Dome Patrol & The First Winners- Franchise Legend
- Saints Hall of Fame
Pat Swilling
- Position
- LBLinebacker
- Number
- #56
- Saints years
- 1986–1992
- NFL career
- 1986–1998
- Era
- Dome Patrol & The First Winners
- Franchise
- New Orleans Saints
Honors
- New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame
- AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year
- 5x Pro Bowl
Also played for Detroit Lions (1993–1994), Oakland Raiders (1995–1998).
Why he’s a legend
The legacy
Pat Swilling was the outside rusher on the Dome Patrol and the most explosive of the four. In 1991 he had seventeen sacks and was named Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year — still the only Saint to win the award — on a team that won the first division title in franchise history. Seven seasons in New Orleans made him one of the two or three most productive pass rushers the club has ever had.
Why he matters
- The only New Orleans Saint named Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year, in 1991.
- His 17 sacks in 1991 remain among the highest single-season totals in franchise history.
- Five Pro Bowl selections, four of them consecutive as a Saint from 1989 through 1992.
- One of the four Dome Patrol linebackers selected to the same Pro Bowl after the 1992 season.
- He was the leading rusher on the defense that produced the franchise’s first NFC West title in 1991.
Defining moment
Defensive Player of the Year
1991 season
Seventeen sacks, a division title, and the only individual defensive award of that magnitude the franchise has ever produced. The 1991 Saints won eleven games and led the NFL in fewest points allowed.
Career statistics
Current through the 1998 season
With the Saints
- Sacks
- 76.5
- Seasons
- 7
- Single-Season High
- 17.0 (1991)
Where he ranks
- #3All-Time Saints Sacks76.5Saints all-time
Best seasons
Best season
1991 — Pat Swilling
17 sacks, Defensive Player of the Year
- Only DPOY in franchise history
- Saints won 11 games and the NFC West
- Led the league’s stingiest scoring defense
The best individual defensive season a Saint has ever had, on the first team in franchise history to win a division.
Honors & accolades
Championships & enshrinement
- New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame
League awards & All-Pro
- AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year1991
Selections & records
- 5x Pro Bowl1989–1992 with New Orleans, 1993 with Detroit
Career timeline
13 seasons in the NFL, 7 of them in New Orleans.
- 1986New Orleans SaintsDrafted in the third round out of Georgia Tech
- 1987New Orleans SaintsStarts for the first winning team in franchise history
- 1988New Orleans Saints
- 1989New Orleans Saints
- 1990New Orleans Saints
- 1991New Orleans SaintsAP NFL Defensive Player of the Year; 17 sacks; first division title
- 1992New Orleans SaintsAll four Dome Patrol linebackers named to the Pro Bowl
- 1993Detroit LionsTraded to Detroit
- 1994Detroit Lions
- 1995Oakland Raiders
- 1996Oakland Raiders
- 1997Oakland Raiders
- 1998Oakland Raiders
Era context
What the league looked like while Pat Swilling played it. Raw totals across eras are not like-for-like.
Dome Patrol & The First Winners
1981–1996
The franchise finally wins — and builds the best linebacking corps the NFL had seen.
- Sacks became an official NFL statistic in 1982, so career sack totals begin there.
- The 1982 season was shortened to nine games by a players strike; 1987 was shortened to fifteen, three of them played by replacement players.
- The salary cap arrived in 1994 and changed how long a roster could stay together.
- The Saints reached the playoffs four times in this era and did not win a postseason game.
Data & sources
Statistics on this profile are current through the 1998 season.
- Sack totals are official (the statistic dates from 1982). Tackles from this era were kept by clubs rather than the league and are not shown.
