1981 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) |
| 5th place • National Football Conference • Eastern Division • 7-9-0 .438 |
| Head Coach: Jim Hanifan |
| Billy Atkins | Defensive Backs |
| Chuck Banker | Special Teams |
| Tom Bettis | Defensive Coordinator |
| Rudy Feldman | Defensive Line |
| Harry Gilmer | Quarterbacks/Receivers |
| Dick Jamieson | Offensive Backs |
| Tom Lovat | Offensive Line |
| Leon McLaughlin | Special Assistant |
| Emmitt Thomas | Receivers |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Result | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Sat | 8/8/1981 | A | San Diego Chargers | 12-10 | W | San Diego, CA | Jack Murphy Stadium | 49284 | |
| Fri | 8/14/1981 | A | Seattle Seahawks | 30-21 | W | Seattle, WA | Kingdome | 55520 | |
| Sat | 8/22/1981 | A | Kansas City Chiefs | 16-3 | W | Kansas City, MO | Arrowhead Stadium | 42550 | |
| Sat | 8/29/1981 | H | Chicago Bears | 27-31 | L | St. Louis, MO | Busch Memorial Stadium | 48793 | |
| Sun | 9/6/1981 | H | Miami Dolphins | 7-20 | L | St. Louis, MO | Busch Memorial Stadium | 50351 | |
| Sun | 9/13/1981 | A | Dallas Cowboys | 17-30 | L | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 63602 | |
| Sun | 9/20/1981 | H | Washington Redskins | 40-30 | W | St. Louis, MO | Busch Memorial Stadium | 47592 | |
| Sun | 9/27/1981 | A | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 10-20 | L | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 65850 | |
| Sun | 10/4/1981 | H | Dallas Cowboys | 20-17 | W | St. Louis, MO | Busch Memorial Stadium | 49477 | |
| Sun | 10/11/1981 | A | New York Giants | 14-34 | L | East Rutherford, NJ | Giants Stadium | 67128 | |
| Sun | 10/18/1981 | A | Atlanta Falcons | 20-41 | L | Atlanta, GA | Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium | 51428 | |
| Sun | 10/25/1981 | H | Minnesota Vikings | 30-17 | W | St. Louis, MO | Busch Memorial Stadium | 48039 | |
| Sun | 11/1/1981 | A | Washington Redskins | 21-42 | L | Washington, DC | RFK Stadium | 55045 | |
| Sun | 11/8/1981 | H | Philadelphia Eagles | 10-52 | L | St. Louis, MO | Busch Memorial Stadium | 48421 | |
| Sun | 11/15/1981 | H | Buffalo Bills | 24-0 | W | St. Louis, MO | Busch Memorial Stadium | 46214 | |
| Sun | 11/22/1981 | A | Baltimore Colts | 35-24 | W | Baltimore, MD | Memorial Stadium | 24784 | |
| Sun | 11/29/1981 | A | New England Patriots | 27-20 | W | Foxborough, MA | Schaefer Stadium | 39946 | |
| Sun | 12/6/1981 | H | New Orleans Saints | 30-3 | W | St. Louis, MO | Busch Memorial Stadium | 46923 | |
| Sun | 12/13/1981 | H | New York Giants | 10-20 | L | St. Louis, MO | Busch Memorial Stadium | 47358 | |
| Sun | 12/20/1981 | A | Philadelphia Eagles | 0-38 | L | Philadelphia, PA | Veterans Stadium | 56656 | |
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| Bill Acker | 67 | DT | 6-3 | 255 | 25 | Texas | 8 | 0 |
| Dave Ahrens | 58 | MLB-LILB | 6-4 | 245 | 23 | Wisconsin | 16 | 10 |
| Carl Allen | 27 | LCB | 6-0 | 186 | 26 | Southern Mississippi | 10 | 8 |
| Ottis Anderson | 32 | RB | 6-2 | 225 | 24 | Miami (Florida) | 16 | 16 |
| Charlie Baker | 52 | ROLB | 6-2 | 234 | 24 | New Mexico | 14 | 9 |
| Mark Bell | 81 | WR | 5-9 | 175 | 24 | Colorado State | 1 | 1 |
| Carl Birdsong | 18 | P | 6-0 | 192 | 22 | West Texas A&M; Southwestern Oklahoma State | 16 | 0 |
| Joe Bostic | 71 | ROG | 6-3 | 268 | 24 | Clemson | 14 | 14 |
| Tom Brahaney | 51 | C | 6-2 | 247 | 30 | Oklahoma | 16 | 16 |
| Rush Brown | 69 | RDT-RDE | 6-2 | 260 | 27 | Ball State | 16 | 13 |
| Theotis Brown | 33 | RB | 6-2 | 225 | 24 | UCLA | 4 | 3 |
| Steve Carpenter | 43 | CB | 6-3 | 195 | 23 | Western Illinois | 1 | 0 |
| Randy Clark | 64 | OT-C | 6-3 | 262 | 24 | Northern Illinois | 16 | 0 |
| Ralph Clayton | 86 | WR | 6-3 | 222 | 23 | Michigan | 7 | 0 |
| Tim Collier | 44 | RCB-LCB | 6-0 | 176 | 27 | East Texas A&M | 14 | 6 |
| George Collins | 66 | LOT | 6-2 | 254 | 26 | Georgia | 16 | 13 |
| Chris Combs | 80 | TE | 6-4 | 245 | 23 | New Mexico | 16 | 2 |
| Barney Cotton | 60 | ROG | 6-6 | 261 | 25 | Nebraska | 16 | 2 |
| Kirby Criswell | 63 | DE | 6-6 | 232 | 24 | Kansas | 2 | 0 |
| Mike Dawson | 73 | LDT-NT | 6-3 | 262 | 28 | Arizona | 16 | 16 |
| Dan Dierdorf | 72 | ROT | 6-3 | 280 | 32 | Michigan | 16 | 16 |
| Calvin Favron | 59 | LOLB | 6-1 | 225 | 24 | Southeastern Louisiana | 14 | 7 |
| Doak Field | 50 | LB | 6-2 | 226 | 23 | Baylor | 7 | 0 |
| Mike Fisher | 81 | WR | 5-11 | 172 | 23 | Baylor | 2 | 0 |
| John Floyd | 86 | WR | 6-1 | 195 | 25 | Louisiana-Monroe | 4 | 1 |
| John Gillen | 57 | LB | 6-3 | 228 | 23 | Illinois | 16 | 0 |
| Mel Gray | 85 | WR | 5-9 | 172 | 33 | Fort Scott CC; Missouri | 12 | 12 |
| Roy Green | 25 | WR | 6-0 | 195 | 24 | Henderson State | 16 | 2 |
| Ken Greene | 37 | FS | 6-2 | 196 | 25 | Washington State | 15 | 15 |
| Curtis Greer | 75 | RDE | 6-4 | 258 | 24 | Michigan | 16 | 11 |
| Jeff Griffin | 35 | RCB | 6-0 | 185 | 23 | Utah | 16 | 9 |
| Willard Harrell | 39 | RB | 5-8 | 182 | 29 | Pacific | 16 | 0 |
| Jim Hart | 17 | QB | 6-2 | 202 | 37 | Southern Illinois | 10 | 9 |
| Charles Johnson | 46 | CB | 5-11 | 181 | 25 | Grambling State | 5 | 0 |
| E.J. Junior | 54 | ROLB-RILB-LOLB | 6-3 | 240 | 22 | Alabama | 16 | 13 |
| Tim Kearney | 56 | LILB | 6-2 | 226 | 31 | Northern Michigan | 6 | 6 |
| Greg LaFleur | 89 | TE | 6-4 | 237 | 23 | Louisiana State | 16 | 11 |
| Rusty Lisch | 16 | FS-QB | 6-4 | 213 | 25 | Notre Dame | 9 | 1 |
| Neil Lomax | 15 | QB | 6-3 | 215 | 22 | Portland State | 14 | 7 |
| Randy Love | 40 | RB | 6-1 | 205 | 25 | Houston | 16 | 0 |
| Dale Markham | 62 | OT | 6-8 | 274 | 24 | North Dakota | 2 | 0 |
| Doug Marsh | 87 | TE | 6-3 | 238 | 23 | Michigan | 4 | 3 |
| Stafford Mays | 76 | DE | 6-2 | 251 | 23 | Mount Hood JC; Washington | 16 | 0 |
| Stump Mitchell | 30 | RB | 5-9 | 188 | 22 | The Citadel | 16 | 0 |
| Wayne Morris | 24 | RB | 6-0 | 210 | 27 | Southern Methodist | 16 | 13 |
| Lee Nelson | 38 | SS | 5-10 | 185 | 27 | Pensacola JC; Florida State | 15 | 15 |
| Neil O'Donoghue | 11 | K | 6-6 | 210 | 28 | St. Bernard; Auburn | 16 | 0 |
| Art Plunkett | 70 | OT | 6-7 | 262 | 22 | Nevada-Las Vegas | 8 | 0 |
| Bob Pollard | 82 | LDE | 6-3 | 248 | 33 | Texas Southern; Weber State | 15 | 15 |
| Bruce Radford | 79 | LDE | 6-5 | 257 | 26 | Grambling State | 9 | 1 |
| Don Schwartz | 48 | SS | 6-1 | 191 | 25 | Washington State | 5 | 1 |
| Dave Stief | 84 | WR | 6-3 | 195 | 25 | Coffeyville CC; Portland State | 12 | 0 |
| Terry Stieve | 68 | LOG | 6-2 | 263 | 27 | Wisconsin | 16 | 16 |
| Pat Tilley | 83 | WR | 5-10 | 178 | 28 | Louisiana Tech | 16 | 16 |
| Ken Times | 74 | DT | 6-2 | 248 | 25 | Southern University | 2 | 0 |
| Roger Wehrli | 22 | LCB-RCB | 6-1 | 195 | 34 | Missouri | 16 | 9 |
| Eric Williams | 55 | LOLB-RILB | 6-2 | 235 | 26 | Southern California | 15 | 11 |
| Herb Williams | 42 | S | 6-0 | 198 | 23 | Southern University | 3 | 0 |
| Keith Wortman | 62 | LOT | 6-2 | 259 | 31 | Rio Hondo JC; Nebraska | 4 | 3 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 5 | E.J. Junior | LB | Alabama |
| 2 | 33 | Neil Lomax | QB | Portland State |
| 3 | 61 | Jeff Griffin | DB | Utah |
| 4 | 88 | Steve Rhodes | WR | Oklahoma |
| 5 | 116 | John Gillen | LB | Illinois |
| 6 | 143 | Dave Ahrens | LB | Wisconsin |
| 7 | 171 | Kevin Donnalley | DB | North Dakota State |
| 8 | 198 | Mike Fisher | WR | Baylor |
| 9 | 226 | Stump Mitchell | RB | The Citadel |
| 10 | 253 | James Mallard | WR | Alabama |
| 10 | 263 | Jim Joiner | WR | Miami (Florida) |
| 11 | 281 | Mike Sherrod | TE | Illinois |
| 12 | 309 | Joe Adams | G | Nebraska |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 83 | 71 | 41 | 120 | 315 |
| Opponents Totals | 92 | 117 | 92 | 107 | 408 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 30:39 | 300 | 135 | 141 | 24 | 84/218 38.5% | / % | 106 | 877 |
| Opponents Totals | 29:21 | 328 | 134 | 171 | 23 | 80/201 39.8% | / % | 98 | 845 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neil O'Donoghue | 0 | 36 | 37 | 97.3 | 19 | 32 | 59.4 | 0 | 93 |
| Ottis Anderson | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | ||
| Roy Green | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Wayne Morris | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Pat Tilley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Theotis Brown | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Mel Gray | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Willard Harrell | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Greg LaFleur | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Neil Lomax | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Stump Mitchell | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Dave Ahrens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Doug Marsh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Dave Stief | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Team Totals | 37 | 36 | 37 | 97.3 | 19 | 32 | 59.4 | 0 | 315 |
| Opponents Totals | 50 | 48 | 50 | 96.0 | 20 | 26 | 76.9 | 0 | 408 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neil O'Donoghue | 19 | 32 | 59.4 | 0 | 47 | 2/2 | 8/8 | 4/6 | 5/11 | 0/5 |
| Team Totals | 19 | 32 | 59.4 | 0 | 47 | 2/2 | 8/8 | 4/6 | 5/11 | 0/5 |
| Opponents Totals | 20 | 26 | 76.9 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 8/8 | 6/8 | 6/10 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottis Anderson | 328 | 1376 | 4.2 | 28 | 9 |
| Wayne Morris | 109 | 417 | 3.8 | 14 | 5 |
| Stump Mitchell | 31 | 175 | 5.6 | 43 | 0 |
| Neil Lomax | 19 | 104 | 5.5 | 22t | 2 |
| Roy Green | 3 | 60 | 20.0 | 44t | 1 |
| Theotis Brown | 15 | 52 | 3.5 | 11t | 2 |
| Randy Love | 3 | 11 | 3.7 | 4 | 0 |
| Dave Stief | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Willard Harrell | 5 | 6 | 1.2 | 4 | 1 |
| Mel Gray | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
| Jim Hart | 3 | 2 | 0.7 | 4 | 0 |
| Carl Birdsong | 1 | -2 | -2.0 | -2 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 519 | 2213 | 4.3 | 44t | 20 |
| Opponents Totals | 509 | 2428 | 4.8 | 46 | 20 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Hart | 241 | 134 | 55.6 | 93 | 1694 | 7.0 | 12.6 | 58t | 11 | 4.6 | 14 | 5.8 | 16 | 119 | 1575 | 68.7 |
| Neil Lomax | 236 | 119 | 50.4 | 107 | 1575 | 6.7 | 13.2 | 75 | 4 | 1.7 | 10 | 4.2 | 32 | 286 | 1289 | 59.9 |
| Team Totals | 477 | 253 | 53.0 | 200 | 3269 | 6.9 | 12.9 | 75 | 15 | 3.1 | 24 | 5.0 | 48 | 405 | 2864 | 64.4 |
| Opponents Totals | 495 | 282 | 57.0 | 192 | 3547 | 7.2 | 12.6 | 79t | 29 | 5.9 | 21 | 4.2 | 32 | 252 | 3295 | 81.3 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Tilley | 66 | 1040 | 15.8 | 75 | 3 | ||||
| Ottis Anderson | 51 | 387 | 7.6 | 27 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Roy Green | 33 | 708 | 21.5 | 60 | 4 | ||||
| Mel Gray | 27 | 310 | 11.5 | 41t | 2 | 0 | |||
| Wayne Morris | 19 | 165 | 8.7 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Greg LaFleur | 14 | 190 | 13.6 | 27t | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Willard Harrell | 14 | 131 | 9.4 | 62t | 1 | 0 | |||
| Doug Marsh | 6 | 80 | 13.3 | 20 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Stump Mitchell | 6 | 35 | 5.8 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Dave Stief | 5 | 77 | 15.4 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Chris Combs | 5 | 54 | 10.8 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Theotis Brown | 4 | 60 | 15.0 | 28 | 0 | 0 | |||
| John Floyd | 3 | 32 | 10.7 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 253 | 3269 | 12.9 | 75 | 15 | ||||
| Opponents Totals | 282 | 3547 | 12.6 | 79t | 29 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Greene | 7 | 111 | 15.9 | 47 | 0 |
| Roger Wehrli | 4 | 8 | 2.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Roy Green | 3 | 44 | 14.7 | 29 | 0 |
| Calvin Favron | 1 | 42 | 42.0 | 42 | 0 |
| Charles Johnson | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 19 | 0 |
| Tim Collier | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 |
| Eric Williams | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 |
| Dave Ahrens | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14t | 1 |
| E.J. Junior | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Jeff Griffin | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 21 | 281 | 13.4 | 47 | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 24 | 312 | 13.0 | 54 | 0 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carl Birdsong | 69 | 2883 | 41.8 | 75 | 0 | 8 | 18 | 276 | 2447 | 35.5 |
| Team Totals | 69 | 2883 | 41.8 | 75 | 0 | 8 | 18 | 276 | 2447 | 35.5 |
| Opponents Totals | 69 | 2852 | 41.3 | 52 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 453 | 2279 | 33.0 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stump Mitchell | 42 | 0 | 445 | 10.6 | 50t | 1 |
| Willard Harrell | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Ken Greene | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Team Totals | 43 | 2 | 453 | 10.5 | 50t | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 37 | 10 | 276 | 7.5 | 40 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stump Mitchell | 55 | 0 | 1292 | 23.5 | 67 | 0 |
| Roy Green | 8 | 0 | 135 | 16.9 | 28 | 0 |
| Willard Harrell | 7 | 0 | 118 | 16.9 | 29 | 0 |
| Randy Love | 3 | 0 | 46 | 15.3 | 25 | 0 |
| Jeff Griffin | 2 | 0 | 34 | 17.0 | 26 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 75 | 0 | 1625 | 21.7 | 67 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 55 | 1163 | 21.1 | 84 | 0 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Curtis Greer | 12.5 | |
| Charlie Baker | 5.0 | |
| Stafford Mays | 3.5 | |
| Lee Nelson | 2.0 | |
| Bob Pollard | 1.5 | |
| Rush Brown | 1.5 | |
| Calvin Favron | 1.0 | |
| Bruce Radford | 1.0 | |
| E.J. Junior | 1.0 | |
| Mike Dawson | 1.0 | |
| Team Totals | 32.0 | 252.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 48.0 | 405.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottis Anderson | 13 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Charlie Baker | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Brahaney | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Theotis Brown | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| George Collins | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Dawson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan Dierdorf | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Calvin Favron | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Roy Green | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ken Greene | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Curtis Greer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Willard Harrell | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Jim Hart | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -9 | 0 | |
| Charles Johnson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Neil Lomax | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Randy Love | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Marsh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Stafford Mays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Stump Mitchell | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lee Nelson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Neil O'Donoghue | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Pollard | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bruce Radford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Pat Tilley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Eric Williams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 33 | 23 | 10 | 17 | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 35 | 17 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 1 |
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| Last Updated: October 12, 2025 |