1969 Dallas Cowboys season

The1969Dallas Cowboysseasonwas their tenth in theNational Football League(NFL). The team nearly equalled theirprevious outputof 12–2, winning eleven games with one tie,and qualified for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

1969Dallas Cowboysseason
Owner	Clint Murchison, Jr.
Head coach	Tom Landry
Home field	Cotton Bowl
Results
Record	11–2–1
Division place	1stNFL Capitol
Playoff finish	LostEastern Conference Championship Game (vs.Browns) 14–38 Lost NFLPlayoff Bowl (vs.Rams) 0–31

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).

As of 2024, Dallas' tie against theSan Francisco 49ersis their most recent in franchise history. The Cowboys are one of only two out of the 26 pre-merger NFL andAFLfranchises (the other being theBoston/New England Patriots) that have notrecorded a tiesince theAFL-NFL mergerwhich was completed after this season.

NFL Draft

Main article:1969 NFL draft

1969 Dallas Cowboys draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
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'staxi 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 onePro Bowlduring career

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance	Recap
1	September 21	St. Louis Cardinals	W24–3	1–0	Cotton Bowl	62,134	Recap
2	September 28	atNew Orleans Saints	W21–17	2–0	Tulane Stadium	79,567	Recap
3	October 5	atPhiladelphia Eagles	W38–7	3–0	Franklin Field	60,658	Recap
4	October 12	atAtlanta Falcons	W24–17	4–0	Atlanta Stadium	54,833	Recap
5	October 19	Philadelphia Eagles	W49–14	5–0	Cotton Bowl	71,509	Recap
6	October 27	New York Giants	W25–3	6–0	Cotton Bowl	58,964	Recap
7	November 2	atCleveland Browns	L10–42	6–1	Cleveland Stadium	84,850	Recap
8	November 9	New Orleans Saints	W33–17	7–1	Cotton Bowl	68,282	Recap
9	November 16	atWashington Redskins	W41–28	8–1	RFK Stadium	50,474	Recap
10	November 23	atLos Angeles Rams	L23–24	8–2	L.A. Coliseum	79,105	Recap
11	November 27	San Francisco 49ers	T24–24	8–2–1	Cotton Bowl	62,348	Recap
12	December 7	atPittsburgh Steelers	W10–7	9–2–1	Pitt Stadium	24,990	Recap
13	December 13	Baltimore Colts	W27–10	10–2–1	Cotton Bowl	63,191	Recap
14	December 21	Washington Redskins	W20–10	11–2–1	Cotton Bowl	56,924	Recap
Note:Intra-division opponents are inboldtext.

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

atRobert 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 Clark36-yard field goal.Cowboys 3–0. WSH –Jerry Smith27-yard pass fromSonny Jurgensen(Curt Knightkick).Redskins 7–3. DAL –Lance Rentzel65-yard pass fromCraig Morton(Mike Clark kick).Cowboys 10–7. DAL –Larry Cole41-yard interception return (Mike Clark kick).Cowboys 17–7. Second quarter DAL –Calvin Hill3-yard run (Mike Clark kick).Cowboys 24–7. WSH –Charley Taylor68-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 Reeves4-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

• PresidentRichard Nixonwas in attendance.

Playoffs

Main article:1969 NFL playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Game Site	Attendance	Recap
Eastern Conference	December 28, 1969	Cleveland Browns	L14–38	Cotton Bowl	69,321	Recap
Playoff Bowl	January 3, 1970	vsLos Angeles Rams	L0–31	Orange Bowl	31,151

Standings

NFL Capitol
	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 11Bob Belden 14Craig Morton 12Roger Staubach Running backs 46Craig Baynham 32Walt GarrisonFB 35Calvin Hill 30Dan Reeves 25Les Shy 42Claxton Welch Wide receivers 40Bobby Joe Conrad 22Bob HayesPR 24Dennis Homan 19Lance Rentzel 88Reggie Rucker Tight ends 89Mike Ditka 84Pettis Norman		Offensive linemen 64Halvor HagenG 72Tony LiscioT 51Dave MandersC 73Ralph NeelyT 76John NilandG 61Blaine NyeG 57Malcolm WalkerC 65John WilburG 70Rayfield WrightT Defensive linemen 66George AndrieDE 63Larry ColeDE 77Ron EastDT 74Bob LillyDT 75Jethro PughDT		Linebackers 60Jackie BurkettOLB 52Dave EdwardsOLB 54Chuck HowleyOLB 55Lee Roy JordanMLB 56Tom StincicMLB 53Fred WhittinghamOLB Defensive backs 31Otto BrownCB 37Phil ClarkCB 45Richmond FlowersFS/KR 27Mike GaechterSS/CB 34Cornell GreenCB 23Mike JohnsonCB 20Mel RenfroFS/CB Special teams 83Mike ClarkK 10Ron WidbyP		Reserve lists 71Willie TownesDE(IR) Taxi squad --Clarence WilliamsDE Rookies in italics 45 active, 1 inactive, 1 Taxi squad