You might say the Saints signed RB Charlie Brown for peanuts. Despite being the leading rusher at Missouri in 1965 and '66 (and tops in the Big Eight Conference in '65), he wasn't selected until Round 10 of the 1967 Draft, which made him a long shot to make the team.

He made the inaugural Saints roster but appeared in only three games in 1967. The final game of the '68 season, a home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, was just his third in that year as well. But he made history in the second quarter before 66,131 at Tulane Stadium on a sunny but chilly December afternoon.

The Saints led 14-7 on two TD passes to running backs from "gimp-legged" QB Billy Kilmer - 22y to RB Tony Lorick and 25y on a screen pass to Don McCall. Facing 4th down deep in their territory with less than four minutes left in the first half, the Steelers went into punt formation, and Brown hurried onto the field as the lone safety. He was determined to redeem himself after the mistake he made the week before against the Eagles when he fumbled a punt and was tackled in the end zone for a safety. This time, Brown caught the ball on the NO 47 and began a run "which defies description" (according to Bob Roesler of the Times-Picayune). Nine of the 11 Steelers had a shot at him, but he eluded all of them to register the first punt return for a touchdown in the Saints' 28-game history. Watch video of Brown's return and an interview with him ...

The 21-7 halftime deficit was too much for the visitors to overcome. The final score was 24-14.

The victory gave the Saints a 4-9-1 record for the season and enabled them to set the record for best record by an expansion team in its first two seasons: 7-20-1.

Brown's punt return was ranked #8 in league history by NFL Films. It would be 21 years before another Saint - Derrick Shepard - returned a punt for a touchdown.