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1967 New Orleans Saints season
1967 New Orleans Saints season
Owner	John Mecom Jr.
General manager	Bert Rose
Head coach	Tom Fears
Home field	Tulane Stadium
Results
Record	3–11
Division place	4th Capitol
League place	15th
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	Dave Whitsell
AP All-Pros	Dave Whitsell (2nd team)
Team MVP	Dave Whitsell
Team ROY	Danny Abramowicz
	Saints seasons; 1968 →;

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.^[1] 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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[2]

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.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1967 New Orleans Saints draft
1	1	–	–	–	Selection traded to Baltimore Colts
1	26	Les Kelley	HB	Alabama
2	27	Bo Burris	QB-S	Houston
2	52	John Gilliam *	FL	South Carolina State
2	53	Dave Rowe	OT	Penn State
3	54	–	–	–	Selection traded to Baltimore Colts
3	79	Del Williams	C-G	Florida State
3	80	Ben Hart	SE	Oklahoma
4	81	Ron Widby *	P	Tennessee
4	106	Bill Carr	C	Florida
4	107	Tom Stangle	E	Dayton
5	108	Don McCall	HB	Southern California
5	133	John Douglas	DB	Texas Southern
6	134	George Harvey	G	Kansas
6	159	Bo Wood	LB	North Carolina
7	160	Gary Hertzog	G	Willamette
7	185	Bob McKelvey	FB-LB	Northwestern
8	186	Sam Harris	TE	Colorado
8	211	Barry Siler	LB	Albion College
9	212	Tim Lavens	TE	Idaho
9	237	Eugene Ross	DB	Oklahoma
10	238	Charlie Brown	FL-SE	Missouri
10	263	Roosevelt Robertson	FL	North Carolina College
11	264	Jim Benson	G	Florida State
11	288	Bernard Corbin	S	Alabama A&M
12	289	Ronnie Pack	G	Texas Tech
12	315	John Robinson	FL	Tennessee A&I
13	316	Bill Stetz	LB	Boston College
13	341	Gary Grossnickle	S	Missouri
14	342	Jim Hester	TE	North Dakota
14	367	George Stetter	DB	Virginia
15	368	John Snow	OT	Wake Forest
15	393	Darrell Johnson	RB	Lamar Tech
16	394	Marcus Rhoden	FL-SE	Mississippi State
16	419	Bruce Cortez	DB	Parsons College
17	420	Danny Abramowicz	SE	Xavier (Ohio)
17	438	Billy Bob Stewart	FB-LB	Southern Methodist	Selection acquired from Baltimore Colts
17	445	Jimmy Walker	DB-FL	Providence
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

**1967 New Orleans Saints staff**
	Front office President – John Mecom Jr. Executive Vice-President / general manager – Bert Rose Director of Player Personnel – Vic Schwenk Director of Player Relations – George Owen Director of Promotions and Special Events – Bill Smythe Director of Public Relations – Donald Smith Public Relations Assistant – Patricia Cross Public Relations Consultant – Jim Hall Business Manager – Carroll Martin College Scouting – North Central Area Scout – Dave Smith Northeastern Area Scout – Ray Masters South Central Area Scout – Al Tabor Southeastern Area Scout – Henry Lee Parker Western Area Scout – Ray Newman Comptroller – Cyril Nelson Entertainment Director – Tommy Walker Ticket Manager – Henry Simoneaux Head coaches Head coach – Tom Fears Offensive coaches Chief offensive coach – George Dickson Offensive line coach – Walt Yowarsky Receiver coach – Bob Shaw			Defensive coaches Chief defensive coach – Jack Faulkner Defensive line coach – Ed Khayat Linebacker coach – J. D. Roberts Strength and conditioning Trainer – Fred Peterson Assistant trainer – Bill Cuthbertson Equipment manager – Charlie Shepherd Assistant Equipment Manager – Wallace Brown

Roster

**1967 New Orleans Saints roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 15 Gary Cuozzo 17 Billy Kilmer 19 Gary Wood Running backs (RB) 32 Tom Barrington FB 22 Charlie Brown HB 30 Les Kelley FB 36 Don McCall HB 33 Randy Schultz FB 31 Jim Taylor FB 39 Ernie Wheelwright HB Wide receivers (WR) 46 Danny Abramowicz SE 42 John Gilliam SE 86 Tom Hall FL 85 Ray Poage FL 27 Walter Roberts FL Tight ends (TE) 89 Kent Kramer		Offensive linemen (OL) 71 Dick Anderson T 78 Jerry Jones T 63 Roy Schmidt G 58 Eli Strand G 73 Jerry Sturm T 54 Joe Wendryhoski C 61 Del Williams G Defensive linemen (DL) 81 Doug Atkins DE 79 Lou Cordileone DT 72 Earl Leggett DT 76 Dave Rowe DT 60 Brian Schweda DE 74 Mike Tilleman DT		Linebackers (LB) 55 Jackie Burkett 66 Bill Cody 35 Ted Davis 59 Fred Whittingham Defensive backs (DB) 16 Bo Burris S 21 John Douglas CB 26 Jimmy Heidel S 0 Obert Logan S 44 George Rose CB 23 Dave Whitsell CB 20 George Youngblood S Special teams 10 Charlie Durkee K 12 Tom McNeill P				Practice squad n/a Reserve 83 Vern Burke TE (IR) 47 Bruce Cortez CB (IR) 80 Jim Garcia DE (IR) 71 Dave McCormick T (IR) 24 Elijah Nevett FL (Military) 77 Ray Rissmiller T (IR) 53 Dave Simmons LB (IR) 37 Steve Stonebreaker LB (IR) Rookies in italics , 0 taxi squad

Pre-season

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

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 2	at Los Angeles Rams	L 7–16	0–1	Anaheim Stadium	26,364
2	August 12	St. Louis Cardinals	W 23–14	1–1	State Fair Stadium	25,500
3	August 19	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 20–17	2–1	Tiger Stadium	35,000
4	August 26	vs. San Francisco 49ers	W 24–10	3–1	Civic Stadium	23,348
5	September 2	vs. Miami Dolphins	W 20–17	4–1	Johnson Hagood Stadium	11,214
6	September 9	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^[3] 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

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	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

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Rams	3	10	7	7	27
Saints	7	3	3	0	13

Date: Sunday, September 17
Location: Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana
Game start: 1:30 p.m. CT
Game attendance: 80,879
Game weather: 75 °F (24 °C), relative humidity 66%, wind 7 mph (11 km/h)

Source: [1]

Week 2: vs. Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Redskins	6	14	0	10	30
Saints	3	7	0	0	10

Date: Sunday, September 24
Location: Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana
Game start: 1:30 p.m. CT
Game attendance: 74,937
Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C), relative humidity 63%, wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h)

Source: [2]

Week 3: vs. Cleveland Browns

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Browns	7	7	14	14	42
Saints	0	7	0	0	7

Date: Sunday, October 1
Location: Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana
Game start: 1:30 p.m. CT
Game attendance: 77,045
Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C), relative humidity 68%, wind 8 mph (13 km/h)

Source: [3]

Week 4: at New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Saints	7	7	7	0	21
• Giants	7	7	6	7	27

Date: Sunday, October 8
Location: Yankee Stadium, New York City, New York
Game start: 1:30 p.m. ET
Game attendance: 62,670
Game weather: 55 °F (13 °C), relative humidity 60%, wind 10 mph (16 km/h)

Source: [4]

Week 5: at Dallas Cowboys

	1	2	3	4	Total
Saints	0	7	3	0	10
• Cowboys	7	7	0	0	14

Date: Sunday, October 15
Location: Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas
Game start: 1:35 p.m. CT
Game attendance: 64,128
Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C), relative humidity 83%, wind 13 mph (21 km/h)

Source: [5]

Week 6: at San Francisco 49ers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Saints	0	6	7	0	13
• 49ers	3	7	7	10	27

Date: Sunday, October 22
Location: Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, California
Game start: 1:00 p.m. PT
Game attendance: 34,285
Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C), relative humidity 87%, wind 11 mph (18 km/h)

Source: [6]

Week 7: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Steelers	0	0	0	14	14
Saints	3	7	0	0	10

Date: Sunday, October 29
Location: Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana
Game start: 1:30 p.m. CT
Game attendance: 68,911
Game weather: 67 °F (19 °C), relative humidity 75%, wind 12 mph (19 km/h)

Source: [7]

Week 8: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	10	0	14	24
• Saints	7	7	10	7	31

Date: Sunday, November 5
Location: Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana
Game start: 1:30 p.m. CT
Game attendance: 59,596
Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C), relative humidity 61%, wind 12 mph (19 km/h)

Source: [8]

Week 9: vs. Dallas Cowboys

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Cowboys	7	7	10	3	27
Saints	7	0	3	0	10

Date: Sunday, November 12
Location: Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana
Game start: 1:00 p.m. CT
Game attendance: 83,437
Game weather: 65 °F (18 °C), relative humidity 88%, wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h)

Source: [9]

Week 10: at Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Saints	0	7	0	14	21
• Eagles	3	28	10	7	48

Date: Sunday, November 19
Location: Franklin Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Game start: 1:15 p.m. ET
Game attendance: 60,751
Game weather: 44 °F (7 °C), relative humidity 53%, wind 19 mph (31 km/h)

Source: [10]

Week 11: vs. Atlanta Falcons

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	0	21	0	3	24
• Saints	3	7	7	10	27

Date: Sunday, November 26
Location: Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana
Game start: 1:00 p.m. CT
Game attendance: 83,437
Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C), relative humidity 84%, wind 10 mph (16 km/h)

Source: [11]

Week 12: at St. Louis Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Saints	3	3	7	7	20
• Cardinals	7	0	10	14	31

Date: Sunday, December 3
Location: Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
Game start: 1:00 p.m. CT
Game attendance: 41,171
Game weather: 34 °F (1 °C), relative humidity 87%, wind 16 mph (26 km/h), wind chill 24

Source: [12]

Week 13: at Baltimore Colts

	1	2	3	4	Total
Saints	0	0	10	0	10
• Colts	7	10	3	10	30

Date: Sunday, December 10
Location: Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland
Game start: 2:05 p.m. ET
Game attendance: 60,238
Game weather: 40 °F (4 °C), relative humidity 78%, wind 14 mph (23 km/h)

Source: [13]

Week 14: at Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Saints	0	7	9	14	30
Redskins	0	0	7	7	14

Date: Sunday, December 17
Location: District of Columbia Stadium, Washington, D.C.
Game start: 1:15 p.m. ET
Game attendance: 50,486
Game weather: 36 °F (2 °C), relative humidity 50%, wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h), wind chill 30

Source: [14]

Standings

NFL Capitol
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys	9	5	0	.643	4–2	8–2	342	268	L1
Philadelphia Eagles	6	7	1	.462	3–2–1	5–4–1	351	409	W1
Washington Redskins	5	6	3	.455	2–3–1	4–5–1	347	353	L1
New Orleans Saints	3	11	0	.214	2–4	2–8	233	379	W1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

^ ^a ^b When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p. 407, Simon & Schuster, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
^ ^a ^b When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p. 408, Simon & Schuster, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
^ "NFL Players | Past & Current NFL Players".