1972 New Orleans Saints season

The 1972 New Orleans Saints season was the team's sixth as a member of the National Football League (NFL). They failed to improve on their previous season’s output of 4–8–2, winning only two games.[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

1972 New Orleans Saints season
OwnerJohn W. Mecom, Jr.
Head coachJ. D. Roberts
Home fieldTulane Stadium
Results
Record2–11–1
Division place4th NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone

The Saints suffered through their second 2–11–1 season in three years, tying with the Philadelphia Eagles for the second worst record in the league, only surpassed by the Houston Oilers’ 1–13. Coincidentally, one of the Saints' two wins came at the Eagles' expense. It would be their worst until they went 2–12 in 1975.

Offseason

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NFL draft

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1972 New Orleans Saints draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 8 Royce Smith  Guard Georgia
2 31 Willie Hall  Linebacker USC
3 60 Bob Kuziel  Center Pittsburgh
3 74 Tom Myers *  Safety Syracuse
4 85 Mike Crangle  Defensive end Tennessee-Martin
4 99 Joe Federspiel  Linebacker Kentucky
4 101 Mike Coleman  Defensive end Knoxville College
5 111 Bill Butler  Running back Kansas State
5 112 Carl Johnson  Guard Nebraska Played offensive tackle in college
5 126 Bob Davies  Defensive back South Carolina
6 137 Wayne Dorton  Guard Arkansas State
6 150 Curt Watson  Running back Tennessee
7 164 Ernie Jackson  Defensive back Duke
8 189 Ron Vinson  Wide receiver Abilene Christian
9 216 Kent Branstetter  Defensive tackle Houston
10 241 Andy Kupp  Guard Idaho
11 267 Paul Dongieux  Linebacker Mississippi
12 293 Steve Lockhart  Tight end Arkansas State
13 320 Cephus Weatherspoon  Wide receiver Fort Lewis
14 345 Steve Barrios  Wide receiver Tulane
15 372 Rusty Lachaussee  Quarterback Tulane
16 397 Joe Balthrop  Guard Tennessee
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel

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Staff

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1972 New Orleans Saints staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

  • Offensive Coordinator – Ken Shipp
  • Offensive Line – Jim Royer
Defensive coaches




[3]

Roster

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1972 New Orleans Saints roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Practice squad


Rookies in italics

Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 17 at Los Angeles Rams L 14–34 0–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 66,303
2 September 25 Kansas City Chiefs L 17–20 0–2 Tulane Stadium 70,793
3 October 1 San Francisco 49ers L 2–37 0–3 Tulane Stadium 69,840
4 October 8 at New York Giants L 21–45 0–4 Yankee Stadium 62,507
5 October 15 Atlanta Falcons L 14–21 0–5 Tulane Stadium 66,294
6 October 22 at San Francisco 49ers T 20–20 0–5–1 Candlestick Park 59,167
7 October 29 Philadelphia Eagles W 21–3 1–5–1 Tulane Stadium 65,664
8 November 5 at Minnesota Vikings L 6–37 1–6–1 Metropolitan Stadium 49,784
9 November 12 at Atlanta Falcons L 20–36 1–7–1 Atlanta Stadium 58,850
10 November 19 at Detroit Lions L 14–27 1–8–1 Tiger Stadium 53,752
11 November 26 Los Angeles Rams W 19–16 2–8–1 Tulane Stadium 64,325
12 December 3 at New York Jets L 17–18 2–9–1 Shea Stadium 62,496
13 December 10 New England Patriots L 10–17 2–10–1 Tulane Stadium 64,889
14 December 17 Green Bay Packers L 20–30 2–11–1 Tulane Stadium 65,881
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

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NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Francisco 49ers 8 5 1 .607 3–2–1 6–4–1 353 249 W2
Atlanta Falcons 7 7 0 .500 3–3 5–5 269 274 L2
Los Angeles Rams 6 7 1 .464 4–2 5–5–1 291 286 L2
New Orleans Saints 2 11 1 .179 1–4–1 2–8–1 215 361 L3

Notable events

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References

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  1. ^ 1972 New Orleans Saints
  2. ^ "1972 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  3. ^ "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2014.