1969 Dallas Cowboys season

1969 Dallas Cowboys season
1969 Dallas Cowboys season
Owner	Clint Murchison, Jr.
Head coach	Tom Landry
Home field	Cotton Bowl
Results
Record	11–2–1
Division place	1st NFL Capitol
Playoff finish	Lost Eastern Conference Championship Game; (vs. Browns) 14–38; Lost NFL Playoff Bowl; (vs. Rams) 0–31
	← 1968; Cowboys seasons; 1970 →;

The 1969 Dallas Cowboys season was their tenth in the National Football League (NFL). The team nearly equalled their previous output of 12–2, winning eleven games with one tie,^[1] and qualified for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

The Cowboys were second in the NFL in scoring (369 points), and led the league in rushing yards (2,276) and total yards (5,122). The Cowboys' defense also allowed the fewest rushing yards in the NFL (1,050) and the fewest rushing touchdowns (3).^[2]

As of 2024, Dallas' tie against the San Francisco 49ers is their most recent in franchise history. The Cowboys are one of only two out of the 26 pre-merger NFL and AFL franchises (the other being the Boston/New England Patriots) that have not recorded a tie since the AFL-NFL merger which was completed after this season.

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1969 Dallas Cowboys draft
1	24	Calvin Hill *	RB	Yale
2	29	Richmond Flowers Jr.	S	Tennessee
3	68	Tom Stincic	LB	Michigan
3	74	Halvor Hagen	OG	Weber State
5	125	Chuck Kyle	LB	Purdue
6	152	Rick Shaw	WR	Arizona State
7	180	Larry Bales	WR	Emory and Henry
8	205	Elmer Benhardt	LB	Missouri
9	230	Claxton Welch	RB	Oregon
10	258	Stuart Gottlieb	OT	Weber State
11	283	Clarence Williams	DE	Prairie View A&M	Made the team's taxi squad
12	308	Bob Belden	QB	Notre Dame
13	336	Rene Matison	WR	New Mexico
14	361	Gerald Lutri	OT	Northern Michigan
15	386	Bill Justus	DB	Tennessee
16	414	Floyd Kerr	DB	Colorado State
17	439	Bill Bailey	DT	Lewis & Clark
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance	Recap
1	September 21	St. Louis Cardinals	W 24–3	1–0	Cotton Bowl	62,134	Recap
2	September 28	at New Orleans Saints	W 21–17	2–0	Tulane Stadium	79,567	Recap
3	October 5	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 38–7	3–0	Franklin Field	60,658	Recap
4	October 12	at Atlanta Falcons	W 24–17	4–0	Atlanta Stadium	54,833	Recap
5	October 19	Philadelphia Eagles	W 49–14	5–0	Cotton Bowl	71,509	Recap
6	October 27	New York Giants	W 25–3	6–0	Cotton Bowl	58,964	Recap
7	November 2	at Cleveland Browns	L 10–42	6–1	Cleveland Stadium	84,850	Recap
8	November 9	New Orleans Saints	W 33–17	7–1	Cotton Bowl	68,282	Recap
9	November 16	at Washington Redskins	W 41–28	8–1	RFK Stadium	50,474	Recap
10	November 23	at Los Angeles Rams	L 23–24	8–2	L.A. Coliseum	79,105	Recap
11	November 27	San Francisco 49ers	T 24–24	8–2–1	Cotton Bowl	62,348	Recap
12	December 7	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 10–7	9–2–1	Pitt Stadium	24,990	Recap
13	December 13	Baltimore Colts	W 27–10	10–2–1	Cotton Bowl	63,191	Recap
14	December 21	Washington Redskins	W 20–10	11–2–1	Cotton Bowl	56,924	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 9 at Redskins

Week Nine: Dallas Cowboys (7–1) at Washington Redskins (4–2–2)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	17	10	7	7	41
Redskins	7	14	7	0	28

at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Date: November 16, 1969
Game weather: 33 °F (1 °C)
Game attendance: 50,474
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

DAL – Mike Clark 36-yard field goal. Cowboys 3–0.
WSH – Jerry Smith 27-yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen (Curt Knight kick). Redskins 7–3.
DAL – Lance Rentzel 65-yard pass from Craig Morton (Mike Clark kick). Cowboys 10–7.
DAL – Larry Cole 41-yard interception return (Mike Clark kick). Cowboys 17–7.

Second quarter

DAL – Calvin Hill 3-yard run (Mike Clark kick). Cowboys 24–7.
WSH – Charley Taylor 68-yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen (Curt Knight kick). Cowboys 24–14.
DAL – Mike Clark 14-yard field goal. Cowboys 27–14.
WSH – Jerry Smith 11-yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen (Curt Knight kick). Cowboys 27–21.

Third quarter

DAL – Calvin Hill 7-yard run (Mike Clark kick). Cowboys 34–21.
WSH – Jerry Smith 20-yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen (Curt Knight kick). Cowboys 34–28.

Fourth quarter

DAL – Dan Reeves 4-yard run (Mike Clark kick). Cowboys 41–28.

Top passers

DAL – Craig Morton – 8/17, 156 yards, TD, INT
WSH – Sonny Jurgensen – 24/35, 338 yards, 4 TD, 4 INT

Top rushers

DAL – Calvin Hill – 27 rushes, 150 yards, 2 TD
WSH – Larry Brown – 11 rushes, 38 yards

Top receivers

DAL – Lance Rentzel – 2 receptions, 84 yards, TD
WSH – Charley Taylor – 6 receptions, 155 yards, TD

President Richard Nixon was in attendance.

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Game Site	Attendance	Recap
Eastern Conference	December 28, 1969	Cleveland Browns	L 14–38	Cotton Bowl	69,321	Recap
Playoff Bowl	January 3, 1970	vs Los Angeles Rams	L 0–31	Orange Bowl	31,151

Standings

NFL Capitol
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys	11	2	1	.846	6–0	9–1	369	223	W3
Washington Redskins	7	5	2	.583	3–2–1	6–3–1	307	319	L1
New Orleans Saints	5	9	0	.357	1–5	4–6	311	393	W1
Philadelphia Eagles	4	9	1	.308	1–4–1	4–5–1	279	377	L4

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

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1969 roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

89 Mike Ditka
84 Pettis Norman

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

66 George Andrie DE
63 Larry Cole DE
77 Ron East DT
74 Bob Lilly DT
75 Jethro Pugh DT

Linebackers

60 Jackie Burkett OLB
52 Dave Edwards OLB
54 Chuck Howley OLB
55 Lee Roy Jordan MLB
56 Tom Stincic MLB
53 Fred Whittingham OLB

Defensive backs

31 Otto Brown CB
37 Phil Clark CB
45 Richmond Flowers FS/KR
27 Mike Gaechter SS/CB
34 Cornell Green CB
23 Mike Johnson CB
20 Mel Renfro FS/CB

Special teams

83 Mike Clark K
10 Ron Widby P

Reserve lists

71 Willie Townes DE (IR)

Taxi squad

-- Clarence Williams DE

Rookies in italics
45 active, 1 inactive, 1 Taxi squad

References

^ "1969 Dallas Cowboys". Pro-Football Reference. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
^ "1969 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics". Pro-Football Reference. Retrieved September 14, 2013.

[1] "1969 Dallas Cowboys". Pro-Football Reference. Retrieved September 14, 2013.

[2] "1969 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics". Pro-Football Reference. Retrieved September 14, 2013.

[1]

v t e Dallas Cowboys
Founded in 1960 Based in Arlington, Texas Headquartered in Frisco, Texas
Franchise	Franchise History Coaches All-time roster Seasons Expansion draft Draft history Starting quarterbacks First-round draft picks Ring of Honor Ford Center at The Star
Stadiums	Cotton Bowl Texas Stadium AT&T Stadium
Culture	NFL on Thanksgiving Day America's Team Cheerleaders Making the Team America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Doomsday Defense Dirty Dozen The Triplets (Aikman, Irvin, and Smith) Crazy Ray Rowdy Jerry Jones Tom Landry Tex Schramm Roger Staubach Black Sunday Little Giants Jerry Maguire "Get Up (A Cowboys Anthem)" "We Dem Boyz" King of the Hill "You Only Move Twice" (The Simpsons episode) Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk book
Lore	Ice Bowl The Catch Herschel Walker trade Bounty Bowl series Pickle Juice Game Dez Caught It
Rivalries	Green Bay Packers Houston Oilers/Texans Los Angeles Rams Minnesota Vikings New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles Pittsburgh Steelers San Francisco 49ers Washington Commanders
Division championships (25)	1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1976 1977 1978 1979 1981 1985 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1998 2007 2009 2014 2016 2018 2021 2023
Conference championships (10)	1966 1967 1970 1971 1975 1977 1978 1992 1993 1995
League championships (5)	1971 (VI) 1977 (XII) 1992 (XXVII) 1993 (XXVIII) 1995 (XXX)
Media	Broadcasters Radio network KRLD-FM Brad Sham Babe Laufenberg
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: East Division