With the NFL 2019 campaign about to get underway celebrating its 100th anniversary, I thought I would take this season to celebrate another anniversary from the distant past, the 1969 NFL season.
The 1969 NFL season was the last season of the old NFL before the merger with the AFL in 1970. That season, the NFL celebrated its 50th year. It had 16 teams, in 4 divisions, with 4 playoff teams (the division winners). As a side note, it was also the last season before the advent of Monday Night Football.
The image above is the patch the teams wore and the mini helmets I collect. Some interesting tidbits on uniforms, the helmets, and the season:
- Philadelphia started the season with the helmet you see here, but they alternated during the season with the white one above, worn at home, and a green one with white wings they wore on the road.
- The Cleveland and Detroit helmets you see here were not what they wore during the 1969 NFL season as I have been unable to find the throwbacks for those two teams. For Cleveland, the difference is the face mask -- it was gray during 1969. For the Lions, the face mask was gray too and the logo had no white outline.
- The patch you see is a patch that all NFL teams wore on their uniform during the 1969 season. This was the NFL's 50th anniversary. You've seen other patches (i.e. 1994) and you'll see a 100th series patch this season (2019).
- The Redskins helmet you see here was worn during pre-season. For the start of the regular season, the style stayed the same but the maroon color was brightened a touch, with more of a red color than the flat maroon.
- The way these helmets are lined up in the picture is significant with regards to 1969. At the top left corner of each group is the division champion and thus the four playoff teams for that year. 2nd place is top right, 3rd place bottom left, and 4th place bottom right.
- 1969 was the last season teams in the league did not wear their names on the back of their jersey, as the NFL adopted the AFL's usage of this the next season.
- The best record in the league that year was Minnesota's 12-2 mark. The worst was Pittsburgh's at 1-13.
- Here is the list of coaches along with years of service for their team in parenthesis (including 1969), along with some additional notes:
- Tom Landry (10), Dallas. 20 years later, after two Super Bowl wins and numerous playoff appearances, Landry was fired, after the 1988 season in early 1989 by Jerry Jones.
- Vince Lombardi (1), Washington. This was Lombardi's only season in Washington before dying of cancer at the start of the 1970 season. The Super Bowl trophy is named after Lombardi, from his days with Green Bay, winning the first two Super Bowls after the 1966 and 1967 seasons.
- Tom Fears (3), New Orleans. Fears was fired in 1970 after a 1-5-1 start and never was a head coach in the NFL again.
- Jerry Williams (1), Philadelphia. Williams lasted until midway of the 1971 season. He too never was a head coach in the NFL again.
- Blanton Collier (7), Cleveland. Collier retired after the 1970 season. He helped the Browns win the 1964 NFL championship.
- Alex Webster (1), New York. Webster survived as head coach until the 1973 season, after which he was fired.
- Charley Winner (4), St. Louis. He was fired shortly after the 1970 season. He spent two years as the New York Jets head coach (1974-1975) and finished in Miami in 1991 as director of personnel.
- Chuck Noll (1), Pittsburgh. Noll had an illustrious career winning 4 Super Bowls in the 1970's. He retired after the 1991 season.
- George Allen (4), Los Angeles. Allen stayed with LA until 1971 where he became head coach of the Washington Redskins, thru 1977.
- Don Shula (7), Baltimore. Shula was fired after this season upon which he was hired in Miami as head coach, winning two Super Bowls before retiring after the 1995 season.
- Norm Van Brocklin (2), Atlanta. Fired after 8 games of the 1974 season. He never returned to the NFL.
- Dick Nolan (2), San Francisco. Nolan coached thru the 1975 season. He was head coach in New Orleans for three seasons (1978-1980). Spent most of the 1980's as an assistant in Dallas under Landry. He also worked as an assistant in Dallas for the first two years of the Johnson regime (1989-1990).
- Bud Grant (3), Minnesota. Grant took his team to 4 Super Bowls in the 70's while coaching the team from 1967 to 1983. Took a year off, and came back and coached Minnesota again in 1985 before retiring for good.
- Joe Schmidt (3), Detroit. Schmidt coached the Lions thru 1972, then resigned.
- Phil Bengston (2), Green Bay. Bengston would stay on one more year and resign after the 1970 season.
- Jim Dooley (2), Chicago. Dooley was fired after the 1971 season. Mike Ditka hired him as an offensive consultant for the Bears in 1982, analyzing game film of opponents. He was on the staff of the Super Bowl team from 1985.
- The MVP for the 1969 NFL season was Los Angeles Rams' QB Roman Gabriel. The offensive rookie of the year was Dallas' Calvin Hill and defensive rookie of the year was Pittsburgh's Joe Greene.
- Minnesota scored the most points with 379 while also allowing the fewest at 133.
- In passing statistics, Green Bay QB Bart Starr won the NFL passing title with a rating of 89.9. Washington's Sonny Jurgensen threw for the most yards with 3,102 while also leading the NFL in completion percentage at 62.0%. Gabriel threw the most touchdown passes with 24.
- In rushing statistics, Chicago's Gale Sayers led the way in both attempts and yards with 236 attempts for 1,032 yards. Baltimore's Tom Matte led the way in rushing touchdowns with 11.
- In receiving statistics, New Orleans' Danny Abramowicz had 73 receptions to lead the NFL. Philadelphia's Harold Jackson led the NFL with 1,116 receiving yards. Dallas' Lance Rentzel caught 12 touchdown passes to lead the league.
- Kicker Fred Cox of Minnesota won the NFL's scoring title in 1969 with 121.
- Dallas' Mel Renfro led the league in interceptions with 10.
- Minnesota, the NFL champion, represented the league in Super Bowl IV played on January 11, 1970 at Tulane Stadium.
To continue the celebration, I'm going to try to blog about key events/games in the 1969 NFL season, including:
- 09/21/2019, Week 1: Vince Lombardi back; Roger Staubach's first NFL start; Chuck Noll era in Pittsburgh begins.
- 09/28/2019, Week 2: Battle of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh/Philadelphia); Vikings throttle the reigning champs
- 10/05/2019, Week 3: The 50's revisited (Detroit/Cleveland); The season's first tie (San Francisco/Washington)
- 10/12/2019, Week 4: Battle of California (Los Angeles/San Francisco)
- 10/18/2019, Week 5: Pittsburgh and Cleveland on a Saturday
- 10/26/2019, Week 6: Battle of Legends (Washington/Pittsburgh)
- 11/02/2019, Week 7: Dallas/Cleveland saga; Battle of the Beltway (Baltimore/Washington)
- 11/09/2019, Week 8: Minnesota thumps Cleveland
- 11/16/2019, Week 9: Redskins/Cowboys Round One;
- 11/23/2019, Week 10: Giants and Browns at it again
- 11/27/2019, Week 11: 49ers/Cowboys, the beginning of a rivalry
- 12/07/2019, Week 12: Dallas/Pittsburgh, Noll and Landry; Playoff preview, Minnesota/LA
- 12/14/2019, Week 13: Lombardi builds a winner (Washington/New Orleans); Packers/Bears rivalry
- 12/21/2019, Week 14: Lombardi's Last (Washington/Dallas); Season recap: Dallas/Cleveland/Los Angeles/Minnesota owned divisions from day 1
- 12/27/69, Conference Championship: Rams scare Minnesota
- 12/28/69, Conference Championship: The Browns do it again
- 01/04/70, NFL Championship: Vikes thump'em again
