Saints: Former First-Round Draft Pick Dies At 68

Former New Orleans Saints first-round pick and defensive end passes at 68.

Former New Orleans Saints defensive end Joe Campbell died at 68, confirmed by his brother Patrick Campbell.  He passed due to a cardiac incident during a hike in Eustis, Florida.  New Orleans drafted Campbell as the seventh overall pick out of Maryland in the first round of the 1977 NFL Draft.  

The 6-6 and 254-pound defender played for the Saints from 1977 to 1980 before being traded to the Oakland Raiders.  Campbell returned to the Superdome to win Super Bowl XV with the Raiders over the Philadelphia Eagles.  He played another year of professional football with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 1981 season.

“I got traded from New Orleans to Oakland, and I get to come back to New Orleans to play in the Super Bowl against the Eagles,” Campbell said in 2016.  “I guess it was meant to be.  I played against the team I grew up with.  That’s the best memory I have of the Super Bowl – This was supposed to happen.   I got traded from New Orleans, I came back to New Orleans, and I played against the team I grew up with.   I’m happy to have just been in the Super Bowl, to be part of that history.”  Joe Campbell

Campbell, a native of Wilmington, Delaware, recently celebrated his 68th birthday on July 9, 2023.  The Delaware Sports Hall of Fame enshrined Campbell in 1992.

Campbell got through his football career rather unscathed: a sprained ankle, a dislocated finger, a couple minor knee operations.  But he admits to never finding the joy playing football in the pros that he had in high school or college, which may be why his career wasn’t longer or more successful, he said.

Before Campbell's mid-season trade to the Raiders, he recorded 45 game appearances, 25 starts, eight sacks, and two fumble recoveries with New Orleans.

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