There are 88 days to go until the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2024 season, and we’re counting down the days by highlighting each player to wear the corresponding jersey number. No active Saints player owns the No. 88 jersey (it was most recently worn by tight end/fullback J.P. Holtz in 2022), so we’re looking further back to feature Super Bowl XLIV champion Jeremy Shockey.
A first-round pick in the 2002 draft by the New York Giants, Shockey thrived while making the jump from Miami to the NFL. He won All-Pro recognition as a rookie while setting a Giants franchise record for receptions (74) and was named to four Pro Bowls with New York. The Saints traded their second- and fifth-round picks in the 2009 draft to acquire him in 2008, and he quickly found his way into the starting lineup.
Shockey was known for playing with an attitude and throwing his weight around as a blocker and receiver, though he didn’t see many targets in a Saints offense that was full of options; his most productive season in New Orleans was 2009, when he caught 48 passes for 569 yards and three touchdowns. But he made them count. Shockey converted a first down on 86 of his 148 career receptions, including the playoffs.
He especially stood out in Super Bowl XLIV. Shockey was targeted 4 times and caught 3 passes for 13 yards; most fans remember his go-ahead touchdown catch in the fourth quarter, but the play he might be most proud of was the famous Pierre Thomas touchdown on a screen pass where Shockey blocked two defenders to open a lane.
It’s a shame Shockey and the Saints made for such a brief combo. Injuries continued to trail him after being traded by the Giants and he never appeared in all 16 games in any of his three seasons in New Orleans. He finished his career with the Carolina Panthers in 2011 before retiring from pro football. Still, we have the stories and the highlight reel, and Shockey has a well-deserved Super Bowl ring. We’ll just have to wait and see which player picks up his No. 88 jersey next.
