While New Orleans Saints Legend Jahri Evans may still be waiting for Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame to knock on his door, the legendary guard will add another Hall of Fame induction to his resume while he waits.
Evans was announced on Tuesday, May 28 by the Allstate Sugar Bowl as a member of the 2024 class of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame and will add this Hall of Fame induction to his previous inductions in the Saints Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
The Super Bowl XLIV champion adds this accolade to his already bursting resumé that also includes six Pro Bowl selections, five All-Pro selections (four First Team All-Pro), and being named to the Saints 50th Anniversary Team and the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.
Evans spent 11 of his 12 NFL seasons with the Saints joining the team in 2006 and departing in 2016 and has since returned to help coach the team he spent years in the trenches for working as a training camp intern in 2022 before joining the team as an offensive assistant in 2023, the role he still fills today.
During his 11 years with the team, Evans played in 169 games, all starts, ranking him 12th all-time in Saints history and the second most by an offensive lineman.
Saints legend Drew Brees quarterbacked New Orleans from behind the line Evans spearheaded for all 11 of Evans' seasons with the black and gold and said Evans was "one of the best guards in the game" for over a decade.
"I can't tell you how much confidence he gave me and knowing that I had that guy in front of me." Brees said. "There's not a tougher player. There's not a player who played through more than Jahri. He was a tone-setter. I mean he was one of those guys where man you need a play we'll run it behind Jahri. We need a guy to be able to block one of these interior lineman, it's Jahri. So, I can't tell you how much I think of him as a player, as a teammate, as a person. He just represented everything that you would want."
Evans joins a class including Chris Duhon (basketball, Salmen HS/Duke/NBA, 1997-2013), Carmen Jones (basketball, McMain Magnet HS/Tulane, 1982-90), Paul Thompson (basketball, Tulane/NBA/Europe, 1979-99) and a fifth member to be announced Thursday, May 30.
The incoming class will be recognized at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Sports Awards Banquet on Saturday, Aug. 3.
