Английская Википедия:1967 New Orleans Saints season

Содержание

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

The 1967 New Orleans Saints season was the inaugural season for the franchise. The team went 3–11, finishing in last place in the four-team NFL Eastern Conference Capitol Division.

Offseason

Expansion draft

The Saints made a splash in the expansion draft by selecting Green Bay Packers running back Paul Hornung. 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, a native of Baton Rouge and an All-American at LSU. Taylor had felt underpaid and under-appreciated under Lombardi. An examination at the Scripps Clinic in California found the severing of the fifth, sixth, and seventh vertebrae, and damaged nerve roots in the spinal cord of Hornung. It was decided that Hornung would retire and he never played a game for the Saints.

NFL draft

The Saints committed a colossal blunder by trading the first overall selection to the Baltimore Colts for Gary Cuozzo, the backup quarterback to Johnny Unitas. Cuozzo began the season as the Saints' starter, but lost the job to expansion draftee Billy Kilmer. Cuozzo was traded to the Minnesota Vikings early in 1968.

Baltimore selected Michigan State All-America defensive end Bubba Smith with the first pick. Smith became a star for the Colts, starting at left end for their Super Bowl III and Super Bowl V teams.

Pre-season

The Saints played six pre-season games, finishing with a record of 5–1.

style="Шаблон:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Week	style="Шаблон:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Date	style="Шаблон:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Opponent	style="Шаблон:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Result	style="Шаблон:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Record	style="Шаблон:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Venue	style="Шаблон:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Attendance
1	Шаблон:Dow tooltip	at Los Angeles Rams	L 7–16	0–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	26,364
2	Шаблон:Dow tooltip	St. Louis Cardinals	W 23–14	1–1	State Fair Stadium	25,500
3	Шаблон:Dow tooltip	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 20–17	2–1	Tiger Stadium	35,000
4	Шаблон:Dow tooltip	vs. San Francisco 49ers	W 24–10	3–1	Civic Stadium	23,348
5	Шаблон:Dow tooltip	vs. Miami Dolphins	W 20–17	4–1	Johnson Hagood Stadium	11,214
6	Шаблон:Dow tooltip	Atlanta Falcons	W 27–14	5–1	Tulane Stadium	67,486

Regular season

Things couldn't have looked better for the Saints and their inaugural season. A 5–1 preseason record was followed by a 94-yard kickoff 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 jinxing the Saints for their first 20 years of existence). 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 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 led 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 led the team as well as the NFL in interceptions with 10 steals—still a New Orleans Saint season record.

Schedule

style="Шаблон:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Week	style="Шаблон:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Date	style="Шаблон:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Opponent	style="Шаблон:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Result	style="Шаблон:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Record	style="Шаблон:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Venue	style="Шаблон:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Attendance
1	September 17	Los Angeles Rams	L 13–27	0–1	Tulane Stadium	80,879
2	September 24	Washington Redskins	L 10–30	0–2	Tulane Stadium	74,937
3	October 1	Cleveland Browns	L 7–42	0–3	Tulane Stadium	77,045
4	October 8	at New York Giants	L 21–27	0–4	Yankee Stadium	62,670
5	October 15	at Dallas Cowboys	L 10–14	0–5	Cotton Bowl	64,128
6	October 22	at San Francisco 49ers	L 13–27	0–6	Kezar Stadium	34,285
7	October 29	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 10–14	0–7	Tulane Stadium	68,911
8	November 5	Philadelphia Eagles	W 31–24	1–7	Tulane Stadium	59,596
9	November 12	Dallas Cowboys	L 10–27	1–8	Tulane Stadium	83,437
10	November 19	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 21–48	1–9	Franklin Field	60,751
11	November 26	Atlanta Falcons	W 27–24	2–9	Tulane Stadium	83,437
12	December 3	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 20–31	2–10	Busch Memorial Stadium	41,171
13	December 10	at Baltimore Colts	L 10–30	2–11	Memorial Stadium	60,238
14	December 17	at Washington Redskins	W 30–14	3–11	District of Columbia Stadium	50,486
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Los Angeles Rams

• Source: [1]

Week 2: vs. Washington Redskins

• Source: [2]

Week 3: vs. Cleveland Browns

• Source: [3]

Week 4: at New York Giants

• Source: [4]

Week 5: at Dallas Cowboys

• Source: [5]

Week 6: at San Francisco 49ers

• Source: [6]

Week 7: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

• Source: [7]

Week 8: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

• Source: [8]

Week 9: vs. Dallas Cowboys

• Source: [9]

Week 10: at Philadelphia Eagles

• Source: [10]

Week 11: vs. Atlanta Falcons

• Source: [11]

Week 12: at St. Louis Cardinals

• Source: [12]

Week 13: at Baltimore Colts

• Source: [13]

Week 14: at Washington Redskins

• Source: [14]

External links

• New Orleans Saints History
• Saints on Pro Football Reference