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1976 New Orleans Saints season

NFL team season

NFL team season

FieldValue
teamNew Orleans Saints
year1976
record4–10
division_place4th NFC West
ownerJohn W. Mecom Jr.
coachHank Stram
stadiumLouisiana Superdome
playoffs*Did not qualify*
pro bowlers*None*
shortnavlinkSaints seasons

The 1976 New Orleans Saints season was the Saints’ tenth year in the National Football League (NFL). Hoping past success could influence the franchise, the Saints hired Hank Stram as the new head coach. However, in Stram's first season at the helm, the Saints continued to struggle finishing with a 4–10 record.

The Saints made a uniform change before the year, going from a dark gold to old gold, and have retained the color albeit with minor shading changes since. It was also the team's first season wearing black pants, a move which was not unexpected, since Stram outfitted the Kansas City Chiefs in red pants beginning in 1968.

New Orleans' hopes for success was severely diminished before the season began when Stram learned star quarterback Archie Manning would not be able to play at all due to offseason elbow surgery. This forced Stram to alternate between longtime backup Bobby Scott and Chicago Bears castoff Bobby Douglass.

The high point of the season was in week three, when Stram’s Saints traveled to Kansas City and defeated the Chiefs 27–17. Stram rubbed salt in the wounds of the team he coached for 15 seasons (1960 to 1974) and led to the Super Bowl IV championship when Scott threw a touchdown pass on the game's final play to Tinker Owens. Chiefs coach Paul Wiggin refused to shake hands with Stram, who was carried off the Arrowhead Stadium turf by his players upon orders by the coach.

Offseason

1976 expansion draft

Main article: 1976 NFL expansion draft

New Orleans Saintsborder=2}}"RoundNew Orleans Saintsborder=2}}"OverallNew Orleans Saintsborder=2}}"NameNew Orleans Saintsborder=2}}"PositionNew Orleans Saintsborder=2}}"Expansion team
00Morris LaGrandRunning back[Tampa Bay Buccaneers](1976-tampa-bay-buccaneers-season)
00Joe OwensDefensive end[Seattle Seahawks](1976-seattle-seahawks-season)
00Dave ThompsonOffensive tackleTampa Bay Buccaneers

NFL draft

Main article: 1976 NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

  • President – John W. Mecom Jr.

  • Executive Vice President – Richard F. Gordon, Jr.

  • Vice President of Administration – Harry Hulmes

  • Business Manager and Treasurer – Eddie Jones

  • Vice President/Head Coach – Hank Stram

  • Quarterbacks – Dick Wood

  • Offensive Backfield – John Beake

  • Receivers – Sam Rutigliano

  • Offensive Line – Dick Stanfel

  • Defensive Line – Buck Buchanan

  • Linebackers – Doug Shively

  • Defensive Backfield – Jim Garrett

  • Special Teams – Whitey Campbell

  • Strength and Conditioning – Alvin Roy

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

New Orleans Saintsyear=1976border=2}}"WeekNew Orleans Saintsyear=1976border=2}}"DateNew Orleans Saintsyear=1976border=2}}"OpponentNew Orleans Saintsyear=1976border=2}}"ResultNew Orleans Saintsyear=1976border=2}}"RecordNew Orleans Saintsyear=1976border=2}}"VenueNew Orleans Saintsyear=1976border=2}}"Attendance1234567891011121314
September 12[Minnesota Vikings](1976-minnesota-vikings-season)**L** 9–400—1Louisiana Superdome58,156
September 19[Dallas Cowboys](1976-dallas-cowboys-season)**L** 6–240—2Louisiana Superdome61,413
September 26at [Kansas City Chiefs](1976-kansas-city-chiefs-season)**W** 27–171—2Arrowhead Stadium53,918
October 3[Houston Oilers](1976-houston-oilers-season)**L** 26–311—3Louisiana Superdome51,973
October 10**[Atlanta Falcons](1976-atlanta-falcons-season)****W** 30–02—3Louisiana Superdome51,521
October 17at **[San Francisco 49ers](1976-san-francisco-49ers-season)****L** 3–332—4Candlestick Park43,160
October 24**[Los Angeles Rams](1976-los-angeles-rams-season)****L** 10–162—5Louisiana Superdome51,984
October 31at **[Atlanta Falcons](1976-atlanta-falcons-season)****L** 20–232—6Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium34,127
November 7at [Green Bay Packers](1976-green-bay-packers-season)**L** 32–272—7Milwaukee County Stadium52,936
November 14[Detroit Lions](1976-detroit-lions-season)**W** 17–163—7Louisiana Superdome42,048
November 21at **[Seattle Seahawks](1976-seattle-seahawks-season)****W** 51–274—7Kingdome61,865
November 28at **[Los Angeles Rams](1976-los-angeles-rams-season)****L** 14–334—8Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum54,906
December 5at [New England Patriots](1976-new-england-patriots-season)**L** 6–274—9Schaefer Stadium53,592
December 12**[San Francisco 49ers](1976-san-francisco-49ers-season)****L** 7–274—10Louisiana Superdome42,536
**Note:** Intra-division opponents are in **bold** text.

Standings

References

References

  1. [http://uniformdatabases.com/saints.html Uniform Databases: New Orleans Saints]
  2. "1976 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  3. "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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