1969 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1969 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's fourth year in the National Football League (NFL). The team improved on their previous season's output of 2–12, winning six games.^[1] The Falcons had yet to reach the postseason, and would not until 1978. The Falcons rookie squad would play a preseason game against the minor league Alabama Hawks.^[2]

1969 Atlanta Falcons season
Owner	Rankin M. Smith Sr.
General manager	Frank E. Wall
Head coach	Norm Van Brocklin
Home stadium	Atlanta Stadium
Results
Record	6–8
Division place	3rd Coastal
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None
← 1968 Falcons seasons 1970 →

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1969 NFL draft

1969 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	2	George Kunz *	Tackle	Notre Dame
2	29	Paul Gipson *	Running back	Houston
3	54	Malcolm Snider	Tackle	Stanford
3	67	Jon Sandstron	Guard	Oregon State
4	81	James Mitchell *	Tight end	Prairie View A&M
4	103	Dickie Lyons	Defensive back	Kentucky
5	127	Tony Pleviak	Defensive end	Illinois
6	137	Wally Oyler	Defensive back	Louisville
7	148	Dick Enderle	Guard	Minnesota
7	164	Ted Cottrell	Linebacker	Delaware Valley
8	185	Jim Callahan	Wide receiver	Temple
10	237	Jeff Stanciel	Running back	Mississippi Valley
11	262	Jeff Van Note *	Linebacker	Kentucky
12	289	Denver Samples	Defensive tackle	Texas–El Paso
13	314	Harry Carpenter	Tackle	Tennessee State
14	341	Billy Hunt	Defensive back	Kansas
15	366	Jim Weatherford	Defensive back	Tennessee
16	393	Ed Hughes	Running back	Texas Southern
17	418	Paul Williams	Running back	California
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1969 Atlanta Falcons staff

Front office President – Rankin M. Smith Sr. Vice president and general manager – Frank E. Wall Head coaches Head coach – Norm Van Brocklin Offensive coaches Offensive backfield – Walt Yowarsky Offensive line – Duane Putnam

Defensive coaches Head defensive – Marion Campbell Defensive line – Bob Griffin Defensive backfield – Fred Bruney

Roster

1969 Atlanta Falcons roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 17 Bob Berry 18 Bruce Lemmerman Running backs (RB) 32 Charlie Bryant 33 Jim Butler 45 Gary McDermott 23 Jeff Stanciel  5 Harmon Wages Wide receivers (WR) 15 Gail Cogdill 85 Paul Flatley 43 Monte Ledbetter 82 Bobby Lee Tight ends (TE) 86 Jim Mitchell 81 Ralph Smith

Offensive linemen (OL) 77 Bruce Bosley C 65 Bob Breitenstein T/G 63 Dick Enderle G 75 George Kunz T 61 Bill Sandeman T 55 Roy Schmidt G 67 Malcolm Snider G 59 Jim Waskiewicz C Defensive linemen (DL) 73 Dave Cahill DT 88 Glen Condren DT 70 Bob Hughes DE 87 Claude Humphrey DE 78 Jerry Shay DT 71 John Zook DE

Linebackers (LB) 52 Ron Acks OLB 54 Grady Allen OLB 50 Greg Brezina OLB 51 Ted Cottrell OLB 55 Don Hansen MLB Defensive backs (DB) 28 Mike Freeman FS/CB 49 Al Lavan SS 22 John Mallory FS 20 Tom McCauley FS 36 Ken Reaves CB 47 Rudy Redmond CB 42 Jim Weatherford SS Special teams (ST)  3 Bob Etter K 26 Billy Lothridge P

Practice squad  8 Ken Vinyard K Reserve 79 Carlton Dabney DT (IR) 84 Mike Donohoe TE (IR) 40 Paul Gipson RB (IR) 11 Randy Johnson QB (IR) 60 Tommy Nobis LB (IR) 20 Bob Riggle S (IR) 74 Bill Sabatino DT (IR) 64 Randy Winkler G (Military) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 21	San Francisco 49ers	W 24–12	1–0	Atlanta Stadium	45,940
2	September 28	at Los Angeles Rams	L 7–17	1–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	58,031
3	October 5	Baltimore Colts	L 14–21	1–2	Grant Fielda	57,806
4	October 12	Dallas Cowboys	L 17–24	1–3	Atlanta Stadium	54,833
5	October 19	at San Francisco 49ers	W 21–7	2–3	Kezar Stadium	28,684
6	October 26	at Green Bay Packers	L 10–28	2–4	Lambeau Field	50,861
7	November 2	Los Angeles Rams	L 6–38	2–5	Atlanta Stadium	58,850
8	November 9	at Detroit Lions	L 21–27	2–6	Tiger Stadium	53,242
9	November 16	Chicago Bears	W 48–31	3–6	Atlanta Stadium	53,722
10	November 23	at Washington Redskins	L 20–27	3–7	RFK Stadium	50,345
11	November 30	at Baltimore Colts	L 6–13	3–8	Memorial Stadium	60,238
12	December 7	New Orleans Saints	W 45–17	4–8	Atlanta Stadium	51,021
13	December 14	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 27–3	5–8	Franklin Field	60,658
14	December 21	Minnesota Vikings	W 10–3	6–8	Atlanta Stadium	52,872
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

^a Atlanta Stadium was in use for the Atlanta Braves' NLCS game against the New York Mets, hence the Falcons moved their game to nearby Grant Field. As of 2023, this remains the only NFL game at Grant Field.^[3]

Standings

NFL Coastal
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams	11	3	0	.786	5–1	7–3	320	243	L3
Baltimore Colts	8	5	1	.615	3–3	5–4–1	279	268	W1
Atlanta Falcons	6	8	0	.429	2–4	4–6	276	268	W3
San Francisco 49ers	4	8	2	.333	2–4	3–7	277	319	W1

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