WhoDat!656

Back during the 1986 NFL Draft, new Saints head coach Jim Mora was looking for the best football players he could find who fit his vision of what he wanted his team to be: tough, physical, smart players who could help him forge a winning attitude (Mora had won two championships in the USFL with the Baltimore Stars) for a Saints franchise with a long history of losing.

He first took Virginia All-American left tackle Jim Dombrowski, so he could protect QB Bobby Hebert’s blind side. Then in Round 2, he took LSU RB Dalton Hilliard; which obviously was a pick that was met with much delight by the local fans who also were fans of the Tigers.

Then, Mora came back in Round 3 and — wait — he picked another RB?

Ruben Mayes??? Who is that?

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Most Saints fans at the time were left scratching their heads by Mora’s pick.

But Mora, who had coached up in the state of Washington previously with the University of Washington Huskies before going to the USFL, was well aware of who Mayes was and what he brought to the table.

Where Are the Saints Legends Now? RB Reuben Mayes

"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."