| Year: | 1969 |
| Eastchampion: | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Aflchampion: | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Regular Season: | September 14 – December 14, 1969 |
| Playoffs Start: | December 20, 1969 |
| Sb Site: | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California |
The 1969 AFL season was the tenth and final regular season of the American Football League. To honor the AFL's tenth season, a special anniversary logo was designed and each Kansas City Chiefs player wore a patch on his jersey with the logo during Super Bowl IV, the final AFL-NFL World Championship Game prior to the AFL–NFL merger.
The Chiefs defeated the Oakland Raiders in the final AFL Championship Game, then soundly defeated the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV.
In its final two years of existence, the AFL had ten teams, grouped into two divisions. Each team played a home-and-away game against the other four teams in its division, a home-and-away series against one of the five teams in opposite division, and one game each against the remaining four teams from the opposite division. Using that format, the defending World Champion New York Jets went 10–0 against the five teams they played twice, but were 0–4 against the top four teams in the West.
For the 1969 season, a provision was made for a four-team playoff to determine the AFL champion, the league's representative in the Super Bowl, with the #1 team in the division hosting the #2 team in the opposite division. The NFL also had a four-team playoff, introduced in, matching the winners of the Capitol and Century divisions, and the Coastal and Central divisions.
The 1970 merger placed the ten AFL teams (along with three teams from the pre-1970 NFL) into the 13-team AFC. The other NFL teams went into the 13-team NFC.
| Week | Eastern #1 | Eastern #2 | Western #1 | Western #2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | N.Y. Jets | 1–0–0 | Hou, Bos, Buf, Mia | 0–1–0 | Oak, KC, Den, Cin | 1–0–0 | Oak, KC, Den, Cin | 1–0–0 | |
| 2 | Hou, NY | 1–1–0 | Hou, NY | 1–1–0 | Oak, KC, Den, Cin | 2–0–0 | Oak, KC, Den, Cin | 2–0–0 | |
| 3 | Houston | 2–1–0 | NY, Buf | 1–2–0 | Oak, Cin | 3–0–0 | Oak, Cin | 3–0–0 | |
| 4 | Houston | 3–1–0 | N.Y. Jets | 2–2–0 | Oakland | 3–0–1 | Kansas City | 3–1–0 | |
| 5 | NY, Hou | 3–2–0 | NY, Hou | 3–2–0 | Oakland | 4–0–1 | Kansas City | 4–1–0 | |
| 6 | N.Y. Jets | 4–2–0 | Houston | 3–3–0 | Oakland | 5–0–1 | Kansas City | 5–1–0 | |
| 7 | N.Y. Jets | 5–2–0 | Houston | 4–3–0 | Oakland | 6–0–1 | Kansas City | 6–1–0 | |
| 8 | N.Y. Jets | 6–2–0 | Houston | 4–4–0 | Kansas City | 7–1–0 | Oakland | 6–1–1 | |
| 9 | N.Y. Jets | 7–2–0 | Houston | 4–4–1 | Kansas City | 8–1–0 | Oakland | 7–1–1 | |
| 10 | N.Y. Jets | 7–3–0 | Houston | 4–4–2 | Kansas City | 9–1–0 | Oakland | 8–1–1 | |
| 11 | N.Y. Jets | 8–3–0 | Houston | 5–4–2 | Oakland | 9–1–1 | Kansas City | 9–2–0 | |
| 12 | N.Y. Jets | 8–4–0 | Houston | 5–5–2 | Oakland | 10–1–1 | Kansas City | 10–2–0 | |
| 13 | N.Y. Jets | 9–4–0 | Houston | 5–6–2 | Oakland | 11–1–1 | Kansas City | 11–2–0 | |
| 14 | N.Y. Jets | 10–4–0 | Houston | 6–6–2 | Oakland | 12–1–1 | Kansas City | 11–3–0 |
| Home/Road | Eastern Division | Western Division | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OAK | |||||||||||
| Eastern | Boston Patriots | 35–21 | 24–0 | 16–17 | 14–23 | 0–31 | 23–38 | 10–13 | |||
| Buffalo Bills | 23–16 | 3–17 | 28–3 | 19–33 | 16–13 | 41–28 | 7–29 | ||||
| Houston Oilers | 27–23 | 28–14 | 22–10 | 26–34 | 31–31 | 24–21 | 17–21 | ||||
| Miami Dolphins | 23–38 | 24–6 | 7–32 | 9–27 | 27–24 | 20–20 | 14–21 | ||||
| New York Jets | 23–17 | 16–6 | 26–17 | 34–31 | 40–7 | 16–34 | 14–27 | ||||
| Western | Cincinnati Bengals | 14–25 | 27–21 | 7–21 | 23–30 | 24–19 | 31–17 | 34–20 | |||
| Denver Broncos | 35–7 | 20–20 | 21–19 | 27–16 | 13–26 | 14–24 | 13–0 | ||||
| Kansas City Chiefs | 22–19 | 24–0 | 17–10 | 42–22 | 31–17 | 24–27 | 27–3 | ||||
| Oakland Raiders | 50–21 | 21–17 | 20–17 | 37–17 | 41–10 | 10–6 | 21–16 | ||||
| San Diego Chargers | 28–18 | 45–6 | 34–27 | 21–14 | 45–24 | 9–27 | 12–24 | ||||
For its tenth and final season before merging with the NFL, the AFL instituted a four team playoff tournament with the second place teams in each division also participating.
See main article: 1969–70 American Football League playoffs.
See main article: Super Bowl IV. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Minnesota Vikings 23–7 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 11, 1970. The Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award was given to Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson[1]
Mike Holovak was fired and replaced by Clive Rush.[3]
John Rauch became the new Bills head coach after resigning from the Oakland Raiders. Joe Collier was fired after two games into the 1968 season, and defensive coordinator Harvey Johnson then served as interim head coach.
John Madden replaced John Rauch, who resigned to join the Bills. At age 33, Madden become the youngest head coach in pro football.[4]
Sid Gillman sat out five games due to health issues. Charlie Waller, the team's offensive backfield coach, served as interim.
| Referee | Umpire | Head Linesman | Line Judge | Back Judge | Field Judge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (#12) Ben Dreith | (#27) Al Conway | (#74) Ray Dodez | (#24) Bruce Alford | (#44) Dick Eichhorst | (#58) Bob Baur | |
| (#14) Bob Finley | (#78) Art Demmas | (#34) Harry Kessel | (#62) Gerry Hart | (#45) John Fouch | (#52) Pat Mallette | |
| (#18) Walt Fitzgerald | (#53) Frank Kirtland | (#32) Cal Lepore | (#67) Tommy Miller | (#70) Hugh Gamber | (#55) Charley Musser | |
| (#11) John McDonough | (#25) Walt Parker | (#35) Leo Miles | (#61) John Staffen | (#49) Hunter Jackson | (#50) Tony Skover | |
| (#42) Jack Reader | (#20) Frank Sinkovitz | (#50) Al Saboto | (#65) Aaron Wade | (#43) Bill Kestermeier | (#57) Bill Summers | |
| (#15) Jack Vest | (#22) Paul Trepinski | (#36) Tony Veteri | (#68) Bill Wright | (#48) Bob Rice | (#54) Bob Wortman |