The 1969 Chicago Bears season was their 50th regular season completed in the National Football League. The team finished with a franchise-worst 1–13 record. The Bears' own historical record described the 1–13 campaign as the lowest point in franchise history at the time. This occurred despite the contributions of future Pro Football Hall of Fame players Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers. Sayers had torn the ligaments in his right knee in November 1968. After surgery, he went through a physical rehabilitation program with the help of teammate Brian Piccolo. In , Sayers led the league in rushing once again with 1,032 yards, but lacked his previous speed, and averaged only 4.4 yards per carry. This would also turn out to be Sayers final full season, as he would be on the injured reserve list for the entire 1970 and '71 seasons before finally retiring.
An already poor season was compounded in late November. Undersized fullback Piccolo had scored a touchdown in each of his final three games (November 2, 9, 16), but a persistent cough was diagnosed as cancer and he underwent chest surgery; he succumbed to the disease seven months later at age 26.
The Bears scored a total of only 27 points in 6 division games.
Offseason
Draft
Roster
Preseason On August 30, a crowd of 85,532 fans viewed a doubleheader at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium. In the first contest, the Bears played the AFL's Buffalo Bills, while the Cleveland Browns hosted the Green Bay Packers in the second match.Rockin’ the Rockpile: The Buffalo Bills of the American Football League, p.439, Jeffrey J. Miller, ECW Press, 2007,
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 21 at Green Bay Packers L 0–17 0–1 Lambeau Field 50,861 2 September 28 at St. Louis Cardinals L 17–20 0–2 Busch Memorial Stadium 50,039 3 October 5 at New York Giants L 24–28 0–3 Yankee Stadium 62,583 4 October 12 Minnesota Vikings L 0–31 0–4 Wrigley Field 45,757 5 October 19 at Detroit Lions L 7–13 0–5 Tiger Stadium 54,732 6 October 26 Los Angeles Rams L 7–9 0–6 Wrigley Field 45,985 7 November 2 at Minnesota Vikings L 14–31 0–7 Metropolitan Stadium 47,900 8 November 9 Pittsburgh Steelers W 38–7 1–7 Wrigley Field 45,851 9 November 16 at Atlanta Falcons L 31–48 1–8 Atlanta Stadium 53,722 10 November 23 Baltimore Colts L 21–24 1–9 Wrigley Field 45,455 11 November 30 Cleveland Browns L 24–28 1–10 Wrigley Field 45,050 12 at San Francisco 49ers L 21–42 1–11 Kezar Stadium 32,826 13 December 14 Green Bay Packers L 3–21 1–12 Wrigley Field 45,216 14 December 21 Detroit Lions L 3–20 1–13 Wrigley Field 41,879 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Standings
References