1969 Chicago Bears season

1969 Chicago Bears season
Head coach	Jim Dooley
Owner	George Halas
Home field	Wrigley Field
Results
Record	1–13
Division place	4th Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1969 Chicago Bears season was their 50th regular season completed in the National Football League. The club posted a 1–13 record, the worst in franchise history. This occurred despite the exploits of Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers. Sayers had torn the ligaments in his right knee during the 1968 season. After surgery, Sayers went through a physical rehabilitation program with the help of teammate Brian Piccolo. In 1969 Sayers led the league in rushing once again with 1,032 yards, but he lacked the speed he once had and averaged only 4.4 yards per carry. An already poor season was made even worse when running back Piccolo was diagnosed with cancer in November. He would succumb to the disease in June of the following year.

Offseason

Draft

1969 Chicago Bears draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	14	Rufus Mayes	OT	Ohio State
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Preseason

On August 30, a crowd of 85,532 fans viewed a doubleheader at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium. In the first contest, the Chicago Bears played the AFL's Buffalo Bills, while the Cleveland Browns hosted the Green Bay Packers in the second match.^[1]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 21, 1969	at Green Bay Packers	L 0-17	50,861
2	September 28, 1969	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 17-20	50,039
3	October 5, 1969	at New York Giants	L 24-28	62,583
4	October 12, 1969	Minnesota Vikings	L 0-31	45,757
5	October 19, 1969	at Detroit Lions	L 7-13	54,732
6	October 26, 1969	Los Angeles Rams	L 7-9	45,985
7	November 2, 1969	at Minnesota Vikings	L 14-31	47,900
8	November 9, 1969	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 38–7	45,851
9	November 16, 1969	at Atlanta Falcons	L 31-48	53,722
10	November 23, 1969	Baltimore Colts	L 21-24	45,455
11	November 30, 1969	Cleveland Browns	L 24-28	45,050
12	December 6, 1969	at San Francisco 49ers	L 21-42	32,826
13	December 14, 1969	Green Bay Packers	L 3-21	45,216
14	December 21, 1969	Detroit Lions	L 3-20	41,879

Standings

NFL Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings	12	2	0	.857	6–0	9–1	379	133	L1
Detroit Lions	9	4	1	.692	3–3	6–3–1	259	188	W2
Green Bay Packers	8	6	0	.571	3–3	5–5	269	221	W2
Chicago Bears	1	13	0	.071	0–6	0–10	210	339	L6

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

1. Rockin’ the Rockpile: The Buffalo Bills of the American Football League, p.439, Jeffrey J. Miller, ECW Press, 2007, ISBN 978-1-55022-797-0