This article is about the
history of the New Orleans Saints NFL football team.
1960s
The city of
New Orleans, Louisiana, was awarded an NFL franchise on November 1, 1966. In December
John W. Mecom, Jr. became the majority shareholder and thus president of the team; later that month
Tom Fears was named head coach. In December the team was named "Saints" due to its birthday on the
Roman Catholic Church's
All Saints Day--a fitting nickname for a team in the largely Catholic New Orleans area. The team's original stadium was
Tulane Stadium, which could seat more than 80,000 fans. The team was placed in the
Capitol Division of the NFL's Eastern Conference; their division foes were the
Dallas Cowboys,
Philadelphia Eagles, and
Washington Redskins The team started off well, with a 5-1 pre-season record; then, on the first play of the regular season, wide receiver
John Gilliam returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown. However, this was not enough for the Saints and they lost their regular season opener to the
Los Angeles Rams 27-13. Their first win came on November 5 as they defeated the
Eagles 31-24. That would be one of the Saints' only triumphs in their inaugural campaign; they ended the
season 3-11, the second-worst mark in the league and three-and-a-half games behind Washington in the divisional race. At the time, however, the Saints' 3 wins tied for the most ever for an expansion team's inaugural season.
Their next few seasons continued along similar...
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