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New Orleans Saints
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The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints play in the South Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL).
The Saints were founded in 1967, as an expansion team. They went more than a decade before they managed to finish a season with a .500 record and two decades before having a winning season. The team's first successful years were from 1987–1992, when the team made the playoffs four times and had winning records in the non-playoff seasons.
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Encyclopedia
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints play in the South Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL).
The Saints were founded in 1967, as an expansion team. They went more than a decade before they managed to finish a season with a .500 record and two decades before having a winning season. The team's first successful years were from 1987–1992, when the team made the playoffs four times and had winning records in the non-playoff seasons. In the 2000 season, the Saints defeated the then defending Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams for the team's first playoff win.
The Saints' home stadium is the Louisiana Superdome. The team has played its home games in the "dome" since 1975. However, due to damage caused by Hurricane Katrina to the New Orleans area, the Saints' 2005 home opener was played at Giants Stadium against the New York Giants. The remainder of their 2005 home games were split between the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, and LSU's Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After a $185 million renovation of the historic stadium, the team returned to the Superdome for the 2006 season. The team played its 2006 home opener in front of a sold-out crowd and national television audience on September 25, 2006, defeating its NFC South rival, the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 23–3. The victory received a 2007 ESPY award for "Best Moment in Sports."
New Orleans is one of five NFL teams that have yet to play in a Super Bowl. The club reached the NFC Championship Game in 2007, which they lost to the Chicago Bears.
The Saints conduct summer training camp at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.
Franchise history
Early history
For more information, see History of the New Orleans Saints
The brainchild of local sports entrepreneur, David Dixon, (who also founded the Louisiana Superdome and USFL), the Saints were actually secretly born in a backroom deal brought about by Congressman Hale Boggs and NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle. The NFL needed congressional approval of the proposed AFL-NFL merger. To seal the deal, Rozelle arrived in New Orleans within a week, and announced on, coincidentally, All Saints' Day -- November 1, 1966 -- that the NFL officially had awarded the city of New Orleans an NFL franchise; Boggs' Congressional committee in turn quickly approved the NFL merger. The team was named for the world-famous jazz anthem, "When the Saints Go Marching In," . John W. Mecom, Jr., a young oilman from Houston, became the team's first majority stockholder. The team's colors, black and gold, symbolized both Mecom's and New Orleans' strong ties to the oil ("black gold") industry. Trumpeter Al Hirt was part owner of the team, and his rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In" was made the official fight song.
That first season started with a 94 yard opening kickoff return for a touchdown by John Gilliam, but the Saints lost that game 27–13 to the Los Angeles Rams at Tulane Stadium. Their first season record was 3–11, which set an NFL record for most wins by an expansion team. However, they could not manage to finish as high as second in their division until 1979. That 1979 team and the 1983 team were the only ones to even finish at .500 until 1987.
One of the franchise's shining moments came on November 8, 1970, when Tom Dempsey kicked an NFL record-breaking 63-yard field goal to defeat the Detroit Lions by a score of 19-17 in the final seconds of the game. This record, although equaled 29 years later by Jason Elam of the Denver Broncos, has yet to be broken.
In 1980, the Saints lost their first 14 games, prompting local media personality Bernard "Buddy D" Diliberto to advise Saints supporters to wear paper bags over their heads at the team's home games; many bags rendered the club's name as the "'Aints" rather than the "Saints." The practice of wearing a bag over one's head then spread rapidly, first to fans of other poorly-performing teams within the NFL, and ultimately to those of other American team sports, and has become a firmly-established custom throughout the United States.
After the end of the 1996 season, ironically as Diliberto had suggested before Mora's resignation, former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka was hired to replace Mora. Although this initially generated a lot of excitement among Saints fans, Ditka's tenure ended up being a failure. The Saints went 6-10 in their first two seasons under Ditka (1997 and 1998). During the 1999 NFL Draft, Ditka traded all of his picks for that season, as well as the first-round and third-round picks for the following season, to the Washington Redskins in order to draft University of Texas Heisman Trophy running back Ricky Williams in the first round. Ditka and Williams had a mock wedding picture taken to commemorate the occasion. However, Ditka, most of his coaching staff, and general manager Bill Kuharich were fired at the end of the 1999 season due to the club's 3-13 record.
Jim Haslett held the post from 2000 to 2005. In his first year, he took the team to the playoffs but lost to the Minnesota Vikings a week after beating the St. Louis Rams for the team's first ever playoff win. After winning the 2000 NFL Executive of the Year Award, General Manager Randy Mueller was fired between the 2001 and 2002 seasons without explanation by Benson. The Saints failed to make the playoffs in 2001 and 2002, although in the latter year they had the distinction of beating the eventual Super Bowl XXXVII champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in both of their regular season meetings, only the second team to do so in NFL history (the 1995 Washington Redskins did so against the to be World Champion Dallas Cowboys). In 2003 the Saints again missed the playoffs after finishing 8-8. The 2004 season started poorly for the Saints, as they went 2-4 through their first six games and 4-8 through their first twelve games. At that point Haslett's job appeared to be in jeopardy; however, he managed to win the three straight games leading up to the season finale, leaving the Saints in playoff contention in the final week of the season. In week 17, the Saints defeated division rivals Carolina; however, the Saints needed other results to break their way and when the St. Louis Rams beat the New York Jets the Saints were eliminated despite having beaten the Rams, who finished with the same record. The Rams, Saints, and Vikings all were 8-8, with the Rams having a 7-5 conference record, Saints 6-6, and the Vikings 5-7, the Rams made the playoffs due to having the best conference record, and then they took the Vikings because of the head to head. Haslett left after the 2005 season, in which the Saints finished 3-13 and did not play one regular season contest in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina. On January 17, 2006, the Saints hired Sean Payton as their new head coach. In the 2006 NFL draft Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush was drafted #2 overall by the Saints.
On December 17, 2006, the Saints clinched their third division title in franchise history. For the first time in Saints' history, they clinched their NFC South title on their home field. Sean Payton became the second consecutive Saints coach to win a division title in his first season. After a loss by the Dallas Cowboys to the Philadelphia Eagles on Christmas Day 2006, the Saints clinched a first-round playoff bye for the first time in franchise history.
Effect of Hurricane Katrina
2006: Homecoming and postseason
On March 23, the Saints announced that the team's two 2006 preseason games were to be played at Shreveport, Louisiana and Jackson, Mississippi.
On April 6 the Saints released their 2006 schedule, with all home games scheduled to be played at the Superdome. The home opener against the Atlanta Falcons was moved to September 25 and was shown on ESPN's Monday Night Football.
On September 19, Saints owner Tom Benson announced that the team had sold out the Louisiana Superdome for the entire season with season tickets alone (70,001 seats), a first in franchise history.
The September 25, 2006 home opener, the first home game in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, was won by the Saints 23-3 against the Atlanta Falcons, who were undefeated in the 2006 season at that time. The attendance for the game was a sellout crowd of 70,003. Meanwhile, the broadcast of the game was ESPN's highest-ever rated program to date, with an 11.8 rating, and viewership by 10,850,000 homes. It was the most-watched program for the night, broadcast or cable, and was the second-highest rated cable program of all time. U2 and Green Day performed "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "The Saints Are Coming" before the game.
After the first-round bye, the Saints beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-24 in the Superdome in the 2006 Divisional Playoffs. No team had ever had such a poor record in the prior year and then went on to a league or conference championship game. Since the Saints' only other playoff win was in the wild card round, this is the farthest the Saints have ever advanced. The victory was only the second playoff win in team history.
The season ended on January 21, 2007 when the Saints lost 39–14 to the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship Game.
2007-Present
The Saints announced that for the second year in a row, the Louisiana Superdome had sold out every ticket for the season. Additionally, all luxury boxes had been sold out for the season. Both of these statistics are particularly surprising given that the city-proper has about 300,000 people or 150,000 fewer people than July 2005 population data (though the metro area still accounts for 1.2 million people)..
The first game of the season was against the defending Super Bowl XLI champion Indianapolis Colts. The Saints lost this game, 41–10, and lost their next three games. In one of these three games, against the Tennessee Titans, the Saints lost running back Deuce McAllister for the season with his second career (second time in three seasons) ACL tear. After winning their first game, against the Seattle Seahawks, two weeks later, the team went on a four-game winning streak to bring their record to an even 4–4. After reaching 7–7, the Saints lost their final two games to finish 7–9.
The Saints made a move with the Super Bowl XLII champion New York Giants. They acquired Jeremy Shockey from them for second and fifth round draft picks in the 2009 NFL Draft. They also acquired linebacker Jonathan Vilma from the New York Jets, in exchange for a conditional 2009 4th round draft pick.
Logo and uniforms
Except for minor modifications, the Saints' logo and uniforms have basically remained the same since the club debuted in 1967. The team's logo is a fleur-de-lis, while its uniform design consists of gold helmets, gold pants, and either black or white jerseys. Minor changes to the uniform stripes and trim have been made throughout the years. The team wore black helmets during the 1969 preseason, but NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle barred the Saints from using the helmets during the regular season, since owner John Mecom, Jr. did not notify the league office of the change.
The Saints predominantly wore white at home when the club played at Tulane Stadium from 1967 through 1974 (except in 1969 and 1970), forcing opponents to wear dark colors in the subtropical climate of New Orleans. When the surface at Tulane Stadium switched from natural grass to AstroTurf in 1971, field temperatures became hotter still. In Archie Manning's first game, in the 1971 season opener against the Los Angeles Rams, temperatures on the field reached as high as 130 degrees. The heavily favored Rams wilted in the stifling heat, and the Saints claimed their first-ever victory over their NFC West rivals, 24-20, on Manning's 1-yard quarterback sneak on the last play of the game.
The Saints switched to white pants in 1975, coinciding with the team's move from Tulane Stadium to the Superdome. One year later, they started to wear black pants with their white jerseys, a move influenced by coach Hank Stram, who introduced red pants to the Kansas City Chiefs' uniforms in 1968. In an Oct. 3, 1976 home game against the Houston Oilers, Hank Stram used the Saints' road uniforms, the white jerseys and black pants. The Saints lost that game 31–26. During the 1981–82 seasons (Bum Phillips' first two seasons as coach), the team wore white jerseys with black pants at home, but reverted back to the black jerseys and white pants for 1983. They reverted back to wearing gold pants with both their black and white jerseys in 1986 under new coach Jim E. Mora. From 1986 through 1995, the sleeves of the jerseys and sides of the pants featured a logo with a fleur-de-lis inside an outline of the state of Louisiana. The logo replaced the striping pattern that had been on the uniforms since the team's inception; save for color variations, the striping pattern was similar to that used by the Washington Redskins (until 1979), Green Bay Packers (until 1997), and Cleveland Browns (still in use ), which is likely why the change was made. That logo was removed in 1996 and replaced with a fleur-de-lis on both the sleeves and sides of the pants.
From 1996 through 1998, the Saints returned to gold numbers on both the white and black jerseys, but complaints about the numbers on the white jerseys being too difficult to read forced the numbers on the white jerseys to be changed to black in 1999. The Saints wore black pants with a wide gold stripe with their white jerseys in 1999, but following a 3-13 season and the dismissal of coach Mike Ditka, the black pants were mothballed by new coach Jim Haslett.
In 2000, the Saints won their first playoff game as they hosted the St. Louis Rams and after having a better road record than home record, they wore their white jerseys, helping them get a 31-28 win over the defending champion Rams. The defining play of the game came with the Saints clinging to a three-point lead with minutes to play. The Saints punted to the Rams' Az-Zahir Hakim (who would play one season for the Saints in 2005), who fumbled the punt deep in Rams' territory. Brian Milne recovered for the Saints, who then ran out the clock to preserve the victory.
In 2001, they wore their white jerseys in the first six home games. During that same year, they primarily wore black pants with both their white and black jerseys. They became the first NFL team to wear all-black uniforms in a week 5 road game against the Carolina Panthers, and again in weeks 16 and 17 in home games against the Washington Redskins and San Francisco 49ers. (It is notable that the all-black outfit made a comeback on December 3, 2006 in a 34-10 victory over the 49ers. The team used it the week after against the Dallas Cowboys on December 10, 2006 in a 42-17 victory.)
In 2002, the Saints wore black pants with their white jerseys (except for the final road game, a 20-13 loss in Cincinnati when they went back to the gold pants), and gold pants with their black jerseys, a gold alternate jersey, and a 1967-style throwback uniform. But one season later, they stopped using the alternates and again reverted back to wearing gold pants with both their black and white jerseys.
The team introduced a gold alternate jersey (worn with the black pants) during a December 15, 2002 game versus the Minnesota Vikings, a 32-31 loss, but have never worn them since then. Because of the metallic gold's bright color, the gold jerseys were considered the "light" jersey in the game, so the Vikings wore their purple home jerseys as the "dark" colored team. One team must wear "dark" and one team must wear "light". Today only the New England Patriots have a "light" jersey (their alternate, a bright metallic silver) that isn't white in which the other team would wear their colored, or "dark" jerseys against them since the third jersey rule was implemented in the NFL in 2002.
The Saints also introduced a 1967-style throwback uniform in a 23-20 win in week 13 (Dec. 1) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This also was never worn again but re-introduction of the jerseys in stores suggests they may make a comeback as the Saints' alternate uniform this season.
In 2006, to honor their return to Louisiana, the Saints wore a patch on their uniforms with an outline of the State of Louisiana with a fleur-de-lis superimposed, similar to the logo from the 1980s.
The Saints originally planned to wear white jerseys at home for the 2006 season, but during the season, the players voted to wear the black jerseys at home. Since the team had informed the NFL office that they planned to wear white jerseys at home, each of the Saints' remaining home opponents would have to agree to New Orleans' request. The Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Cincinnati Bengals did not agree to the switch, forcing the Saints to wear white for those games.
Starting in week 13 of the 2006 season, the Saints wore white jerseys with black pants and in a Week 16 game in The Meadowlands against the New York Giants (a 30-7 Saints win), the Saints wore the black pants with their road white jerseys.
The Saints have worn white jerseys for their first four home games of 2008, but chose to wear the all-black combination for the Oct. 26 game at Wembley Stadium in London vs. the San Diego Chargers, in which New Orleans was the designated home team. The Saints have since worn their all-black combo for all home games since returning from London.
Statistics
Season-by-season records
Record vs. Opponents
(As of Week 17 of the 2008 NFL season. Includes postseason records.)
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| Tampa Bay Buccaneers || 20 || 14 || 0 || .588 || L 23-20 || Nov 30, 2008 || Tampa ||
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| Kansas City Chiefs || 5 || 4 || 0 || .555 || W 30-20 || Nov 16, 2008 || Kansas City ||
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| Detroit Lions || 9 || 9 || 1 || .500 || W 42-7 || Dec 21, 2008 || Detroit ||
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| Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders || 5 || 5 || 1 || .500 || W 34-3 || Oct 12, 2008 || New Orleans ||
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| New York Jets || 5 || 5 || 0 || .500 || W 21-19 || Nov 27, 2005 || East Rutherford ||
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| Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts || 5 || 5 || 0 || .500 || L 41-10 || Sept 6, 2007 || Indianapolis ||
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| Seattle Seahawks || 5 || 5 || 0 || .500 || W 28-17 || Oct 14, 2007 || Seattle ||
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| Buffalo Bills || 4 || 4 || 0 || .500 || W 19-7 || Oct 2, 2005 || *San Antonio ||
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| Jacksonville Jaguars || 2 || 2 || 0 || .500 || W 41-24 || Nov 4, 2007 || New Orleans ||
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| Houston Texans || 1 || 1 || 0 || .500 || L 23-10 || Nov 18, 2007 || Houston ||
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| St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals || 12 || 13 || 0 || .480 || W 31-24 || Dec 16, 2007 || New Orleans ||
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| Pittsburgh Steelers || 6 || 7 || 0 || .462 || L 38-31 || Nov 12, 2006 || Pittsburgh ||
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| Cincinnati Bengals || 5 || 6 || 0 || .455 || L 31-16 || Nov 19, 2006 || New Orleans ||
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| Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams || 30 || 38 || 0 || .441 || L 37-29 || Nov 11, 2007 || New Orleans || 1-0 postseason
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| Atlanta Falcons || 35 ||45 || 0 || .437 || W 29-25 || Dec 7, 2008 || New Orleans || 0-1 postseason
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| Carolina Panthers || 12 || 16 || 0 || .429 || L 33-31 || Dec 28, 2008 || New Orleans ||
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| Chicago Bears || 11 || 15 || 0 || .423 || L 27-24 || Dec 11, 2008 || Chicago || 0-2 postseason
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| New York Giants || 10 || 14 || 0 || .417 || W 30-7 || Dec 24, 2006 || East Rutherford ||
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| Philadelphia Eagles || 10 || 16 || 0 || .385 || L 38-23 || Dec 23, 2007 || New Orleans || 1-1 postseason
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| Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans || 4 || 7 || 1 || .375 || L 31-14 || Sept 24, 2007 || New Orleans ||
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| Dallas Cowboys || 8 || 14 || 0 || .364 || W 42-17 || Dec 10, 2006 || Irving ||
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| San Francisco 49ers || 23 || 45 || 2 || .343 || W 31-17 || Sept 28, 2008 || New Orleans ||
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| Green Bay Packers || 7 || 14 || 0 || .333 || W 51-29 || Nov 24, 2008 || New Orleans ||
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| Miami Dolphins || 3 || 6 || 0 || .333 || L 21-6 || Oct 30, 2005 || *Baton Rouge ||
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| Washington Redskins || 7 || 15 || 0 || .318 || L 29-24 || Sept 14, 2008 || Landover ||
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| San Diego Chargers || 3 || 7 || 0 || .300 || W 37-32 || Oct 26, 2008 || **London, England ||
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| New England Patriots || 3 || 8 || 0 || .273 || L 24-17 || Nov 20, 2005 || Foxboro ||
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| Minnesota Vikings || 7 || 20 || 0 || .259 || L 30-27 || Oct 6, 2008 || New Orleans || 0-2 postseason
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| Cleveland Browns || 4 || 11 || 0 || .267 || W 19-14 || Sept 10, 2006 || Cleveland ||
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| Baltimore Ravens || 1 || 3 || 0 || .250 || L 35-22 || Oct 29, 2006 || New Orleans ||
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| Denver Broncos || 2 || 7 || 0 || .222 || L 34-32 || Sept 21, 2008 || Denver ||
* - Saints home game, relocated due to Hurricane Katrina
** - the Saints were designated the home team for this game
Single-Game Records
- Passing Yards: 510 Drew Brees (Nov. 19, 2006 vs Cincinnati Bengals)
- Passing Touchdowns: 6 Billy Kilmer (Nov. 2, 1969 at St Louis Cardinals)
- Rushing Yards: 206 George Rogers (Sept. 4, 1983 vs St Louis Cardinals)
- Rushing Touchdowns: 3 multiple times, last Reggie Bush (Dec. 3, 2006 vs San Francisco 49ers)
- Receiving Catches: 14 Tony Galbreath (Sept. 10, 1978 at Green Bay Packers)
- Receiving Yards: 205 Wes Chandler (Sept. 2, 1979 vs Atlanta Falcons)
- Receiving Touchdowns: 4 Joe Horn (Dec. 14, 2003 vs New York Giants)
- Punt Return Yards:: 176 Reggie Bush (Oct. 6, 2008 vs Minnesota Vikings)
- Pass Interceptions, Game: 3 many times, last Sammy Knight (Sept. 9, 2001 at Buffalo Bills)
- Field Goals, Game: 6 Tom Dempsey (Nov. 16, 1969 at New York Giants)
- Total Touchdowns, Game: 4 two times, last Reggie Bush (Dec. 3, 2006 vs San Francisco 49ers)
- Points, Game: 51 three times, last Nov. 24, 2008 vs Green Bay Packers
- Margin Of Victory: 42-0, Nov. 20, 1988 vs Denver Broncos
Single-season records
- Passing Attempts: 652 Drew Brees (2007)
- Passing Completions: 440 Drew Brees (2007) - NFL Record
- Passing Yards: 5,069 Drew Brees (2008) - only the 2nd QB in NFL history to have 5000+ passing yards in a season
- Passing Touchdowns: 34 Drew Brees (2008)
- Passing Interceptions: 22 Aaron Brooks (2001)
- Passing Rating: 96.2 Drew Brees (2006, 2008)
- Rushing Attempts: 378 George Rogers (1981)
- Rushing Yards: 1,674 George Rogers (1981)
- Rushing Touchdowns: 13 George Rogers (1981), Dalton Hilliard (1989), and Deuce McAllister (2002)
- Receiving Catches: 98 Marques Colston (2007)
- Receiving Yards: 1,399 Joe Horn (2004)
- Receiving Touchdowns: 11 Joe Horn (2004), Marques Colston (2007)
- Quarterback Sacks: 17 Pat Swilling (1991) and La'Roi Glover (2000)
- Pass Interceptions: 10 Dave Whitsell (1967)
- Field Goals Made: 31 Morten Andersen (1985) and John Carney (2002)
- Points: 130 John Carney (2002)
- Total Touchdowns: 18 Dalton Hilliard (1989)
- Punt Return Yards: 625 Michael Lewis (2002)
- Kickoff Return Yards: 1,807 Michael Lewis (2002)
- Longest Punt: 81 Tom McNeill (1969)
- Points Scored, Season: 463 (2008)
- Fewest Points Allowed: 202 (1992)
- Offensive Yards Gained: 6,571 (2008)
- Fewest Quarterback Sacks Allowed: 13 (2008)
Saints career records
- Passing Attempts: 3,335 Archie Manning (1971-75, 77-82)
- Passing Completions: 1,849 Archie Manning (1971-75, 77-82)
- Passing Yards: 21,734 Archie Manning (1971-75, 77-82), 19,156 Aaron Brooks (2000-05), 14,630 Bobby Hebert (1985-89, 91-92)
- Passing Touchdowns: 120 Aaron Brooks (2000-2005), 115 Archie Manning (1971-75, 77-82), 88 Drew Brees (2006-08)
- Passing Interceptions: 156 Archie Manning (1971-1982)
- Rushing Attempts: 1,298 Deuce McAllister (2001-2008)
- Rushing Yards: 5,586 Deuce McAllister (2001-2008), 4,267 George Rogers (1981-84), 4,164 Dalton Hilliard (1986-93)
- Rushing Touchdowns: 49 Deuce McAllister (2001-2008), 39 Dalton Hilliard (1986-93), 28 Chuck Muncie (1976-80)
- Receiving Catches: 532 Eric Martin (1985-1993), 523 Joe Horn (2000-06), 309 Danny Abramowicz (1967-73)
- Receiving Yards: 7,844 Eric Martin (1985-1993), 7,622 Joe Horn (2000-06), 4,875 Danny Abramowicz (1967-73)
- Receiving Touchdowns: 50 Joe Horn (2000-2006), 49 Eric Martin (1985-93), 37 Danny Abramowicz (1967-73)
- Quarterback Sacks: 123 Rickey Jackson (1981-1993), 82.5 Wayne Martin (1989-99), 76.5 Pat Swilling (1986-92)
- Pass Interceptions: 37 Dave Waymer (1980-1989), 36 Tommy Myers (1972-81), 28 Sammy Knight (1997-2002)
- Field Goals Made: 302 Morten Andersen (1982-1994), 140 John Carney (2001-06), 123 Doug Brien (1995-2000)
- Extra Points Made: 412 Morten Andersen (1982-1994)
- Points: 1,318 Morten Andersen (1982-1994), 631 John Carney (2001-06), 514 Doug Brien (1995-2000)
- Total Touchdowns: 55 Deuce McAllister (2001-2008), 53 Dalton Hilliard (1986-1993), 50 Joe Horn (2000-06)
- Punt Return Yards: 1,482 Michael Lewis (2001-06), 1,060 Tyrone Hughes (1993-96), 887 Jeff Groth (1981-85)
- Kickoff Return Yards: 5,903 Michael Lewis (2001-06), 5,717 Tyrone Hughes (1993-96), 2,836 Rich Mauti (1977-80, 82-83)
- Games: 196 Morten Andersen (1982-1994)
Players of note
Current roster
It should be noted that with the exception of Jim Finks, whose tenure with the Saints contributed to his induction, there are no members of the HOF who are there for their time with the team. All are in for their work with previous teams.
Retired numbers
- 31 Jim Taylor (officially retired, but is assigned to active players)
- 81 Doug Atkins (officially retired, but is assigned to active players)
New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame
The Saints Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization created by and for fans of the team to protect, preserve, promote and present the history of the franchise. The Saints Hall of Fame is located at 415 Williams Boulevard in the Rivertown section of Kenner. Open from 9 am-5 pm Tuesday through Saturday, the Hall of Fame features exhibits and memorabilia covering the entire history of the Saints from their formation through the current season. Due to building damage received during Hurricane Katrina the Hall of Fame is temporarily located at Gate B in the New Orleans Superdome and can be visited for free at every Saints home game. Fans can view videotapes on Saints history and the Saints Hall of Famers as well participate in interactive exhibits throughout the Hall. The facility, which originally opened on July 16, 1988, was expanded to twice its' original size in January 2004. Busts and paintings of each of the inductees along with their career highlights are one of the focal points of the museum, which is dedicated to preserving the history of the Saints franchise. New Orleans and Green Bay are the only two NFL franchises with a team Hall of Fame facility.
- 1988 QB Archie Manning, WR Danny Abramowicz
- 1989 S Tommy Myers, K Tom Dempsey
- 1990 QB Billy Kilmer
- 1991 NT Derland Moore, RB Tony Galbreath
- 1992 RB George Rogers, G Jake Kupp, C John Hill
- 1993 LB Joe Federspiel
- 1994 GM Jim Finks, TE Henry Childs
- 1995 DE Bob Pollard, DE Doug Atkins
- 1996 CB Dave Whitsell, DB Dave Waymer
- 1997 LB Rickey Jackson, T Stan Brock
- 1998 RB Dalton Hilliard, LB Sam Mills
- 1999 QB Bobby Hebert, WR Eric Martin
- 2000 LB Vaughan Johnson, LB Pat Swilling
- 2001 TE Hoby Brenner, DE Jim Wilks
- 2002 Coach Jim Mora, DE Frank Warren
- 2003 DE Wayne Martin, G/T Jim Dombrowski
- 2004 RB Rueben Mayes, Assistant Coach Steve Sidwell
- 2005-2006 C Joel Hilgenberg (2005 induction ceremonies postponed to Oct. 27, 2006 due to Hurricane Katrina)
- 2007 DE Joe Johnson
- 2008 OT Willie Roaf
Joe Gemelli "Fleur-De-Lis" Award
(Awarded yearly to a person who has contributed to the betterment of the New Orleans Saints organization.
- 1989: Al Hirt
- 1990: Joe Gemelli
- 1991: Dave Dixon
- 1992: Charlie Kertz
- 1993: Wayne Mack
- 1994: Erby Aucoin
- 1995: Aaron Broussard
- 1996: Marie Knutson
- 1997: Angela Hill
- 1998: Joe Impastato
- 1999: Frank Wilson
- 2000: Bob Remy
- 2001: Peter "Champ" Clark
- 2002: Dean Kleinschmidt
- 2003: Jim Fast
- 2004: Bob Roesler
- 2005-06: Bernard "Buddy" Diliberto (2005 induction ceremonies postponed to Oct. 27, 2006 due to Hurricane Katrina)*
Other notable alumni
This list includes notable Saints alumni who are not also members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and/or the Saints Hall of Fame (see above).
- Morten Andersen, K
- Tommy Barnhardt, P
- Mario Bates, RB
- LeCharles Bentley, C
- Ken Bordelon, LB
- Aaron Brooks, QB
- Ken Burrough, WR
- John Carney, K
- Wes Chandler, WR
- Bruce Clark, DT
- Phil Clarke, LB
- Toi Cook, DB
- Gary Cuozzo, QB
- Jake Delhomme, QB
- Conrad Dobler, G
- Jubilee Dunbar, WR
- Howard "Hokie" Gajan, FB
- Quinn Early, WR
- Brad Edelman, G
- Russell Erxleben, K/P
| Jim Everett, QBMark Fields, LBJohn Fourcade, QBJohn Gilliam, WRLa'Roi Glover, DTElois Grooms, DEBrian Hansen, PCraig "Ironhead" Heyward, RBJoe Horn, WRTyrone Hughes, CB/KRSammy Knight, SBuford Jordan, FBDave Lafary, OTMichael Lewis, WR/KREarl Leggett, DTJoe Don Looney, RBD'Artagnan Martin, DBKevin Mathis, CBFred McAfee, RB | Guido Merkens, QB/WR/P/SChuck Muncie, RBLorenzo Neal, FBDave Parks, TEJim Pietrzak, CJohnnie Poe, CBElex Price, DTBobby Scott, QBKen Stabler, QBJohn Tice, TERichard Todd, QBRenaldo Turnbull, LBFloyd Turner, WRRicky Williams, RBDave Wilson, QBWayne Wilson, RBDennis "Dirt" Winston, LBDanny Wuerffel, QBEmanuel Zanders, OL |
Notable coaches
Current staff
Radio and television
The Saints' flagship station is WWL 870AM (FM Simulcast on WWL 105.3FM), one of the oldest radio stations in the city of New Orleans and one of the nation's most powerful as a clear-channel station with 50,000 watts of power. Jim Henderson and Hokie Gajan form the broadcast team. Most preseason games are televised on Cox Sports Television and WVUE-TV. Tim Brando and Solomon Wilcots call the preseason action.
External links
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