1969 Green Bay Packers season

The 1969 Green Bay Packers season was their 51st season overall and their 49th season in the National Football League. The team finished with an 8–6 record under coach Phil Bengtson, earning them a 3rd-place finish in the Central division.

1969 Green Bay Packers season
Head coach	Phil Bengtson
Home stadium	Lambeau Field Milwaukee County Stadium
Results
Record	8–6
Division place	3rd Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
← 1968 Packers seasons 1970 →

Overview

Without the disciplined guidance of Vince Lombardi steering the Packers for the first time in a decade, Green Bay started the season strong at 5–2 but stumbled down the stretch. Plagued by injuries and inconsistent play, the team clawed their way to their 10th winning season in the last 11 years.

Regardless of the winning record, by season's end several future Hall of Famers departed or retired (among those who retired or departed that year were the likes of Willie Davis and Herb Adderley), leaving the team scrambling to rebuild its depleted roster. As eager as Packer fans were to recapture the winning ways of Lombardi, it was obvious Titletown would have to wait to regain its luster.

Offseason

NFL draft

The NFL draft was held on Tuesday, January 28, 1969. The Packers had the 12th pick overall and selected Rich Moore, a defensive tackle from Villanova.^[1] At this stage of the draft, several high profile players, such as running backs Calvin Hill and Ron Johnson, quarterback Terry Hanratty, and defensive lineman Dave Foley, Ted Hendricks and Fred Dryer were still available. The selection of Moore was made by Bengtson. Packers Personnel Director Pat Peppler and Lombardi both disagreed with the selection. After the draft, Lombardi announced that he was leaving the club to coach the Washington Redskins.

Main article: 1969 NFL/AFL draft

1969 Green Bay Packers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	12	Rich Moore	Defensive tackle	Villanova
2	38	Dave Bradley	Tackle	Penn State
3	64	John Spilis	Wide receiver	Northern Illinois
4	90	Perry Williams	Running back	Purdue
5	116	Bill Hayhoe	Defensive tackle	USC
6	134	Ron Jones	Tight end	UTEP
6	142	Ken Vinyard	Placekicker	Texas Tech
7	168	Larry Agajanian	Defensive tackle	UCLA
8	194	Doug Gosnell	Defensive tackle	Utah State
9	220	Dave Hampton	Running back	Wyoming
10	246	Bruce Nelson	Tackle	North Dakota State
11	272	Leon Harden	Defensive back	UTEP
12	298	Tom Buckman	Tight end	Texas A&M
13	324	Craig Koinzan	Linebacker	Doane
14	350	Rich Voltzke	Running back	Minnesota Duluth
15	376	Dan Eckstein	Defensive back	Presbyterian
16	402	Dick Hewins	Wide receiver	Drake
17	428	John Mack	Running back	Central Missouri
Made roster

Undrafted free agents

1969 undrafted free agents of note

Player	Position	College
Terry Fredenberg	Wide receiver	UW–Milwaukee

Roster

1969 Green Bay Packers roster
Quarterbacks 13 Don Horn 10 Billy Stevens Running backs 44 Donny Anderson P 33 Jim Grabowski 25 Dave Hampton 22 Elijah Pitts 31 Perry Williams 23 Travis Williams Wide receivers 84 Carroll Dale 86 Boyd Dowler 85 John Spilis Tight ends 81 Marv Fleming 88 Ron Jones		Offensive linemen 57 Ken Bowman C 68 Gale Gillingham G 75 Forrest Gregg T 77 Bill Hayhoe T 50 Bob Hyland C 72 Dick Himes T 62 Bill Lueck G 71 Francis Peay T Defensive linemen 82 Lionel Aldridge DE 78 Bob Brown DT 87 Willie Davis DE 70 Rich Moore DT 83 Phil Vandersea DE 73 Jim Weatherwax DT 58 Francis Winkler DE		Linebackers 60 Lee Roy Caffey OLB 53 Fred Carr OLB 55 Jim Flanigan MLB 66 Ray Nitschke MLB 89 Dave Robinson OLB Defensive backs 26 Herb Adderley CB 43 Doug Hart SS 21 Bob Jeter CB 45 John Rowser CB/S 47 Gordon Rule CB/S 24 Willie Wood FS Special teams 32 Booth Lusteg K		Reserve Lists 27 Claudis James WR (IR) 74 Henry Jordan DT (IR) Taxi squad 56 Larry Agajanian DT 20 Andy Beath DB 61 Dave Bradley G 28 Leon Harden S 38 Mike Mercer K 15 Bart Starr QB

Preseason

On August 30, a crowd of 85,532 fans viewed a doubleheader at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium. In the first contest, the Chicago Bears played the AFL’s Buffalo Bills, while the Cleveland Browns hosted the Green Bay Packers in the second match.^[2]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 21	Chicago Bears	W 17–0	1–0	Lambeau Field	50,861	Recap
2	September 28	San Francisco 49ers	W 14–7	2–0	Milwaukee County Stadium	48,184	Recap
3	October 5	at Minnesota Vikings	L 7–19	2–1	Memorial Stadium	60,740	Recap
4	October 12	at Detroit Lions	W 28–17	3–1	Tiger Stadium	58,384	Recap
5	October 19	at Los Angeles Rams	L 21–34	3–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	78,947	Recap
6	October 26	Atlanta Falcons	W 28–10	4–2	Lambeau Field	50,861	Recap
7	November 2	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 38–34	5–2	Pitt Stadium	46,403	Recap
8	November 9	at Baltimore Colts	L 6–14	5–3	Memorial Stadium	60,238	Recap
9	November 16	Minnesota Vikings	L 7–9	5–4	Milwaukee County Stadium	48,321	Recap
10	November 23	Detroit Lions	L 10–16	5–5	Lambeau Field	50,861	Recap
11	November 30	New York Giants	W 20–10	6–5	Milwaukee County Stadium	48,156	Recap
12	December 7	at Cleveland Browns	L 7–20	6–6	Cleveland Stadium	82,137	Recap
13	December 14	at Chicago Bears	W 21–3	7–6	Wrigley Field	45,216	Recap
14	December 21	St. Louis Cardinals	W 45–28	8–6	Lambeau Field	50,861	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	0	0
• Packers	7	0	0	10	17

• Date: September 21
• Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
• Game weather: 54 °F (12 °C), wind 6 mph

• Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary

1		GB	T. Williams 31-yard pass from Starr (Mercer kick)	Packers 7–0
4		GB	Grabowski 1-yard run (Mercer kick)	Packers 14–0
4		GB	Mercer 32-yard field goal	Packers 17–0

Week 2

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	0	0	7	0	7
• Packers	0	0	7	7	14

• Date: September 28
• Location: Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, WI
• Game weather: 54 °F (12 °C); wind 11 mph

Scoring summary

Q3		GB	Hampton 87 yard kickoff return (Mercer kick)	GB 7–0
Q3		SF	McNeil 80 yard pass from Brodie (Davis kick)	Tie 7–7
Q4		GB	Grabowski 2 yard pass from Starr (Mercer kick)	GB 14–7

^[3]

Standings

NFL Central
view talk edit	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.