# 1969 Denver Broncos season

The 1969 Denver Broncos season was the team's tenth season as a franchise, and their final season in the American Football League (AFL) before the league merged with the National Football League (NFL). Led by third-year head coach and general manager Lou Saban, the Broncos were 5–8–1, fourth place in the AFL West for the seventh straight season.
Denver opened with two victories at home, but were winless in their previous five games entering the season finale; they avoided the division cellar with a home win over Cincinnati in the final AFL game for both.
Of the original eight franchises, Denver was the only one to never play in the AFL postseason. Six of the teams won league titles; the other exception was Boston, who won their sole division title via a tiebreaker game in 1963. The Broncos posted their first winning record in 1973 and made their first postseason in 1977, advancing to Super Bowl XII.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1969 Denver Broncos draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 2 | 36 | Grady Cavness | DB | UTEP |
| 3 | 61 | Bill Thompson * | DB | Maryland State |
| 4 | 84 | Mike Schnitker | LB | Colorado |
| 4 | 88 | Edward Hayes | DB | Morgan State |
| 5 | 113 | Frank Quayle | RB | Virginia |
| 6 | 131 | Wandy Williams | RB | Hofstra |
| 6 | 140 | Mike Coleman | RB | Tampa |
| 7 | 165 | Al Giffin | TE | Auburn |
| 9 | 217 | Henry Jones | RB | Grambling State |
| 10 | 244 | Jim Smith | DB | Utah State |
| 11 | 270 | Alan Pastrana | QB | Maryland |
| 12 | 296 | Wes Plummer | DB | Arizona State |
| 13 | 321 | John Sias | LB | Georgia Tech |
| 14 | 348 | Garry Crane | LB | Arkansas State |
| 15 | 373 | Errol Kahoun | G | Miami (OH) |
| 16 | 400 | Billy Woods | DB | North Texas State |
| 17 | 425 | Buster O'Brien | QB | Richmond |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1969 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| George Burrell | Defensive back | Penn |
| Ken Criter | Linebacker | Wisconsin |

## Personnel
### Roster

    Source:

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 14 | Boston Patriots | W 35–7 | 1–0 | Mile High Stadium | 43,482 | Recap |
| 2 | September 21 | New York Jets | W 21–19 | 2–0 | Mile High Stadium | 50,583 | Recap |
| 3 | September 28 | at Buffalo Bills | L 28–41 | 2–1 | War Memorial Stadium | 40,302 | Recap |
| 4 | October 5 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 13–26 | 2–2 | Mile High Stadium | 50,564 | Recap |
| 5 | October 12 | Oakland Raiders | L 14–24 | 2–3 | Mile High Stadium | 49,511 | Recap |
| 6 | October 19 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 30–23 | 3–3 | Nippert Stadium | 27,920 | Recap |
| 7 | October 26 | at Houston Oilers | L 21–24 | 3–4 | Astrodome | 45,348 | Recap |
| 8 | November 2 | San Diego Chargers | W 13–0 | 4–4 | Mile High Stadium | 45,511 | Recap |
| 9 | November 9 | at Oakland Raiders | L 10–41 | 4–5 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,416 | Recap |
| 10 | November 16 | Houston Oilers | T 20–20 | 4–5–1 | Mile High Stadium | 45,002 | Recap |
| 11 | November 23 | at San Diego Chargers | L 24–45 | 4–6–1 | San Diego Stadium | 34,664 | Recap |
| 12 | November 27 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 17–31 | 4–7–1 | Municipal Stadium | 48,773 | Recap |
| 13 | December 7 | at Miami Dolphins | L 24–27 | 4–8–1 | Miami Orange Bowl | 25,332 | Recap |
| 14 | December 14 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 27–16 | 5–8–1 | Mile High Stadium | 42,198 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

### Standings

AFL Western Division :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK |
| Oakland Raiders | 12 | 1 | 1 | .923 | 7–1 | 377 | 242 | W6 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 5–3 | 359 | 177 | L1 |
| San Diego Chargers | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 2–6 | 288 | 276 | W4 |
| Denver Broncos | 5 | 8 | 1 | .385 | 3–5 | 297 | 344 | W1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 3–5 | 280 | 367 | L5 |
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings of the AFL.