1997 New Orleans Saints season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 New Orleans Saints 1997 6–10 4th NFC West Mike Ditka Danny Abramowicz Zaven Yaralian Louisiana Superdome Did not qualify T Willie Roaf Saints seasons thumb | right | Team Logo The 1997 New Orleans Saints season was the franchise's 31st season in the National Football League (NFL), and 24th at the Louisiana Superdome. The team improved upon its 1996 record of 3–13, winning six games, but failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. This was the Saints’ first season with Mike Ditka as head coach. New Orleans hired the former Chicago Bears head coach after Ditka had spent the previous four seasons as a studio analyst for NBC Sports. Offseason NFL draft 1997 NFL draft 1997 New Orleans Saints 1 10 Chris Naeole Guard Colorado yes 2 33 Rob Kelly Defensive back Ohio State yes 2 39 Jared Tomich Defensive end Nebraska yes 3 62 Troy Davis Running back Iowa State yes 4 99 Danny Wuerffel Quarterback Florida yes 4 116 Keith Poole Wide receiver Arizona State yes 6 165 Nicky Savoie Tight end LSU yes no no https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nor/1997_draft.htm 1997 New Orleans Saints Draftees Pro-Football-Reference.com January 3, 2014 Personnel Staff 1997 New Orleans Saints Owner – Tom Benson President/general manager/chief operating officer – Bill Kuharich Vice-president of football operations/assistant general manager – Chet Franklin Director of college scouting – Bruce Lemmerman Head coach – Mike Ditka Assistant head coach/linebackers – Rick Venturi Offensive coordinator – Danny Abramowicz Quarterbacks – Tom Clements Running backs – Tom Moore Wide receivers – Harold Jackson Tight Ends/offensive line Assistant – Dan Neal Offensive line – Dick Stanfel Offensive assistant – Judd Garrett Defensive coordinator – Zaven Yaralian Defensive line – Walt Corey Defensive backs – Willie Shaw Defensive assistant – John Pagano Special teams – Bobby April Strength and conditioning – Mike Woicik Assistant strength and conditioning – Jack Del Rio All-Time Roster http://www.neworleanssaints.com/team/history/all-time-roster.html NewOrleansSaints.com June 23, 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120618110940/http://www.neworleanssaints.com/team/history/all-time-roster.html 2012-06-18 dead Roster 1997 New Orleans Saints 12 Billy Joe Hobert 13 Doug Nussmeier  7 Danny Wuerffel y 24 Mario Bates 40 Wes Bender 28 Troy Davis running back y 44 Fred McCrary FB 34 Ray Zellars FB 84 Eric Guliford KR/PR 80 Alvin Harper 88 Andre Hastings 81 Randal Hill 83 Keith Poole y 86 Gunnard Twyner 87 John Farquhar American football 85 Nicky Savoie y 82 Irv Smith Sr. 69 Tom Ackerman C/G American football 73 Isaac Davis American football G 62 Jerry Fontenot C 76 Keno Hills G/T 72 Trezelle Jenkins T 74 Clarence Jones American football T 67 Andy McCollum G 77 Willie Roaf T 71 Ricky Siglar T 66 Mike Verstegen G 97 La'Roi Glover DT 94 Joe Johnson defensive end DE 93 Wayne Martin American football DT 92 Darren Mickell DE 95 Austin Robbins DT 99 Pio Sagapolutele DT 91 Brady Smith American football DE 90 Jared Tomich y DE 50 Ink Aleaga y OLB 51 Derrick Barnes no y MLB 56 Ernest Dixon American football MLB 55 Mark Fields linebacker OLB 59 Keith Mitchell American football y OLB 54 Winfred Tubbs MLB 21 Eric Allen CB 30 Je'Rod Cherry CB/FS 38 Donovan Greer y CB 23 Chris Hewitt y SS 33 Rob Kelly American football y SS 29 Sammy Knight y FS 25 Alex Molden CB 30 Anthony Newman FS American football SS 26 Mickey Washington CB 10 Doug Brien K 60 Kendall Gammon LS  3 Mark Royals P 89 Brett Bech WR IR 20 Derek Brown running back RB IR 53 Don Davis linebacker LB IR 96 Luke Fickell y DT IR 52 Richard Harvey American football LB IR 64 Mike Jerich T no PUP 58 Brian Jones American football linebacker LB IR 45 Ron Leshinski TE (Military Reserve) 65 Chris Naeole y G IR  5 Heath Shuler QB IR 53 active, 10 inactive, 4 practice squad 63 Duane Ashman y no DE 27 Anthony Cobbs y no CB  9 Jake Delhomme y QB 46 Earl Little y S Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 August 31 at St. Louis Rams L 24–38 0–1 TWA Dome 64,575 2 September 7 San Diego Chargers L 6–20 0–2 Louisiana Superdome 65,760 3 September 14 at San Francisco 49ers L 7–33 0–3 3Com Park 61,838 4 September 21 Detroit Lions W 35–17 1–3 Louisiana Superdome 50,016 5 September 28 at New York Giants L 9–14 1–4 Giants Stadium 68,891 6 October 5 at Chicago Bears W 20–17 2–4 Soldier Field 58,865 7 October 12 Atlanta Falcons L 17–23 2–5 Louisiana Superdome 65,619 8 October 19 Carolina Panthers L 0–13 2–6 Louisiana Superdome 50,963 9 October 26 San Francisco 49ers L 0–23 2–7 Louisiana Superdome 60,443 10 Bye 11 November 9 at Oakland Raiders W 13–10 3–7 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 40,091 12 November 16 Seattle Seahawks W 20–17 (OT) 4–7 Louisiana Superdome 50,493 13 November 23 at Atlanta Falcons L 3–20 4–8 Georgia Dome 48,620 14 November 30 at Carolina Panthers W 16–13 5–8 Ericcson Stadium 57,957 15 December 7 St. Louis Rams L 27–34 5–9 Louisiana Superdome 54,803 16 December 14 Arizona Cardinals W 27–10 6–9 Louisiana Superdome 45,517 17 December 21 at Kansas City Chiefs L 13–25 6–10 Arrowhead Stadium 66,772 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Standings References Saints on Pro Football Reference Saints on jt-sw.com New Orleans Saints Category:New Orleans Saints seasons New Category:Long stubs with short prose