of backup Ed Hargett. However, Fears was fired after week 7 and replaced by J.D. Roberts. The new coach brought Kilmer back as the starting quarterback. On November 8, 1970, in a home game versus the Detroit Lions, Kilmer led what proved to be a game-winning drive, although he could only bring the Saints as far as their own 44 yard line. With just one play left in the game, and his team down by a 17-16 margin, coach Roberts opted against asking Kilmer to go for a "Hail Mary" pass. Instead, kicker Tom Dempsey, who had earlier in the second half kicked an 8-yard field goal, was asked to attempt a 63-yard field goal. (The goal posts were still placed on the goal line in 1970, and not on the end line as they are today.) Dempsey made the kick, which broke the existing record by 7 yards. Only two longer field goals have been kicked since. In a 2016 TV interview, recorded during a celebration of the Saints' 50th anniversary, Kilmer denied lingering rumors that he had been Dempsey's holder. "I got out of the holding business a while ago," Kilmer recalled, "but it was Joe Scarpati and it was a perfect hold." (Scarpati was a reserve defensive back.) Kilmer added, "when [Dempsey] kicked that ball, I knew he had made it. It was like Babe Ruth hitting a 500-foot home run. He really nailed it. And that was at sea level." This dramatic victory is still the stuff of legend today. Dempsey was a big man who had been a lineman in junior college and semi-pro ball, even though he was born with no toes on his right foot, which was his kicking foot. He used a special flat-fronted kicking shoe. This win proved to be the only highlight of an otherwise dismal 2-11-1 season: Kilmer closed out the season by leading the Saints to six consecutive losses. Frustrated after four years of the Saints' futility and sensing New Orleans would draft Ole Miss star Archie Manning with the second overall pick of the 1971 NFL Draft, Kilmer asked to be traded and was granted his wish on January 23, 1971, when he was dealt to the Washington Redskins for linebacker Tom Roussel and two draft selections. Washington Redskins The trade which brought Kilmer to the Redskins was the first trade the team made after George Allen