Darren Sproles' 72-yard punt return TD is the Saints Play of the Day
We're on Day 72 in our countdown to the New Orleans Saints' 2025 season opener, which means our pick for the Saints Play of the Day is this 72-yard punt return touchdown from Darren Sproles. He started his Saints career and the team's 2011 season with a bang against the Green Bay Packers, rallying New Orleans back to life after they fell into a 21-10 hole in Week 1. You can see Sproles stun the Packers for yourself here.
It was a moment of vindication after everyone spent the offseason talking about how great a fit Sproles would be in Sean Payton's offense, catching passes from Drew Brees and running routes that linebackers hadn't seen before. It was just a little surprising that neither Payton nor Brees were involved with this play. Sproles caught the punt with room to run, then he found a lane through the heart of the Green Bay coverage unit. Then he was gone.
While his time in New Orleans was short-lived (just 44 games across three years), Sproles proved to be one of the better free agent pickups of the Payton-Brees era. He racked up 3,048 yards from scrimmage and scored 21 touchdowns as a runner and receiver, gaining more yards and scoring more TD's than he did with either the San Diego Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles. He chipped in 871 punt return yards and 1,827 kick return yards with the Saints, too, proving to be a player who could threaten the defense any time the ball was in his hands.
This touchdown wasn't enough to turn the tide against Green Bay -- the Packers stopped Sproles' rookie teammate Mark Ingram II at the goal line to get away with a 42-34 win -- but the 2011 season proved to be, arguably, the greatest regular season in franchise history. Sproles led the league in all-purpose yards with Brees setting a new record for single-season passing yards, plus a career-high 46 touchdown passes. New Orleans paced the NFL in a variety of offensive categories while looking like a worthy follow-up to the 2009 Super Bowl team. It's a shame their year didn't end with another championship, but we'll always have these memories.
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