1967 New Orleans Saints season
Encyclopedia
The 1967
New Orleans Saints
season was the Saints inaugural season.
. Lombardi was distraught when the Saints selected Hornung in the draft. In later years, Hornung revealed that he spoke to Saints coach Tom Fears
prior to the draft. Fears was a former assistant in Green Bay and Fears felt that Hornung would help sell tickets in New Orleans. Several weeks later, the Saints also signed Packers running back Jim Taylor. Taylor had felt underpaid and underappreciated under Lombardi. An examination at the Scripps Clinic in California found the severing of the fifth, sixth, and seventh verterbrae, and damaged nerve roots in the spinal cord of Hornung. It was decided that Hornung would retire and he would never play a game for the Saints.
There is a rumor in the annals of New Orleans Saints legends that following this play many fans allegedly heard another fan in Tulane Stadium shout out aloud "This is going to be the greatest football team in history!" -- thus forever jinxing the Saints). Apparently the Rams were not informed of this declaration as they quickly recovered from the opening blow to win 27-13.
The first-ever win for the Saints came in week 8 when rookie wide receiver Flea Roberts scored 3 touchdowns in a 31-24 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. With additional triumphs over Atlanta and Washington the 3 wins for the year matched the most for an expansion team.
Former Green Bay Great Jim Taylor lead the team with 390 yards rushing and 17th round pick rookie Danny Abramowicz from Xavier College led in receiving with 50 grabs for 721 yards and 6 touchdowns. Defensive back Dave Whitshell lead the team as well as the NFL in interceptions with 10 steals—still a New Orleans Saint season record.
1967 NFL season
The 1967 NFL season was the 48th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 16 teams with the addition of the New Orleans Saints. The league's teams were realigned into four divisions: the Capitol and Century Divisions in the Eastern Conference, and the Central and...
New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
season was the Saints inaugural season.
Expansion Draft
The Saints made a splash in the expansion draft by selecting Green Bay Packers running back Paul HornungPaul Hornung
Paul Vernon Hornung is a retired Hall of Fame professional football player who played for the Green Bay Packers from 1957-66...
. Lombardi was distraught when the Saints selected Hornung in the draft. In later years, Hornung revealed that he spoke to Saints coach Tom Fears
Tom Fears
Thomas Jesse Fears was a Mexican-American football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League, playing nine seasons from 1948 to 1956.-Early life:...
prior to the draft. Fears was a former assistant in Green Bay and Fears felt that Hornung would help sell tickets in New Orleans. Several weeks later, the Saints also signed Packers running back Jim Taylor. Taylor had felt underpaid and underappreciated under Lombardi. An examination at the Scripps Clinic in California found the severing of the fifth, sixth, and seventh verterbrae, and damaged nerve roots in the spinal cord of Hornung. It was decided that Hornung would retire and he would never play a game for the Saints.
NFL Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School |
| 1 | ||||
Regular season
Things look couldn't look better for the Saints and their inaugural season. A 5-1 preseason record was followed by a 94-yard kick-off return for a touchdown by rookie John Gilliam to begin the 1967 season against the Los Angeles Rams. (There is a rumor in the annals of New Orleans Saints legends that following this play many fans allegedly heard another fan in Tulane Stadium shout out aloud "This is going to be the greatest football team in history!" -- thus forever jinxing the Saints). Apparently the Rams were not informed of this declaration as they quickly recovered from the opening blow to win 27-13.
The first-ever win for the Saints came in week 8 when rookie wide receiver Flea Roberts scored 3 touchdowns in a 31-24 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. With additional triumphs over Atlanta and Washington the 3 wins for the year matched the most for an expansion team.
Former Green Bay Great Jim Taylor lead the team with 390 yards rushing and 17th round pick rookie Danny Abramowicz from Xavier College led in receiving with 50 grabs for 721 yards and 6 touchdowns. Defensive back Dave Whitshell lead the team as well as the NFL in interceptions with 10 steals—still a New Orleans Saint season record.
Schedule
| Sept 17 | Rams | L 13-27 |
| Sep 24 | Redskins | L 10-30 |
| Oct 1 | Browns | L 7-42 |
| Oct 8 | Giants | L 21-27 |
| Oct 15 | Cowboys | L 10-14 |
| Oct 22 | 49ers | L 13-27 |
| Oct 29 | Steelers | L 10-14 |
| Nov 5 | Eagles | W 31-24 |
| Nov 12 | Cowboys | L 10-27 |
| Nov 19 | Eagles | L 28-41 |
| Nov 26 | Falcons | W 27-24 |
| Dec 3 | Cardinals | L 20-31 |
| Dec 10 | Colts | L 10-30 |
| Dec 17 | Redskins | W 30-14 |
Standings
| NFL Capitol | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | |
| Dallas Cowboys 1967 Dallas Cowboys season The 1967 Dallas Cowboys season was their eighth in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous output of 10–3–1, winning only nine games. They qualified for the playoffs for the third consecutive season.-Schedule:-Playoffs:-Standings:... |
9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 342 | 268 | L-1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles 1967 Philadelphia Eagles season -Offseason:The Eagles held their 1967 training camp for the last time at Hershey Park Stadium in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The following year they trained at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, home of the Albright College Lions.-NFL Draft:... |
6 | 7 | 1 | .462 | 351 | 409 | W-1 |
| Washington Redskins 1967 Washington Redskins season The 1967 Washington Redskins began with the team trying to improve on their 7-7 record from 1966.The 1967 season marks the first season in the league's history where the league was divided into two conferences which were subdivided into two divisions. Up to 1967, the league was either divided into... |
5 | 6 | 3 | .455 | 347 | 353 | L-1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 233 | 379 | W-1 |
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