1969 Philadelphia Eagles season

1969 Philadelphia Eagles season
Owner	Leonard Tose
Head coach	Jerry Williams
Home field	Franklin Field
Results
Record	4–9–1
Division place	4th NFL Capitol
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1969 Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's thirty-seventh season in the National Football League. The team improved on its previous output of 2–12, winning four games.

Despite the improvement, the team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season.

Background

The Eagles wore both green (for road games) and white (for home games) helmets during the 1969 season. The white helmets then became part of the Eagles' permanent uniform for the next four seasons.

Philadelphia became the first NFL team to play home games on artificial turf when Franklin Field installed AstroTurf prior to this season. The Houston Oilers of the AFL was on its second season on AstroTurf; the team moved into the Astrodome the previous year.

Offseason

NFL Draft

The 1969 NFL/AFL draft was the third and final year in which the NFL and American Football League (AFL) held a joint draft of college players. The draft took place on January 28–29, and the Eagles alternated with the Atlanta Falcons in picking second and third over the seventeen rounds.

The draft began with first overall pick of O. J. Simpson, the Heisman Trophy-winning running back from USC, by the AFL's Buffalo Bills.

During the fourteen-game 1968 season, the Eagles had no wins until November 28 (week twelve) when the team defeated the Detroit Lions (4–8–2) in Detroit 12–0, and on December 8 (week thirteen), defeated the New Orleans Saints (4–9–1) in Philadelphia 29–17.

These victories gave the Eagles a better record than Buffalo (1–12–1) by half a game, and equaled the record of the Atlanta Falcons (2–12), which won the coin flip for the rights to the second pick in the draft, offensive tackle George Kunz from Notre Dame. Future hall of famer "Mean" Joe Greene, defensive tackle from North Texas State, was taken fourth by the Pittsburgh Steelers (2–11–1).

Player selections

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	3	Leroy Keyes	RB	Purdue
2	28	Ernest Calloway	LB	Texas Southern
3	55	Pick Traded to Cleveland Browns
3	69	Bill Bradley	DB	Texas
4	80	Bob Kuechenberg	G	Notre Dame
5	107	Jim Anderson	G	Missouri
6	132	Richard Barnhorst	TE	Xavier
7	159	Mike Schmeising	RB	St. Olaf
8	184	Bill Hobbs	LB	Texas A&M
9	211	Kent Lawrence	WR	Georgia
9	218	Lynn Buss	LB	Wisconsin
10	236	Sonny Wade	QB	Emory & Henry
10	243	Donnie Shanklin	RB	Kansas
11	263	Jim Marcum	DB	Texas-Arlington
12	288	Gary Adams	DB	Arkansas
13	314	Wade Key	TE	Southwest Texas State
14	340	James Ross	T	Bishop
15	367	Leon Angevine	WR	Penn State
16	392	Tom McClinton	DB	Southern
17	419	Bob Haack	T	Linfield (Ore.)

Roster

1969 Philadelphia Eagles roster

	Quarterbacks 10 George Mira 16 Norm Snead Running backs 33 Ronnie Blye 23 Harry Jones 20 Leroy Keyes 22 Cyril Pinder 37 Tom Woodeshick Wide receivers 18 Ben Hawkins 13 Chuck Hughes 86 Fred Hill 29 Harold Jackson 12 Kent Lawrence Tight ends 85 Gary Ballman 87 Fred Brown		Offensive linemen 76 Joe Carollo T 54 Gene Ceppetelli C 59 Mike Evans C 71 Dick Hart G 79 Lane Howell T 68 Mark Nordquist G 70 Jim Skaggs G Defensive linemen 57 Ernie Calloway DT 83 Don Hultz DT 72 Floyd Peters DT 88 Gary Pettigrew DE 82 Tim Rossovich DE 58 Mel Tom DE		Linebackers 49 Wayne Colman 61 Tony Guillory 56 Bill Hobbs 48 Jay Johnson 51 Ike Kelley 52 Dave Lloyd 45 Ron Medved 35 Adrian Young Defensive backs 28 Bill Bradley FS 27 Irv Cross CB 47 Ed Hayes 26 Al Nelson CB 24 Nate Ramsey S 30 Jimmy Raye II 21 Joe Scarpati FS Special teams 38 Sam Baker K/P		Reserve lists -- Gary Adams DB Practice squad Rookies in italics

Schedule

Main article: 1969 NFL season

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 21	Cleveland Browns	L 20–27	0–1	Franklin Field	60,658
2	September 28	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 41–27	1–1	Franklin Field	60,658
3	October 5	Dallas Cowboys	L 7–38	1–2	Franklin Field	60,658
4	October 13	at Baltimore Colts	L 20–24	1–3	Municipal Stadium	56,864
5	October 19	at Dallas Cowboys	L 14–49	1–4	Cotton Bowl	71,509
6	October 26	New Orleans Saints	W 13–10	2–4	Frankin Field	60,658
7	November 2	at New York Giants	W 23–20	3–4	Yankee Stadium	62,912
8	November 9	at Washington Redskins	T 28–28	3–4–1	RFK Stadium	50,502
9	November 16	Los Angeles Rams	L 17–23	3–5–1	Franklin Field	60,658
10	November 23	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 34–30	4–5–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	45,512
11	November 30	at New Orleans Saints	L 17–26	4–6–1	Tulane Stadium	72,805
12	December 7	Washington Redskins	L 29–34	4–7–1	Franklin Field	60,658
13	December 14	Atlanta Falcons	L 3–27	4–8–1	Franklin Field	60,658
14	December 21	at San Francisco 49ers	L 13–14	4–9–1	Kezar Stadium	25,391
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Capitol
	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.