1968 New Orleans Saints season

1968 New Orleans Saints season
Head coach	Tom Fears
General manager	Vic Schwenk
Owner	John W. Mecom, Jr.
Home field	Tulane Stadium
Results
Record	4–9–1
Division place	3rd Century
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1968 New Orleans Saints season was the team's second as a member of the National Football League (NFL). They improved on their previous season's output of 3–11, winning four games.^[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season, and finished third in the Century Division of the NFL Eastern Conference.

On December 15, running back Charlie Brown was the first New Orleans Saint to return a punt for a touchdown. Brown’s historic run was recognized by NFL Films as one of the top ten runs (# 8) in NFL History. Incredibly, nine of the opposing 11 players get a piece of Brown—but none bring him down. It would be another 21 years before another Saint would return a punt for a touchdown.

Offseason

NFL draft

1968 New Orleans Saints draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	7	Kevin Hardy	Defensive tackle	Notre Dame
Made roster

^[2]

Personnel

Staff

1968 New Orleans Saints staff
	Front office President – John W. Mecom, Jr. General Manager – Vic Schwenk Head coaches Head Coach – Tom Fears Offensive coaches Chief Offensive – George Dickson Receivers – Bob Shaw Offensive Line – Brad Ecklund Offensive Line – Walt Yowarsky			Defensive coaches Chief Defensive – Jack Faulkner Defensive Line – Ed Khayat Linebackers – J. D. Roberts

^[3]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 15, 1968	Cleveland Browns	L 10–24	74,215
2	September 22, 1968	Washington Redskins	W 37–17	65,941
3	September 29, 1968	St. Louis Cardinals	L 20–21	79,021
4	October 6, 1968	at New York Giants	L 21–38	60,967
5	October 13, 1968	Minnesota Vikings	W 20–17	71,105
6	October 20, 1968	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 16–12	32,303
7	October 27, 1968	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 17–31	45,476
8	November 3, 1968	Dallas Cowboys	L 3–17	84,728
9	November 10, 1968	at Cleveland Browns	L 17–35	71,025
10	November 17, 1968	at Green Bay Packers	L 7–29	49,644
11	November 24, 1968	at Detroit Lions	T 20–20	46,152
12	December 1, 1968	Chicago Bears	L 17–23	78,285
13	December 8, 1968	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 17–29	57,128
14	December 15, 1968	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–14	66,131

Standings

NFL Century
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	10	4	0	.714	4–2	7–3	394	273	L1
St. Louis Cardinals	9	4	1	.692	5–0–1	8–1–1	325	289	W4
New Orleans Saints	4	9	1	.308	2–4	3–7	246	327	W1
Pittsburgh Steelers	2	11	1	.154	0–5–1	1–8–1	244	397	L5

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

1. 1968 New Orleans Saints
2. "1968 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
3. "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Retrieved June 23, 2012.