My First Game - Saints vs. Jets 1983 (1 Viewer)

[UFCSaint]

Back in 1983, for my 15th birthday my mom and stepdad bought me tickets to my first ever Saints game. Up to that point I had only seen them on TV or listened to them on the radio. Driving to the game we got rear-ended by a city bus. I was frantic we would miss the kickoff so I begged my stepdad to let it go. For years he gave me hell telling me that he could've retired...

Anyway, last night I watched a 20 min highlight reel of that game and watching all these years later I still remembered certain parts of the game. But in typical Saints fashion they found a way to lose of course. Anyway, some points from the game:

1. Bum Phillips was our coach. Kenny Stabler was our QB - Richard Todd was the Jets QB
2. George Rogers, Hokie, and Wayne Wilson were the running backs. Rogers was fun to watch, very smooth.
3. Rickey Jackson was a presence and had 2 sacks
4. Loved Hoby Brenner back in the day and it was easy to see why
5. For the most part Stabler's passes actually looked pretty decent. He had a weird side-armed kinda throwing motion and I used to imitate it on the playground when we played pick up ball. He did throw a crucial pick 6 and he also got hammered multiple times (Jets had Klecko, Gastineau, and Mehl...who had the pick 6.)
6. Hokie had the longest run of the game and it was one of the things I did remember
7. The Saints had a 2 TD lead with less than 5 mins left in the game
8. Jets came back and took the lead
9. Saints got into field position and with time running out....the franchise's most well-known kicker...shanked the winning kick. C'mon Morten!
10. They did not keep the score or clock on the screen during the games back then. Makes it really hard to know what was going on!

Honestly I didn't care if we won or lost, I was just excited to finally go to my first Saints game! I still have one of the old school pennants I bought in the French Quarter before the game as well as some pictures I took somewhere. Good memories...

 

[HouseCall]

That was a MNF game, correct?

I remember my brother being really hyped and then really agitated when it was over.

I was a fan of the team by then but not a follow every game fan at that point.

I guess 83’ had its fair share of heartbreakers for the Saints. Missed the playoffs by a hair and didn’t make it in for another 4 years.

 

[SaintswonSBXLIV]

Back in 1983, for my 15th birthday my mom and stepdad bought me tickets to my first ever Saints game. Up to that point I had only seen them on TV or listened to them on the radio. Driving to the game we got rear-ended by a city bus. I was frantic we would miss the kickoff so I begged my stepdad to let it go. For years he gave me hell telling me that he could've retired...

Anyway, last night I watched a 20 min highlight reel of that game and watching all these years later I still remembered certain parts of the game. But in typical Saints fashion they found a way to lose of course. Anyway, some points from the game:

1. Bum Phillips was our coach. Kenny Stabler was our QB - Richard Todd was the Jets QB
2. George Rogers, Hokie, and Wayne Wilson were the running backs. Rogers was fun to watch, very smooth.
3. Rickey Jackson was a presence and had 2 sacks
4. Loved Hoby Brenner back in the day and it was easy to see why
5. For the most part Stabler's passes actually looked pretty decent. He had a weird side-armed kinda throwing motion and I used to imitate it on the playground when we played pick up ball. He did throw a crucial pick 6 and he also got hammered multiple times (Jets had Klecko, Gastineau, and Mehl...who had the pick 6.)
6. Hokie had the longest run of the game and it was one of the things I did remember
7. The Saints had a 2 TD lead with less than 5 mins left in the game
8. Jets came back and took the lead
9. Saints got into field position and with time running out....the franchise's most well-known kicker...shanked the winning kick. C'mon Morten!

Honestly I didn't care if we won or lost, I was just excited to finally go to my first Saints game! I still have one of the old school pennants I bought in the French Quarter before the game as well as some pictures I took somewhere. Good memories...

Saints had a 12 or 13 point lead and yes, Morten missed a very makeable 45 yard or so FG. That team easily could have been 10-6 or better. The Jets loss on MNF and Rams loss in the finale, especially the Rams loss, were brutal.

 

[texasjefe]

I was at Tulane at time but did not have a ticket. A close friend at LSU had me go to a costume store in Metairie late the previous week and buy him a Darth Vader mask. I put the mask on a Greyhound bus to get it to him in BR.

His goal was to get on MNF in costume, for their weekly bit of labeling someone in the stands as Bob Eucker.

Here's the action:



My friend was from Alexandria and passed away in 2019.

The mask would later serve as the championship trophy for our fantasy football league, which lasted 25 years but ended 4 years ago.

I bought game DVDs off the internet about 15 years ago.

Naturally, the game is on Youtube now.

 

[UFCSaint]

I was at Tulane at time but did not have a ticket. A close friend at LSU had me go to a costume store in Metairie late the previous week and buy him a Darth Vader mask. I put the mask on a Greyhound bus to get it to him in BR.

His goal was to get on MNF in costume, for their weekly bit of labeling someone in the stands as Bob Eucker.

Here's the action:



My friend was from Alexandria and passed away in 2019.

The mask would later serve as the championship trophy for our fantasy football league, which lasted 25 years but ended 4 years ago.

I bought game DVDs off the internet about 15 years ago.

Naturally, the game is on Youtube now.

That's a really cool story, sorry to hear about your friend. I did find the full game on youtube but of course the quality is atrocious.

 

[bradman1965]

That was my first Saints game as well. Was a freshman at LSU and it was a long drive back after a disappointing evening. Thanks for the reminiscing.

 

[StudioSaint]

That was my first Saints game as well. Was a freshman at LSU and it was a long drive back after a disappointing evening. Thanks for the reminiscing.

That was my second Saints game and I was a freshman at LSU as well. We met up with some people after the game and hung out in New Orleans all night. That made the drive back and the whole trip better.

 

[wwepatriot]

One thing about the Saints football in the 80s, between them and LSU, if LSU had gotten beat by someone or a real standout player, Saints got them, if the Saints got beat by someone, Saints wanted them. How we ended up with Richard Todd, Ken Stabler, Dalton Hilliard, Steve Walsh, and no telling who else im missing.