Demario Davis, who turns 37 in January, isn’t supposed to still be the best player on the New Orleans Saints.
Cam Jordan, who turns 37 in July, isn’t supposed to be leading the team in sacks.
But here the two ageless wonders are, in the midst of the team’s disastrous season, adding bullet points to their respective resumes’ showing why they are two of the best defensive players to ever wear a fleur-de-lis on the side of their helmets.
One day – probably sooner than later – Mickey Loomis will have to try to replace Davis and Jordan.
Chances are, Loomis won’t be able to find someone who can record 922 tackles in less than eight seasons like Davis has done since arriving in New Orleans in 2018.
Even more unlikely is him landing another edge rusher who can rack up 128 sacks like Jordan has done since being drafted by the Saints in 2011.
As crazy as it may sound, finding that type productivity won’t even be the hard part.
The real difficulty will be trying to replace two players who are just as productive off the field as they are on it. While Sundays in the Superdome are where Davis and Jordan get the loudest cheers, it’s the work they do outside the Dome on the other six days of the week that really deserves the kudos. It’s what will make them irreplaceable. I’m not even sure if they still even make football players like Demario and Cam. They have missed just one game each (out of the 364 they’ve played with the Saints) due to injury. Iron men with hearts of gold.
The latest example of their exemplary community service came Friday when Davis was named the Saints’ nominee for the prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year award. The award recognizes players who excel on the field and demonstrate a steadfast commitment to creating a positive impact beyond the game.
“It’s a tremendous honor,” Davis said. “I think anytime you get a recognition of this stature, it takes you back to your why. For me, my why will always be centered around my faith. I think we are called to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. I’m so grateful for this organization because of the platform I have, I am able to do that.”
Truth be told, the Saints could nominate Davis for this award every year. It’s the third time he has been the Saints’ nominee. He was also the nominee in 2020 and 2022.
Jordan has also been nominated for it three times (2017, 2021 and 2024).
Tyran Mathieu, who retired prior to this season, was the nominee in 2023 and is the only other player the Saints have nominated since 2020.
When Davis and Jordan hang up their cleats, the Saints will have to find to nominate someone else. And the city of New Orleans will need someone else to carry the torch that Davis and Jordan now carry, the one passed to them by the great Drew Brees. In the 2006 season, Brees became the only Saints’ nominee to beat out the other 31 nominees and win the NFL’s Walter Man of the Year Award. Davis, who like Payton is a Mississippi native, is hoping to become the second.
“This award is the highest honor that you can receive in our game,” Davis said. “It speaks to who the award is named after. (Walter Payton) is a tremendous player on the field. But even more important is the impact that we are able to have in the community we serve.”
Saints defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, in his first season in New Orleans, has admired Davis from afar. But this season he got to witness in person Davis’ commitment both on and off the field.
“He’s just a pro’s pro,” Staley said. “I think he’s one of one. He’s part of that rarified air of special player. I mean special, special special player. And also off the field just a special special person. A leader, affecting so many people. Affecting so many things. The league is so fortunate to have an ambassador like him.”
Davis’ Devoted Dreamers Foundation, which he operates with wife Tamela, is a big part of his giving back. He has also partnered with The 18th Ward to create a leadership development program. He also took a trip to Paris to help with the NFL’s efforts to expand the game globally. But it’s New Orleans, less than 200 miles from his hometown of Brandon, Mississippi, that is nearest and dearest to Davis.
“It’s such an easy place to serve,” Davis said.
When Davis and his wife are somewhere in the city, they often have people walking up and thanking them.
“They aren’t saying thank you for what you do on the field,” Davis said. “They say thank you for what you do in the community. That gratitude makes it easy to serve. That’s not why you do it. You are not doing it to hear a ‘thank you.’ But that gratitude does something for you. It gives you an extra boost and lets you know your work isn’t taken for granted.”
Davis and Jordan are now much closer to the end of their careers than the beginning. Someone will eventually have to fill their giant shoes.
“You can’t force anybody to be out in the community,” Jordan said. “You can see guys and say ‘yeah, he’s next up.’ But it has to be in you to want to want to be going out on your off days and setting up events or looking out for people. For the longest time, I didn’t have the foundation. I was just out helping. I finally realized that you can do so much more with so many more people. One message with 100 people behind it can go so much farther than one message by one person.”
It helps, Jordan said, when players have been in the city for a while. Jordan is in his 15th NFL season, all in New Orleans. Davis is in 14th season and eighth in New Orleans. Davis took fellow linebackers Jaylan Ford and Isaiah Stalbird on one of his most recent endeavors.
“This is what it’s about,” Davis said. “Everything you learn and acquire in life is meant to be passed down and passed forward.”
Whoever that person is will have a good blueprint to follow, thanks to two Saints’ defensive greats.