1969 New Orleans Saints season

The 1969 New Orleans Saints season was the team's third as a member of the National Football League. They improved on their previous season's output of 4–9–1, winning five games.[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season. Tom Dempsey led the team in scoring with 99 points and was named to the Pro Bowl.[2]

1969 New Orleans Saints season
Owner	John W. Mecom, Jr.
Head coach	Tom Fears
General manager	Vic Schwenk
Home field	Tulane Stadium
Results
Record	5–9
Division place	3rd Capitol
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	RB Andy Livingston FB Tony Baker G Jake Kupp K Tom Dempsey

The 1969 Saints surrendered 7.90 yards per-pass-attempt (including quarterback sacks), an NFL record at the time for the Super Bowl Era, and third all-time as of 2012.[3]

Offseason

NFL draft

1969 New Orleans Saints draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	17	John Shinners	Guard	Xavier
Made roster

[4]

Personnel

Staff

1969 New Orleans Saints staff

	Front office President – John W. Mecom, Jr. General Manager – Vic Schwenk Head coaches Head Coach – Tom Fears Offensive coaches Offensive Backfield – Don Heinrich Receivers – Billy Ray Barnes Offensive Line – Brad Ecklund			Defensive coaches Chief Defensive – Jack Faulkner Defensive Line – Ed Khayat Linebackers – Jerry Smith Defensive Backfield – Ed Biles

[5]

Roster

1969 New Orleans Saints roster

	Quarterbacks 17 Billy Kilmer 14 Edd Hargett 11 Jim Ninowski Running backs 38 Tony Baker 32 Tom Barrington 48 Andy Livingston 34 Tony Lorick FB 28 Don Shy Wide receivers 46 Danny Abramowicz 25 Al Dodd 85 Ray Poage Tight ends 84 Jim Hester 83 Dave Parks		Offensive linemen 63 Norman Davis G 50 Jake Kupp G 70 Errol Linden T 67 John Shinners G 73 Jerry Sturm C 72 Don Talbert T 61 Del Williams G Defensive linemen 81 Doug Atkins DE 86 Daniel Colchico DE 89 Dave Long DE 87 Richard Neal DE 75 Mike Rengel DT 76 Dave Rowe DT 74 Mike Tilleman DT		Linebackers 53 Dick Absher 82 Johnny Brewer 66 Bill Cody 35 Ted Davis 57 Mike Morgan 51 Bill Saul Defensive backs 29 Gene Howard CB 24 Elijah Nevett CB 33 Steve Preece S 27 Bobby Thompson S 21 Carl Ward 23 Dave Whitsell S Special teams 44 Ollie Cordill P 19 Tom Dempsey K		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 21, 1969	Washington Redskins	L 26–20	73,147
2	September 28, 1969	Dallas Cowboys	L 21–17	79,567
3	October 5, 1969	at Los Angeles Rams	L 36–17	54,879
4	October 12, 1969	Cleveland Browns	L 27–17	71,274
5	October 19, 1969	Baltimore Colts	L 30–10	80,636
6	October 26, 1969	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 13–10	60,658
7	November 2, 1969	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 51–42	46,718
8	November 9, 1969	at Dallas Cowboys	L 33–17	68,282
9	November 16, 1969	at New York Giants	W 25–24	62,927
10	November 23, 1969	San Francisco 49ers	W 43–38	71,448
11	November 30, 1969	Philadelphia Eagles	W 26–17	72,805
12	December 7, 1969	at Atlanta Falcons	L 45–17	57,021
13	December 14, 1969	at Washington Redskins	L 17–14	50,354
14	December 21, 1969	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 27–24	72,256

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.

Season summary

Week 10

Week Ten: San Francisco 49ers (2–6–1) at New Orleans Saints (2–7)

	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	7	14	7	10	38
Saints	0	7	21	15	43

at Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana

• Date: November 23, 1969
• Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C)
• Game attendance: 71,448
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

First quarter SF – Ken Willard 1-yard run (Momcilo Gavric kick). 49ers 7–0. Drive: Second quarter SF – Dick Witcher 8-yard pass from Doug Cunningham (Momcilo Gavric kick). 49ers 14–0. Drive: SF – Ken Willard 1-yard run (Momcilo Gavric kick). 49ers 21–0. Drive: NO – Ray Poage 22-yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Tom Dempsey kick). 49ers 21–7. Drive: Third quarter NO – Andy Livingston 12-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick). 49ers 21–14. Drive: NO – Danny Abramowicz 49-yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Tom Dempsey kick). Tie 21–21. Drive: NO – Danny Abramowicz 13-yard pass from Andy Livingston (Tom Dempsey kick). Saints 28–21. Drive: SF – Jimmy Thomas 45-yard pass from John Brodie (Momcilo Gavric kick). Tie 28–28. Drive: Fourth quarter NO – Safety, center snap out of end zone. Saints 30–28. NO – Tom Dempsey 17-yard field goal. Saints 33–28. Drive: SF – Jimmy Thomas 18-yard pass from John Brodie (Momcilo Gavric kick). 49ers 35–33. Drive: NO – Tom Dempsey 43-yard field goal. Saints 36–35. Drive: SF – Momcilo Gavric 23-yard field goal. 49ers 38–36. Drive: NO – Ernie Wheelwright 3-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick). Saints 43–38. Drive: Top passers SF – John Brodie – 15/24, 290 yards, 2 TD, INT NO – Billy Kilmer – 13/24, 235 yards, 2 TD Top rushers SF – Doug Cunningham – 14 rushes, 84 yards NO – Andy Livingston – 14 rushes, 83 yards, TD Top receivers SF – Jimmy Thomas – 3 receptions, 106 yards, 2 TD NO – Danny Abramowicz – 5 receptions, 113 yards, 2 TD

NFL Films selected this matchup as the Game of the Week.

References

1. 1969 New Orleans Saints
2. Numbelievable!, p.19, Michael X. Ferraro and John Venziano, Triumph Books, 2007, Chicago, Illinois, ISBN 978-1-57243-990-0
3. Cold Hard Football Facts: Ryan Kalil ad: Carolina D not up to the task, third to only the 1981 Colts and 1975 Jets
4. "1969 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
5. "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved June 23, 2012.