The New Orleans Saints' have a history of making some of the worst NFL Draft picks in history during their low points, but nothing will ever top picking a punter as high as No. 11 overall.
Picking a special teamer in the first round is almost unheard of, but at least Ray Guy became the only Hall of Fame punter in league history and Sebastian Janikowski kicked for almost 20 years. What the Saints did was a move so bad it was never replicated throughout the remainder of NFL history.
Meet Russell Erxleben. The Saints believed he would be the greatest kicker or punter in history, and he became their worst draft pick in franchise history.
Russell Erxleben is the worst draft pick in New Orleans Saints history
The idea behind drafting Erxleben at No. 11 in the 1979 NFL Draft (two picks before Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow) was to have him do both the kicking and punting, effectively filling both of those roles for the decade, or more. Erxleben became the highest-drafted punter and second-highest-drafted kicker ever.
Based on his college career at Texas, Erxleben had a considerable amount of hype around him. Despite using an old-school, straight-on kicking style as opposed to the soccer-style windup modern kickers use, Erxleben earned the nickname "Thunderfoot" due to his propensity for booming long field goals.
Erxleben set a collegiate record with a 67-yard field goal in a game against Rice. This feat was so mighty that coach Fred Akers compared the sound of the kick to a gunshot. Although this achievement came with the use of a tee one year before the NCAA banned it, it still stands as a record. Erxleben remains the only three-time All-American punter in NCAA history.
It only took one game for the Saints to regret this pick.
Erxleben's NFL debut came against the Atlanta Falcons. The game started off fairly milquetoast. Erxleben made four punts and hit both of his field goals. However, in overtime, an errant snap went over Erxleben's head. After he collected the ball, he tried a pathetic chest pass that looked like what would happen if someone's grandma suddenly Quantum Leaped into his body.
The pass was intercepted and run back for a touchdown, giving Atlanta a 40-34 win. "Thunderfoot" was gone, as the local press started calling him "Blunderfoot." The next week, Erxleben pulled his groin and was ruled out for the season. Not what you want in a rookie sensation.
The Saints opened 1980 against a San Francisco 49ers team that had won four games in the last two years, but the game ended in defeat after Erxleben missed a game-tying field goal. After missing three of his first five kicks, he lost his kicker job and focused exclusively on punting for the rest of his career. His 40.6 yards per punt average was thoroughly mediocre for the time.
Erxleben would continue as the team's punter until 1983, when he was let go. He played one game in 1987 with the Detroit Lions, but his career in football was over. His career in crime, however, was just beginning.
Russell Erxleben was a mess after leaving the Saints
In 1999, Erxleben pleaded guilty to a series of financial crimes, including conspiracy to commit securities fraud, money laundering, and mail fraud. Erxleben was sentenced to seven years in prison and forced to pay $28 million in restitution. In 2013, Erxleben was arrested again due to his involvement in a Ponzi scheme. He was sentenced to 90 months in prison, but was released in 2019.
Erxleben had more success defrauding investors and cliens than he did kicking a football. The idea of doing both kicking and punting at the same time, as well as choosing a specialist in the top 15 picks, has seemingly died after Erxleben's flop of a career.