New Orleans Saints

Friday, 23 October 2009 - administrator

The New Orleans Saints are an American professional football team founded in 1967. They are a part of the National Football League (NFL) National Football Conference (NFC) South Division. The Saints play their home games in the Louisiana Superdome, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Their division opponents are the Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers. The Saints best season performance came in 2006, when they reached to National Football Conference (NFC) championship game and lost to the Chicago Bears.

History

The New Orleans Saints team struggled in the first couple decades of their existence beginning in 1967. It took more than twenty years for the Saints to earn a winning record in a season. Despite the weakness of the years, in the first year as an expansion team in 1967, the Saints finished the season (3-11), setting the record for most wins by an expansion team. One of the highlights of the late Saints franchise was the famous kicker Tom Dempsey’s record-breaking 63-yard field goal to beat the Detroit Lions in the final seconds of the game in 1970. The 63-yard field goal stands as a record to date, although it has been tied by kicker Jason Elam as a kicker for the Denver Broncos. The Saints experienced success from 1987-1992 reaching the playoffs for four seasons.

New Orleans Saints and the Mike Ditka era

In 1996, in order to rejuvenate the team, Saints management hired Mike Ditka to be the New Orleans head coach. In the first two season as head coach, the Saints went (6-10) and then (3-13) in 1999, his final season as head coach. Prior to the 1999 season, coach Mike Ditka made headlines when he traded all of the New Orleans Saints draft picks in the 1999 draft, and a first round and third round pick in the 2000 draft, to the Washington Redskins for their first round draft pick to select Heisman Trophy winning running back from the University of Texas, Ricky Williams. As a result of the lavish trade, Mike Ditka and Ricky Williams posed as bride and groom for ESPN The magazine. After a poor 1999 season, Ditka was fired and Ricky Williams was traded to the Miami Dolphins in 2002 for two first round draft picks.

New Orleans Saints of the 2000’s

From 2000-2005 Jim Haslett was the head coach for the Saints. Haslett took the Saints to the playoffs to win their first playoff game in franchise history in his first year, but failed to reach the playoffs again. He was fired after the 2005 season. In January of 2006, Sean Payton was hired as head coach. In the 2006 National Football League (NFL) draft, with the second pick overall, the Saints selected USC running back Reggie Bush. In his rookie season Reggie Bush tied a Saints all time record for touchdowns in a single game by scoring four touchdowns against the San Francisco 49ers. The 2006 season led Reggie Bush and the New Orleans Saints all the way to the National Football Conference (NFC) championship game against the Chicago Bears, where they lost 39-14. Prior to the loss, their divisional playoff win against the Philadelphia Eagles 27-24 was only the second playoff win in franchise history.

2009 New Orleans Saints

The Saints made a few aggressive personnel moves during the 2009 offseason. They traded their second and fifth round picks in the 2009 National Football League (NFL) draft for New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey. Due to the softness on defense in the 2008 season, the Saints traded away their 2009 4th round draft pick to the New York Jets for veteran linebacker Jonathan Vilma. In the 2009 draft, with their first round pick, the Saints selected Ohio State defensive back Malcolm Jenkins, rated as the top defensive back in the draft.

The Saints return most of the offensive starters they had success with in 2008. Known for their outstanding passing attack, the offense is led by one of the most prolific players in the NFL, Pro bowl Quarterback Drew Brees. He passes to his favorite target, 6 foot 4 Marques Colston, and the rest of the receivers, Lance Moore, Robert Meacham, and Devery Henderson. The 2009 Saints backfield includes punt and kick returner Reggie Bush, and running backs Mike Bell, and Pierre Thomas.

New Orleans Saints 2009 Draft Picks

*Round 1 Malcolm Jenkins, defensive back -Ohio State
*Round 4 Chip Vaughn, safety -Wake Forest
*Round 4 Stanley Arnoux, linebacker Wake Forest
*Round 5 Thomas Morestead, kicker -Southern Methodist