1973 New Orleans Saints season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 New Orleans Saints 1973 5–9 3rd NFC West John W. Mecom Jr. John North Tulane Stadium Did not qualify None Saints seasons The 1973 New Orleans Saints season was the team's seventh as a member of the National Football League (NFL). They improved on their previous season's output of 2–11–1, winning five games.1973 New Orleans Saints The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. New Orleans made a disastrous trade in January, dealing the No. 2 overall selection in the 1973 NFL draft to the Baltimore Colts for defensive end Billy Newsome. The Colts used the traded pick to select LSU quarterback Bert Jones, who guided the team to three consecutive AFC East division championships from 1975 to 1977. J.D. Roberts, who became the Saints' second head coach midway through the 1970 season, was fired August 27, two days after a 31–6 loss to the New England Patriots in the fourth exhibition game. Roberts was replaced by offensive backfield coach John North. Roberts ended his Saints tenure with a 7–25–3 mark. The Saints opened the year with a 62–7 debacle in the loss to the Atlanta Falcons at home. The first quarter of that game was scoreless. Eight days later, they were drubbed on Monday Night Football by the Dallas Cowboys, 40–3. The game at Texas Stadium was the only one in 1973 in which the Saints wore their black jerseys, and they would not wear them again in the regular season until week 10 of 1975. They did however hold O. J. Simpson to 74 yard on 20 carries in the team's first ever shutout, with a 13–0 win over the Buffalo Bills. Simpson went on to break the single season rushing record in yardage that year with 2,003. New Orleans, after the disastrous opener, won 5 of its remaining 6 home games. They did not, however, win a road game. Offseason NFL draft 1973 NFL draft 1973 New Orleans Saints 2 29 Derland Moore Defensive tackle Oklahoma yes 2 51 Steve Baumgartner Defensive end Purdue yes 3 66 Pete Van Valkenburg Running back Brigham Young no 4 86 Jim Merlo Linebacker Stanford yes 6 134 Marty Shuford Running back Arizona no 7 158 Bill Cahill Defensive back Washington no 8 185 Bob Peterson Guard Utah no 8 207 Doug Winslow Wide receiver Drake yes 9 210 Mike Fink Defensive back Missouri yes 10 237 Jeff Horsley Running back North Carolina Central no 11 262 James Owens Running back Auburn no 12 289 Paul Orndorff Tight end Tampa no 13 314 Richard Watkins Defensive tackle Weber State no 14 341 Paul Fersen Offensive tackle Georgia no 15 366 Mike Evenson Center North Dakota State no 16 393 Howard Stevens Running back Louisville yes 17 418 Bobby Garner Tight end Winston-Salem State no no no https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nor/1974_draft.htm 1974 New Orleans Saints draftees Pro-Football-Reference.com November 10, 2014 Personnel Staff 1973 New Orleans Saints President – John W. Mecom, Jr. Executive Vice President – Richard F. Gordon, Jr. Head coach – John North Offensive Backfield – Lynn Amadee Offensive Line – Dixie White Defensive Line – Bob Cummings 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 1973 New Orleans Saints 15 Bob Davis quarterback  8 Archie Manning 12 Bobby Scott American football 38 Bill Butler running back 32 Lincoln Minor y 34 Jess Phillips American football 23 Joe Profit 22 Howard Stevens y 86 Jubilee Dunbar 41 Bob Newland 17 Speedy Thomas 80 Doug Winslow y 89 Bert Askson 85 John Beasley American football 83 Len Garrett 87 Mike Kelly gridiron football, born 1948 51 John Didion C 71 Paul Fersen y no T 77 Carl Johnson American football T 50 Jake Kupp G 76 Don Morrison American football T 70 Craig Robinson American football T 66 Royce Smith G 61 Del Williams G 63 Steve Baumgartner y DE 88 Andy Dorris y DE 74 Derland Moore y DT 81 Billy Newsome DE 72 Joe Owens DE 82 Bob Pollard DT 75 Elex Price y DT 59 Wayne Colman OLB 55 Bob Creech OLB 58 Joe Federspiel MLB 64 Ray Hester OLB 53 Rick Kingrea MLB 57 Jim Merlo y OLB 52 Dick Palmer American football OLB 44 Mike Fink gridiron football y CB 24 Johnny Fuller American football SS 30 Ernie Jackson CB 11 Bivian Lee CB 25 Jerry Moore American football, born 1949 FS 21 Nate Ramsey CB/S 37 Tom Myers safety FS 19 Bill McClard K 10 Steve O'Neal P 79 Ron Billingsley DT IR 36 Robert Brown tight end TE IR 56 Willie Hall American football LB IR 18 Hugo Hollas SS IR 39 Odell Lawson RB IR Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 16 Atlanta Falcons L 7–62 0–1 Tulane Stadium 66,428 2 September 24, 1973 at Dallas Cowboys L 3–40 0–2 Texas Stadium 52,715 3 September 30 at Baltimore Colts L 10–14 0–3 Memorial Stadium 52,293 4 October 7 Chicago Bears W 21–16 1–3 Tulane Stadium 56,561 5 October 14 Detroit Lions W 20–13 2–3 Tulane Stadium 57,810 6 October 21 at San Francisco 49ers L 0–40 2–4 Candlestick Park 52,881 7 October 28 Washington Redskins W 19–3 3–4 Tulane Stadium 66,315 8 November 4 Buffalo Bills W 13–0 4–4 Tulane Stadium 74,770 9 November 11 at Los Angeles Rams L 7–29 4–5 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 70,358 10 November 18 at San Diego Chargers L 14–17 4–6 San Diego Stadium 34,848 11 November 25 Los Angeles Rams L 13–24 4–7 Tulane Stadium 67,192 12 December 2 at Green Bay Packers L 10–30 4–8 Milwaukee County Stadium 46,092 13 December 9 San Francisco 49ers W 16–10 5–8 Tulane Stadium 62,490 14 December 16 at Atlanta Falcons L 10–14 5–9 Atlanta Stadium 34,147 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Standings References Category:New Orleans Saints seasons New Orleans Saints New Orl Category:1970s in New Orleans