1969 Baltimore Colts season

1969 Baltimore Colts season
OwnerCarroll Rosenbloom
General managerHarry Hulmes
Head coachDon Shula
Home fieldMemorial Stadium
Results
Record8–5–1
Division place2nd Coastal
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1969 Baltimore Colts season was the 17th season for the team in the National Football League. The Colts finished the National Football League's 1969 season with a record of 8 wins, 5 losses and 1 tie. Led by seventh-year head coach Don Shula, Baltimore finished second in the Western Conference's Coastal division, well behind the Los Angeles Rams (11–3).

Many attributed the disappointing season to the hangover of losing to the heavy-underdog New York Jets in Super Bowl III in January 1969. It is one of the first instances of a Super Bowl hangover – in which the team that played in a Super Bowl the previous season, underperforms the next season.

A disappointing 20–17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in week 9 dropped the Colts to a 5–4 record and put the Colts four full games behind the unbeaten Los Angeles Rams in the division. After the defeat head coach Shula declared, "It looks like we are out of it. I'm disappointed that we went without giving them [the Rams] a battle for it."[1]

Two months after the season, Shula departed in February 1970 for the Miami Dolphins.[2][3]

NFL/AFL draft

Main article: 1969 NFL/AFL draft
1969 Baltimore Colts draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 25 Eddie Hinton  Wide receiver Oklahoma
2 33 Ted Hendricks * †  Linebacker Miami (FL)
2 51 Tommy Maxwell  Defensive back Texas A&M
3 77 Dennis Nelson  Tackle Illinois State Played with Colts 1970–74
4 87 Jacky Stewart  Running back Texas Tech
5 129 King Dunlap  Defensive tackle Tennessee State
6 154 Bill Fortier  Tackle LSU
7 163 Gary Fleming  Defensive end Samford
7 181 Roland Moss  Tight end Toledo
8 207 Sam Havrilak  Wide receiver Bucknell
9 210 George Wright  Sam Houston State Defensive tackle Played with Colts 1970–71
9 232 Larry Good  Quarterback Georgia Tech
10 259 Marion Griffin  Tight end Purdue
11 285 Ken Delaney  Tackle Akron
12 310 Butch Riley  Linebacker Texas A&I
13 337 Carl Mauck  Center Southern Illinois
14 363 Dave Bartelt  Linebacker Colorado
15 389 George Thompson  Defensive back Marquette
16 415 Jim McMillan  Running back The Citadel
17 441 Joe Cowan  Wide receiver Johns Hopkins
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[4]

Personnel

Staff/coaches

1969 Baltimore Colts staff
Front office

Coaching staff

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Roster

1969 Baltimore Colts roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Main article: 1969 NFL season
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 21 Los Angeles Rams L 20–27 0–1 Memorial Stadium 56,864 Recap
2 September 28 at Minnesota Vikings L 14–52 0–2 Metropolitan Stadium 47,644 Recap
3 October 5 at Atlanta Falcons W 21–14 1–2 Grant Field 57,806 Recap
4 October 13 Philadelphia Eagles W 24–20 2–2 Memorial Stadium 56,864 Recap
5 October 19 at New Orleans Saints W 30–10 3–2 Tulane Stadium 80,636 Recap
6 October 26 San Francisco 49ers L 21–24 3–3 Memorial Stadium 60,238 Recap
7 November 2 Washington Redskins W 41–17 4–3 Memorial Stadium 60,238 Recap
8 November 9 Green Bay Packers W 14–6 5–3 Memorial Stadium 60,238 Recap
9 November 16 at San Francisco 49ers L 17–20 5–4 Kezar Stadium 38,472 Recap
10 November 23 at Chicago Bears W 24–21 6–4 Wrigley Field 45,455 Recap
11 November 30 Atlanta Falcons W 13–6 7–4 Memorial Stadium 60,238 Recap
12 December 7 Detroit Lions T 17–17 7–4–1 Memorial Stadium 60,238 Recap
13 December 13 at Dallas Cowboys L 10–27 7–5–1 Cotton Bowl 63,191 Recap
14 December 21 at Los Angeles Rams W 13–7 8–5–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 73,326 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1 vs Rams

Week One: Los Angeles Rams (0–0) at Baltimore Colts (0–0)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Rams 3 7 10727
Colts 0 10 7320

at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

  • Date: September 21
  • Game weather: 63 °F or 17.2 °C, relative humidity 64%, wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
  • Game attendance: 56,864
  • [5]
Game information

Week 6 vs 49ers

Week Six: San Francisco 49ers (0–4–1) at Baltimore Colts (3–2)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
49ers 0 10 14024
Colts 0 7 7721

at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

  • Date: October 26, 1969
  • Game weather: 48 °F or 8.9 °C, relative humidity 49%, wind 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h; 4.3 kn)
  • [6]
Game information

This would be the last time the 49ers would visit the Colts until 1989,[7] by when Robert Irsay had moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The 49ers would next play in Baltimore when meeting the Ravens in 2003.[8]

Standings

NFL Coastal
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Los Angeles Rams 11 3 0 .786 5–1 7–3 320 243 L3
Baltimore Colts 8 5 1 .615 3–3 5–4–1 279 268 W1
Atlanta Falcons 6 8 0 .429 2–4 4–6 276 268 W3
San Francisco 49ers 4 8 2 .333 2–4 3–7 277 319 W1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

See also

References

  1. ^ Cameron C. Snyder, "Shula Thinks Colts are Out of It," Baltimore Sun, Nov. 17, 1969, p. 27.
  2. ^ "Shula replaces Miami's Wilson". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. February 19, 1970. p. 1, part 2.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Dollar signs convince Shula to jump to Miami Dolphins". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. February 19, 1970. p. 4D.
  4. ^ "1969 Baltimore Colts Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  5. ^ "Los Angeles Rams at Baltimore Colts — September 21st, 1969". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  6. ^ "San Francisco 49ers at Baltimore Colts — October 26th, 1969". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  7. ^ Urena, Ivan (2014). Pro Football Schedules: A Complete Historical Guide from 1933 to the Present. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 16. ISBN 9780786473519.
  8. ^ "Baltimore Ravens vs. San Francisco 49ers Results". The Football Database.


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