1969 Cleveland Browns season

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.

1969 Cleveland Browns season
Head coach	Blanton Collier
Home field	Cleveland Stadium
Local radio	WHK
Results
Record	10–3–1
Division place	1st NFL Century
Playoff finish	Won Eastern Conference Championship Game (at Cowboys) 38-14 Lost NFL Championship Game (at Vikings) 7-27

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 until the 2020-2021 NFL Playoffs

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	Wake Forest
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	Joel Stevenson	Tight end	Georgia Tech
16	410	James Lowe	Flanker	Tuskegee
17	436	Bob Oliver	Defensive end	Abilene Christian

[1]

Personnel

Staff/Coaches

1969 Cleveland Browns staff
	Front Office Majority Owner/CEO & President - Art Modell Minority Owner/Vice President - Al Lerner Coaching Staff Head Coach – Blanton Collier Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Nick Skorich Offensive Line – Fritz Heisler Receivers - Bob Nussbaumer			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator - Howard Brinker Defensive Line – Dick Modzelewski Linebackers – Ed Ulinski Special Teams Placekickers Coach - Lou Groza Strength & Conditioning Athletic Trainer - Leo Murphy Equipment Manager - Morris Kono

[2]

Roster

1969 Cleveland Browns final roster

	Quarterbacks 16 Bill Nelsen 17 Jerry Rhome Running backs 44 Leroy Kelly 30 Ron Johnson 35 Bo Scott Wide receivers 86 Gary Collins 43 Fair Hooker 41 Dave Jones 42 Paul Warfield Tight ends 83 Chip Glass 89 Milt Morin		Offensive linemen 73 Monte Clark T 64 Jim Copeland G 65 John Demarie G 66 Gene Hickerson G 54 Fred Hoaglin C 77 Dick Schafrath T Defensive linemen 71 Walter Johnson DT 81 Jack Gregory DE 88 Ron Snidow DE 70 Joe Righetti DT 84 Marvin Upshaw DE		Linebackers 52 Billy Andrews 50 John Garlington 51 Dale Lindsey 56 Bob Matheson Defensive backs 40 Erich Barnes CB 21 Dean Brown 28 Ben Davis CB 34 Mike Howell S 24 Ernie Kellerman S 29 Walt Sumner CB 20 Freddie Summers CB/S Special teams 12 Don Cockroft K/P		Reserve lists None - vacant Practice squad None - vacant Rookies in italics

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.[3]

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. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1969.htm
2. https://www.profootballarchives.com/1969nflcle.html
3. 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