1969 Cleveland Browns season

1969 Cleveland Browns season
Head coach	Blanton Collier
Home field	Cleveland Stadium
Results
Record	10–3–1
Division place	1st NFL Century
Playoff finish	Lost NFL Championship

The 1969 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 20th season with the National Football League and the last before the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger.

The Browns made it to the 1969 NFL Championship Game, where they fell to the Minnesota Vikings. The 1969 season would be the last year that Cleveland would win a postseason game until 1986. In addition, that victory over Dallas would also be the last time the Browns won a postseason game on the road as of 2015.

Offseason

NFL Draft

The following were selected in the 1969 NFL Draft.

Round	Overall	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	20	Ron Johnson	Running back	Michigan
3	55	Al Jenkins	Guard	Tulsa
3	72	Chip Glass	Tight end	Florida State
4	98	Freddie Summers	Defensive back	Washington (MD)
5	124	Fair Hooker	Wide receiver	Arizona State
6	145	Larry Adams	Defensive tackle	Texas Christian University
6	150	Joe Righetti	Defensive tackle	Waynesburg
7	176	Walt Sumner	Defensive back	Florida State
8	202	Chuck Reynolds	Center	Tulsa
9	228	Ron Kamzelski	Defensive tackle	Minnesota
10	254	Greg Shelly	Guard	Virginia
11	280	Dave Jones	Wide receiver	Kansas State
12	306	Dick Davis	Running back	Nebraska
13	332	Tommy Boutwell	Wide receiver	Southern Miss
14	358	Jiggy Smaha	Defensive tackle	Georgia
15	384	Joe Stevenson	Tight end	Georgia Tech
16	410	James Lowe	Flanker	Tuskegee
17	436	Bob Oliver	Defensive end	Abilene Christian

^[1]

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 (with All-Pro running back Gale Sayers) played the AFL's Buffalo Bills (with rookie running back O.J. Simpson), while the Cleveland Browns hosted the Green Bay Packers in the second match.^[2]

Exhibition schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	August 10, 1969	vs. San Francisco 49ers at Seattle	W 24–19	32,219
2	August 16, 1969	at Los Angeles Rams	W 10–3	54,937
3	August 23, 1969	at San Diego Chargers	T 19–19	36,005
4	August 30, 1969	Green Bay Packers	L 17-27	85,532
5	September 6, 1969	at Washington Redskins	W 20–10	45,994
6	September 13, 1969	vs. Minnesota Vikings at Akron	L 16-23	28,561

Regular season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 21, 1969	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 27–20	60,658
2	September 28, 1969	Washington Redskins	W 27–23	82,581
3	October 5, 1969	Detroit Lions	L 21-28	82,933
4	October 12, 1969	at New Orleans Saints	W 27–17	71,274
5	October 18, 1969	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 42–31	84,078
6	October 26, 1969	St. Louis Cardinals	T 21–21	81,186
7	November 2, 1969	Dallas Cowboys	W 42–10	84,850
8	November 9, 1969	at Minnesota Vikings	L 3-51	47,700
9	November 16, 1969	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–3	47,670
10	November 23, 1969	New York Giants	W 28–17	80,595
11	November 30, 1969	at Chicago Bears	W 28–24	45,050
12	December 7, 1969	Green Bay Packers	W 20–7	82,137
13	December 14, 1969	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 27–21	44,924
14	December 21, 1969	at New York Giants	L 14-27	62,966

Standings

NFL Century
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	10	3	1	.769	4–1–1	8–1–1	351	300	L1
New York Giants	6	8	0	.429	4–2	4–6	264	298	W3
St. Louis Cardinals	4	9	1	.308	3–2–1	3–6–1	314	389	L3
Pittsburgh Steelers	1	13	0	.071	0–6	0–10	218	404	L13

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

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Eastern Conference	December 4, 1969	at Dallas Cowboys	W 38–14	69,321
NFL Championship	January 4, 1970	at Minnesota Vikings	L 7-27	47,900

References

1. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1969.htm
2. 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