After many years of waiting football fans in the Deep South would finally have an NFL team to support as the New Orleans Saints began play September 17, 1967 against the Los Angeles Rams in a sold-out Tulane Stadium.
This clip includes a little background info going on during the off season as well as a few sound bytes from that historical opening day in 1967.
I've been following the Saints since a kid in the 70s watching the likes of Archie Manning and Tommy Myers.
We may not have as grandiose a history as some NFL teams, but there are scores of memories the New Orleans Saints have given to their fans and I have done my best to record them here at New Orleans Saints History.
Billy Kilmer gets off a pass amid a Dallas Cowboy pass rush in 1967 New Orleans Saints action.
New Orleans Saints – Los Angeles Rams in 1967. Merlin Olsen gets pressure on Billy Kilmer
The Saints are born as New Orleans is awarded a Professional franchise from the NFL & John Mecom Jr is named as the new owner.
The New Orleans Saints 1967 Team Roster at NOSaintsHistory.com.
In an effort to bring professional football to New Orleans both the AFL scheduled the 1965 All Star game to be played in Tulane Stadium – but things get racially ugly.
An write-up on the first players of the New Orleans Saints – a little bit of info on who they were and what happened to many of them. Thanks to Sports writer Rene Nadeau at SportsNola.com for the article.