1980 New Orleans Saints season

The 1980 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 14th as a member of the National Football League. It was unable to improve on the previous season's output of 8–8, winning only one game.[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fourteenth consecutive season and had the dubious distinction not only of winning only a single game, but winning it by a single point against the equally disappointing Jets, who like the Saints had widely been predicted before the season to advance to their first playoff appearance since 1969.[2]

1980 New Orleans Saints season
Head coach	Dick Nolan Dick Stanfel
Home field	Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record	1–15
Division place	4th NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None

Archie Manning attempting a pass for the Saints during an away game in 1980.

Season in review

Disgruntled fans called their team “the Aints”, going so far as to show up to games wearing brown paper bags over their heads after their team was 0–12[3] and playing the Los Angeles Rams, to whom they lost 27–7 on Monday Night Football. In embarrassment they called themselves the Unknown Fan (a spinoff from The Unknown Comic) in a practice that would become the trademark of disgruntled fans across various sports in the United States. Coach Dick Nolan was fired after this game,[3] replaced by Dick Stanfel, and then a most notable loss occurred in Week 14. Playing the San Francisco 49ers in Candlestick Park, the Saints charged out to a 35–7 lead at halftime, led by three touchdown passes from Archie Manning and a pair of one-yard touchdown runs from Jack Holmes. However, the 49ers would rally behind quarterback Joe Montana, who would rush for a touchdown and pass for two more. The 49ers would tie the game 35–35 on a fourth-quarter touchdown run by Lenvil Elliott and go on to win in overtime, 38–35, on a Ray Wersching field goal. The 28-point comeback by the 49ers was, at the time, the greatest comeback in NFL history, and currently remains the greatest comeback in NFL regular season history (the 1992 AFC Wildcard game between the Buffalo Bills and Houston Oilers is currently #1, with the Bills overcoming a 32-point deficit to win).[4]

After equalling the 1976 Buccaneers’ single season losing streak and looking likely to become the first team to finish 0–16 when down 7–13 after three quarters on a day of 46 miles per hour (74 km/h) winds and a wind chill-adjusted temperature of 5 °F (−15 °C),[5] quarterback Archie Manning threw a touchdown pass into the gale to Tony Galbreath to go ahead 14–13 and then another to win 21–20.[6]

The 2013 Houston Texans matched the 14 game losing streak of both the 1980 Saints and the 1976 Buccaneers after starting 2–0.

The 1980 Saints were the first team to end the season at 1–15.

The 1989 Dallas Cowboys, 1990 New England Patriots, 1991 Indianapolis Colts, 1996 New York Jets, 2000 San Diego Chargers, 2001 Carolina Panthers, 2007 Miami Dolphins, 2009 St. Louis Rams and 2016 Cleveland Browns later matched the 1980 Saints by finishing 1–15, but the 2008 Detroit Lions and 2017 Cleveland Browns both exceeded it by finishing with an 0–16 record. The 1991 Colts (vs. Jets) and 2000 Chargers (vs. Chiefs) also won their lone games by a single point.

Offseason

NFL draft

1980 New Orleans Saints draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	12	Stan Brock	Offensive tackle	Colorado
2	41	Dave Waymer *	Defensive back	Notre Dame
4	96	Mike Jolly	Defensive back	Michigan
6	150	Lester Boyd	Linebacker	Kentucky
7	177	Mike Morucci	Running back	Bloomsburg
8	206	Chuck Evans	Linebacker	Stanford
9	233	Frank Mordica	Running back	Vanderbilt
10	262	Tanya Webb	Defensive end	Michigan State
11	289	George Woodard	Running back	Texas A&M
12	318	Kiser Lewis	Linebacker	Florida A&M
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[7]

Personnel

Staff

1980 New Orleans Saints staff

	Front office President – John W. Mecom, Jr. Head coaches Head Coach – Dick Nolan Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Ed Hughes Quarterbacks/Receivers – Lamar McHan Offensive Backfield – Nick Nicolau Offensive Line – Dick Stanfel			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Ed Beard Defensive Line – Tom Pratt Defensive Backfield – Fred Glick Special teams coaches Special Teams – Whitey Campbell Strength and conditioning Strength – Lou Riecke

[8]

Roster

1980 New Orleans Saints roster

	Quarterbacks  7 Guy Benjamin  8 Archie Manning 12 Bobby Scott Running backs 43 Larry Collins 45 Jack Holmes 33 Mike Strachan 41 Jimmy Rogers Wide receivers 89 Wes Chandler 86 Tom Donovan 26 Guido Merkens 82 Ike Harris 84 Rich Mauti Tight ends 85 Henry Childs 87 Larry Hardy 88 Brooks Williams		Offensive linemen 67 Stan Brock T 57 Larry Coombs G 62 John Hill C 64 Dave Lafary T 68 Fred Sturt G 71 J. T. Taylor T 79 Emanuel Zanders G Defensive linemen 63 Barry Bennett DE 72 Mike Fultz DT 78 Elois Grooms DE 74 Derland Moore DT 96 Steve Parker DE 75 Elex Price DT 60 Don Reese DE		Linebackers 50 Ken Bordelon 59 Chuck Evans 58 Joe Federspiel 51 Stan Holloway 52 Jim Kovach 55 Dave Washington Defensive backs 27 Ray Brown S 26 Clarence Chapman CB 23 James Marshall 37 Tom Myers FS 44 Dave Waymer CB 22 Ricky Ray CB 48 Don Schwartz Special teams 14 Russell Erxleben P  1 Benny Ricardo K		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 7, 1980	San Francisco 49ers	L 23–26	58,621
2	September 14, 1980	at Chicago Bears	L 3–22	62,523
3	September 21, 1980	Buffalo Bills	L 26–35	51,154
4	September 28, 1980	at Miami Dolphins	L 16–21	40,946
5	October 5, 1980	St. Louis Cardinals	L 7–40	45,388
6	October 12, 1980	at Detroit Lions	L 13–24	78,147
7	October 19, 1980	Atlanta Falcons	L 14–41	62,651
8	October 26, 1980	at Washington Redskins	L 14–22	51,375
9	November 2, 1980	at Los Angeles Rams	L 31–45	59,909
10	November 9, 1980	Philadelphia Eagles	L 21–34	44,340
11	November 16, 1980	at Atlanta Falcons	L 13–31	53,871
12	November 24, 1980	Los Angeles Rams	L 7–27	53,448
13	November 30, 1980	Minnesota Vikings	L 20–23	30,936
14	December 7, 1980	at San Francisco 49ers	L 35–38	37,949
15	December 14, 1980	at New York Jets	W 21–20	38,077
16	December 21, 1980	New England Patriots	L 27–38	38,277

Game summaries

Week 15

1 2 3 4 Total • Saints 7 0 0 14 21 Jets 0 13 0 7 20 Date: December 14 Location: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 31 °F (−0.6 °C), wind 21 miles per hour (34 km/h; 18 kn)

Scoring summary 1 NO Jack Holmes 14 yard pass from Archie Manning (Benny Ricardo kick) Saints 7–0 2 NYJ Kevin Long 1 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) Tie 7–7 2 NYJ Pat Leahy 27 yard field goal Jets 10–7 2 NYJ Pat Leahy 47 yard field goal Jets 13–7 4 NO Tony Galbreath 1 yard run (Benny Ricardo kick) Saints 14–13 4 NYJ Richard Todd 31 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 20–14 4 NO Tony Galbreath 1 yard run (Benny Ricardo kick) Saints 21–20

[9]

Standings

NFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Atlanta Falcons^(1)	12	4	0	.750	5–1	10–2	405	272	L1
Los Angeles Rams^(5)	11	5	0	.688	5–1	9–3	424	289	W2
San Francisco 49ers	6	10	0	.375	2–4	4–8	320	415	L2
New Orleans Saints	1	15	0	.063	0–6	0–12	291	487	L1

References

1. 1980 New Orleans Saints
2. Finney Jr., Peter; “Saints Near Record”; in The Bryan Times; December 12, 1980; p. 13
3. Litzky, Frank; “Dick Nolan, 75, N.F.L. Coach and Player, Is Dead”; The New York Times, November 24, 2007
4. "Top 10 greatest comebacks in NFL history". National Football League. 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
5. “Saints Finally Snare a Victory”; in St. Petersburg Times; December 15, 1980; p. 7C
6. “Finally: Saints Claim First Victory”; Palm Beach Post; December 15, 1980; p. 52
7. "1980 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
8. "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
9. Pro-Football-Reference.com