Boston College announced that former New Orleans Saints linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar would be inducted into the Varsity Club Hall of Fame. The honorees will be celebrated at the 54th Varsity Club Hall of Fame banquet ceremony on Friday, Nov. 8. Dunbar and seven other Boston College alums will be recognized and permanently placed on the Wall of Fame.
New Orleans signed Jo-Lonn Dunbar as a rookie undrafted free agent out of Boston after the 2008 NFL Draft. He played from 2008 to 2011 and returned to the Saints for three game appearances in 2015. Dunbar had 28 starts in 56 game appearances while recording 170 tackles, ten tackles for losses, five passes defended, two sacks, two QB hits, a pair of forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery during his New Orleans career.
One of Jo-Lonn Dunbar's most memorable moments was "de-cleating" a Vikings special team defender, which paved the way for Reggie Bush to score one of his two punt returns for touchdowns against Minnesota on Monday Night Football. His celebration of making the play became a viral sensation in the Who Dat Nation.
New Orleans placed him on injured reserve due to a hamstring injury during the 2009 season en route to winning Super Bowl XLIV. During his second stint with the Saints in 2015, the team waived him on Nov. 23 to sign veteran pass rusher Phillip Hunt.
BOSTON COLLEGE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR JO-LONN DUNBAR
Jo-Lonn Dunbar '08, Football – Dunbar was a two-time captain of the Boston College football team, including his 2007 senior season, which culminated in an ACC Atlantic Division Championship, appearance in the ACC Championship Game, and Champs Sports Bowl victory over Michigan State. He earned All-ACC Second Team that season with 90 tackles, a year after leading the Eagles with 92 tackles. Dunbar totaled 269 tackles, including 19.5 tackles for loss, in 46 career games.
He stepped up to make game-altering plays throughout his career, including a fourth-quarter fumble recovery to set up the game-winning field goal in the 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl against Navy. In 2007, he dominated Virginia Tech with 12 tackles in a comeback win on the road that propelled the Eagles to the program's highest ranking in the national polls at No. 2.
At the professional level, he went undrafted and played eight seasons in the NFL, starting 64 of 100 games. He was a member of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints.
