Saints History

Quiet Speed

Quiet Speed

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Dec 19, 2004
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There is a video of a Saints game from the time Jeff Groth played floating around on the web somewhere. Wish I could find it. It looked like 50% of the players on the field at any given time were White.

[tube]Wa9CF9beB8U[/tube]
 
Hokie Gajan was a helluva running back. If ESPN stats are correct, in 1984 he averaged 6.03 yards per carry. That ranks third best all time in a season, behind Mercury Morris (6.40) and Barry Sanders (6.13). Hokie had a nice quick burst at the point of attack and was through the hole in an instant. His career was cut short by knee injuries. After that he was a long time scout for the Saints and now is in the media being a color analyst for Saints radio broadcast among other things. Toby Gerhart is a more elusive and bigger version of Hokie, wouldn't it be nice if Toby could accomplish something on the order as Hokie's mark early on.
 
Quiet Speed said:
Hokie Gajan was a helluva running back. If ESPN stats are correct, in 1984 he averaged 6.03 yards per carry. That ranks third best all time in a season, behind Mercury Morris (6.40) and Barry Sanders (6.13). Hokie had a nice quick burst at the point of attack and was through the hole in an instant. His career was cut short by knee injuries. After that he was a long time scout for the Saints and now is in the media being a color analyst for Saints radio broadcast among other things. Toby Gerhart is a more elusive and bigger version of Hokie, wouldn't it be nice if Toby could accomplish something on the order as Hokie's mark early on.
Click to expand...

This video has a short segment featuring Hokie Gajan and his 1984 season. Skip to the 3:22 mark for the segment.

[video=youtube;yK7zkom769Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK7zkom769Y[/video]
 
Quiet Speed said:
Hokie Gajan was a helluva running back...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the background on Gajan.. & Forgive me if I've already mentioned this is in other threads;.. I was really consumed with sports history as a kid.. I remember going to book fairs in elementary school (pre-internet era) snatching up anything I could related to NFL history & trivia. An NFL accomplishment that has always stayed in my mind is Tom Dempsey's 63 yd FG. A guy born missing toes & fingers who became a record-setting pro athlete is a beautiful thing. And I think that last-second kick was only one of two wins for New Orleans that season..

Dempsey was still kicking in the straight-on era, so even with the squared off shoe, it may have been even more difficult (compared to contemporary soccer kicking), bcuz he had a smaller kicking foot surface for accuracy & aim (opposed to the side of a shoe used now ?)
 
Average American said:
Thanks for the background on Gajan.. & Forgive me if I've already mentioned this is in other threads;.. I was really consumed with sports history as a kid.. I remember going to book fairs in elementary school (pre-internet era) snatching up anything I could related to NFL history & trivia. An NFL accomplishment that has always stayed in my mind is Tom Dempsey's 63 yd FG. A guy born missing toes & fingers who became a record-setting pro athlete is a beautiful thing. And I think that last-second kick was only one of two wins for New Orleans that season..

Dempsey was still kicking in the straight-on era, so even with the squared off shoe, it may have been even more difficult (compared to contemporary soccer kicking), bcuz he had a smaller kicking foot surface for accuracy & aim (opposed to the side of a shoe used now ?)
Click to expand...

I remembered a bit of flap when someone at the time questioned whether it should be allowed for Dempsey to use his squared shoe. I looked it up and it turns out it was Tex Schramm who protested. He got himself in a bit of a pickle for his position.

Tom Dempsey's 63-yard field goal ranks among greatest moments in New Orleans Saints history

Excerpt:

In the fallout to Dempsey's Day, nothing matched the decision of Tex Schramm, president of the Dallas Cowboys, to "protest the use of Dempsey's kicking shoe.''

Schramm made a fool of himself. He said the shoe was illegal (even though it had been approved by the league in 1969). He likened the kicking surface to "the head of a golf club with a sledgehammer surface.''

The league had looked into Dempsey's shoe and ruled it was lighter than the regulation shoe used in the league.

The upshot: Commissioner Pete Rozelle told Tex Schramm to apologize to Tom Dempsey.

Today, Dempsey's shoe and the ball he kicked 63 yards occupy a prominent spot in the Saints Hall of Fame in the Superdome.

tom-dempsey-63-yd-f.jpg
 
Quiet Speed said:
Hokie Gajan was a helluva running back. If ESPN stats are correct, in 1984 he averaged 6.03 yards per carry. That ranks third best all time in a season, behind Mercury Morris (6.40) and Barry Sanders (6.13). Hokie had a nice quick burst at the point of attack and was through the hole in an instant. His career was cut short by knee injuries. After that he was a long time scout for the Saints and now is in the media being a color analyst for Saints radio broadcast among other things. Toby Gerhart is a more elusive and bigger version of Hokie, wouldn't it be nice if Toby could accomplish something on the order as Hokie's mark early on.
Click to expand...

Sad to report that Hokie has passed away from a rare and aggressive form of cancer. RIP
 
RIP Hokie Gajon. I remember him with the Saints and he had a lot of nice runs, a career average in the NFL of a very impressive 5.4 yards per carry.

This article has a video that has some highlights of Gajon running at LSU and with the Saints. There's an interview with his LSU coach, Jerry Stovall, after Gajon was drafted in '81. In the space of a few seconds Stovall mentions not once but twice that Gajon isn't fast. The Caste terminology and stereotyping has been around for a long time.

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2016/04/watch_hokie_gajans_highlights.html
 
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