New Orleans Saints

Instead of the planned Detroit Lions, I'm going to skip ahead to the New Orleans Saints, since they are in today's Super Bowl. (After all, how many times will you see a pig fly?)

Here are the very first football cards for the New Orleans Saints. Instead of the team photo as with other teams, there is an extra card with the Saints' logo. As with all teams in 1967, there are 10 player cards. For the Saints, there are three defensive backs, FOUR offensive linemen, but no receivers or linebackers.

In 1967, I had all these except John Morrow and Elbert Kimbrough.



#121 New Orleans Saints - Here we have the logo of the expansion New Orleans Saints. The back of this card lists the players drafted from the 14 established teams. (The Falcons were exempt from the draft, since they were an expansion team in 1966.) Because of the mixed up numbering and the note on the front of the card below, it seems that the team roster was intended to be on the back of the card below.



#132 New Orleans Saints - It looks like the back of this card was switched with the card above this one, because the front says card #132, while the back says card #121. The comment at the bottom of the card also refers to the list of drafted players, which is on the card above this one. (No, I didn't mix up the scans, it's really like this.)


#131 Gary Wood - After 3 seasons as the Giant's backup QB, Wood was drafted by the Saints. The 1967 Saints had 3 QBs: Wood, Bill Kilmer, and Gary Cuozzo. Cuozzo started 10 games, while Kilmer started 4. I assume Wood was selected for the football card because he was a starter for part of 1966 with the Giants, after Earl Morrall was sidelined with injuries. After 1 season with the Saints, Wood returned to the Giants for 2 more seasons, backing up Fran Tarkenton.


#123 Paul Hornung - Here's Paul Hornung, pretending to be a quarterback. After a long career with the Packers (well, except for 1963), Hornung was selected by the Saints in the expansion draft. Lingering injures from the 1966 season kept him out of the lineup for all of 1967, after which he retired. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.

#128 John Morrow - John was drafted from the Cleveland Browns. He was the Browns' starting center for 7 seasons, and before that a 3-year starter for the Rams. Morrow retired before the 1967 season.


#129 Bob Scholtz - Bob was the Lions' 3rd-round pick in 1960, and played 5 seasons with Detroit and 2 with the Giants before coming to the Saints in the expansion draft. In what is becoming a familiar theme, Scholtz did not play in the NFL after 1966.


#122 Charlie Bradshaw - Bradshaw was drafted from the Pittsburgh Steelers (and looks very much like another Bradshaw who played for the Steelers - I wonder if they're related?). He was the Steelers' left offensive tackle for 6 seasons. He also played for the Rams from 1958 to 1960. Did he play in 1967? Yes, but for the Detroit Lions. The back of this card states that he was traded in March 1967. He retired after 2 seasons in Detroit.


#127 Riley Mattson - Mattson was drafted off the Bears' roster. After playing 1961-64 with the Redskins, and missing the 1965 season, he played 1 season with the Bears. The narrative on the back of his card includes ".... where a knee injury slowed him down." Then, the scratch-off quiz says "What has slowed Riley down?"
Guess what? Mattson did not play after the 1966 season. WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF MAKING THE SAINTS' EXPANSION DRAFT PICKS?


#125 Earl Leggett - Leggett played defensive tackle for the Bears from 1957-65, and for the Rams in 1966. He was taken in the expansion draft and actually played two seasons with the Saints before retiring!


#124 Elbert Kimbrough - After a rookie season in 1961 with the Rams, Elbert was the 49ers starting strong safety from 1962-66. He missed the 1967 season, but finished his career in 1968 with the Saints as a backup DB.

#126 Obert Logan - Logan played safety for the Cowboys in 1965 and 1966, and was the Saints starting free safety in 1967, his final season.


#130 Dave Whitsell - Dave was a 24th-round pick for the Lions in 1958. After 3 seasons with the Lions, he was the Bears' right cornerback from 1961-66. As the Saints' starting left cornerback in 1967, he led the NFL with 10 interceptions. In his final 2 seasons (1968-69), he was the Saints' free safety.


Let's re-cap this mess: From these 10 players, the Saints got 3 seasons from Whitsell, 2 seasons from Leggett, and 1 each from Kimbrough, Logan, and Wood (albeit as the 3rd-string QB). Were these the 10 best players on the roster? (Isn't that the usual criteria for appearing on football cards?)


Also check out the 1971 and 1972 Saints.


Coming Feb 23rd: Detroit Lions
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Baltimore Colts

This Colts team is one year away from appearing in Super Bowl III vs. the New York Jets.

#13 Colts Team - The back of this card tells us that the Colts were on their way to the Western Conference championship in 1966, but "blew their chances", but that they did win the runner-up bowl. They also led the league in punting (which may be a dubious honor).


#23 Johnny Unitas - Unitas was the premier quarterback of the 1950s and 1960s. He's already played 11 years, and in 9 Pro Bowls! For some reason, he's wearing a helmet in this photo. I noticed that out of 160 player cards in the 1967 set, only 12 players are wearing helmets:

7 Giants
2 Saints (who are photographed in their 1966 Giants' uniform)
3 Colts
Weird obsession with the Giants! (Although I must admit, I like the look of the Giants' helmets.)


#21 Tom Matte - Matte is entering his 7th year. In 1965, he was the Colts' emergency quarterback, as both Johnny Unitas and backup Gary Cuozzo were out with injuries.


#18 Tony Lorick - Lorick led the Colts in rushing in 1966, his 3rd season in the league.


#14 Ray Berry - Here is the card for Colts' split end Ray Berry. The only problem is that it's been hijacked by Colts' cornerback #40 Bob Boyd. Ray Berry led the Colts in receiving in 1966, and had 7 TDs. This card tells us that Berry holds just about every Colts' receiving record.


#20 John Mackey - 1967 was Mackey's 5th season in the NFL. In his first 4 seasons, he made the Pro Bowl 3 times, and in 1966 was named All-League by all 3 news services (AP, NEA, UPI). ("All-League" was more elite than the Pro Bowl.) Mackey and the Bears' Mike Ditka were the premier tight ends of the time.


(No offensive linemen or linebackers, due to 3 defensive backs being featured)

#22 Lou Michaels - This 10-year pro was the Colts' kicker and starting defensive end. He was the 4th highest scorer in the NFL in 1966. (He would soon be replaced at DE by rookie Bubba Smith.)


#16 Ordell Braase - Braase (pronounced BRAY-see) was the Colts' other starting defensive end. In 1966, he made the Pro Bowl for the first time in his 10-year career.


#15 Bob Boyd - Boyd was one of Baltimore's starting cornerbacks. In 1966 (his 7th season), he was named All-League by UPI.


#19 Lenny Lyles - Lyles made his first Pro Bowl appearance in 1966, his 9th season. He began as a kick returner, and eventually moved up to starting cornerback.


#17 Alvin Haymond - Haymond's main responsibility was returning punts, but the back of this card tells us that he won a full time job (must have been at safety) in 1966. No matter, in 1968 he was traded to the Eagles for running back Timmy Brown.


#24 Colts Logo - And here we have the Colts logo card, chock full of history:
Doesn't that last paragraph just make you proud to be an American and/or a football fan? ;/


So there are the 1967 Colts. I got all these cards in 1967 except for Michaels and Lyles, so those 2 cards are in much better condition.


Next time: Chicago Bears