Then came the news: With their second round pick, the Saints chose Grambling offensive tackle Sam Holden.ĭan Dierdorf played 13 seasons, was named All-Pro five times, made the All-NFL team of the decade of the 1970s and eventually was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I told Olivia: Looks like we’re going to get Dierdorf.” “I knew the Saints needed some offensive linemen, and I knew how good Dan Dierdorf was. “I was pretty excited about that,” Manning said. Manning remembers getting out of class, going home and learning that Michigan offensive tackle Dan Dierdorf, an All American whom Manning had befriended at the Hula Bowl, had somehow not been picked in the first round. I use loosely the term “players.” The Saints missed on a whole lot more of those picks than they hit. The 1971 draft went 17 rounds, during which the Saints took 21 players. The draft just wasn’t that big a deal back then. Remember, this was after Manning, himself, almost forgot about it. There was an Associated Press photographer in the office taking a few pictures.” Roberts, the head coach, on the phone and we talked a couple minutes more. “Then Mecom put their general manager, Vic Schwenk, on the phone and I talked to him for a couple of minutes. “I talked to John Mecom, the Saints owner, for I guess two minutes,” Manning said. Gates handed the phone to Manning who learned he was to be a Saint. Just minutes later, Gates’ phone rang and the New Orleans Saints were on the line. And that’s where he heard the news the Patriots had taken Jim Plunkett, the 1970 Heisman Trophy winner out of Stanford, with the first pick. “Why don’t you come over to my office tomorrow morning at 9 and I’ll let them all know you’re going to be here,” Gates said. The Patriots were picking first, the Saints second and the Oilers third. I’m pretty sure one of those three teams is going to pick you.” “The Patriots have called,” Gates told him.
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