1972 New Orleans Saints season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 New Orleans Saints 1972 2–11–1 4th NFC West John W. Mecom Jr. J. D. Roberts Tulane Stadium Did not qualify None Saints seasons thumb | right | New Orleans Saints logo (1967 - 1999) The 1972 New Orleans Saints season was the team's sixth as a member of the National Football League (NFL). They failed to improve on their previous season’s output of 4–8–2, winning only two games.1972 New Orleans Saints The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. The Saints suffered through their second 2–11–1 season in three years, tying with the Philadelphia Eagles for the second worst record in the league, only surpassed by the Houston Oilers’ 1–13. Coincidentally, one of the Saints' two wins came at the Eagles' expense. It would be their worst until they went 2–12 in 1975. Offseason NFL draft 1972 NFL draft 1972 New Orleans Saints 1 8 Royce Smith Guard Georgia yes no 2 31 Willie Hall Linebacker USC yes no 3 60 Bob Kuziel Center Pittsburgh no 3 74 Tom Myers Safety Syracuse yes yes 4 85 Mike Crangle Defensive end Tennessee-Martin yes no 4 99 Joe Federspiel Linebacker Kentucky yes no 4 101 Mike Coleman Defensive end Knoxville College yes no 5 111 Bill Butler Running back Kansas State yes no 5 112 Carl Johnson Guard Nebraska Played offensive tackle in college yes no 5 126 Bob Davies Defensive back South Carolina no no 6 137 Wayne Dorton Guard Arkansas State no no 6 150 Curt Watson Running back Tennessee no no 7 164 Ernie Jackson Defensive back Duke yes no 8 189 Ron Vinson Wide receiver Abilene Christian no no 9 216 Kent Branstetter Defensive tackle Houston no no 10 241 Andy Kupp Guard Idaho no no 11 267 Paul Dongieux Linebacker Mississippi no no 12 293 Steve Lockhart Tight end Arkansas State no no 13 320 Cephus Weatherspoon Wide receiver Fort Lewis no no 14 345 Steve Barrios Wide receiver Tulane no no 15 372 Rusty Lachaussee Quarterback Tulane no no 16 397 Joe Balthrop Guard Tennessee no no https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nor/1972_draft.htm 1972 New Orleans Saints draftees Pro-Football-Reference.com November 10, 2014 Personnel Staff 1972 New Orleans Saints President – John W. Mecom Jr. Executive Vice President – Richard F. Gordon, Jr. Head Coach – J. D. Roberts Offensive Coordinator – Ken Shipp Offensive Line – Jim Royer Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line – Jim Champion Linebackers – Marv Matuszak Defensive Backfield – Bud Whitehead All-Time Roster http://www.neworleanssaints.com/team/history/all-time-roster.html NewOrleansSaints.com November 4, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20120618110940/http://www.neworleanssaints.com/team/history/all-time-roster.html 2012-06-18 dead Roster 1972 New Orleans Saints 14 Edd Hargett  8 Archie Manning 38 Bill Butler running back y 28 James Ford American football 35 Bob Gresham 42 Jim Strong running back 24 Joe Williams running back, born 1947 26 Margene Adkins 41 Bob Newland 86 Creston Whitaker 36 Robert Brown tight end 83 Dave Parks 51 John Didion C 78 Glen Ray Hines T 77 Carl Johnson American football y G 50 Jake Kupp G 76 Don Morrison American football T 70 Craig Robinson American football T 61 Del Williams G 75 Mike Crangle y DE 89 Dave Long American football DE/DT 74 Doug Mooers DT 87 Richard Neal American football DE 72 Joe Owens DE 82 Bob Pollard DT 59 Wayne Colman OLB 58 Joe Federspiel y MLB 56 Willie Hall American football y OLB 53 Bill Hobbs American football MLB 52 Dick Palmer American football OLB 54 Tom Roussel OLB 29 Billie Hayes American football y CB 18 Hugo Hollas FS 20 Delles Howell CB 30 Ernie Jackson y CB 11 Bivian Lee CB 37 Tom Myers safety y FS 23 Doug Wyatt SS 10 Julian Fagan P  9 Happy Feller K 34 Carlos Bell TE IR 25 Al Dodd WR IR 45 Art Green running back RB IR -- Tom Harrington y no TE IR 64 Ray Hester LB IR 65 Bob Kuziel y C IR 22 Dee Martin CB IR 66 Royce Smith y G IR 55 Tom Stincic LB IR 46 Danny Abramowicz WR  7 Toni Linhart y K 44 Frank McGuigan no RB 47 Virgil Robinson RB 12 Bobby Scott American football QB 85 Cephus Weatherspoon y WR 68 Wimpy Winther C Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 17 at Los Angeles Rams L 14–34 0–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 66,303 2 September 25, 1972 Kansas City Chiefs L 17–20 0–2 Tulane Stadium 70,793 3 October 1 San Francisco 49ers L 2–37 0–3 Tulane Stadium 69,840 4 October 8 at New York Giants L 21–45 0–4 Yankee Stadium 62,507 5 October 15 Atlanta Falcons L 14–21 0–5 Tulane Stadium 66,294 6 October 22 at San Francisco 49ers T 20–20 0–5–1 Candlestick Park 59,167 7 October 29 Philadelphia Eagles W 21–3 1–5–1 Tulane Stadium 65,664 8 November 5 at Minnesota Vikings L 6–37 1–6–1 Metropolitan Stadium 49,784 9 November 12 at Atlanta Falcons L 20–36 1–7–1 Atlanta Stadium 58,850 10 November 19 at Detroit Lions L 14–27 1–8–1 Tiger Stadium 53,752 11 November 26 Los Angeles Rams W 19–16 2–8–1 Tulane Stadium 64,325 12 December 3 at New York Jets L 17–18 2–9–1 Shea Stadium 62,496 13 December 10 New England Patriots L 10–17 2–10–1 Tulane Stadium 64,889 14 December 17 Green Bay Packers L 20–30 2–11–1 Tulane Stadium 65,881 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Standings Notable events In their third game against the 49ers, the Saints became the thirty-second NFL team, and the first since the 1970 Cleveland Browns, to score only a safety in a full game. This was done again in the last week of the regular season by the San Diego Chargers, but after that was done only by the 1980 Buffalo Bills, the 1983 Minnesota Vikings, the 1993 Cincinnati Bengals, 2011 Atlanta Falcons (playoffs), and 2013 Jacksonville Jaguars. The regular season finale vs. Green Bay kicked off at noon CST instead of the usual 1 p.m. Noon would become the kickoff time for all home games in the early window beginning in 1982. References Category:New Orleans Saints seasons New Orleans Saints New Orleans Saints Category:1970s in New Orleans Category:Long stubs with short prose