1977 New Orleans Saints season

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1977 New Orleans Saints season
Head coachHank Stram
Home fieldLouisiana Superdome
Results
Record3–11
Division place4th NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone
The Saints playing against the Philadelphia Eagles at Veterans Stadium in 1977

The 1977 New Orleans Saints season was the team's eleventh as a member of the National Football League. They were unable to improve on their previous season's output of 4–10, winning only three games. The most notable part of the season was when they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who won their first game in franchise history after losing their first 26 games.[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the eleventh consecutive season, while coach Hank Stram was fired following the season. In his two seasons as coach the Saints only won seven games.

Offseason[]

NFL draft[]

Main article: 1977 NFL draft
1977 New Orleans Saints draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 7 Joe Campbell  Defensive end Maryland
2 34 Mike Fultz  Defensive tackle Maryland
3 64   Linebacker Boston College
5 118 Dave LaFary  Offensive tackle Purdue
5 135 Andy Spiva  Linebacker Tennessee
6 147 Cliff Parsley  Punter Oklahoma State
6 162 Tom Schick  Guard Maryland
7 174 Greg Boykin  Running back Northwestern
8 201 Jimmy Stewart  Running back Tulsa
9 231 Dave Knowles  Tackle Indiana
10 258 Rafael Septién[a] *  Kicker Southwestern Louisiana
11 285 John Blain  Tackle San Jose State
12 315 Oakley Dalton  Defensive tackle Jackson State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel[]

Staff[]

1977 New Orleans Saints staff
Front office
  • President – John W. Mecom, Jr.
  • Vice President of Administration – Harry Hulmes
  • Vice President and Treasurer – Eddie Jones

Head coaches

  • Vice President/Head Coach – Hank Stram

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Alvin Roy

[3]

Roster[]

1977 New Orleans Saints roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season[]

The first victory overall for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, did not come until week 13 on the road against the Saints, almost two seasons after their first game against the Houston Oilers in 1976. The Bucs led at halftime by a score of 13–0. Dave Green had two field goals, while Gary Huff threw a touchdown pass to Morris Owens. Upon their arrival to Tampa Bay, the Bucs were greeted by 8,000 fans.[4]

The Saints were 11-point favorites before the game,[5] and fans booed as the Buccaneers scored. "Eleven years I've supported this franchise!" one shouted, adding, "With all this money I've spent on this lousy team I could have bought some land in Colombia and raised pot". Losing to a team with a 0-26 losing streak was so humiliating that safety Tom Myers said, "We've been made the laughingstocks of the business ... I'm too embarrassed to say that I play for the team that got beat by Tampa Bay". Said head coach Hank Stram, "We're all very ashamed of what happened today. Ashamed for our people, for our fans, the organization, everybody. It is my worst coaching experience". Team owner said during the loss that the Saints "is a poorly coached team",[6] and Stram was fired January 28, 1978.

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 18, 1977 Green Bay Packers L 24–20
56,250
2 September 25, 1977 at Detroit Lions L 23–19
51,458
3 October 2, 1977 at Chicago Bears W 42–24
51,488
4 October 9, 1977 San Diego Chargers L 14–0
53,942
5 October 16, 1977 at Los Angeles Rams L 14–7
46,045
6 October 23, 1977 at St. Louis Cardinals L 49–31
48,417
7 October 30, 1977 Los Angeles Rams W 27–26
59,023
8 November 6, 1977 at Philadelphia Eagles L 28–7
53,482
9 November 13, 1977 San Francisco 49ers L 10–7
41,564
10 November 20, 1977 Atlanta Falcons W 21–20
43,135
11 November 27, 1977 at San Francisco 49ers L 20–17
33,702
12 December 4, 1977 New York Jets L 16–13
40,464
13 December 11, 1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 33–14
40,124
14 December 18, 1977 at Atlanta Falcons L 35–7
36,895

Week 10 vs. Atlanta Falcons[]

Before a Regional TV Audience, Atlanta, which had never given up more than 14 points in a game this year, tried to keep it that way with one minute to go - In New Orleans - And Archie Manning was waiting. The Saints quarterback, back in action for the first time in six weeks, read the blitz and beat it with a 18-yard TD Pass, his second scoring strike to tight end Henry Childs. It was Hank Stram's 136th victory as a head coach... and his last.

Standings[]

NFC West
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 W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Los Angeles Rams(2) 10 4 0 .714 4–2 8–4 302 146 L1
Atlanta Falcons 7 7 0 .500 3–3 7–5 179 129 W1
San Francisco 49ers 5 9 0 .357 3–3 5–7 220 260 L3
New Orleans Saints 3 11 0 .214 2–4 3–9 232 336 L4

Notes[]

  1. ^ Never played a game with the Saints, but played in the Pro Bowl in 1982 with the Dallas Cowboys.

References[]

  1. ^ 1977 New Orleans Saints
  2. ^ "1977 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  3. ^ "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  4. ^ Numbelivable!, p.111, Michael X. Ferraro and John Veneziano, Triumph Books, Chicago, Illinois, 2007, ISBN 978-1-57243-990-0
  5. ^ Martz, Ron (1977-12-12). "BUCS WIN: Saints historic victims 33-14". St. Petersburg Times. pp. 1C, 6C. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  6. ^ Martz, Ron (1977-12-13). "Well, forget about encouraging words". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1C. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
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