A New Orleans Saints Legend Inches One Step Closer To Pro Football Hall of Fame

Saints and Dome Patrol legend moves one step closer to his rightful place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Jan 13, 1988; FILE PHOTO; New Orleans Saints linebacker Pat Swilling (56) / MPS-Imagn Images

Back in early September, five former New Orleans Saints were among 183 players nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 Seniors category. Those players were Mel Gray, Bobby Hebert, Vaughan Johnson, Pat Swilling, and Dave Whitsell.

On Thursday, that list was voted down to 60 players by the Hall of Fame Seniors Committee. The Seniors Committee is a nine-member panel created this year by the Hall of Fame to add input to the voting process.

This committee will continue to reduce the senior list a few times over the next several weeks. By late fall, three Senior Finalists will be selected for potential election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025.

To be eligible, a player must have played at least five years in the league, had last appeared in a game no later than 1999, and had received at least one postseason honor.

Gray, Hebert, Johnson, and Whitsell unfortunately did not make it through the next round. However, one former Saints legend did inch another step closer to a long overdue place in the Hall of Fame.

Pat Swilling, LB (Saints: 1986-1992, Lions: 1993-1994, Raiders: 1995-1998)

Former New Orleans Saints linebacker Pat Swilling (56) rushes the backfield against the San Diego Chargers / neworleanssaintshalloffame.com

Selected in the third round of the 1986 NFL Draft out of Georgia Tech, Swilling was the final piece of the vaunted Dome Patrol. After a somewhat quiet rookie year (4 sacks), he'd make at least as big an impact as his other three intimidating teammates Rickey Jackson, Sam Mills, and Vaughan Johnson.

In seven seasons with New Orleans, Swilling had 76.5 sacks, forced 24 fumbles, and intercepted three passes. With Swilling on one edge, Hall of Fame LB Rickey Jackson on the other, Vaughan Johnson and Sam Mills manning the middle, and an underrated defensive line, the Saints had a unit that battered opponents.

While with the Saints, Swilling had five years of double-digit sack totals, earned four Pro Bowls, and two 1st Team All-Pro honors. His NFL-high 17 sacks in 1991 remains a single-season franchise record and helped earn him the 1991 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.

New Orleans traded Swilling to the Detroit Lions in 1993. He'd go on to five more productive years with the Lions and Raiders before retiring in 1998. Swilling was inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame in 2000 along with Dome Patrol teammate Vaughan Johnson.

It's a travesty that Pat Swilling wasn't inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a modern-era candidate. His pass rushing production was on par with the league's best at the time, as was his ability to affect opposing offenses.