re: Alltime Saints Jersey # Countdown to First Preseason Game

have been MIA a bit, thought Federspiel was a better choice than Shanlee, a little props for the oldtimer...



Today with his son who plays for WKU



Joe Federspiel, 61, spent his playing days at UK and then in the NFL in a strange sort of football purgatory. A very good player for Kentucky, the three Wildcats teams he played on (1969-71) finished 2-8, 2-9 and 3-8.

Drafted in the fourth round of the 1972 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints, Joe became a standout. He started every game the Saints played for five straight seasons. In 1975, he recovered a whopping five fumbles.

Yet in his entire time in New Orleans (1972-80), the Saints never had a winning season. In 1979 they came close, going 8-8. The next year, the team collapsed to 1-15. Even getting out of the Big Easy didn't help. Federspiel spent his final NFL season with the Baltimore Colts in 1981; they went 2-14.

"My last winning year was 8-2 at DeSales High School in Louisville," Joe Federspiel said.

For someone who was a quality player, all that losing had to be sapping.

"It was," Joe Federspiel says. "I went years with the Saints, the coaches were always in a foul mood. There were always lots of players coming and going. It just drains you after a while, it really does."
full story here



6 year starter at MLB, 130 games for Saints, 1993 Saints HOF induction