Saints' linebackers trying to live up to Dome Patrol legacy

METAIRIE, La. ? Sometime in the spring, a poster showed up in the Saints locker room, taped to the column closest to where the linebackers dress.

On it were four men, standing in front of the Superdome and dressed in military police gear - Sam Mills, Ricky Jackson, Pat Swilling and Vaughn Johnson.

Yes, indeed, the Dome Patrol lives on in the Saints' locker room.

"Probably the best linebacking corps of all time," Saints strong side linebacker Scott Fujita said.

While the current crop of linebackers in New Orleans are no Dome Patrol, which as a group was voted to the Pro Bowl in 1992, they're beginning to make a name for themselves.

Weak side linebacker Scott Shanle leads the team in tackles (35) and is second in interceptions (2).

Fujita is fourth with 26 tackles.

And middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma is fifth with 25 tackles, has a sack and three quarterback hurries.

Yet, their contributions are showing in more than individual stats.

The defense is sixth in the NFL in total defense and the Saints lead the league with 13 take-aways.

"I'm not afraid to let the players on the field make their choices," Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said. "I'm not afraid to let the players on the field use the tools to put them in the best possible place you can. Our linebackers trigger that."

But this being New Orleans, history is everywhere and the Dome Patrol is as much beloved now as they were nearly two decades ago.

"When you look at it in terms of playing linebacker, it's a tough place to play linebacker when you have those guys' shadows," Shanle said. "Everything is always compared back to what those guys did as a unit."

Both Shanle and Fujita are familiar with their predecessors. Jackson was introduced to the current group during practice earlier in the season and Fujita met Mills, who died in 2005 from cancer, prior to the 2002 NFL Draft.

Their knowledge goes deeper, however.

Shanle grew up a San Francisco 49ers fan while Fujita was a Los Angeles Rams fan. Both teams were in the Saints' division in those days, so Shanle and Fujita saw lots of the Saints.

"For me growing up an L.A. Rams fan and being in the same division as the Saints, I got to grow up watching that defense a lot," Fujita said. "I've got tons of respect for them."

Vilma, who was unavailable for comment for this story, grew up in the Southeast, likely paying little attention to the Saints. But he's as important a cog to the way the current group is playing as the other two players.

Williams said Vilma's brilliant mind allows the defense to be in position to make plays. Vilma is the "quarterback" of the defense.

Fujita isn't so sure there will ever be another Dome Patrol, however.

"There's so much parity in the league now it's hard to stack teams or stack defenses like they could back then," he said.

But he wants to make one thing certain: you won't find the three starters on a poster anytime soon.

"Yeah, I'd rather see the whole team and on top say Super Bowl Champions," Fujita said. "That would mean a lot more to me than me, Vilma and Shanle on some cheesy poster."