1981 St. Louis Cardinals
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Record: 7-9-0, Finished 5th in NFC East Division
NFL Season Summary
Scored 315 points (19.7/g), 18th of 28 in the NFL.
Allowed 408 points (25.5/g), 27th.
Differential of -93 points (-5.8/g), 25th.
Expected W-L: 5.6-10.4.
Takeaway/Giveaway Differential -6 (-0.4/g), 20th.
Simple Rating System: Total -4.7, Offense: 0.1, Defense: -4.8, SoS: 1.1, versus averages of 0.0.
Coached by
Jim Hanifan (7-9-0)
Defensive Coordinator: Tom Bettis
Training Camp: Lindenwoods Colleges (St. Charles, Missouri)
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Starters
ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),Hide Non-primary Starters
| Pos | Age | Yrs | GS | Summary of Player Stats | Drafted (tm/rnd/yr) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offensive Starters | ||||||
| QB | Jim Hart | 37 | 15 | 9 | 134 for 241, 1,694 yards, 11 td, 14 int, & 3 rushes for 2 yards and 0 td | |
| QB | Neil Lomax | 22 | Rook | 7 | 119 for 236, 1,575 yards, 4 td, 10 int, & 19 rushes for 104 yards and 2 td | St. Louis Cardinals / 2nd / 33rd pick / 1981 |
| RB | Ottis Anderson | 24 | 2 | 16 | 328 rushes for 1,376 yards, 9 td, & 51 catches for 387 yards and 0 td | St. Louis Cardinals / 1st / 8th pick / 1979 |
| FB | Wayne Morris | 27 | 5 | 13 | 109 rushes for 417 yards, 5 td, & 19 catches for 165 yards and 0 td | St. Louis Cardinals / 5th / 141st pick / 1976 |
| WR | Mel Gray | 33 | 10 | 12 | 27 catches for 310 yards, 2 td, & 1 rush for 4 yards and 0 td | St. Louis Cardinals / 6th / 147th pick / 1971 |
| WR | Pat Tilley | 28 | 5 | 16 | 66 catches for 1,040 yards, 3 td | St. Louis Cardinals / 4th / 114th pick / 1976 |
| TE | Greg LaFleur | 23 | Rook | 11 | 14 catches for 190 yards, 2 td | Philadelphia Eagles / 3rd / 82nd pick / 1981 |
| LT | George Collins | 26 | 3 | 13 | 1 fumble recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 4th / 96th pick / 1978 |
| LG | Terry Stieve | 27 | 5 | 16 | New Orleans Saints / 6th / 160th pick / 1976 | |
| C | Tom Brahaney | 30 | 8 | 14 | 1 fumble recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 5th / 109th pick / 1973 |
| RG | Joe Bostic | 24 | 2 | 14 | St. Louis Cardinals / 3rd / 64th pick / 1979 | |
| RT | Dan Dierdorf | 32 | 10 | 16 | 1 fumble recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 2nd / 43rd pick / 1971 |
| Defensive Starters | ||||||
| LDE | Bob Pollard | 33 | 10 | 15 | 0 interceptions, 1 fumble recovered | New Orleans Saints / 11th / 262nd pick / 1971 |
| LDT | Mike Dawson | 28 | 5 | 16 | 0 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 1st / 22nd pick / 1976 |
| NT | Mike Dawson | 28 | 5 | 16 | 0 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 1st / 22nd pick / 1976 |
| RDT | Rush Brown | 27 | 1 | 13 | St. Louis Cardinals / 10th / 255th pick / 1980 | |
| RDE | Curtis Greer | 24 | 1 | 12 | 0 interceptions, 4 fumbles recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 1st / 6th pick / 1980 |
| LOLB | Calvin Favron | 24 | 2 | 7 | 1 interception, 1 fumble recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 2nd / 46th pick / 1979 |
| LLB | Eric D. Williams | 26 | 4 | 11 | 1 interception, 2 fumbles recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 8th / 216th pick / 1977 |
| LILB | Eric D. Williams | 26 | 4 | 11 | 1 interception, 2 fumbles recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 8th / 216th pick / 1977 |
| MLB | Dave Ahrens | 23 | Rook | 10 | 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 6th / 143rd pick / 1981 |
| RILB | Tim Kearney | 31 | 9 | 6 | Dallas Cowboys / 4th / 83rd pick / 1972 | |
| RLB | E.J. Junior | 22 | Rook | 13 | 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 1st / 5th pick / 1981 |
| ROLB | Charles Baker | 24 | 1 | 8 | 0 interceptions, 1 fumble recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 3rd / 81st pick / 1980 |
| LCB | Jeff Griffin | 23 | Rook | 9 | 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 3rd / 61st pick / 1981 |
| LCB | Carl Allen | 26 | 4 | 8 | Cincinnati Bengals / 11th / 299th pick / 1977 | |
| RCB | Roger Wehrli | 34 | 12 | 9 | 4 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 1st / 19th pick / 1969 |
| RCB | Tim Collier | 27 | 5 | 6 | 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered | Kansas City Chiefs / 9th / 249th pick / 1976 |
| SS | Lee Nelson | 27 | 5 | 15 | 0 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 15th / 420th pick / 1976 |
| FS | Ken Greene | 25 | 3 | 15 | 7 interceptions, 1 fumble recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 1st / 19th pick / 1978 |
| Special Teams Starters | ||||||
| K | Neil O'Donoghue | 28 | 4 | 0 | 19 of 32 field goals & 36 of 37 extra points | Buffalo Bills / 5th / 127th pick / 1977 |
| P | Carl Birdsong | 22 | Rook | 0 | 69 punts for a 41.8 average, 0 blocked | |
| PR | Stump Mitchell | 22 | Rook | 0 | 42 punt returns for a 10.6 average and 1 td | St. Louis Cardinals / 9th / 226th pick / 1981 |
| KR | Stump Mitchell | 22 | Rook | 0 | 55 kick returns for a 23.5 average and 0 td | St. Louis Cardinals / 9th / 226th pick / 1981 |
| No. | Age | Pos | G | GS | Wt | Ht | College/Univ | BirthDate | Yrs | Drafted (tm/rnd/yr) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 67 | Bill Acker | 25 | NT | 8 | 0 | 255 | 6-3 | Texas | 11/7/1956 | 1 | St. Louis Cardinals / 6th / 142nd pick / 1980 |
| 58 | Dave Ahrens | 23 | LB | 16 | 10 | 238 | 6-3 | Wisconsin | 12/5/1958 | Rook | St. Louis Cardinals / 6th / 143rd pick / 1981 |
| 27 | Carl Allen | 26 | DB | 10 | 8 | 185 | 6-0 | Southern Miss | 12/21/1955 | 4 | Cincinnati Bengals / 11th / 299th pick / 1977 |
| 32 | Ottis Anderson | 24 | RB | 16 | 16 | 220 | 6-2 | Miami (FL) | 1/19/1957 | 2 | St. Louis Cardinals / 1st / 8th pick / 1979 |
| 52 | Charles Baker | 24 | LB | 14 | 8 | 226 | 6-2 | New Mexico | 9/26/1957 | 1 | St. Louis Cardinals / 3rd / 81st pick / 1980 |
| 81 | Mark R. Bell | 24 | WR | 1 | 1 | 175 | 5-9 | Colorado St. | 6/14/1957 | 1 | St. Louis Cardinals / 5th / 130th pick / 1979 |
| 18 | Carl Birdsong | 22 | P | 16 | 0 | 192 | 6-0 | SW Oklahoma St. | 1/1/1959 | Rook | |
| 71 | Joe Bostic | 24 | G-T | 14 | 14 | 265 | 6-3 | Clemson | 4/20/1957 | 2 | St. Louis Cardinals / 3rd / 64th pick / 1979 |
| 51 | Tom Brahaney | 30 | C | 16 | 14 | 245 | 6-2 | Oklahoma | 10/23/1951 | 8 | St. Louis Cardinals / 5th / 109th pick / 1973 |
| 69 | Rush Brown | 27 | DT-NT-DE | 16 | 13 | 257 | 6-2 | Ball St. | 6/27/1954 | 1 | St. Louis Cardinals / 10th / 255th pick / 1980 |
| 33 | Theotis Brown | 24 | RB | 4 | 3 | 225 | 6-2 | UCLA | 4/20/1957 | 2 | St. Louis Cardinals / 2nd / 35th pick / 1979 |
| 43 | Steve Carpenter | 23 | DB | 1 | 0 | 195 | 6-2 | West. Illinois | 1/22/1958 | 1 | |
| 64 | Randy Clark | 24 | C-T-G | 16 | 0 | 260 | 6-3 | Northern Illinois | 7/27/1957 | 1 | Chicago Bears / 8th / 215th pick / 1980 |
| 86 | Ralph Clayton | 23 | WR-FB | 7 | 0 | 222 | 6-3 | Michigan | 9/29/1958 | Rook | New York Jets / 2nd / 47th pick / 1980 |
| 44 | Tim Collier | 27 | DB | 14 | 6 | 172 | 6-0 | Texas A&M-Commerce | 5/31/1954 | 5 | Kansas City Chiefs / 9th / 249th pick / 1976 |
| 66 | George Collins | 26 | T-G | 16 | 13 | 257 | 6-2 | Georgia | 12/9/1955 | 3 | St. Louis Cardinals / 4th / 96th pick / 1978 |
| 80 | Chris Combs | 23 | TE-T | 16 | 2 | 238 | 6-4 | New Mexico | 3/17/1958 | 1 | Houston Oilers / 4th / 106th pick / 1980 |
| 60 | Barney Cotton | 25 | G | 16 | 2 | 264 | 6-5 | Nebraska | 9/30/1956 | 2 | Cincinnati Bengals / 3rd / 59th pick / 1979 |
| 63 | Kirby Criswell | 24 | LB-DE | 2 | 0 | 238 | 6-5 | Kansas | 8/31/1957 | 1 | Cincinnati Bengals / 2nd / 31st pick / 1980 |
| 73 | Mike Dawson | 28 | DT-NT-DE | 16 | 16 | 270 | 6-4 | Arizona | 10/16/1953 | 5 | St. Louis Cardinals / 1st / 22nd pick / 1976 |
| 72 | Dan Dierdorf | 32 | T-G-C | 16 | 16 | 275 | 6-3 | Michigan | 6/29/1949 | 10 | St. Louis Cardinals / 2nd / 43rd pick / 1971 |
| 59 | Calvin Favron | 24 | LB | 14 | 7 | 225 | 6-1 | SE Louisiana | 7/3/1957 | 2 | St. Louis Cardinals / 2nd / 46th pick / 1979 |
| 50 | Doak Field | 23 | LB | 7 | 0 | 228 | 6-2 | Baylor | 10/8/1958 | Rook | Philadelphia Eagles / 7th / 192nd pick / 1981 |
| 26 | Mike Fisher | 23 | WR | 2 | 0 | 172 | 5-11 | Baylor | 4/22/1958 | Rook | St. Louis Cardinals / 8th / 198th pick / 1981 |
| 86 | John Floyd | 25 | WR | 4 | 1 | 195 | 6-1 | La-Monroe | 9/10/1956 | 2 | San Diego Chargers / 4th / 104th pick / 1979 |
| 57 | John Gillen | 23 | LB | 16 | 0 | 227 | 6-3 | Illinois | 11/5/1958 | Rook | St. Louis Cardinals / 5th / 116th pick / 1981 |
| 85 | Mel Gray | 33 | WR | 12 | 12 | 175 | 5-9 | Missouri | 9/28/1948 | 10 | St. Louis Cardinals / 6th / 147th pick / 1971 |
| 25 | Roy Green | 24 | WR-DB | 16 | 2 | 195 | 6-0 | Henderson St. | 6/30/1957 | 2 | St. Louis Cardinals / 4th / 89th pick / 1979 |
| 37 | Ken Greene | 25 | DB | 15 | 15 | 203 | 6-3 | Washington St. | 5/8/1956 | 3 | St. Louis Cardinals / 1st / 19th pick / 1978 |
| 75 | Curtis Greer | 24 | DE | 16 | 12 | 255 | 6-4 | Michigan | 11/10/1957 | 1 | St. Louis Cardinals / 1st / 6th pick / 1980 |
| 35 | Jeff Griffin | 23 | DB | 16 | 9 | 185 | 6-0 | Utah | 7/19/1958 | Rook | St. Louis Cardinals / 3rd / 61st pick / 1981 |
| 39 | Willard Harrell | 29 | RB | 16 | 0 | 162 | 5-8 | Pacific | 9/16/1952 | 6 | Green Bay Packers / 3rd / 58th pick / 1975 |
| 17 | Jim Hart | 37 | QB | 10 | 9 | 215 | 6-1 | Southern Illinois | 4/29/1944 | 15 | |
| 46 | Charles Johnson | 25 | DB | 5 | 0 | 182 | 5-10 | Grambling St. | 5/8/1956 | 2 | Atlanta Falcons / 4th / 101st pick / 1979 |
| 54 | E.J. Junior | 22 | LB | 16 | 13 | 238 | 6-3 | Alabama | 12/8/1959 | Rook | St. Louis Cardinals / 1st / 5th pick / 1981 |
| 56 | Tim Kearney | 31 | LB | 6 | 6 | 227 | 6-2 | Northern Michigan | 11/5/1950 | 9 | Dallas Cowboys / 4th / 83rd pick / 1972 |
| 89 | Greg LaFleur | 23 | TE | 16 | 11 | 236 | 6-4 | LSU | 9/16/1958 | Rook | Philadelphia Eagles / 3rd / 82nd pick / 1981 |
| 16 | Rusty Lisch | 25 | QB | 9 | 0 | 213 | 6-3 | Notre Dame | 12/21/1956 | 1 | St. Louis Cardinals / 4th / 89th pick / 1980 |
| 15 | Neil Lomax | 22 | QB | 14 | 7 | 215 | 6-3 | Portland St. | 2/17/1959 | Rook | St. Louis Cardinals / 2nd / 33rd pick / 1981 |
| 40 | Randy Love | 25 | RB | 16 | 0 | 208 | 6-1 | Houston | 9/30/1956 | 2 | New England Patriots / 8th / 216th pick / 1979 |
| 62 | Dale Markham | 24 | T-DE | 2 | 0 | 280 | 6-8 | North Dakota | 7/24/1957 | 1 | Kansas City Chiefs / 11th / 287th pick / 1980 |
| 87 | Doug Marsh | 23 | TE | 4 | 3 | 236 | 6-3 | Michigan | 6/18/1958 | 1 | St. Louis Cardinals / 2nd / 33rd pick / 1980 |
| 76 | Stafford Mays | 23 | DE-DT-NT | 16 | 0 | 252 | 6-2 | Washington | 3/13/1958 | 1 | St. Louis Cardinals / 9th / 225th pick / 1980 |
| 30 | Stump Mitchell | 22 | RB | 16 | 0 | 188 | 5-9 | The Citadel | 3/15/1959 | Rook | St. Louis Cardinals / 9th / 226th pick / 1981 |
| 24 | Wayne Morris | 27 | RB | 16 | 13 | 207 | 6-0 | SMU | 5/3/1954 | 5 | St. Louis Cardinals / 5th / 141st pick / 1976 |
| 38 | Lee Nelson | 27 | DB | 15 | 15 | 185 | 5-10 | Florida St. | 1/30/1954 | 5 | St. Louis Cardinals / 15th / 420th pick / 1976 |
| 11 | Neil O'Donoghue | 28 | K | 16 | 0 | 208 | 6-6 | St. Bernard,Auburn | 1/18/1953 | 4 | Buffalo Bills / 5th / 127th pick / 1977 |
| 70 | Art Plunkett | 22 | T | 8 | 0 | 269 | 6-7 | UNLV | 3/8/1959 | Rook | Los Angeles Rams / 8th / 216th pick / 1981 |
| 82 | Bob Pollard | 33 | DE-DT | 15 | 15 | 250 | 6-3 | Texas Southern,Weber St. | 12/30/1948 | 10 | New Orleans Saints / 11th / 262nd pick / 1971 |
| 79 | Bruce Radford | 26 | NT-DE | 9 | 1 | 257 | 6-5 | Grambling St. | 10/5/1955 | 2 | Denver Broncos / 3rd / 77th pick / 1979 |
| 48 | Don Schwartz | 25 | DB | 5 | 1 | 191 | 6-1 | Washington St. | 2/24/1956 | 3 | New Orleans Saints / 4th / 87th pick / 1978 |
| 84 | Dave Stief | 25 | WR-DB | 12 | 0 | 195 | 6-3 | Portland St. | 1/29/1956 | 3 | St. Louis Cardinals / 7th / 181st pick / 1978 |
| 68 | Terry Stieve | 27 | G | 16 | 16 | 256 | 6-2 | Wisconsin | 3/10/1954 | 5 | New Orleans Saints / 6th / 160th pick / 1976 |
| 83 | Pat Tilley | 28 | WR | 16 | 16 | 178 | 5-10 | Louisiana Tech | 2/15/1953 | 5 | St. Louis Cardinals / 4th / 114th pick / 1976 |
| 74 | Ken Times | 25 | NT-DT | 2 | 0 | 246 | 6-2 | Southern | 1/1/1956 | 1 | San Francisco 49ers / 5th / 112th pick / 1980 |
| 22 | Roger Wehrli | 34 | DB | 16 | 9 | 190 | 6-0 | Missouri | 11/26/1947 | 12 | St. Louis Cardinals / 1st / 19th pick / 1969 |
| 55 | Eric D. Williams | 26 | LB | 15 | 11 | 227 | 6-2 | USC | 6/17/1955 | 4 | St. Louis Cardinals / 8th / 216th pick / 1977 |
| 42 | Herb Williams | 23 | DB | 3 | 0 | 190 | 6-1 | Southern | 8/30/1958 | 1 | San Francisco 49ers / 6th / 139th pick / 1980 |
| 62 | Keith Wortman | 31 | T-G-C | 4 | 3 | 260 | 6-2 | Nebraska | 7/20/1950 | 9 | Green Bay Packers / 10th / 242nd pick / 1972 |
| Team Total | 25.6 | 16 | 221.9 | 6-1.8 | 3.0 |