NEW ORLEANS -- It became the greatest draft class in New Orleans Saints history, a collection of Super Bowl champions, Pro Bowlers and record-setting superstars.

That’s not how it looked 10 years ago.

Not during that first rookie minicamp in 2006, when guard Jahri Evans was seizing up on the training table from full-body cramping and teammates such as tackle Zach Strief were laughing through their own pain.

"I don’t think Jah had ever gotten an IV because of cramps. And he finishes one bag and he says, 'I’m good,'" Strief said, recalling the aftermath from a grueling practice in the punishing New Orleans humidity. "And they unhook him and he tries to jump off this table and completely full-body locks. He’s screaming and we’re all laughing and my stomach starts cramping.

"And it’s like, 'We’re a mess. We have no chance.'"

Sure, No. 2 overall pick Reggie Bush was almost as dazzling in those early practices as he was during his Heisman Trophy-winning career at USC. But guys like Evans, a bespectacled guard from Division II Bloomsburg, and Marques Colston, an out-of-shape receiver from Hofstra, were less enthralling.

"I remember calling my dad and being like, 'This other guy doesn’t even know how to get in a stance,” Strief said of Evans. "'I don’t know. He’s got these big rec specs on; he looks so goofy.' And Marques couldn’t run. He’s got this back problem and he’s like 240.

"No, there was nothing there that made us feel like we were gonna be the ones that lasted so long. ... We were all just hoping to make the team."

Instead they made history.

Six players from New Orleans’ 2006 draft class have lasted 10 years in the NFL -- Bush, safety Roman Harper, Evans, defensive end Rob Ninkovich, Strief and Colston. Evans is a six-time Pro Bowler; Harper is a two-time Pro Bowler. Colston is the Saints’ all-time leading receiver and touchdown scorer. All six are Super Bowl champions (though Ninkovich’s came with the New England Patriots).

"Man, those were the pilings," said Payton, who arrived that year along with free-agent quarterback Drew Brees. They joined incumbent general manager Mickey Loomis and quickly helped reroute the Saints from a 3-13 finish in 2005 to their first NFC Championship Game in 2006.

"We built a team on that draft class," Payton said.

By one measure, it was the greatest draft class of any NFL team since at least 1998.

The website Pro Football Reference has an "Approximate Value" grade that it assigns to every NFL player. And according to ESPN Stats & Info, the Saints’ cumulative "AV" from that 2006 class is second only to the 2004 San Diego Chargers over that span.

When you only count how players fared with the teams that drafted them, the Saints rank No. 1.

"There are some draft classes that stand out in our game," said Payton, mentioning the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers class with four future Pro Football Hall of Famers (receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, linebacker Jack Lambert and center Mike Webster). "The uniqueness about (the Saints’ 2006) class was how long these players have played.

"You hope you do this long enough where you can have another draft like that."

That Stats & Info rating doesn’t even factor in that New Orleans traded down twice during that 2006 draft, acquiring veteran center Jeff Faine from the Cleveland Browns and veteran defensive tackle Hollis Thomas in the process. Both became impact starters for that team, which went 10-6 and won the NFC South en route to the NFC Championship Game.

It also doesn’t factor in some quirky revelations that came later. Like the fact the Saints would have taken 10-year veteran linebacker A.J. Hawk if Bush hadn’t fallen in their laps. Or the fact that Payton was on the phone with 10-year veteran Owen Daniels to start the fourth round, one pick away from selecting him, when the Houston Texans beeped in to let Daniels know they were drafting him.

"I think if you compared it to everyone else, there’s not another team in the league even close to having six guys in the league," said ESPN analyst and former Cleveland Browns general manager Phil Savage, who also happened to witness the Saints’ first victory in 2006 -- in Week 1 at Cleveland.

"That was sort of the precursor of the decade they were gonna have," Savage said.

The best story from the Saints’ 2006 draft class is probably the most famous one -- the "F--- You!" story.

The Saints were elated when they found out the Texans were going to pass on Bush with the first pick in favor of defensive end Mario Williams. Bush was ... less than elated.

As Payton detailed in his 2010 memoir, "Home Team," Bush’s marketing agent Mike Ornstein called the Saints the night before the draft, insisting Bush did not want to play in New Orleans and trying to sell them on "some crazy idea about a trade we might cobble together with the Jets and some other team."

"I glanced at Mickey. I knew he was thinking the same thing I was. I leaned closer to the speakerphone," Payton wrote. "'(Expletive) you,' I said and hung up the phone."

Payton confirmed the story was true, though he stressed that Bush "very quickly" came around and became a huge part of the Saints’ rise.

Bush never quite lived up to the massive hype that surrounded him -- mostly because of injuries and the fact he wasn’t Gale Sayers or Barry Sanders. But he was still an electrifying runner/receiver/punt returner who caught 88 passes as a rookie and scored four touchdowns in one game that year against the San Francisco 49ers.

"When we got drafted, Reggie was about as big of a sports figure as there was in the country. Probably in the world. I mean, he was everywhere, which was cool to get to meet him," said Strief, who joked that he never expected to reach the same level of star power himself.

"No, at no point in my rookie year, and now 10 years, have I ever thought of being a star. But I did learn very quickly that we had some in that class."

Harper came next in Round 2 -- a former high school quarterback, a coach’s son and a captain at Alabama.

"I don’t want to use the word a 'safe' pick. But, man, he just fit so many of the things we were looking for," Payton said. "We knew he was smart, he was a good tackler, we felt he was a good pressure player."

Evans came two rounds later -- a classic "diamond in the rough" who landed at Bloomsburg because of a broken kneecap suffered during the summer before his senior year in high school. That became a blessing for the Saints since the offensive coordinator at Bloomsburg when Evans arrived was the father of Saints-area scout Jim Monos.

What didn’t work out was New Orleans’ fifth-round pick, Ninkovich, an undersized pass-rusher from Purdue. Not only did the Saints cut Ninkovich in 2007, largely because of injuries, but they got him back again late in the 2008 season. But, they cut him again in 2009 -- after trying to make him a long snapper.

In Round 6, the Saints drafted Oregon State receiver Mike Hass and Pittsburgh cornerback Josh Lay -- two guys that didn’t make the team even though Hass actually drew more buzz than Colston during those early summer practices.

Strief was the first of two seventh-round picks -- thanks to a rare recommendation from former Northwestern coach Randy Walker, who used to work with Payton and promised him that Strief would become a 10-year player for him. Strief is now heading into Year 11.

And last, but obviously not least, was Colston, who caught 711 passes for 9,759 yards and 72 touchdowns before the Saints released both him and Evans this offseason. Payton said Colston fell because he had a limited route tree in college, not a lot of great tape, not high-end speed. But he was "a size-athlete selection" with great upside that began to display itself later that summer in training camp.

"I think we spend so much time talking about the first pick. Typically history would tell you when you have players selected in the second round, fourth round, fifth round, two in the seventh that are still playing -- now you’ve really got something," Payton said. "So you do that, and you don’t lose track of the significance and the importance of it.

"And you want to do it again."