Eric Martin's 84-yard catch is the Saints Play of the Day
There are 84 days to go until the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2025 season with the Arizona Cardinals, but we're rolling the calendar back to 1986 for the Saints Play of the Day in our countdown. Eric Martin, the man who wore No. 84 himself gained a career-high 84 yards on this completion from Bobby Hebert, which you can see here.
Hebert dropped back to pass on third-and-long from deep in his own territory and found Martin open over the middle, around the New Orleans 26-yard line. He took off and wasn't stopped until he'd gotten inside the Green Bay Packers' 10-yard line, with what would later be outlawed as an illegal horse-collar tackle. He didn't score on this play, but Martin did give the Saints an early lead on a 72-yard touchdown catch from Hebert.
All told, Martin totaled 164 yards on three catches in this game, an average of 54.7 yards per reception. Per Pro Football Reference and Stathead, it was the first time in team history a receiver would catch at least three passes while averaging more than 50 yards per catch; that feat wouldn't be repeated until Keith Poole did it in 1998 (154 yards, at 51.3 yards per catch) and again in 2023 by Rashid Shaheed (153 yards, or 51.0 yards per catch).
Take that early long touchdown catch with a 20-yard field goal from Morten Andersen set up by Martin's 84-yard gain and the Saints took a quick lead of 10-0. That proved insurmountable for Green Bay and New Orleans won the day 24-10. If anyone deserved a game ball after this one, it was Martin.
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