1969 Buffalo Bills season

The 1969 Buffalo Bills season was the team’s tenth season, and was the final season of the American Football League before the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger. The Bills played an AFL-record seven games against opponents that went on to reach the postseason;^[1] Buffalo lost all seven of these games.

1969 Buffalo Bills season
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Head coach	John Rauch
Home stadium	War Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	4–10
Division place	4th AFL Eastern
Playoffs	Did not qualify
← 1968 Bills seasons 1970 →

This was the rookie season for running back O. J. Simpson, the Heisman Trophy winner from Southern California and first overall selection in the draft,^[2][3] who went on to a Hall of Fame career. It was the final season for quarterback Jack Kemp, who decided to run for New York's 39th congressional district in 1970 that he ultimately won; elected at the age of 35, Kemp would serve in Congress until 1989.

Although Buffalo only won four games, their penultimate win—a Week Ten victory against the Miami Dolphins—would be their last victory against the Dolphins until the 1980 season. After the win, the Bills suffered against Miami an NFL-record twenty consecutive games lost by one team to another.

The last remaining active member of the 1969 Buffalo Bills was wide receiver Haven Moses, who retired after the 1981 NFL season.

Offseason

• August 9, 1969: O. J. Simpson signs a four-year contract worth $215,000.^[2][3][4]
• August 20, 1969: The Bills acquired wide receiver Marlin Briscoe.^[5]
• August 25, 1969: Guard George Flint and defensive tackle Tom Sestak both announced their retirements.^[6]
• August 25, 1969: Running back/returner Ed Rutkowski was released by the Bills.^[6]

Draft

Main article: 1969 NFL/AFL draft

1969 Buffalo Bills draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	1	O. J. Simpson * †	RB	USC
2	27	Bill Enyart	RB	Oregon St
3	53	Julian Nunamaker	DE	Tennessee-Martin
4	79	Mike Richey	OT	North Carolina
5	105	Ben Mayes	DE	Drake
7	157	John Helton	DE	Arizona St
8	183	Waddey Harvey	DT	Virginia Tech
8	192	James Harris *	QB	Grambling State
10	235	James Baines	WR	Montana
11	261	Bobby Hall	RB	NC State
12	287	Lloyd Pate	RB	Cincinnati
12	312	Leon Lovelace	OT	Texas Tech
14	339	Bubba Thornton	WR	TCU
15	365	Karl Wilson	RB	Olivet
16	391	Robert Kirk	OG	Indiana
17	417	Wayne Lineberry	LB	East Carolina
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[7]

Personnel

Coaches/Staff

1969 Buffalo Bills staff
	Front office Majority Owner/President – Ralph Wilson Vice President and General Manager – Bob Lustig Vice President/Minority Owner – Pat McGroder Coaching staff Head coach - John Rauch Offensive coaches Wide Receivers - Bill Miller Offensive Line – Marvin Bass Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Ray Malavasi Linebackers – Ralph Hawkins Defensive Backfield – Claude Gibson Kickers - Bugsy Engelberg

• Source: https://pro-football-history.com/franchise/7/buffalo-bills-coaches

Final roster

1969 Buffalo Bills roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 15 Jack Kemp 14 Tom Sherman Running backs (RB) 22 Max Anderson 41 Bill Enyart 30 Wayne Patrick 31 Preston Ridlehuber 32 O. J. Simpson Wide receivers (WR) 86 Marlin Briscoe 83 Bobby Crockett 25 Haven Moses 28 Roy Reeves 34 Bubba Thornton Tight ends (TE) 80 Charley Ferguson 85 Willie Grate 87 Billy Masters

Offensive linemen (OL) 77 Stew Barber T 50 Al Bemiller C 79 Paul Costa T 54 Howard Kindig C 63 Bob Kruse G 60 Angelo Loukas G 67 Joe O'Donnell G 75 Mike Richey T 66 Billy Shaw G Defensive linemen (DL) 74 Chuck DeVleigher DT 78 Jim Dunaway DT 65 Waddey Harvey DT 76 Mike McBath DE 72 Ron McDole DE 69 Julian Nunamaker DE 71 Bob Tatarek DT

Linebackers (LB) 52 Edgar Chandler OLB 51 Jerald Collins OLB 64 Harry Jacobs MLB 53 Dave Ogas MLB 58 Mike Stratton OLB Defensive backs (DB) 42 Butch Byrd CB 24 Booker Edgerson CB 45 Hilton Crawford FS 20 Robert James CB 48 John Pitts SS 47 Pete Richardson FS Special teams (ST) 46 Bruce Alford K 55 Paul Maguire P

Reserve 62 Dick Cunningham T (IR) 10 Dan Darragh QB (IR) 33 Ben Gregory RB (IR) 59 Paul Guidry LB (IR) 12 James Harris QB (IR) -- Bob Kalsu G (Military) 26 George Saimes S (IR) Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game site	NFL.com recap
1	August 2	at Houston Oilers	L 7–24	0–1	Astrodome	Recap
2	August 8	Washington Redskins	W 21–17	1–1	War Memorial Stadium	Recap
3	August 15	at Detroit Lions	L 12–24	1–2	Tiger Stadium	Recap
4	August 22	Baltimore Colts	L 7–20	1–3	War Memorial Stadium	Recap
5	August 30	Chicago Bears	L 16–23	1–4	Cleveland Stadium	Recap
6	September 6	at Los Angeles Rams	L 20–50	1–5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game site	Recap
1	September 14	New York Jets	L 19–33	0–1	War Memorial Stadium	Recap
2	September 21	Houston Oilers	L 3–17	0–2	War Memorial Stadium	Recap
3	September 28	Denver Broncos	W 41–28	1–2	War Memorial Stadium	Recap
4	October 5	at Houston Oilers	L 14–28	1–3	Astrodome	Recap
5	October 11	Boston Patriots	W 23–16	2–3	War Memorial Stadium	Recap
6	October 19	at Oakland Raiders	L 21–50	2–4	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	Recap
7	October 26	at Miami Dolphins	L 6–24	2–5	Miami Orange Bowl	Recap
8	November 2	Kansas City Chiefs	L 7–29	2–6	War Memorial Stadium	Recap
9	November 9	at New York Jets	L 6–16	2–7	Shea Stadium	Recap
10	November 16	Miami Dolphins	W 28–3	3–7	War Memorial Stadium	Recap
11	November 23	at Boston Patriots	L 21–35	3–8	Alumni Stadium	Recap
12	November 30	Cincinnati Bengals	W 16–13	4–8	War Memorial Stadium	Recap
13	December 7	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 19–22	4–9	Municipal Stadium	Recap
14	December 14	at San Diego Chargers	L 6–45	4–10	San Diego Stadium	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 1

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Jets	6	10	3	14	33
Bills	3	0	6	10	19

• Date: September 14
• Location: War Memorial Stadium
• Game attendance: 46,165
• Game weather: 70 °F (21 °C); wind 11 mph

^[8]

Week 2

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Oilers	0	7	3	7	17
Bills	3	0	0	0	3

• Date: September 21
• Location: War Memorial Stadium
• Game attendance: 40,146
• Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C); wind 6 mph

^[9]

Week 3

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	14	0	7	7	28
• Bills	3	17	21	0	41

• Date: September 28
• Location: War Memorial Stadium
• Game attendance: 40,302
• Game weather: 53 °F (12 °C); wind 9 mph

^[10]

Week 4

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	0	0	7	7	14
• Oilers	7	7	7	7	28

• Date: October 5
• Location: Houston Astrodome
• Game attendance: 46,485
• Game weather: Indoors (dome)

^[11]

Week 5

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Patriots	6	0	7	3	16
• Bills	7	3	3	10	23

• Date: October 11
• Location: War Memorial Stadium
• Game attendance: 46,201
• Game weather: 67 °F (19 °C); wind 14 mph

^[12]

Week 6

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	0	7	0	14	21
• Raiders	14	28	6	2	50

• Date: October 19
• Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
• Game attendance: 54,418
• Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C); wind 8 mph

^[13]

Week 7

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	3	0	3	0	6
• Dolphins	0	14	3	7	24

• Date: October 26
• Location: Orange Bowl
• Game attendance: 39,837
• Game weather: 79 °F (26 °C); wind 14 mph

^[14]

Week 8

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Chiefs	0	3	3	23	29
Bills	7	0	0	0	7

• Date: November 2
• Location: War Memorial Stadium
• Game attendance: 45,844
• Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C); wind 13 mph

^[15]

Week 9

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	0	3	3	0	6
• Jets	0	7	3	6	16

• Date: November 9
• Location: Shea Stadium
• Game attendance: 62,680
• Game weather: 52 °F (11 °C); wind 19 mph

^[16]

Week 10

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Dolphins	3	0	0	0	3
• Bills	7	7	7	7	28

• Date: November 16
• Location: War Memorial Stadium
• Game attendance: 32,686
• Game weather: 28 °F (−2 °C); wind 16 mph

Scoring summary

Q1		BUF	Simpson 8 yard pass from Kemp (Alford kick)	BUF 7–0
Q1		MIA	Kremser 21 yard field goal	BUF 7–3
Q2		BUF	Briscoe 12 yard pass from Kemp (Alford kick)	BUF 14–3
Q3		BUF	Enyart 1 yard run (Alford kick)	BUF 21–3
Q4		BUF	Simpson 55 yard pass from Kemp (Alford kick)	BUF 28–3

• O. J. Simpson 72 Rush Yds, 81 Rec Yds

^[17]

Week 11

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	7	7	7	0	21
• Patriots	14	7	0	14	35

• Date: November 23
• Location: Alumni Stadium
• Game attendance: 25,584
• Game weather: 42 °F (6 °C); wind 14 mph

^[18]

Week 12

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Bengals	3	3	0	7	13
• Bills	3	3	10	0	16

• Date: November 30
• Location: War Memorial Stadium
• Game attendance: 35,122
• Game weather: 28 °F (−2 °C); wind 17 mph

^[19]

Week 13

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	3	0	10	6	19
• Chiefs	7	6	3	6	22

• Date: December 7
• Location: Kansas City Municipal Stadium
• Game attendance: 47,112
• Game weather: 34 °F (1 °C); wind 14 mph

^[20]

Week 14

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	0	0	0	6	6
• Chargers	10	14	7	14	45

• Date: December 14
• Location: San Diego Stadium
• Game attendance: 47,582
• Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C); wind 6 mph

^[21]

Standings

AFL Eastern Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
New York Jets	10	4	0	.714	8–0	353	269	W2
Houston Oilers	6	6	2	.500	5–3	278	279	W1
Boston Patriots	4	10	0	.286	3–5	266	316	L2
Buffalo Bills	4	10	0	.286	2–6	230	359	L2
Miami Dolphins	3	10	1	.231	2–6	233	332	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings of the AFL. This was the final year of the AFL The Baltimore Colts would join the AFL eastern teams and become the AFC East in 1970.