1969 Detroit Lions season

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1969 Detroit Lions season
Head coachJoe Schmidt
Home fieldTiger Stadium
Results
Record9–4–1
Division place2nd NFL Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1969 Detroit Lions season was the 40th season in franchise history. The Lions enjoyed their best season in seven years, and their first winning campaign since 1964 by finishing in second place in the NFL Central Division with a solid 9–4–1 record led by a stingy defense that only allowed 188 total points on the season. However, the Lions still failed to qualify for the postseason for the 12th straight season.[1] The Lions were the only team to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers, doing so in week 1 of the season. Pittsburgh lost their remaining 13 games. The loss to the Steelers proved costly to the Lions as it served as a big blow to their playoff hopes.

Offseason[]

NFL Draft[]

Main article: 1969 NFL/AFL Draft
1969 Detroit Lions draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
2 34 Altie Taylor  RB Utah State
2 47 Jim Yarbrough  TE Florida from Los Angeles
3 59 Larry Walton  WR Arizona State from New Orleans
8 190 Jim Carr  OT Jackson State
9 216 Rocky Rasley  G Oregon State
10 242 Bob Bergum  DE Wisconsin-Platteville
11 268 Ron Walker  DE Morris Brown
12 294 Bob Hadlock  DT George Fox (Ore.)
13 320 Wilson Bowie  RB USC
14 346 George Hoey  WR Michigan
15 372 Fred Gough  LB Texas-Arlington
16 398 Ken Spain  DE Houston
16 407 John Stahl  G Fresno State
17 424 Gary Steele  TE Army
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Notes

  • Detroit traded its first-round selection (8th) and QB Milt Plum, P/WR Pat Studstill and RB Tommy Watkins to Los Angeles in exchange for QB Bill Munson and the Rams' third-round selection (73rd).
  • Detroit traded DT Roger Brown to Los Angeles in exchange for the Rams' second-round selection (47th) and first- and third-round selections in 1968.
  • Detroit traded QB Karl Sweetan to New Orleans in exchange for the Saints' third-round selection (59th).
  • Detroit traded its third-round selection (60th), fourth-round selection in 1970 and S Bruce Maher to N.Y. Giants in exchange for RB Bill Triplett and LB Bill Swain.
  • Detroit traded the third-round selection received from the Rams (73rd) to St. Louis in exchange for WR Billy Gambrell.
  • Detroit traded its fourth-round selection (86th) and third-round selection (65th) in 1968 to San Francisco in exchange for RB David Kopay.
  • Detroit traded its sixth- and seventh-round selections (138th) and (164th) to Atlanta in exchange for DT Chuck Sieminski and LB Andy Bowling.

Roster[]

1969 Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Reserve Lists
  • Currently vacant

Practice Squad

  •  1 Garo Yepremian K

Rookies in italics

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 21 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 16–13
51,360
2 September 28 New York Giants W 24–0
54,358
3 October 5 at Cleveland Browns W 28–21
82,833
4 October 12 Green Bay Packers L 28–17
58,384
5 October 19 Chicago Bears W 13–7
54,732
6 October 26 at Minnesota Vikings L 24–10
47,900
7 November 2 at San Francisco 49ers W 26–14
35,100
8 November 9 Atlanta Falcons W 27–21
53,242
9 November 16 St. Louis Cardinals W 20–0
51,749
10 November 23 at Green Bay Packers W 16–10
50,861
11 November 27 Minnesota Vikings L 27–0
57,906
12 December 7 at Baltimore Colts T 17–17
60,238
13 December 14 Los Angeles Rams W 28–0
53,256
14 December 21 at Chicago Bears W 20–3
41,879

Season summary[]

Week 11 vs Vikings[]

Week Eleven: Minnesota Vikings (9–1) at Detroit Lions (7–3)
1 2 34Total
Vikings 7 3 71027
Lions 0 0 000

at Tiger Stadium, Detroit, Michigan

  • Date: November 27
  • Game weather: Snow, 36 °F (2 °C)
  • Game attendance: 57,906
  • Box Score
  • Muddy field
  • Largest crowd for Thanksgiving game in Detroit history

Standings[]

NFL Central
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 W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Minnesota Vikings 12 2 0 .857 6–0 9–1 379 133 L1
Detroit Lions 9 4 1 .692 3–3 6–3–1 259 188 W2
Green Bay Packers 8 6 0 .571 3–3 5–5 269 221 W2
Chicago Bears 1 13 0 .071 0–6 0–10 210 339 L6

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

Awards and records[]

References[]

  1. ^ Detroit Lions season history at Sports E-Cyclopedia
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