1969 Dallas Cowboys season

The 1969 Dallas Cowboys season was their tenth in the National Football League (NFL). The team nearly equalled their previous output of 12–2, winning eleven games with one tie,^[1] and qualified for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

1969 Dallas Cowboys season
Owner	Clint Murchison, Jr.
Head coach	Tom Landry
Home stadium	Cotton Bowl
Results
Record	11–2–1
Division place	1st NFL Capitol
Playoffs	Lost Eastern Conference Championship Game (vs. Browns) 14–38 Lost NFL Playoff Bowl (vs. Rams) 0–31
← 1968 Cowboys seasons 1970 →

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).^[2]

As of 2025, Dallas' tie against the San Francisco 49ers is their most recent in franchise history. The Cowboys are one of only two out of the 26 pre-merger NFL and AFL franchises (the other being the Boston/New England Patriots) that have not recorded a tie since the AFL-NFL merger which was completed after this season.

Dallas' regular season finale vs. the archrival Washington Redskins was the last game for legendary coach Vince Lombardi. Lombardi, who led Washington to a 7-5-2 record in his first, and what turned out to be only, season with the Redskins, died of colorectal cancer 17 days before the start of the 1970 season. Lombardi's Green Bay Packers handed the Cowboys painful losses in the 1966 and 1967 NFL championship games.

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's taxi 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 one Pro Bowl during career

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance	Recap
1	September 21	St. Louis Cardinals	W 24–3	1–0	Cotton Bowl	62,134	Recap
2	September 28	at New Orleans Saints	W 21–17	2–0	Tulane Stadium	79,567	Recap
3	October 5	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 38–7	3–0	Franklin Field	60,658	Recap
4	October 12	at Atlanta Falcons	W 24–17	4–0	Atlanta Stadium	54,833	Recap
5	October 19	Philadelphia Eagles	W 49–14	5–0	Cotton Bowl	71,509	Recap
6	October 27	New York Giants	W 25–3	6–0	Cotton Bowl	58,964	Recap
7	November 2	at Cleveland Browns	L 10–42	6–1	Cleveland Stadium	84,850	Recap
8	November 9	New Orleans Saints	W 33–17	7–1	Cotton Bowl	68,282	Recap
9	November 16	at Washington Redskins	W 41–28	8–1	RFK Stadium	50,474	Recap
10	November 23	at Los Angeles Rams	L 23–24	8–2	L.A. Coliseum	79,105	Recap
11	November 27	San Francisco 49ers	T 24–24	8–2–1	Cotton Bowl	62,348	Recap
12	December 7	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 10–7	9–2–1	Pitt Stadium	24,990	Recap
13	December 13	Baltimore Colts	W 27–10	10–2–1	Cotton Bowl	63,191	Recap
14	December 21	Washington Redskins	W 20–10	11–2–1	Cotton Bowl	56,924	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

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

at Robert 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 Clark 36-yard field goal. Cowboys 3–0. WSH – Jerry Smith 27-yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen (Curt Knight kick). Redskins 7–3. DAL – Lance Rentzel 65-yard pass from Craig Morton (Mike Clark kick). Cowboys 10–7. DAL – Larry Cole 41-yard interception return (Mike Clark kick). Cowboys 17–7. Second quarter DAL – Calvin Hill 3-yard run (Mike Clark kick). Cowboys 24–7. WSH – Charley Taylor 68-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 Reeves 4-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

• President Richard Nixon was in attendance.

Playoffs

Main article: 1969 NFL playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Game Site	Attendance	Recap
Eastern Conference	December 28, 1969	Cleveland Browns	L 14–38	Cotton Bowl	69,321	Recap
Playoff Bowl	January 3, 1970	vs Los Angeles Rams	L 0–31	Orange Bowl	31,151

Standings

NFL Capitol
view talk edit	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 14 Craig Morton 12 Roger Staubach Running backs 32 Walt Garrison 35 Calvin Hill 30 Dan Reeves 25 Les Shy 42 Claxton Welch Wide receivers 40 Bobby Joe Conrad 22 Bob Hayes 24 Dennis Homan 19 Lance Rentzel Tight ends 89 Mike Ditka 84 Pettis Norman		Offensive linemen 72 Tony Liscio T 51 Dave Manders C 73 Ralph Neely T 76 John Niland G 61 Blaine Nye G 57 Malcolm Walker C 65 John Wilbur G 70 Rayfield Wright T Defensive linemen 66 George Andrie DE 63 Larry Cole DE 77 Ron East DT 64 Halvor Hagen DE 74 Bob Lilly DT 75 Jethro Pugh DT		Linebackers 60 Jackie Burkett OLB 52 Dave Edwards OLB 54 Chuck Howley OLB 55 Lee Roy Jordan MLB 56 Tom Stincic OLB 53 Fred Whittingham MLB Defensive backs 31 Otto Brown SS 37 Phil Clark CB 45 Richmond Flowers FS 27 Mike Gaechter SS 34 Cornell Green CB 23 Mike Johnson CB 20 Mel Renfro FS Special teams 83 Mike Clark K 10 Ron Widby P		Reserve lists 46 Craig Baynham RB (IR) -- John Douglas LB (Military) 50 D. D. Lewis LB (Military) 71 Willie Townes DE (IR) Taxi squad 11 Bob Belden QB 88 Reggie Rucker WR -- Clarence Williams DE Rookies in italics