Glory Days D uring the 1950s and 1960s college football was the most t popular sport in the South The people of New Orleans Louisiana loved professional football too Whenever the National Football League NFL staged exhibition games there fans showed up in huge numbers So when the NFL decided to add new teams in the 1960s New Orleans was an easy choice th 1950 d 1960 i ll f tb ll th A businessman named John Mecom Jr led a group of investors that funded the team They chose the name Saints after one of the city’s most famous songs When the Saints Go Marching In New Orleans played its first season in 1967 The team’s first coach was Tom Fears who was one of the greatest pass receivers in history Fears built the Saints with experienced stars taken from other NFL teams including Jim Taylor 6
Doug Atkins Billy Kilmer and Dave Whitsell Over the next few seasons the Saints found other good players including kicker Tom Dempsey and receivers Danny Abramowicz and Dave Parks Even so every year the team lost more games than it won The first true star for the Saints was quarterback Archie Manning In 1972 he finished tied for third in the NFL in touchdown passes even though New Orleans won just two games Toward the end of the 1970s it looked like Manning would finally turn the Saints into a winning team Unfortunately in 1980 they lost their first 14 games before getting their one and only win of the year Disappointed fans started calling them the Aints Seven more years passed before New Orleans finally enjoyed its first winning season In 1987 coach Jim Mora pushed his players hard No team in the National Football Conference NFC wanted to win more The extra work paid off The Saints won 12 games and advanced to the playoffs for the first time The New Orleans offense relied on the skills of quarterback Bobby Hebert running back Rueben Mayes kicker Morten Andersen and kick returner Mel Gray The Saints were even better LEFT Archie Manning passes on the run ABOVE Bobby Hebert looks for a receiver during practice 7
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on defense Linebackers Sam Mills Pat Swilling Rickey Jackson and Vaughan Johnson led a dangerous unit that loved to sack the quarterback and cause turnovers The Saints built on that success in the years that followed They put a number of talented stars on the field including Eric Martin Willie Roaf Jim Everett Eric Allen Joe Johnson and Craig Ironhead Heyward New Orleans went to the playoffs three years in a row in 1990 1991 and 1992 By the end of the decade however the team had sunk back to the bottom of the NFC West The Saints began searching for a way to let the good times roll again Good luck seemed to be headed the team’s way as the 21st century began The Saints won the NFC West in 2000 led by quarterback Jeff Blake running back Ricky Williams and receiver Joe Horn The team kept adding talented players including Deuce McAllister Aaron Brooks and Donté Stallworth However in 2005 just when it seemed as if the Saints were ready to take the LEFT Deuce McAllister was the team’s leading rusher from 2002 to 2004 ABOVE Sam Mills focuses on the quarterback 9
