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The National Football League awarded its 16th franchise
to New Orleans on November 1, 1966. Appropriately,
it was All Saints Day. In mid-December, 28-year-old
John W. Mecom Jr., a successful Texas and Louisiana
businessman, became the majority stockholder. Less
than a month later on January 9, 1967, no one was
surprised when the team was named the "Saints."New
Orleans Saints, professional football team and one
of four teams in the Southern Division of the National
Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football
League (NFL). The Saints play at the Louisiana Superdome
in New Orleans, Louisiana, and wear uniforms of gold,
black, and white. The team is named after the Dixieland
classic and team fight song, “When the Saints
Go Marchin’ In.”
The Saints joined the NFL as an expansion team in
1967. The new club struggled for many years, employing
six head coaches, posting 12 consecutive losing records,
and averaging only four wins per season from 1967
to 1978. The team’s leader during much of this
time was quarterback Archie Manning, who won the NFL
player of the year award in 1978. The greatest moment
in Saints history came on November 8, 1970, when New
Orleans kicker Tom Dempsey sealed a 19-17 upset of
the Detroit Lions with a 63-yard field goal—the
longest in NFL history.
The Saints began playing in the Superdome in 1975,
and four years later they recorded their first non-losing
mark, finishing with an 8-8 win-loss record under
head coach Dick Nolan. The team’s woes continued
during the 1980s, however, and New Orleans was never
able to compile more than 8 wins in a season.
Under head coach Jim Mora, the Saints achieved their
first winning record and their first playoff appearance
in 1987. A former defensive coodinator for the New
England Patriots, Mora was named NFL coach of the
year. Running back Rueben Mayes, the 1986 rookie of
the year, and wide receiver Eric Martin, a three-time
1,000-yard gainer, anchored the NFC’s second-best
offense.
Mora steered the Saints to three consecutive trips
to the postseason from 1990 to 1992. New Orleans assembled
the NFC’s toughest defense in 1990 and 1991,
led by one of the best linebacker units in the league.
In 1992 linebackers Rickey Jackson, Vaughn Johnson,
Sam Mills, and Pat Swilling all played in the Pro
Bowl, and the Saints led the league in quarterback
sacks. Despite its tenacious defense, the team lost
in the first round each time it made the playoffs.
At the end of the 1996 season, former Chicago Bears
head coach Mike Ditka replaced Mora. Ditka was fired
after the 1999 season. In 2000, former NFL linebacker
and long-time assistant Jim Haslett was hired as the
new head coach.
The New Orleans Saints have never played in the Super
Bowl.
Saints
Club Records >>
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