New Orleans Saints Draft Choices: Steve Korte (1983)

The first round of the 2016 NFL Draft will be held on Thursday, April 28, in Chicago, Illinois.

Between now and then, we’ll be looking back at all of the drafts of the New Orleans Saints, from 1967-2015.

Yesterday, we looked back at 1982.

Today: 1983

The 1983 draft was the 17th draft in the history of the Saints.

The pick: Steve Korte, an offensive lineman from Arkansas.

The Saints did not have a first round pick in 1983, as it was traded to the Green Bay Packers the year prior for the draft rights to defensive lineman Bruce Clark.

Korte was selected with the 38th-overall pick, in the second round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the Saints.

A native of Denver, Colorado, Korte played seven years for the Saints, from 1983-1989.

The 6-foot-3, 265-pound Korte played in all 16 games, all as a reserve, during his rookie year, before becoming a starter, at both center and right guard, during the 1984 campaign.

Korte then became exclusively a center in 1985 and 1986, starting 28 games, before an injury limited him to only three games in 1987.

A starter again in 1988, Korte played in all 16 games, before playing in five more in 1989, prior to retiring.

In a 7-year stint with the Saints, Korte played in 83 games, starting 63.

The Saints made a solid pick in the third round, taking John Tice, a tight end out of Maryland, who spent ten seasons in the NFL, all with the Saints.

The three other players who the Saints drafted in 1983, running back Cliff Austin, defensive lineman Gary Lewis, and defensive back David Greenwood, had only minimal success.