the team this summer at a crowded safety position.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Countdown to Kickoff: Every Saints player to wear the No. 35 jersey
