Monthly Archives: March 2023

Big Red Draft History: 1972 NFL Draft

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As we move closer to the 2023 NFL Draft (April 27-29), The Big Red Zone is looking back on each of the 28 St. Louis Cardinals drafts (1960-87). This installment focuses on the 1972 Draft, which was held February 1-2, 1972 in New York.

After the 1972 NFL Draft, his first and only draft as the head coach of the Cardinals, Bob Hollway gave his definition of what constituted a good draft.

“You should get two starters out of the draft each year and five players from that draft should make your team,” Hollway, who wasn’t hired by the Cardinals until two weeks after the previous year’s draft, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

By Hollway’s standard, the Big Red had a good draft in 1972. Four of the players they selected started as rookies: wide receiver Ahmad Rashad (13 games), linebacker Mark Arneson (10), guard Conrad Dobler (nine), and defensive end Martin Imhof (eight). Five others made the ’72 roster, but they didn’t stick around long.

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Big Red Draft History: 1971 NFL Draft

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As we move closer to the 2023 NFL Draft (April 27-29), The Big Red Zone is looking back on each of the 28 St. Louis Cardinals drafts (1960-87). This installment focuses on the 1971 Draft, which was held January 28-29, 1971 in New York.

This was a bountiful draft for the Cardinals even though 10 of the 17 players they selected never played in the NFL. Cornerback Norm Thompson (1st round), offensive tackle Dan Dierdorf (2nd), wide receiver Mel Gray (6th) and defensive end Ron Yankowski (8th) all had long, productive careers for St. Louis.

Consider their combined numbers: 42 seasons, 509 games, 10 Pro Bowls, four All-Pro teams, and one Hall of Fame enshrinement.

1971 Big Red Draftees (L-R): Mel Gray, Dan Dierdorf, Norm Thompson, Rocky Wallace, Mike Savoy

Thompson set a major college record in 1969 with 259 interception returns on five picks for Utah. He added seven more interceptions for 73 yards in 1970. Still, he figured he would be a second- or third-round pick. Imagine his surprise when the Cardinals took him 17th overall.

“He walked around the house scratching his head … he couldn’t believe it,” Thompson’s wife, Gwen, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

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Big Red Draft History: 1970 NFL Draft

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As we move closer to the 2023 NFL Draft (April 27-29), The Big Red Zone is looking back on each of the 28 St. Louis Cardinals drafts (1960-87). This installment focuses on the 1970 Draft, which was held January 27-28, 1969 in New York.

This will forever be known as the Larry Stegent draft.

Big Red Top Pick Larry Stegent

With the eighth overall pick, the Cardinals could have taken Heisman Trophy winner Steve Owens, Norm Bulaich, Bobby Anderson or Duane Thomas—all running backs who would have productive NFL careers. Instead, they selected Stegent, a running back from Texas A&M, whose career would be derailed by injuries.

“It’s unbelievable—I’m overwhelmed,” Stegent told Jeff Meyers of the St. Louis Post Dispatch after the draft. “I didn’t feel I’d be picked until much later. I didn’t really think anyone wanted me that much.”

In July 1970, while practicing for the College All-Star Game, Stegent suffered a partial ligament tear in his right knee that forced him to miss most of his rookie training camp and the first two preseason games. He played in the third preseason game, against the Bears, but tore ligaments in his left knee while trying to tackle a Bears defender who had intercepted a pass. He missed all of the 1970 season.

In 1971, Stegent spent time on the Big Red’s taxi squad and saw spot duty on special teams. He didn’t make his first start until a December 12 game against the Eagles. While taking a swing pass from quarterback Jim Hart, Stegent planted his foot attempting to cut back and ripped ligaments in his right knee.

End of season. End of career.

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Big Red Draft History: 1969 NFL Draft

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As we move closer to the 2023 NFL Draft (April 27-29), The Big Red Zone is looking back on each of the 28 St. Louis Cardinals drafts (1960-87). This installment focuses on the 1969 Draft, which was held January 28-29, 1969 in New York.

The Big Red struck gold with their first-round selection (No. 19 overall) when they picked Missouri All-American Roger Wehrli. A fast, smothering defensive back who could also return kicks, Wehrli had been projected as a third-round candidate until an NFL scout asked him to run a 40-yard dash immediately after the Hula Bowl.

Wehrli, in full uniform, ran it in 4.5 seconds. After that, his draft stock skyrocketed.

Wehrli became a Cardinals starter immediately in ’69 and was selected to the NFL’s All-Rookie Team after intercepting three passes and returning them for 44 yards. During his 14 seasons in the NFL, all with St. Louis, Wehrli frustrated quarterbacks—both foes and friends alike. Cardinals quarterback Jim Hart purposely tried to avoid throwing into Wehrli’s area in practice because it could be frustrating trying to complete a pass. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach considered Wehrli the toughest pass defender he faced.

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Big Red Draft History: 1968 NFL Draft

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As we move closer to the 2023 NFL Draft (April 27-29), The Big Red Zone is looking back on each of the 28 St. Louis Cardinals drafts (1960-87). This installment focuses on the 1968 Draft, which was held January 30-31, 1968 in New York.

Were it not for MacArthur Lane, their first-round selection from Utah State, the Cardinals would have come away all but empty from the ’68 draft. Of their 17 other choices, eight had average performances with the team and nine never played in the NFL.

Perhaps reflective of the times, the Post-Dispatch described Lane as “running back of reputed speed” after the Big Red took Lane with the 13th overall pick. As a senior, Lane had ranked second in the nation only to USC’s O.J. Simpson in rushing after the first six games of the 1967 college season, but a thigh condition forced him to miss the rest of the season.

The Cardinals were hoping Lane would be an outside threat who would complement running back Johnny Roland.

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Big Red Draft History: 1967 NFL Draft

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As we move closer to the 2023 NFL Draft (April 27-29), The Big Red Zone is looking back on each of the 28 St. Louis Cardinals drafts (1960-87). This installment focuses on the 1967 Draft, which was held March 14-15, 1967 in New York.

After conducting separate drafts while competing for the same players for seven years, the NFL and AFL held their first common draft in 1967. As part of the June 1966 NFL-AFL merger, the two leagues collaborated in one two-day selection meeting that went 17 rounds and yielded 445 players.

The Cardinals made a trade right before the draft, sending running back Bill Triplett to the New York Giants in exchange for linebacker Jerry Hillebrand. The Big Red’s starting linebackers (Dale Meinert, Bill Koman and Larry Stallings) were getting older, so management obtained the younger Hillebrand, projecting him as a starter in the middle. Alas, Hillebrand lasted only one season in St. Louis and never made a start.

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Big Red Draft History: 1966 NFL Draft

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As we move closer to the 2023 NFL Draft (April 27-29), The Big Red Zone is looking back on each of the 28 St. Louis Cardinals drafts (1960-87). This installment focuses on the 1966 Draft, which was held on November 27, 1965, in New York.

Since 1966 was the last year the NFL Draft had 20 rounds, this seems like a good point to stop and evaluate the Cardinals’ drafts from 1960 (their first season in St. Louis) to 1966. In those seven drafts, the Big Red selected 151 players. According to our player ratings, based on what those players contributed to the Cardinals, this is the breakdown:

To say the Cardinals underachieved in those seven drafts would be generous.

In 1966—just like the year before, when they selected quarterback Joe Namath—the Cardinals lost their No. 1 pick in a bidding war with the AFL’s New York Jets. St. Louis chose Oklahoma linebacker Carl McAdams with the eighth overall pick.

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Big Red Draft History: 1965 NFL Draft

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As we move closer to the 2023 NFL Draft (April 27-29), The Big Red Zone is looking back on each of the 28 St. Louis Cardinals drafts (1960-87). This installment focuses on the 1965 Draft, which was held November 28, 1964 in New York.

For the second year in a row, the Cardinals’ draft turned out to be generally disappointing. Except for running backs Johnny Roland and Roy Shivers, both of whom had one more year of college eligibility (at Missouri and Utah State, respectively) and wouldn’t start their NFL careers until 1966, the team received minimal production from its 20 selections. 

The Big Red made a play for Joe Namath, taking the Alabama quarterback with their first-round pick (12th overall), but lost him in a bidding war with the New York Jets, who made him the first overall pick in the AFL Draft. The Cardinals dispatched two representatives to Tuscaloosa, AL to meet with Namath in his dorm room and try to sign him to a contract. Namath told them he wanted a $200,000 annual contract and a Lincoln Continental convertible.

“They said, ‘Oh, my god.’ The two guys fell off the bed,” Namath recalled in a 2021 podcast on The Exchange. “They went into this ‘My god’ motion and then it made me feel like a, I don’t know, a jerk.”

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Big Red Draft History: 1964 NFL Draft

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As we move closer to the 2023 NFL Draft (April 27-29), The Big Red Zone is looking back on each of the 28 St. Louis Cardinals drafts (1960-87). This installment focuses on the 1964 Draft, which was held on December 3, 1963 in Chicago.

1964 St. Louis Cardinals Draft Picks

From the December 15, 1963 edition of the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

After the 21-hour and 43-minute selection meeting ended around dawn on December 4, Cardinals team president Stormy Bidwill said, “We think it was a successful draft for us.” He should have rethought that thought. The Big Red couldn’t have gotten less production from the ’64 draft if their scouts had put on blindfolds and thrown darts at their draft board. Only three of their 20 picks made the team’s roster and 14—14!—never even played in the NFL.

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Big Red Draft History: 1963 NFL Draft

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As we move closer to the 2023 NFL Draft (April 27-29), The Big Red Zone is looking back on each of the 28 St. Louis Cardinals drafts (1960-87). This installment focuses on the 1963 Draft, which was held on December 3, 1962, in Chicago.

1963 St. Louis Cardinals Draft

Hall of Famer Jackie Smith was the Cards 10th round selection in the 1963 draft.

One year after one of the worst drafts in team history, the Cardinals had one of its best. Eight players made the roster (two more would join it in ’64) and four of those eight (strong safety Jerry Stovall, linebacker Larry Stallings, defensive end Don Brumm and tight end Jackie Smith) started as rookies. “I still can’t believe that a draft could be so productive,” coach Wally Lemm said. “Several of them were among the best players we ever had.”

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