Ditka to Haslett- Franchise Legend
- Saints Hall of Fame
Deuce McAllister
- Position
- RBRunning Back
- Number
- #26
- Saints years
- 2001–2008
- Era
- Ditka to Haslett
- Franchise
- New Orleans Saints
Honors
- New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame
- 2x Pro Bowl
- Saints record holder: rushing yards and rushing touchdowns
Why he’s a legend
The legacy
Deuce McAllister ran for more yards and more touchdowns than any other Saint, and did it across a stretch that spanned two coaching regimes, two knee reconstructions and the season the team could not play at home. He was the offense before Drew Brees arrived and a short-yardage weapon after, and no player of his era is more closely identified with the city itself.
Why he matters
- Saints all-time leader in rushing yards (6,096) and rushing touchdowns (49).
- Two Pro Bowl selections and back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2002 and 2003 on teams built around him.
- He came back from two torn ACLs — 2005 and 2007 — to score in the 2009 playoff run as an honorary captain and short-yardage back.
- A Mississippi native who became the most popular Saint of the pre-championship 2000s, and stayed in New Orleans afterwards.
- His rushing record has stood since 2008 and remains the franchise mark.
Defining moment
The 2006 NFC Divisional Round
2006 season
In the franchise’s first home playoff win, McAllister ran for 143 yards and a touchdown against Philadelphia in a rebuilt Superdome, one season after New Orleans had played a full year on the road. He had torn his ACL the previous October.
Career statistics
Current through the 2008 season
With the Saints
- Rushing Yards
- 6,096
- Rushing Touchdowns
- 49
- Seasons
- 8
Where he ranks
- #1All-Time Saints Rushing Yards6,096Saints all-time
- #1All-Time Saints Rushing Touchdowns49Saints all-time
Honors & accolades
Championships & enshrinement
- New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame
Selections & records
- 2x Pro Bowl2002, 2003
- Saints record holder: rushing yards and rushing touchdowns
Career timeline
8 seasons in the NFL, 8 of them in New Orleans.
- 2001New Orleans SaintsDrafted 23rd overall out of Ole Miss
- 2002New Orleans SaintsFirst 1,000-yard season and first Pro Bowl
- 2003New Orleans SaintsSecond straight Pro Bowl season
- 2004New Orleans Saints
- 2005New Orleans SaintsTorn ACL in the nomadic post-Katrina season
- 2006New Orleans Saints143 yards in the first home playoff win in franchise history
- 2007New Orleans Saints
- 2008New Orleans SaintsFinal season as the franchise’s all-time leading rusher
Era context
What the league looked like while Deuce McAllister played it. Raw totals across eras are not like-for-like.
Ditka to Haslett
1997–2005
The first playoff win, a franchise-altering trade, and then the storm.
- Sixteen-game seasons throughout; the 2004 emphasis on illegal contact re-opened the passing game league-wide.
- The 2005 Saints played no home games in New Orleans, splitting a nomadic season between San Antonio and Baton Rouge.
- Free agency and the cap were fully mature, shortening the typical tenure of a star player with one team.
The Brees & Payton Era
2006–2020
A quarterback nobody else wanted, a coach nobody had hired, and a Super Bowl.
- The most pass-friendly rules environment in NFL history to that point; raw passing totals from these years dwarf every earlier era.
- Sixteen-game seasons throughout, with a 12-team playoff field from 2020.
- The franchise won seven division titles in this span, including four consecutive from 2017 to 2020.
Data & sources
Statistics on this profile are current through the 2008 season.
- A reliable season-by-season rushing line for all eight seasons is not compiled in this profile, so no season table is shown. The career totals above are the franchise records as published by the club.
