On November 1st 1966 the NFL awarded the 16th franchise to New Orleans. On January 9, 1967 the New Orleans' NFL franchise was nicknamed the Saints and they signed their 1st player, Paige Cothren, on January 27th. The Saints first season ticket drive was launched on March 8th and they sold over 33,400 tickets before their first game. The Saints scored their first preseason victory by beating the St. Louis Cardinals and their first regular season win by beating the Philadelphia Eagles. the Saints record at the end of their 1968 season was the was best ever for an expansion club. In 1969, rookie Tom Dempsey kicked a 55-yard field goal, the Saints longest field goal to date, and the kick was the NFL's longest that season and 1 yard shy of tying the NFL mark. In 2000, the Saints owner, Tom Benson, decided to take action and do whatever it took to make his team better. He fired 22 employees and hired an entire new staff for the upcoming season. With this new direction, the Saints set the NFL record for best road record turnaround after an 0-8 record in 1999 and the team started to turn around. They were the first team since 1990 to go from last place to a division title in just one season. Then the New Orleans Saints lost in the NFC Divisional Playoff against the Minnesota Vikings an this ended the club's storybook 2000 season .
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