1969 Pittsburgh Steelers season

1969 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Head coachChuck Noll
Home stadiumPitt Stadium
Results
Record1–13
Division place4th NFL Century
PlayoffsDid not qualify
All-ProsRoy Jefferson (1st team)
Pro Bowlers
Team MVPRoy Jefferson

The 1969 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 37th in the National Football League. It would mark a turning point of the Steelers franchise. 1969 was the first season for Hall of Fame head coach Chuck Noll, the first season for defensive lineman "Mean Joe" Greene and L. C. Greenwood, the first season for longtime Steelers public relations director Joe Gordon, and the team's last season in Pitt Stadium before moving into then-state-of-the-art Three Rivers Stadium the following season.

Although considered a turning point in the team's history, the results were not immediate; after winning the season opener against the Detroit Lions, the Steelers lost every game afterwards to finish 1–13. The Steelers became the first team in NFL history since the 1936 Philadelphia Eagles to win its season opener and lose every remaining game. This feat would later be matched by the 2001 Carolina Panthers and the 2020 Jacksonville Jaguars, both teams won their season openers but went on to lose their remaining games. The Steelers finished 1969 4th in the NFL Century Division and tied with the Chicago Bears for last in the NFL. With the Steelers finishing 1–6 at Pitt Stadium, it marked the last time the Steelers finished the season with a losing record at home until 1999.

As a result of their 1–13 records, Art Rooney of the Steelers won a coin toss with George Halas of the Bears to determine who would select Louisiana Tech quarterback Terry Bradshaw (the consensus number 1 selection among league teams) with the number one pick in the 1970 draft. By modern NFL tiebreaking rules, the Steelers would have automatically been given the first pick anyway, as the Bears' one win came against the Steelers in Week 8. Only four players from that 1969 team (defensive linemen Joe Greene and L.C. Greenwood and offensive linemen Sam Davis and Jon Kolb) would appear in all 4 of the Steelers Super Bowl wins of the 1970s.