On January 30, 1978, the St. Louis Cardinals traded Pro Bowl guard Conrad Dobler and wide receiver Ike Harris to the New Orleans Saints for guard Terry Stieve and defensive end Bob Pollard.
According to the January 31 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dobler’s teammates and Big Red coaches were in shock when they learned of the news.
“You’re kidding,” offensive line coach Jim Hanifan said after learning of the trade. “Well I’ll be a son-of-a-gun. All I can say is that’s show business. Conrad, well, Conrad is special to me. Conrad and I go into a deep personal thing—it breaks my heart.”
“My gut feeling is that I don’t understand,” quarterback Jim Hart said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“They’re two of our finest players,” fullback Jim Otis said, “and you hate to see them go. I’m not too familiar with those people we’re getting, so it’s difficult for me to comment. Let’s put it this way: there are 11 people on the offense and that offense has been described as the best in football. Now, two of those people are gone and maybe there will be more.”
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THE BIG RED ZONE 