Overwhelmingly, players in 1967 became members of the first New Orleans Saints team in one of two ways.
Quarterback Billy Kilmer was snapped up in the expansion draft from San Francisco, as was linebacker Billy Cody from Detroit. South Carolina State running back John Gilliam was one of New Orleans’ three second-round picks in the NFL draft, No. 52 overall, exactly 368 slots ahead of Xavier (Ohio) receiver Danny Abramowicz, the first of the Saints’ three 17th-round picks.
The Saints mined the NFL and NCAA for talent from which to choose. Each of the 14 teams in the NFL froze 29 players from its 40-man roster, leaving 11 players to be available to be selected to help stock the roster of the expansion Saints, while the Falcons, an expansion team the previous year, were exempt.