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1966 New Orleans Saints join NFL...
1966 New Orleans Saints join NFL...
Item # 708912
November 01, 1966
THE SPRINGFIELD UNION, Mass., November 1, 1966
* New Orleans Saints are born
* National Football League
Page 26 has a two column heading: "New Orleans Ready For Entry in NFL" (see images)
Complete with 36 pages, some tape mending on the front page, otherwise good.
wikipedia notes: The brainchild of local sports entrepreneur Dave Dixon, who also founded the Louisiana Superdome and USFL, the Saints were actually secretly born in a backroom deal brought about by Congressman Hale Boggs and NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle.[citation needed] The NFL needed congressional approval of the proposed AFL-NFL merger. Dixon and a local civic group had been seeking a NFL franchise for over 5 years, and had hosted record crowds to NFL exhibition games. To seal the merger, Rozelle arrived in New Orleans within a week, and announced on November 1, 1966 that the NFL officially had awarded the city of New Orleans an NFL franchise. Named for the great jazz song most identified with New Orleans - "When the Saints Go Marching In," the franchise was announced in a great coincidence on November 1st, which is the Catholic All Saints' Day. Boggs' Congressional committee in turn quickly approved the NFL merger. John W. Mecom, Jr., a young oilman from Houston, became the team's first majority stockholder. The team's colors, black and gold, symbolized both Mecom's and New Orleans' strong ties to the oil ("black gold") industry. Trumpeter Al Hirt was part owner of the team, and his rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In" was made the official fight song..
Category: The 20th Century
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