1969 New Orleans Saints season

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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 99 points and was named to the Pro Bowl.^[2]

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

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1969 New Orleans Saints draft
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	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 21	Washington Redskins	L 20–26	0–1	Tulane Stadium	73,147
2	September 28	Dallas Cowboys	L 17–21	0–2	Tulane Stadium	79,567
3	October 5	at Los Angeles Rams	L 17–36	0–3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	54,879
4	October 12	Cleveland Browns	L 17–27	0–4	Tulane Stadium	71,274
5	October 19	Baltimore Colts	L 10–30	0–5	Tulane Stadium	80,636
6	October 26	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 10–13	0–6	Franklin Field	60,658
7	November 2	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 51–42	1–6	Busch Memorial Stadium	46,718
8	November 9	at Dallas Cowboys	L 17–33	1–7	Cotton Bowl	68,282
9	November 16	at New York Giants	W 25–24	2–7	Yankee Stadium	62,927
10	November 23	San Francisco 49ers	W 43–38	3–7	Tulane Stadium	71,448
11	November 30	Philadelphia Eagles	W 26–17	4–7	Tulane Stadium	72,805
12	December 7	at Atlanta Falcons	L 17–45	4–8	Atlanta Stadium	57,021
13	December 14	at Washington Redskins	L 14–17	4–9	RFK Stadium	50,354
14	December 21	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 27–24	5–9	Tulane Stadium	72,256
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Capitol
view talk edit	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)

Period	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

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

v t e New Orleans Saints
Founded in 1967 Based in New Orleans, Louisiana Headquartered in Metairie, Louisiana
Franchise	Franchise Seasons History Players Coaches Expansion draft First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Broadcasters
Stadiums	Tulane Stadium Caesars Superdome Temporary home venues in 2005 due to Hurricane Katrina: Alamodome Giants Stadium Tiger Stadium
Culture	Gumbo Sir Saint Saintsations Who Dat? Tom Benson Effect of Hurricane Katrina Buddy D "When the Saints Go Marching In" Home Team Number One A Saintly Switch
Lore	"Aints" (1–15) Dempsey's 63-yard field goal Dome Patrol Ricky Williams trade River City Relay Steve Gleason's blocked punt Beast Quake Bountygate Minneapolis Miracle NOLA No-Call
Rivalries	Atlanta Falcons Carolina Panthers Los Angeles Rams Minnesota Vikings Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Wild card berths (5)	1987 1990 1992 2010 2013
Division championships (9)	1991 2000 2006 2009 2011 2017 2018 2019 2020
Conference championships (1)	2009
League championships (1)	2009 (XLIV)
Retired numbers	31 81
Ring of Honor	Andersen Benson Jackson Manning Mills Roaf Smith
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: South Division

v t e New Orleans Saints seasons
1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Bold indicates Super Bowl victory

1969 NFL season

Capitol	Century	Coastal	Central
Dallas	Cleveland	Atlanta	Chicago
New Orleans	New York	Baltimore	Detroit
Philadelphia	Pittsburgh	Los Angeles	Green Bay
Washington	St. Louis	San Francisco	Minnesota