# 1969 Cleveland Browns season

The 1969 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 20th season with the National Football League and their 24th overall in professional football and the last before the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger.
The Browns made it to the 1969 NFL Championship Game, where they fell to the Minnesota Vikings 27–7. The 1969 season would be the last year that Cleveland would win a postseason game until 1986. In addition, that victory over Dallas would also be the last time the Browns won a postseason game on the road until the 2020–21 playoffs. This was also the last season in which the Browns made it to the league championship game, as they have failed to reach the Super Bowl after the merger.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

The following were selected in the 1969 NFL/AFL draft.
1969 Cleveland Browns Draft :
| Round | Selection | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 20 | Ron Johnson | Running back | Michigan |
| 3 | 55 | Al Jenkins | Guard | Tulsa |
| 3 | 72 | Chip Glass | Tight end | Florida State |
| 4 | 98 | Freddie Summers | Defensive back | Wake Forest |
| 5 | 124 | Fair Hooker | Wide receiver | Arizona State |
| 6 | 145 | Larry Adams | Defensive tackle | Texas Christian University |
| 6 | 150 | Joe Righetti | Defensive tackle | Waynesburg |
| 7 | 176 | Walt Sumner | Defensive back | Florida State |
| 8 | 202 | Chuck Reynolds | Center | Tulsa |
| 9 | 228 | Ron Kamzelski | Defensive tackle | Minnesota |
| 10 | 254 | Greg Shelly | Guard | Virginia |
| 11 | 280 | Dave Jones | Wide receiver | Kansas State |
| 12 | 306 | Dick Davis | Running back | Nebraska |
| 13 | 332 | Tommy Boutwell | Wide receiver | Southern Miss |
| 14 | 358 | Jiggy Smaha | Defensive tackle | Georgia |
| 15 | 384 | Joel Stevenson | Tight end | Georgia Tech |
| 16 | 410 | James Lowe | Flanker | Tuskegee |
| 17 | 436 | Bob Oliver | Defensive end | Abilene Christian |

## 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 (with All-Pro running back Gale Sayers) played the AFL's Buffalo Bills (with rookie running back O. J. Simpson), while the Cleveland Browns hosted the Green Bay Packers in the second match.

## Exhibition schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
| 1 | August 10 | vs. San Francisco 49ers at Seattle | W 24–19 | 32,219 |
| 2 | August 16 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 10–3 | 54,937 |
| 3 | August 23 | at San Diego Chargers | T 19–19 | 36,005 |
| 4 | August 30 | Green Bay Packers | L 17–27 | 85,532 |
| 5 | September 6 | at Washington Redskins | W 20–10 | 45,994 |
| 6 | September 13 | vs. Minnesota Vikings at Akron | L 16–23 | 28,561 |

## Regular season schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | September 21 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 27–20 | 1–0 | 60,658 |
| 2 | September 28 | Washington Redskins | W 27–23 | 2–0 | 82,581 |
| 3 | October 5 | Detroit Lions | L 21–28 | 2–1 | 82,933 |
| 4 | October 12 | at New Orleans Saints | W 27–17 | 3–1 | 71,274 |
| 5 | October 18 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 42–31 | 4–1 | 84,078 |
| 6 | October 26 | St. Louis Cardinals | T 21–21 | 4–1–1 | 81,186 |
| 7 | November 2 | Dallas Cowboys | W 42–10 | 5–1–1 | 84,850 |
| 8 | November 9 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 3–51 | 5–2–1 | 47,700 |
| 9 | November 16 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 24–3 | 6–2–1 | 47,670 |
| 10 | November 23 | New York Giants | W 28–17 | 7–2–1 | 80,595 |
| 11 | November 30 | at Chicago Bears | W 28–24 | 8–2–1 | 45,050 |
| 12 | December 7 | Green Bay Packers | W 20–7 | 9–2–1 | 82,137 |
| 13 | December 14 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 27–21 | 10–2–1 | 44,924 |
| 14 | December 21 | at New York Giants | L 14–27 | 10–3–1 | 62,966 |

## Standings

NFL Century :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Cleveland Browns | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 4–1–1 | 8–1–1 | 351 | 300 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 4–2 | 4–6 | 264 | 298 | W3 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 3–2–1 | 3–6–1 | 314 | 389 | L3 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 1 | 13 | 0 | .071 | 0–6 | 0–10 | 218 | 404 | L13 |
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| Eastern Conference | December 27 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 38–14 | 1–0 | Cotton Bowl | 69,321 | Recap |
| NFL Championship | January 4, 1970 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 7–27 | 1–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,900 | Recap |