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.