When the Saints Came Marching In
What the New Orleans NFL franchise did wrong (and sometimes right) in its expansion years
by
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The ball was on the New Orleans 45-yard line. There were two seconds left in the game and the Saints were trailing 17-16. The Saints were on their way to their sixth loss in eight games. J.D. Roberts, coaching his first game for New Orleans as the Saints’ interim head coach, sent in Tom Dempsey to attempt a field goal.
It was a desperate move by a desperate team. Across the line of scrimmage, members of the Detroit Lions were laughing their heads off. Dempsey was about to attempt something never accomplished in the history of the National Football League – successfully kick a football 63 yards in a regulation game. The record was 56 yards. Earlier in the season, Dempey kicked one from 55 yards out, but no one had ever connected from beyond 60 yards with the game on the line.
The ball was spotted eight yards behind the line of scrimmage at the New Orleans 37. Jackie Burkett snapped the ball to holder Joe Scarpati. Dempsey, born with a deformed right arm and clubbed right foot, swung his big right leg. The specially-made shoe made contact with the football. The ball headed toward the north end zone. It sailed over the crossbar with about a foot to spare, hit the ground in the end zone and bounced back onto the playing field. Dempsey and the Saints had pulled off an improbable, record-setting 19-17 win over the Lions.
Dempsey, the hero of the day, along with Roberts, was carried off the field by Saints players as fans rushed onto the field to celebrate. It was the single biggest individual achievement in the short history of the New Orleans Saints.
But even when the Saints did something right, it turned out to be wrong in the long term. The miracle win over the Lions was the only victory Roberts and his Saints would achieve during the final seven games of the season to finish the year 2-11-1.
Due largely to the fanfare surrounding the record-breaking kick, the one win was good enough to earn Roberts the title as permanent head coach and a new two-year contract. Roberts won a total of six games over the next two years and was fired. Dempsey’s kick, which helped Roberts keep his job, set the New Orleans franchise back for many years. Following that 2-11-1 record in 1970, it would be another nine years before the Saints would have a break-even season and it took a total of 21 years before the team would post a winning record. A playoff win didn’t occur until the 2000 season.
“Dempsey kicks his kick and sets the franchise back for four or five years,” said Mike Detillier, a Louisiana-based NFL draft analyst. “If he had not made that kick, this team may have looked somewhere else to try and find a coach. Dempsey’s kick sealed his history in New Orleans. It also sealed another two-and-a-half year run with J.D.”
Ah, yes, the history of the New Orleans Saints.
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About the Book
Famed defensive end Bubba Smith menacing opposing quarterbacks while wearing a New Orleans Saints uniform. Bruising running back Larry Csonka breaking tackles on his way to the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. Future Hall-of-Fame defensive back Ken Houston returning an interception for a touchdown as the New Orleans defense sparks a victory for the Saints.
All could have been possible had the New Orleans Saints front office had the scouting competence and foresight to draft the likes of Smith, Csonka and Houston. Instead, trades and draft selections for the likes of soon-forgotten players such as Gary Cuozzo, Les Kelley and Kevin Hardy helped to set a tone for futility that haunted the NFL franchise for many years.
Unlike previous books about the New Orleans Saints that have either been an ode to the team or anecdotes about some of the team’s more colorful characters, When the Saints Came Marching In: What the New Orleans NFL franchise did wrong (and sometimes right) in its expansion years is a comprehensive look at the crucial first five seasons of the New Orleans NFL franchise and how early decisions impacted the team. The book also takes a look at what the Saints might have done differently from 1967-1971 that could have taken the team in an alternate direction.
About the Author
George Becnel is an award-winning journalist and has been a sports writer and editor for more than twenty-five years. A former sports editor of The Courier in Houma, Louisiana, he has been cited with numerous writing awards, including having been selected "Columnist of the Year." A native of Vacherie, Louisiana, When the Saints Came Marching In: What the New Orleans NFL franchise did wrong (and sometimes right) in its expansion years is his fifth book.