1969 Cincinnati Bengals season

1969 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Paul Brown
Home stadium	Nippert Stadium
Results
Record	4–9–1
Division place	5th AFL West
Playoffs	Did not qualify
←  1968 Bengals seasons 1970  →

The 1969 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's second year as a franchise, and their final season in professional football's American Football League (AFL).

Head coach Paul Brown drafted quarterback Greg Cook of the University of Cincinnati in the first round. The same draft also produced linebacker Bill Bergey. Cook's season started spectacularly, as he led the Bengals to a 3–0 record. However, due to a pop in his right (throwing) shoulder while being tackled by linebacker Jim Lynch against Kansas City, he missed the next three games. ^{[1] [2]} With limited medical technology at the time, his injury went undiagnosed; it was later confirmed as a torn rotator cuff. Despite this, the Bengals defeated the Chiefs 24-19.

The Bengals jumped out to a 3–0 record, but finished 4–9–1 in their final season at Nippert Stadium, before moving to the brand new Riverfront Stadium the following season. Brown would be named AFL Coach of the Year.

The November 9, 1969 Bengals vs. Oilers game at the Astrodome in Houston is unique in Bengals history, as it is the only non-overtime tie game. Cincinnati played its first regular-season tie that afternoon, catching the Oilers at 31–31 on kicker Horst Muhlmann's 18-yard field goal with 0:22 left in the fourth quarter. Regular-season overtime was not in the rule book at that time.

The oldest season record in Bengals history, and the only one still standing from the Nippert Stadium years, is QB Greg Cook's average of 9.41 yards gained per passing attempt in 1969. The only other average of more than nine yards was 9.21 by QB Boomer Esiason in 1988. Cook went on to pass for 1,854 yards and led the Bengals to wins over the Oakland Raiders as well as the eventual Super Bowl Champion Chiefs.

Offseason

Common draft

Main article: 1969 NFL draft

1969 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	5	Greg Cook	Quarterback	Cincinnati
2	31	Bill Bergey *	Linebacker	Arkansas State
3	57	Speedy Thomas	Wide receiver	Utah
4	83	Clem Turner	Running back	Cincinnati
5	109	Guy Dennis	Guard	Florida
6	135	Ken Riley	Defensive back	Florida A&M
7	161	Royce Berry	Defensive end	Houston
8	187	Tim Buchanan	Linebacker	Hawaii
9	213	Mike Stripling	Running back	Tulsa
10	239	Steve Howell	Tight end	Ohio State
11	265	Mark Stewart	Defensive back	Georgia
12	291	Lonnie Paige	Defensive tackle	North Carolina Central
13	316	Chuck Benson	Wide receiver	Southern Illinois
14	343	Mike Wilson	Offensive tackle	Dayton
15	369	Bill Shoemaker	Placekicker	Stanford
16	395	Bill Schmidt	Linebacker	Missouri
17	421	Terry Story	Offensive tackle	Georgia Tech
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[3]

Personnel

Staff

1969 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office President – John Sawyer Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown Head coaches Head coach/General Manager – Paul Brown Offensive coaches Offensive Backfield – Jack Donaldson Receivers – Bill Walsh Offensive Line – Bill Johnson

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backfield – Tom Bass Defensive Line – Chuck Studley Linebackers – Vince Costello

Roster

1969 Cincinnati Bengals roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 12 Greg Cook 14 Sam Wyche Running backs (RB) 19 Essex Johnson 40 Ron Lamb 30 Jess Phillips 18 Paul Robinson 43 Clem Turner Wide receivers (WR) 10 Eric Crabtree 26 Jack Gehrke 25 Chip Myers 24 Tommie Smith 17 Speedy Thomas Tight ends (TE) 88 Bruce Coslet 84 Bob Trumpy

Offensive linemen (OL) 64 Justin Canale G 63 Guy Dennis G 72 Howard Fest T 54 Bob Johnson C 68 Dave Middendorf G 74 Ernie Park T 77 Frank Peters T 67 Michael Wilson G 75 Ernie Wright T Defensive linemen (DL) 85 Martin Baccaglio DE 82 Royce Berry DE 79 Steve Chomyszak DE/DT 89 Harry Gunner DE/DT 70 Andy Rice DT 83 Bill Staley DT

Linebackers (LB) 51 Ken Avery OLB 58 Al Beauchamp OLB 66 Bill Bergey MLB 52 Tim Buchanan MLB 53 Bill Peterson OLB Defensive backs (DB) 23 Al Coleman SS 27 Ken Dyer FS 28 John Guillory CB 20 Bobby Hunt FS 29 Jim Johnson SS 47 Charlie King CB 13 Ken Riley CB 31 Fletcher Smith CB Special teams (ST) 11 Dale Livingston P 16 Horst Mühlmann K 41 Terry Swanson P

Practice squad --Mark StewartDB Reserve 57 Ed Harmon LB (IR) 73 Pat Matson G (IR) -- Wayne McClure LB(Military) Rookies in italics

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Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 14	Miami Dolphins	W 27–21	1–0	Nippert Stadium	25,335	Recap
2	September 21	San Diego Chargers	W 34–20	2–0	Nippert Stadium	26,243	Recap
3	September 28	Kansas City Chiefs	W 24–19	3–0	Nippert Stadium	27,812	Recap
4	October 4	at San Diego Chargers	L 14–21	3–1	San Diego Stadium	52,748	Recap
5	October 12	New York Jets	L 7–21	3–2	Nippert Stadium	27,927	Recap
6	October 19	Denver Broncos	L 23–30	3–3	Nippert Stadium	27,920	Recap
7	October 26	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 22–42	3–4	Municipal Stadium	50,934	Recap
8	November 2	Oakland Raiders	W 31–17	4–4	Nippert Stadium	27,927	Recap
9	November 9	at Houston Oilers	T 31–31	4–4–1	Houston Astrodome	45,298	Recap
10	November 16	Boston Patriots	L 14–25	4–5–1	Nippert Stadium	25,913	Recap
11	November 23	at New York Jets	L 7–40	4–6–1	Shea Stadium	62,128	Recap
12	November 30	at Buffalo Bills	L 13–16	4–7–1	War Memorial Stadium	35,122	Recap
13	December 7	at Oakland Raiders	L 17–37	4–8–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,427	Recap
14	December 14	at Denver Broncos	L 16–27	4–9–1	Mile High Stadium	42,198	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFL Western Division
view talk edit	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.

Team stats

1969 Cincinnati Bengals Team Stats
TEAM STATS	Bengals	Opponents
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS	172	278
Rushing	66	135
Passing	95	130
Penalty	11	13
TOTAL NET YARDS	3868	5337
Avg Per Game	276.3	381.2
Total Plays	728	935
Avg. Per Play	5.3	5.7
NET YARDS RUSHING	1523	2651
Avg. Per Game	167.5	189.4
Total Rushes	363	523
NET YARDS PASSING	2345	2686
Avg. Per Game	167.5	191.9
Sacked Yards Lost	57–375	16–180
Gross Yards	2720	2866
Att. Completions	308–163	396–205
Completion Pct.	52.9	51.8
Intercepted	15	21
PUNTS-AVERAGE	85–38.8	55–41.4
PENALTIES-YARDS	50–556	72–824
FUMBLES-BALL LOST	30–25	19–16
TOUCHDOWNS	33	42
Rushing	10	13
Passing	22	24
Returns	1	5

Score by Periods	1	2	3	4	Tot
Bengals	48	92	72	68	280
Opponents	78	130	68	91	367

Team leaders

• Passing: Greg Cook (197 Att, 106 Comp, 1854 Yds, 53.8 Pct, 15 TD, 11 Int, 88.3 Rating)
• Rushing: Jess Phillips (118 Att, 578 Yds, 4.9 Avg, 83 Long, 3 TD)
• Receiving: Eric Crabtree (40 Rec, 855 Yds, 21.4 Avg, 73 Long, 7 TD)
• Scoring: Horst Muhlmann, 80 points (16 FG; 32 PAT)

Awards and records

AFL Coach of the Year

• Paul Brown

AFL Passing Title

• Greg Cook

AFL Defensive Rookie of the Year

• Bill Bergey

AFL Pro Bowl Selections

• RB Paul Robinson
• TE Bob Trumpy

References

1. "The Bearcats-Bengals Connection". University of Cincinnati Athletics. January 29, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
2. "Cincinnati Bengals History | 1969". Cincinnati Bengals. Archived from the original on February 11, 2022.
3. "1969 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
4. "1969 Cincinnati Bengals starters, roster, and players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 20, 2014.

External links

• 1969 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com