The late, great Sam Mills is still waiting on the cusp of entry into the NFL Hall of Fame, but his name will soon be in lights at the Caesars Superdome.
The team announced this week that the famed Dome Patrol linebacker would be inducted into the team's ring of honor at halftime of the Week 13 game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Mills will join late team owner Tom Benson, quarterback Archie Manning, kicker Morten Andersen, linebacker Rickey Jackson, offensive tackle Willie Roaf and defensive end Will Smith in the select group, first established in 2013.
Mills passed away in 2005 after a battle with cancer and is also immortalized outside the Carolina Panthers' Bank of America Stadium. Mills finished out his playing career there, and later served as an assistant coach in Carolina. Mills coined the rallying cry "keep pounding" during the team's run to the Super Bowl in 2003, which is still used today.
Mills, nicknamed "field mouse," starred alongside Jackson, Pat Swilling and Vaughan Johnson on the famed "Dome Patrol" defenses of that time. He started 125 games while rolling up 934 tackles, 10.5 sacks, four interceptions, 27 passes defensed, forced 15 fumbles and recovered 17, two that went for touchdowns during his time in New Orleans.
Mills has already been inducted into the Panthers' Ring of Honor, as well as the Saints Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Mills has been a finalist the past two years for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, just missing the cut. He is a nominee again in 2022.
