Spencer Rattler explains choosing jersey No. 18 with New Orleans Saints

New Orleans Saints rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler will wear No. 18 for the 2024 season. While speaking to reporters from Saints rookie minicamp on Saturday, Rattler explained why will wear the number during his rookie season.

“It was just the number I got,” Rattler said. “That’s what I ended up with.” A reporter then asked if it had anything to do with Saints legendary quarterback Archie Manning who wore No. 8 for the team in the 1970s and 1980s.

“Oh no, it’s just the number I had to roll with,” Rattler said. Another reporter asked the former South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback if he liked wearing No. 18. “I like the number,” he stated. “I think it’s a good number. It was actually my first number in high school in my first freshman fall came in Varsity. That’s kind of a full circle moment.”

Rattler, 23, was selected in the fifth round of the draft. He was the seventh QB taken in the draft after the first six were taken in the first round. Rattler joins the Saints after playing for South Carolina the last two seasons. He started his college football career at Oklahoma and was there for three seasons before transferring to South Carolina.

Spencer Rattler gets support from Shane Beamer

There were reports that Rattler slipped in the draft because of how he treated his high school teammates in the Netflix series QB1: Beyond Lights. South Carolina coach Shane Beamer downplayed the concerns about Rattler from the show because he knows what type of person he is.

“The Netflix show that he did, which I’ve never watched in my life, but I’ve heard about this Netflix show that didn’t portray him in a good light,” Beamer said. “I can’t imagine many people at the age of 17 would be proud of a Netflix show that was done on them.

“When you’re part of a reality show like that, the producers can twist and shape the narrative however they want to make some people look a certain way. I’ve never watched it. All I knew was what I saw with my own eyes, and I saw the way that people respected him and liked him in the football facility at Oklahoma.”

Rattler finished the 2023 season with 3,186 yards, 19 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 5-7 record in 12 games. In 2022, Rattler threw for 3,026 yards, 18 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and led the Gamecocks to an 8-5 record.