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National Football League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. National_Football_League
"NFL" redirects here. For other uses, see NFL (disambiguation). For other leagues of the same name,
Main page see National Football League (disambiguation).
Contents
The National Football League (NFL) is the highest National Football League
Featured content
level of professional American football in the United
Current events Current season or com petition:
States, and is considered the top professional
Random article Super Bowl XLVI
American football league in the world. [1] It was formed
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by eleven teams in 1920 as the American
Interaction Professional Football Association, with the league
Help changing its name to the National Football League in
1922. The league currently consists of thirty-two
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teams from the United States. The league is divided
Recent changes
evenly into two conferences – the American Football
Toolbox Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference
(NFC), and each conference has four divisions that
Print/export
have four teams each, for a total of 16 teams in each
Languages conference. The NFL is an unincorporated 501(c)(6)
اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ association, [2][3][4] a federal nonprofit designation, [5]
Bosanski comprising its 32 teams. [6][7] Sport American Football
Български The regular season is a seventeen-week schedule Founded August 20, 1920
Català in Canton, Ohio, United
during which each team plays sixteen games and has
Česky States
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Česky States
one bye week. The season currently starts on the
Dansk Thursday night in the first full week of September and Com m issioner Roger Goodell
Deutsch runs weekly to late December or early January. At the Inaugural season 1920
Eesti end of each regular season, six teams from each No. of team s 32
Español conference (at least one from each division) play in
Country(ies) United States
Esperanto the NFL playoffs, a twelve-team single-elimination
Euskara Most recent Green Bay Packers (13th
tournament that culminates with the championship
cham pion(s) title)
ﻓﺎرﺳﯽ game, known as the Super Bowl. This game is held
Føroyskt Most titles Green Bay Packers (13
at a pre-selected site which is usually a city that
titles)
Français hosts an NFL team.
Galego TV partner(s) CBS
The NFL is the most attended domestic sports league Fox
한국어
in the world by average attendance per game, with NBC
हद
66,960 fans per game in 2010–11. [8] Although not as ESPN
Hrvatski NFL Netw ork
frequently as the other major professional sports
Bahasa Indonesia
leagues in the United States, the NFL still is not Official w ebsite NFL.com
Íslenska
immune to labor disputes, such as the players'
Italiano
strikes of 1982 and 1987, and more recently a lockout in 2011,
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Italiano
strikes of 1982 and 1987, and more recently a lockout in 2011,
עברית
though the latest did not result in the cancellation of any regular-
ಕನಡ
season games.
Latviešu
Lietuvių Contents [hide]
Magyar
1 History
Македонски
2 Official rules and notable rule distinctions
मराठ
3 Season structure
Nederlands
3.1 Exhibition season
日本語
3.2 Regular season
Norsk (bokmål)
3.3 Playoffs
Polski
3.4 Pro Bowl
Português
3.5 Calendar
Română
4 Teams
Русский 4.1 Current NFL teams
Simple English 4.2 Former NFL teams
Slovenčina
5 Media
Српски / Srpski 5.1 Television
Srpskohrvatski / 5.2 Radio
Српскохрватски
5.3 Internet and new media The headquarters of the National Football
Suomi
6 Player contracts and compensation League at 345 Park Avenue, Midtow n
Svenska Manhattan, New York City, USA.
6.1 Salaries
த
6.2 Salary cap
ไทย
7 NFL Draft
Türkçe
8 Free agency
Українська
8.1 General
中文
8.2 Restricted free agent
8.3 Unrestricted free agent
8.4 Free agency changes in 2010
8.5 Franchise tag
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9 Banned substances policy
10 Video games
11 Management
11.1 Franchise owners
12 Uniform numbers
13 Awards
13.1 Discontinued awards
14 Cheerleading
15 See also
15.1 Regular seasons
15.2 Postseasons
15.3 Records
15.4 Related football leagues
16 References
16.1 Notes
16.2 Bibliography
17 External links
History
Main article: History of the National Football League
In 1920 representatives of several professional American football leagues and independent teams founded
the American Professional Football Conference, soon renamed the National Football League. The first
official championship game was held in 1933; prior to, there was no playoff system and instead the team
that finished with the best regular season record was awarded the league title. By 1958, when that season's
NFL championship game became known as "The Greatest Game Ever Played", the NFL was on its way to
becoming one of the most popular sports leagues in the United States. In 1965, football supplanted baseball
as the most popular televised sport in America. [9] The merger with the American Football League, agreed to
in 1966 and completed in 1970, greatly expanded the league and created the Super Bowl, which has
become the most-watched annual sporting event in the United States and is second behind the UEFA
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Champions League final as the most watched annual sporting evert worldwide.
Official rules and notable rule distinctions
See also: American football rules and List of NFL nicknames#Rules named after NFL figures
Although rules for NFL, college, and high school American football games are generally consistent, there
are several differences. In addition, the NFL frequently makes rule changes because of exploits on the field
by a single coach, owner, player, or referee.
Some of the major rules differences include:
A pass is ruled complete if both of the receiver's feet is inbounds at the time of the catch. In the college
and high school football, only one foot is required to be inbounds.
In the NFL, a player is considered down when he is tackled or forced down by a member of the opposing
team (also known as "down by contact"). In college football, a player is automatically ruled down when
any part of his body other than the feet or hands touches the ground or when the ball carrier is tackled or
otherwise falls and loses possession of the ball as he contacts the ground with any part of his body.
NFL players in certain positions are normally ineligible to catch passes. As an aid for game officials to
enforce this rule, players wear uniform numbers based on the position they play. (see below)
Unlike college and high school, the NFL has a two-minute warning, an automatic time-out that occurs
when two minutes of game time remain on the game clock in each half of a game.
Also unique to the NFL, the game clock never stops after the offense completes a first down in order to
reset the first down chains.
Two-point conversion tries are attempted from the two-yard line, whereas in college football they are
attempted from the three-yard line.
In college football, the defensive team may score two points on a point-after touchdown attempt by
returning a blocked kick, fumble, or interception into the opposition's end zone. The NFL does not allow
this, and instead a conversion attempt is automatically ruled as "no good" when the defending team
gains possession of the football.
There are several differences in enforcing penalties. For example, defensive pass interference results in
the ball being placed at the spot of the foul. In college football, the same penalty is capped at maximum
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of 15 yards.
In the NFL, overtime is decided by a 15-minute sudden-death quarter during regular season games and
can still end in a tie if neither team scores. During college football's overtime, each team is given one
possession from its opponent's twenty-five yard line with no game clock. The team leading after both
possessions is declared the winner. If the two college teams remain tied, additional overtime periods are
played.
For instant replay, NFL teams are given two replay challenges per game, and can be awarded a third
one if the other two are successful. Replays of scoring plays, the final 2:00 of each half and all overtime
periods are instead initiated by the official in the replay booth. In college football, teams are only
originally allocated one replay challenge (and can get a second one if successful), and the replay official
can initiate reviews of all plays.
Season structure
Since 2002, the NFL season features the following schedule:
a 4-game exhibition season (or preseason) running from early August to early September;
a 16-game, 17-week regular season running from September to December or early January; and
a 12-team single-elimination playoff beginning in January, culminating in the Super Bowl in early
February.
Traditionally, American high school football games are played on Friday nights, American college football
games are played on Thursday nights and Saturdays, and most NFL games are played on Sunday.
Because the NFL season is longer than the college football season, the NFL schedules Saturday games
and Saturday playoff games outside the college football season. The ABC Television network added
Monday Night Football in 1970, and Thursday night NFL games were added in the 1980s.
Exhibition season
Main article: National Football League preseason
Following mini-camps in the spring and officially recognized training camp in July–August, NFL teams
typically play four exhibition games from early August through early September. Each team hosts two
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games of the four. The exhibition season begins with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, so those two
teams play five exhibition games each. Historically, the American Bowl(s) were played prior to the NFL
scheduling regular season games abroad and those teams faced this similar predicament.
The games are useful for new players who are not used to playing in front of very large crowds. Management
often uses the games to evaluate newly signed players. Veteran starters will generally play only for about a
quarter of each game to minimize the risk of injury. Several lawsuits have been brought by fans, against the
policy of including exhibition games in season-ticket packages at regular season prices, but none have so
far been very successful.
Regular season
Main article: National Football
League regular season
Following the preseason, each of
the thirty-two teams embark on a
seventeen-week, sixteen-game
schedule, with the extra week
consisting of a bye to allow teams a
rest sometime in the middle of the This chart displays an application of the NFL scheduling formula. At the end
of the 2008 season, the Brow ns (in green) finished in fourth place in the AFC
season (and also to increase
North. Thus the Brow ns in 2009 had to play all the other AFC North teams (in
television coverage). The regular blue) tw ice; all the AFC West teams (another division w ithin its ow n
season currently begins the conference) once; all the NFC North teams (a division in the other conference)
Thursday evening after Labor Day once; and the Bills and the Jaguars, w ho also finished in fourth place in their
respective AFC divisions during that previous season.
with a primetime "Kickoff Game"
(NBC currently holds broadcast
rights for that game). According to the current scheduling structure, the earliest the season could begin is
September 4 (as it was in the 2008 season), while the latest would be September 10 (as it was in the 2009
season, due to September 1 falling on a Tuesday). The regular season ends no later than January 3, in any
given year.
The league uses a scheduling formula to pre-determine which teams plays whom during a given season.
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Under the current formula since 2002, each of the thirty-two teams' respective 16-game schedule consists
for the following: [10][11]
Each team plays the other three teams in their division twice: once at home, and once on the road (six
games).
Each team plays the four teams from another division within its own conference once on a rotating three-
year cycle: two at home, and two on the road (four games).
Each team plays the four teams from a division in the other conference once on a rotating four-year
cycle: two at home, and two on the road (four games).
Each team plays once against the other teams in its conference that finished in the same place in their
own divisions as themselves the previous season, not counting the division they were already scheduled
to play: one at home, one on the road (two games).
Although this scheduling formula determines each of the thirty-two teams' respective opponents, the league
usually does not release the final regular schedule with specific dates and times until the spring; the NFL
needs several months to coordinate the entire season schedule so that, among other reasons, games are
worked around various scheduling conflicts, and that it helps maximize TV ratings. [12]
Playoffs
Main article: National Football
League playoffs
The season concludes with a
twelve-team tournament used to
determine the teams to play in
the Super Bowl. The tournament
brackets are made up of six
teams from each of the league's
two conferences, the American
Football Conference (AFC) and
the National Football Conference
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(NFC), following the end of the
16-game regular season:
The four division champions
from each conference (the
The NFL Playoffs. Each of the four division w inners is seeded 1–4 based on
team in each division with the
their W-L-T records. The tw o Wild Card teams (labeled Wild Card 1 and 2) are
best regular season won-lost- seeded fifth and sixth (w ith the better of the tw o having seed 5) regardless of
tied record), which are seeded their records compared to the four division w inners.
one through four based on
their regular season won-lost-
tied record (tie-breaker rules may apply).
Two wild card qualifiers from each conference (those non-division champions with the conference's best
record, i.e. the best won-lost-tied percentages, with a series of tie-breaking rules in place in the event
that there are teams with the same number of wins and losses [13]), which are seeded five and six.
In each conference, the No. 3 and No. 6 seeded teams, and the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds, face each other
during the first round of the playoffs, dubbed the Wild Card Playoffs (the league in recent years has also
used the term Wild Card Weekend). The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds from each conference receive a bye in the
first round, which entitles these teams to automatically advance to the second round, the Divisional
Playoff games, to face the winning teams from the first round. In round two, the No. 1 seeded team always
plays the lowest surviving seed in their conference. And in any given playoff game, whoever has the higher
seed gets the home field advantage (i.e. the game is held at the higher seed's home field).
The two surviving teams from the Divisional Playoff games meet in Conference Championship games,
with the winners of those contests going on to face one another in the Super Bowl in a game located at a
neutral venue that is usually either indoors or in a warm-weather locale. The designated "home team"
alternates year to year between the conferences. In odd-numbered Super Bowls, the NFC team is the
designated "home team", with the AFC team serving as the home team for even-numbered games.
The NFL is the only one out of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States to use a
single-elimination tournament in its playoffs; Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association
and the National Hockey League all use a "best-of" format instead.
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Pro Bowl
The Pro Bowl, the league's all-star game, has been traditionally held on the weekend after the Super Bowl.
The game was played at various venues before being held at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii for 30
consecutive seasons from 1980 to 2009.
However, the 2010 Pro Bowl was played at Sun Life Stadium, the home stadium of the Miami Dolphins and
host site of Super Bowl XLIV, on January 31, the first time ever that the Pro Bowl was played before the
championship game. The game returned to Honolulu in 2011 and will again be played there in 2012, though
the 2011 game was still played before the Super Bowl.
Calendar
Though the NFL only plays in the late summer, fall, and early winter, the extended offseason often is an
event in itself, with the draft, free agency signings, and the announcement of schedules keeping the NFL in
the spotlight even during the spring, when virtually no on-field activity is taking place. A typical calendar of
league events is as follows, with the dates listed being those for the 2010 NFL season:
February 22 – Pro Football Hall of Fame Game opponents announced.
February 24 – March 2—NFL Scouting Combine: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Ind.
February 25—Deadline for Clubs to designate Franchise and Transition players.
March 5—Veteran Free Agency signing period begins. Trading period begins.
March 21–24—NFL Annual Meeting: Dana Point, Calif. Usually accompanied by announcement of
scheduling and opponents for first game and opening-weekend night games.
Early April: Teams begin voluntary workouts.
April 20: 2010 schedule announced.
April 22–24 – NFL Draft: New York City.
May 24–26—NFL Spring Meeting: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
June 27 – June 30—NFL Rookie Symposium, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Mid-July (varies by team, fifteen days before first preseason game)-- Training camps open.
August 7 – Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Canton, Ohio, including Hall of Fame Game.
August 12–16—First full Preseason weekend.
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August 31—Roster cutdown from 80 to maximum of 75 players.
September 4—Roster cutdown from 75 to maximum of 53 players.
September 9–13 – Kickoff 2010 Weekend (Week 1 of regular season)
October 31 – International Series game (Wembley Stadium, London).
November – Pro Bowl balloting and flexible scheduling for NBC Sunday Night Football begin.
November 25 – Thanksgiving games.
January 2, 2011—End of regular season.
January 8, 2011 – Playoffs begin.
January 23 – AFC Championship Game and NFC Championship Game.
January 30 – Pro Bowl.
February 6 – Super Bowl.
Teams
Current NFL teams
Seahaw ks
The NFL consists of
thirty-two clubs.
Each club is allowed Vikings Packers Patriots
a maximum of fifty- Bills
Lions Jets
Brow ns Giants
three players on their Bears Eagles
49ers
roster, but may only Raiders Broncos Colts Steelers Ravens
Redskins
dress forty-five to Chiefs Rams
Bengals
play each week
Panthers
during the regular Titans
Cardinals Falcons
season. Reflecting Chargers
the population Cow boys
distribution of the Jaguars
Saints
United States as a Texans Buccaneers
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whole, most teams Dolphins
are in the eastern
half of the country;
seventeen teams are
in the Eastern Time
Zone and nine others
in the Central Time
Zone.
Most major metropolitan areas in the United States have an NFL franchise, although Los Angeles, the
second-largest metropolitan area in the country, has not hosted an NFL team since 1994.
Further information: History of the National Football League in Los Angeles
The Rams and the Raiders called the Los Angeles area home from 1946–1994 and 1982–1994 respectively.
On August 9, 2011, the LA City Council approved plans to build Farmers Field which could be home to an
NFL team. It is unknown which team, if any, will move to the venue. [14]
Unlike Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association and the National
Hockey League, the league has no full-time teams in Canada, although the Buffalo Bills play one game per
year in Toronto. There has been discussion of possibly bringing the NFL to Toronto, the largest city in
Canada. In addition, as of 2012, the St. Louis Rams will begin hosting one of its regular season games in
London, England as part of the International Series, making the NFL the first U.S.-based sports league to
have one of its teams establish a home stadium outside North America.
The Dallas Cowboys are the highest valued American football franchise, valued at approximately
$1.6 billion[15] and one of the most valuable franchises in all of professional sports worldwide, currently
second[16] behind English soccer club Manchester United,[15] which has an approximate value of
$1.8 billion at current exchange rates. [17] Since the 2002 season, the teams have been aligned as follows:
Head
Division Team City/Area Stadium Founded[18] Joined Ow ner
Coach
Am erican Football Conference
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Orchard Park, Ralph Wilson
Buffalo Bills Oct 28, 1959 1970 Chan Gailey Ralph Wilson
NY Stadium 1
Miami Stephen M.
Miam i Dolphins Sun Life Stadium Aug 16, 1965 1970 Joe Philbin
Gardens, FL Ross
East
New England Foxborough,
Gillette Stadium Nov 22, 1959 1970 Bill Belichick Robert Kraft
Patriots MA
E. Rutherford, Woody
New York Jets MetLife Stadium Aug 14, 1959 1970 Rex Ryan
NJ Johnson
Baltim ore John
Baltimore, MD M&T Bank Stadium Feb 9, 1996 1996 2 Steve Bisciotti
Ravens Harbaugh
Cincinnati Paul Brow n Marvin
Cincinnati, OH May 23, 1967 1970 Mike Brow n
Bengals Stadium Lew is
North
Cleveland Cleveland Brow ns
Cleveland, OH June 4, 1944 1950 2 Pat Shurmur Randy Lerner
Brow ns Stadium
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA Heinz Field July 8, 1933 1933 Mike Tomlin Dan Rooney
Steelers
Houston
Houston, TX Reliant Stadium Oct 6, 1999 2002 Gary Kubiak Bob McNair
Texans
Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN Lucas Oil Stadium Jan 23, 1953 1953 Vacant Jim Irsay
Colts *
South
Jacksonville Jacksonville, Mike
EverBank Field Nov 30, 1993 1995 Shahid Khan
Jaguars FL Mularkey
Tennessee Mike
Nashville, TN LP Field Aug 14, 1959 1970 Bud Adams
Titans * Munchak
Denver Sports Authority
Denver, CO Aug 14, 1959 1970 John Fox Pat Bow len
Broncos Field at Mile High
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Kansas City Kansas City, Arrow head Romeo Clark Hunt et
Aug 14, 1959 1970
Chiefs * MO Stadium Crennel al.
West
Oakland Estate of Al
Oakland, CA O.co Coliseum Jan 30, 1960 1970 Dennis Allen
Raiders * Davis
San Diego
San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium Aug 14, 1959 1970 Norv Turner Alex Spanos
Chargers *
National Football Conference
Jason
Dallas Cow boys Arlington, TX Cow boys Stadium Jan 28, 1960 1960 Jerry Jones
Garrett
New York E. Rutherford, Tom J. Mara & S.
MetLife Stadium Aug 1, 1925 1925
Giants NJ Coughlin Tisch
East
Philadelphia Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial
July 8, 1933 1933 Andy Reid Jeffrey Lurie
Eagles PA Field
Washington Mike
Landover, MD FedEx Field July 9, 1932 1932 Daniel Snyder
Redskins * Shanahan
V. Halas
Chicago Bears * Chicago, IL Soldier Field Sep 17, 1920 3 1920 Lovie Smith
McCaskey
Jim
Detroit Lions * Detroit, MI Ford Field 1929 1930 Bill Ford
Schw artz
North Green Bay Mike
Green Bay, WI Lambeau Field Aug 11, 1919 1921 Incorporated
Packers McCarthy
Hubert H.
Minnesota Minneapolis, Leslie
Humphrey Jan 28, 1960 1961 Zygi Wilf
Vikings MN Frazier
Metrodome
Atlanta Falcons Atlanta, GA Georgia Dome June 30, 1965 1966 Mike Smith Arthur Blank
Carolina Bank of America Jerry
Charlotte, NC Oct 26, 1993 1995 Ron Rivera
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Charlotte, NC Oct 26, 1993 1995 Ron Rivera
Panthers Stadium Richardson
South New Orleans New Orleans, Mercedes-Benz
Nov 1, 1966 1967 Sean Payton Tom Benson
Saints LA Superdome
Tam pa Bay Raymond James Malcolm
Tampa, FL April 24, 1974 1976 Vacant
Buccaneers Stadium Glazer
Arizona University of Ken
Glendale, AZ 1898 1920 Bill Bidw ill
Cardinals * Phoenix Stadium Whisenhunt
St. Louis Ram s Edw ard Jones
St. Louis, MO 1936 1937 Jeff Fisher Stan Kroenke
* Dome1
West
San Francisco San Jim
Candlestick Park June 4, 1944 1950 Jed York
49ers Francisco, CA Harbaugh
Seattle
Seattle, WA CenturyLink Field June 4, 1974 1976 Pete Carroll Paul Allen
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Chart notes
An asterisk (*) denotes a franchise move. See the respective team articles for more information.
"Owner" refers to primary or majority owner; i.e. the owner that represents the team in league owners'
meetings. See List of NFL franchise owners for more details.
1. This team plays one of its home games outside the United States. The Buffalo Bills play one regular
game each year and one preseason game every two years from 2008–2012 at Rogers Centre in
Toronto. The St. Louis Rams play one regular season game each year from 2012–2014 at Wembley
Stadium in London.
2. As the result of a relocation controversy in 1996, the league officially suspended operations of the
Cleveland Browns while its players and personnel moved to Baltimore to become a new franchise
called the Baltimore Ravens. As per an agreement with the two cities, the Ravens are officially
regarded as a new 1996 team while the league's official history and records views the Browns as one
continuous franchise that began in 1946, suspended operations from 1996–1998, and resumed play
in 1999 with new players.
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3. Although the club was originally established in 1919 as the company team of the A. E. Staley food
starch company, the Chicago Bears official team and league records instead cite George Halas as
the founder after he took over control in 1920. [19]
Former NFL teams
Further information: Defunct National Football League franchises
In its earliest years, the NFL was a very unstable and somewhat informal organization. Many teams entered
and left the league annually. However, since the acquisition of the All-America Football Conference in 1950,
the NFL has shown remarkable stability. The last NFL team to fold was the Dallas Texans in 1952; its
remnants were salvaged to form the expansion Baltimore Colts.
Media
See also: List of current NFL broadcasters
Television
For more details on this topic, see NFL on television.
Annually, the Super Bowl often ranks as the most watched show of the year in the United States and
second most watched sporting event worldwide behind the UEFA Champions League final. Four of Nielsen
Media Research's top ten programs are Super Bowls. [20] Networks have purchased a share of the
broadcasting rights to the NFL as a means of raising the entire network's profile. [21] The Super Bowl is so
popular annually that many companies debut elaborate commercials during the game.
The television rights to the NFL are the most lucrative and expensive sports broadcasting commodity in the
United States. Under the current television contracts, which began during the 2006 season, regular season
games are broadcast on five networks: CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, and the NFL Network. Regionally shown
games are broadcast on Sundays on CBS and Fox, carrying the AFC and NFC teams respectively (the
traveling team deciding the broadcast station in the event of inter-Conference games, presumably so that
each network can show games from all the stadiums [citation needed]). These games generally air at 1:00 pm
ET and 4:05 pm or 4:15 pm ET. (Due to differences between Eastern and local time, games played in the
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Pacific and Mountain time zones are never played in the 1:00 pm ET time slot.) Nationally televised games
include Sunday night games (shown on NBC), Monday night games (shown on ESPN), the Thursday night
NFL Kickoff Game (shown on NBC), the annual Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day games
(CBS and Fox), and beginning in 2006, all Thursday and Saturday games on the NFL Network, a wholly
owned subsidiary of the National Football League. [22][23]
Additionally, satellite broadcast company DirecTV offers NFL Sunday Ticket, a subscription based
package, that allows most Sunday daytime regional games to be watched. [24][25] This package is exclusive
to DirecTV in the USA; for subscribers to Dish Network Verizon FiOS and Comcast, the NFL instead offers
"RedZone," a less expensive single channel that launched in 2009 and airs "the touchdowns and most
important moments during all the Sunday afternoon games." [26] In Canada, NFL Sunday Ticket is available
on a per-provider distribution deal on both cable and satellite.
The NFL also produces programming for various networks, mainly highlight shows like Inside the NFL for
Showtime and other historical games through its renowned NFL Films division that generally air on ESPN
and NFL Network. Other NFL-produced programs include Hard Knocks, an HBO series detailing training
camp for certain teams; plus the animated children's show RushZone: Guardians of the Core airing on
Viacom's Nicktoons channel.
Radio
See also: NFL on Westwood One
Each NFL team has its own radio network and employs its announcers. Nationally, the NFL is heard on the
Dial Global Radio Networks (successor to CBS Radio Network and Westwood One), Sports USA Radio
Network, the Compass Media Sports Network and in Spanish on Univision Radio. Dial Global carries
Sunday and Monday Night Football, all Thursday games, two Sunday afternoon contests each week, the
Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, and all post-season games, including the Pro Bowl. Sports USA Radio
and Compass each broadcast two Sunday afternoon games every Sunday during the regular season, by
agreement with individual teams. [22] Univision carries Monday Night games, select games from the New
York metro area, and all playoff games.
The NFL also has a contract with Sirius Satellite Radio, which provides news, analysis, commentary and
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game coverage for all games, as well as comprehensive coverage of the draft and off-season on its own
channel, Sirius NFL Radio.[27]
Internet radio broadcasts of all NFL games are managed through FieldPass, a subscription service. Radio
stations are, by rule, prohibited from streaming the games for free from their Web sites; however, there are
numerous stations that break this rule. All 32 teams, plus Dial Global and Univision, currently broadcast
through FieldPass as of 2009; Compass and Sports USA do not.
Internet and new media
In October 2006 the NFL announced the league would fully operate NFL.com, including the development of
the technology, infrastructure and editorial content. Launching its first major redesign since 1999 in August
2007, the site had been previously produced and hosted since 2001 by CBS SportsLine. It is estimated that
the contract cost CBS $120 million over a five year period. Prior to CBS, ESPN.com produced and hosted
the NFL site.[28]
Brian Rolapp, senior vice president of NFL digital media and media strategy: “In a rapidly changing digital
landscape, bringing NFL.com in-house provides us greater control of our valuable content and enables us to
strategically build the site as a media asset. Fans can look forward to an even more entertaining, interactive
and informative site built upon the expertise of the NFL and its other in-house media outlets such as NFL
Network and NFL Films.”
Univision Online, Inc., the interactive subsidiary of Univision Communications Inc., and the NFL announced
in January 2008 that they will jointly manage and operate NFLatino.com powered by Univision.com, the
official U.S. Spanish-language website of the NFL. NFLatino.com is the only Spanish-language website in
the United States to feature NFL video game highlights. In addition, the website includes live radio
broadcasts, up-to-date stats, Hispanic player diaries, Fantasy Football and an insider’s view of all 32
teams.[29]
Announced in March 2009, NFL.com received its first-ever Sports Emmy nominations, which earned
recognition for its NFL.com LIVE coverage of NFL Network’s Thursday and Saturday Night Football
(Outstanding new approaches, coverage) and its Anatomy of a Play, a short-form 360-degree analysis of
key plays of the week (Outstanding new approaches, general interest). [30]
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Beginning September 2008, the NFL announced that it would simulcast all NBC Sunday Night Football
games on NFL.com, located at nfl.com/snf. In 2007, they had provided an Emmy-nominated
"complementary live broadcast" which included a partial simulcast of the NFL Network's Run to the Playoffs
eight game package along with expanded NFL Network analysis.
The NFL offers a pay service for people outside the United States to watch all regular season and playoff
games, except for the Super Bowl, live online. This service is not available for fans within the United States
or Mexico. [31] Instead, the service is available after games are played and offers full DVR functionality with
the ability to watch up to four previously recorded games at once.
Player contracts and compensation
The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) has historically served as the labor union for
NFL players. Among its duties is negotiating collective bargaining agreements (CBA) with league owners,
which governs the negotiation of individual player contracts for all of the league's players. The NFLPA was
established in 1956, and has renounced collective bargaining rights at least twice in its history during labor
disputes: the 1987 strike and the 2011 lockout.
One CBA was in place since 1993, and was amended in 1998 and again in 2006. But in 2008, the owners
exercised their right to opt out of the agreement two years early. [32][33] This led to a lockout in 2011, the
NFL's first work stoppage since 1987, which is longer than Major League Baseball (1994 and beginning of
1995 seasons), the NBA (1998–99 season) or the NHL (2004–05 season canceled).
Among the items covered in the CBA are:
The league minimum salary
The salary cap
The annual collegiate draft
Rules regarding "free agency"
Waiver rules
Under the 1993 CBA, players were tiered into three different levels with regards to their rights to negotiate
for contracts:
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Players who have been drafted (see below), and have not yet played in their first year, may only
negotiate with the team that drafted them. [32] If terms cannot be agreed upon, the players' only recourse
is to refuse to play ("hold out") until terms can be reached. Players often use the threat of holding out as
a means to force the hands of the teams that drafted them. For example, John Elway was drafted by the
Baltimore Colts in 1983 but refused to play for them. He had a fallback option of baseball, as he had
played in the New York Yankees organization for two summers while at Stanford. The Colts traded his
rights to the Denver Broncos and Elway agreed to play. [34] Bo Jackson sat out an entire year in 1986,
choosing to play baseball in the Kansas City Royals organization rather than play for the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers, the team that had drafted him. He reentered the draft the following year, and was drafted
and subsequently signed with the Los Angeles Raiders.[35]
Players that have played three full seasons in the league, and whose contract has expired are
considered "Restricted Free Agents" (see below). They have limited rights to negotiate with any club. [32]
Players that have played four or more full seasons in the league, and whose contract has expired, are
considered "Unrestricted Free Agents"(see below) and have unlimited rights to negotiate with any club.
Teams may name a single player in any given year as a "Franchise Player" (see below), which
eliminates much of that player's negotiation rights. This is a limited right of the team, however, and
affects only a small handful of players each year. [32]
In the 2010 season, the CBA was not extended, thus changing the rules so that players don't become
"Unrestricted Free Agents" until they have played at least six full seasons in the league. They will be
"Restricted Free Agents" if they have three–five full seasons in the league.
Under the current (2011) CBA, there were several items altered: [36]
Free agency guidelines returned to the way they were from 1993 to 2009. This means that a player
needs four years of experience to become an unrestricted free agent, and three years of experience for
restricted free agency.
The salary cap is now $120.375 million, with a salary minimum of $107.1 million (89 percent of the
salary cap). For the 2011 season, teams have the option of using a $3 million exemption on a signed
player. For the years following the 2011 season, teams have the option of designating three player
exemptions at $1.5 million each.
The rookie compensation was altered. There is a limit to the amount of money given to rookies, with the
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maximum total in 2011 being $874 million. First round picks receive four-year deals, with a fifth year
option. In the second through seventh rounds, there are slotted four-year deals.
The league minimum salary for players increased by 10-12 percent, based on tenure.
A team's ability to place a franchise or transition tag on top players to retain his rights did not change.
Other major concerns included health and safety of players, as well as former player benefits and
pensions.
The new 10-year collective bargaining agreement runs through 2021, and has an estimated value of $12-$16
billion per year. [37][38]
For more information on the players' and owners' takeaways with the 2011 CBA, see the 2011 NFL
lockout article.
Salaries
A player's salary, as defined by the CBA, includes any "compensation in money, property, investments,
loans or anything else of value to which an NFL player may be awarded" excluding such benefits as
insurance and pension. A salary can include an annual pay and a one-time "signing bonus" which is paid in
full when the player signs his contract. For the purposes of the salary cap (see below), the signing bonus is
prorated over the life of the contract rather than to the year in which the signing bonus is paid. [39]
Among other things, the CBA establishes a minimum salary for its players, [39] which is stepped-up as a
player's years of experience increase. Players and their agents may negotiate with clubs for higher salaries,
and frequently do.
Under the new collective bargaining agreement (2011), Paragraph 5 guarantees first year after after year of
injury 50% of salary up to $1 million; 30% of salary up to $500,000 in second year after year of injury. [40]
Salary cap
The salary cap is defined as the maximum amount that a team may spend on player compensation (see
above) in a given season, for all of its players combined. Unlike other leagues, for example the NBA (which
permits certain exemptions) or Major League Baseball (which has a "soft cap" enforced by "luxury taxes"),
the NFL has a "hard cap": an amount no team under any circumstances may exceed. The NFL also has a
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so-called "hard floor", a minimum payroll that each team is required to pay regardless of the circumstances.
The NFL salary cap is calculated by the current CBA to be 59.5% of the total projected league revenue for
the upcoming year. This number, divided by the number of teams, determines an individual team's
maximum salary cap. For 2008, this was approximately $116 million per team. [41] For 2009, it increased to
$127 million. [42] As a result of the NFL owners opting out of the CBA two years early, the 2010 season had
no salary cap or floor. [33] Under the 2011 CBA, players get the following percentages of league revenue from
three revenue streams: [15]
55% of TV revenues
45% from NFL Ventures and NFL Properties
40% of net local revenues at the club level
Teams and players often find creative ways to fit salaries under the salary cap. Early in the salary cap era,
"signing bonuses" were used to give players a large chunk of money up front, and thus not count in the
salary for the bulk of the contract. This led to a rule whereby all signing bonus are pro-rated equally for each
year of the contract. Thus if a player receives a $10 million signing bonus for a five-year contract, $2 million
per year would count against the salary cap for the life of the contract, even though the full $10 million was
paid up front during the first year of the contract. [39]
Player contracts tend to be "back-loaded". This means that the contract is not divided equally among the
time period it covers. Instead, the player earns progressively more and more each year. For instance, a
player signing a four-year deal worth $10 million may get paid $1 million the first year, $2 million the second
year, $3 million the third year, and $4 million the fourth year. If a team cuts this player after the first year,
the final three years do not count against the cap. Any signing bonus, however, ceases to be pro-rated, and
the entire balance of the bonus counts against the cap in the upcoming season. [39]
NFL Draft
For more details on this topic, see NFL Draft.
Each April, each NFL franchise seeks to add new players to its roster through a collegiate draft known as
"the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", which is more commonly known as the NFL Draft.
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Teams are ranked in inverse order based on the previous season's record, with the team having the worst
record picking first, and the second-worst picking second, and so on. Regardless of regular season records,
the last two picks of each round go to the two teams in the Super Bowl immediately preceding the draft,
with the Super Bowl champion picking last.
The draft proceeds for seven rounds. In the past, Rounds 1–2 were run on Saturday of draft weekend,
rounds 3–7 were run on Sunday.
During 2010 the league experimented with a new system. Round 1 was run on Thursday night of the draft
weekend. Rounds 2 and 3 were run on the Friday night of the draft weekend. Rounds 4 through 7 were run
on Saturday. The impact of this change—according to commentators at ESPN and Sports Illustrated—was
that teams gained more time to make trades for draft picks in the early rounds and that process enhanced
the value of the first picks in Rounds 2 and 4. http://www.nfl.com/draft/2010 and www.si.com
Teams are given 10 minutes in the first round of the draft, 7 in the second round and 5 in all other rounds. [43]
If the pick is not made in the allotted time, subsequent teams in the draft may draft before them. This
happened in 2003 to the Minnesota Vikings. [44]
Teams have the option of trading away their picks to other teams for different picks, players, cash, or a
combination thereof. While player-for-player trades are rare during the rest of the year (especially in
comparison to the other major league sports), trades are far more common on draft day. In 1989, the Dallas
Cowboys traded running back Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for five veteran players and six
draft picks over 3 years. The Cowboys would use these picks to leverage trades for additional draft picks
and veteran players. As a direct result of this trade, they would draft many of the stars who would help them
win three Super Bowls in the 1990s, including Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, and Darren Woodson.[45]
The first pick in the draft is often taken to be the best overall player in the rookie class. This may or may not
be true, since teams often select players based more on the teams' needs than on the players' overall
skills. Plus, comparing players at different positions is difficult to do. Still, it is considered a great honor to
be a first-round pick, and a greater honor to be the first overall pick. The last pick in the draft is known as
Mr. Irrelevant, and is the subject of a dinner in his (dubious) honor in Newport Beach, California.
Drafted players may only negotiate with the team that drafted them (or to another team if their rights were
traded away). The drafting team has one year to sign the player. If they do not do so, the player may reenter
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the draft and can be drafted by another team. Bo Jackson famously sat out a season in this way. [35]
Further information: List of NFL first overall draft choices
Free agency
For more details on this topic, see Free Agent#National Football League usage.
General
As defined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), a free agent is any player who is not under
contract to any team and thus has fully free rights to negotiate with any other team for new contract
terms.[32][46] Free agents are classified into two categories: restricted and unrestricted. Furthermore, a
team may "tag" a player as a franchise or transition, which places additional restrictions on that player's
ability to negotiate. However, the ability to "tag" is quite limited, and only affects a handful of players each
year.
Free agency in the NFL began with a limited free agency system known as "Plan B Free Agency", which
was in effect between the 1989 and 1992 seasons. Beginning with the 1993 season, "Plan A Free Agency"
went into effect.
Restricted free agent
For more details on this topic, see Restricted free agent.
A player who has 3 years of experience is eligible for restricted free agency, whereby his current team
has the chance to retain rights to this player by matching the highest offer any other NFL franchise might
make to that player. The club can either block a signing or, in essence, force a trade by offering a salary
over a certain threshold. In 2006, these thresholds were as follows:
If a club tenders an offer of $685,000 per year for a three year veteran, and $725,000 for a four year
veteran, the player's current team has "right of first refusal" over the contract at those terms, and may
sign the player at those terms.
If a club tenders an offer of $712,000 or 110% (whichever is greater) of the previous year's salary, then
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the current club has both "right of first refusal" and rights to a draft pick from the same round (or better)
from the signing club. Essentially, this means that the new club must forfeit the draft pick to the old club
if they wish to sign the player under these terms.
If a club tenders an offer of $1.552 million or 110% (whichever is greater) of the previous year's salary,
then the current club has both "right of first refusal"; and rights to the first round draft pick from the
signing club. [46]
In 2011, free agency guidelines returned to the way they were from 1993 to 2009. This means that a player
needs four years of experience to become an unrestricted free agent, and three years of experience for
restricted free agency. [36]
Unrestricted free agent
A player who has four or more years of experience is eligible for unrestricted free agency, whereby his
current team has no guaranteed right to match outside offers to that player. This means that players in this
category have unlimited rights to negotiate any terms with any team. [46]
Free agency changes in 2010
In 2010, the CBA was not extended, thus the rules changed so that players don't become "Unrestricted
Free Agents" until they have at least six years of experience. They will be "Restricted Free Agents" if they
have three–five years of experience. There will also be limitations imposed on which clubs are allowed to
sign free agents. This is part of a set of rule changes written into the CBA designed to encourage the
owners and the NFLPA to negotiate a new CBA: the players lose some free agency rights, and the owners
lose the salary cap. [32]
Franchise tag
For more details on this topic, see Franchise tag.
The franchise tag is a designation given to a player by a franchise that guarantees that player a contract
the average of the five highest-paid players of that same position in the entire league, or 120% of the
player's previous year's salary (whichever is greater) in return for retaining rights to that player for one year.
An NFL franchise may only designate one player a year as having the franchise tag, and may designate the
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same player for consecutive years. This has caused some tension between some NFL franchise designees
and their respective teams due to the fact that a player designated as a franchise player precludes that
player from pursuing large signing bonuses that are common in unrestricted free agency, and also prevents
a player from leaving the team, especially when the reasons for leaving are not necessarily financial. A team
may, at their discretion, allow the franchise player to negotiate with other clubs, but if he signs with another
club, the first club is entitled to two first round draft picks in compensation. [46]
Banned substances policy
The NFL banned substances policy has been acclaimed by some[47] and criticized by others, [48] but the
policy is the longest running in American professional sports, beginning in 1987. [47] The current policy of the
NFL suspends players without pay who test positive for banned substances as it has since 1989: four
games for the first offense (a quarter of the regular season), eight games for a second offense (half of the
regular season), and 12 months for a third offense. [49] The suspended games may be either regular season
games or playoff games. [49]
While recently MLB and the NHL decided to permanently ban athletes for a third offense, they have long
been resistant to such measures, and random testing is in its infancy. [50][51]
Since the NFL started random, year-round tests and suspending players for banned substances, many
more players have been found to be in violation of the policy. By April 2005, 111 NFL players had tested
positive for banned substances, and of those 111, the NFL suspended 54. [48]
A new rule is in the works due to Shawne Merriman. Starting the 2007 season, the new rule would prohibit
any player testing positive for banned substances from being able to play in the Pro Bowl that year.[52]
In 2009, nearly 1 in 10 retired NFL players polled in a confidential survey said they had used now-banned
anabolic steroids while still playing. 16.3 percent of offensive linemen admitted using steroids, as did 14.8
percent of defensive linemen. [53]
Video games
There have been several American football video games based on NFL teams created for various consoles
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over the years, from 10-Yard Fight and the Tecmo Bowl series for the NES to the more well known Madden
series that have been released annually since 1988. The Madden series is named after former coach and
American football commentator John Madden. Prior to the 2005–2006 football season, other NFL games
were produced by competing video game publishers, such as 2K Games and Midway Games. However, in
December 2004, Electronic Arts signed a five-year exclusive agreement with the NFL, meaning only
Electronic Arts will be permitted to publish games featuring NFL team and player names. This prompted
video game developer Midway Games to release a game in 2005 called Blitz: The League, with fictitious
teams and players. In February 2008, EA Sports renewed their exclusivity agreement with the league
through Super Bowl XLVII in 2013. [54] A free flash based online game called Quick Hit Football was released
in 2009 and was granted an official NFL license in 2010.
Management
Commissioners and presidents
1. Temporary Secretary Ralph Hay (1920)
2. President Jim Thorpe (September 17, 1920 – April 30, 1921)[55]
3. President Joseph Carr (April 30, 1921 – May 20, 1939)
4. President Carl Storck (May 25, 1939 – April 5, 1941)
5. Commissioner Elmer Layden (March 1, 1941 – January 11, 1946)
6. Commissioner Bert Bell (January 11, 1946 – October 11, 1959)
7. Interim President Austin Gunsel (October 14, 1959 – January 26, 1960, following death of Bell)
8. Commissioner Alvin "Pete" Rozelle (January 26, 1960 – November 5, 1989)
9. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue (November 5, 1989 – September 1, 2006)
10. Commissioner Roger Goodell (September 1, 2006–present)
Main league offices
Canton (1920–1921)
Columbus (1921–1941)
Chicago (1941–1946)
Philadelphia (1946–1960)
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New York City (1960–present)
Franchise owners
Main article: List of NFL franchise owners
Unlike many professional leagues, the NFL forbids corporate owners. Ownership groups must contain
twenty-four or fewer individuals, and at least one partner must hold a thirty percent or greater share of the
team. The Green Bay Packers are an exemption to the current policy, since they have been a publicly
owned stock corporation since before the rule was in place. [56]
In recent years, NFL owners and the NFL itself have become politically active, donating millions of dollars to
political candidates. [57]
Uniform numbers
Main article: Uniform number (American football)
In the NFL, players wear uniform numbers based on the position they play. The current system was
instituted into the league on April 5, 1973, [58] as a means for fans and officials (referees, linesmen) to more
easily identify players on the field by their position. Players who were already in the league at that date
were grandfathered and did not have to change their uniform numbers if they did not conform. Since that
date, players are invariably assigned numbers within the following ranges, based on their primary position:
Quarterbacks, Placekickers and Punters: 1–19
Wide Receivers: 10–19 and 80–89
Running Backs and Defensive Backs: 20–49
Offensive Linemen: 50–79
Linebackers: 50–59 and 90–99, or 40–49 if all are taken
Defensive Linemen: 50–79 and 90–99
Tight Ends: 80–89, or 40–49
Prior to 2004, wide receivers were allowed to wear only numbers 80–89. [59] The NFL changed the rule that
year to allow wide receivers to wear numbers 10–19 to allow for the increased number of players at wide
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receiver and tight end coming into the league. Linebackers are allowed to wear numbers between 40–49
when all of the numbers 50–59 and 90–99 are taken. Prior to that, players were allowed to wear non-
standard numbers only if their team had run out of numbers within the prescribed number range. Keyshawn
Johnson began wearing number 19 in 1996 because the New York Jets had run out of numbers in the 80s.
Oakland Raider offensive center Jim Otto wore a 00 jersey during most of his career with the AFL team and
kept the number after the leagues merged. Devin Hester is a wide receiver/return specialist for the Chicago
Bears but wears number 23 because he was drafted as a cornerback but transferred to wide receiver after
his rookie year.
Occasionally, players will petition the NFL to allow them to wear a number that is not in line with the
numbering system. Brad Van Pelt, a linebacker who entered the NFL in 1973 with the New York Giants,
wore number 10 during his eleven seasons with the club, despite not being covered by the grandfather
clause. In 2006, New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush petitioned the NFL to let him keep the
number 5 which he used at USC. His request was later denied. [60] Former Seattle Seahawks standout
Brian Bosworth attempted such a petition in 1987 (to wear his collegiate number of 44 at the linebacker
position which he used at the University of Oklahoma), also without success. The Seahawks attempted to
get around the rule by listing Bosworth as a safety, but after he wore number 44 for a game against the
Kansas City Chiefs, the NFL ruled Bosworth would have to switch back to his original number, 55.
To aid the officials in spotting certain penalties, such as "illegal formation" or "ineligible receiver", usually
only offensive players with numbers 1–49 and 80–89 are allowed to play at the end or back positions or
handle the ball in normal game situations. However, a player wearing 50–79 or 90–99 may play in an
"eligible" position simply by reporting to the referee that he will be doing so. The NFL numbering system is
based on a player's primary position. Any player wearing any number may play at any position on the field
at any time, subject to the reporting rules described above. It is not uncommon for running backs to line up
at wide receiver on certain plays, or even to have a large offensive or defensive lineman play at fullback or
tight end in short yardage situations. Also, in preseason games, when teams have expanded rosters,
players may wear numbers that are outside of the above rules. When the final 53-player roster is
established, they are reissued numbers within the above guidelines.
Awards
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AFC Championship Game (Lamar Hunt Trophy)
Discontinued awards
Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year Award
AFL All-Star Game MVP
Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award
Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup
NFC Championship Game (George S. Halas Trophy)
Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy
NFL Coach of the Year Award
UPI AFL-AFC Player of the Year
NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award
UPI NFC Player of the Year
NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award
UPI NFL MVP
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award
NFL Most Valuable Player Award
NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award
NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award
Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year
Pete Rozelle Trophy (Super Bowl MVP)
Pro Bowl MVP
Vince Lombardi Trophy
Walter Payton Man of the Year Award
Cheerleading
Further information: National Football League Cheerleading
26 of the 32 NFL teams are supported by their own professional cheerleading squads. These squads attend
games and promote the team. The teams without cheerleading squads are the Pittsburgh Steelers,
Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, and Detroit Lions.
See also
American football portal
Association of Professional Football Leagues
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Association of Professional Football Leagues
Regular seasons
Coaching tree
List of NFL seasons
Comparison of Canadian and American football
List of NFL tied games (since 1974)
List of National Football League head coaches
National Football League rivalries
Defunct NFL teams
National Football League: Last to First
Football Canada
Run to the Playoffs Thursday and Saturday Night
Glossary of American football
Football
History of the National Football League in Los
Angeles
Instant replay in American football
Postseasons
Lists of American football players
List of current National Football League stadiums Active NFL playoff appearance streaks
List of current NFL announcers History of NFL Championships
List of famous American sports figures who List of Current NFL franchise post-season
became politicians droughts
List of Professional Football Drafts List of NFL champions
List of professional sports teams in the United List of Super Bowl champions
States and Canada NFC Championship Game
List of sports attendance figures – the NFL's National Football League playoffs
attendance in a worldwide context One-game playoff
List of TV markets and major sports teams Professional American football championship
List of American and Canadian cities by number of games
major professional sports franchises Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup
National Football League depth charts Records
NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
NFL Individual Records
NFL All-Decade Teams
NFL opening day standings
NFL attendance
NFL Standings since 1920
NFL Blitz
NFL Standings since AFL-NFL merger
NFL Charities
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NFL Charities
NFL Team-Oriented Records
NFL Cheerleading
Super Bowl records
NFL Films
NFL franchise moves and mergers Related football leagues
NFL franchise timeline All American Football League
NFL Lore All-America Football Conference
NFL Network American Football League
List of NFL nicknames American Youth Football
NFL Street series Canadian Football League
Personal seat license List of leagues of American and Canadian football
Pro Football Hall of Fame NFL Europa
USA Football United Football League
References
Notes
1. ^ Jozsa, Frank P. (2004). Sports capitalism: the foreign business of American professional leagues. Ashgate
Publishing. p. 270. ISBN 9780754641858. "Since 1922, [the NFL] has been the top professional sports
league in the world with respect to American football"
2. ^ Cohen, Rick (2008). "Playing by the NFL's Tax Exempt Rules" . The Nonprofit Quarterly (Q4). Retrieved
October 3, 2010.
3. ^ Wilson, Duff (August 11, 2008). "N.F.L. Executives Hope to Keep Salaries Secret" . The New York Times.
Retrieved October 4, 2010. "the N.F.L. headquarters in New York has nonprofit status, akin to a chamber of
commerce."
4. ^ Shea, Bill (January 11, 2010). "NFL labor, legal issues hang over Detroit Lions' rebuilding efforts" .
Crain's Detroit Business. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
5. ^ "IRC 501(c)(6) Organizations" (PDF). United States Internal Revenue Service. 2003. p. 4 (K–2).
Retrieved October 5, 2010.
6. ^ See corporate disclosure statement and statement of facts; Brief of NFL Respondents, in American
Needle, Inc v. National Football League, et seq, Supreme Court of the United States, case no. 08-661, filed
January 21, 2008
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7. ^ For example, "The Detroit Lions is a 'Professional' Football team owned by William Clay Ford, Sr., with a
membership in the National Football League (NFL), which is an unincorporated association governed by its
own constitution and bylaws." Detroit Lions v. National Football League, 41 < MI.4th 624, 629 (2007).
8. ^ Harris, Nick (February 8, 2011). "ANALYSIS: Super Bowl's record TV audience follows optimistic NFL
attendances" . Sporting Intelligence. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
9. ^ MacCambridge, 2004–2005 pg.267
10. ^ "NFL Announces 2002–2009 Schedule Rotation" . August 22, 2001. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
11. ^ "NFL to make West Coast road format more reasonable" . ESPN. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
12. ^ "NFL schedule navigated World Series, other conflicts" . Sports Business Journal. April 26, 2010.
Retrieved November 27, 2010.
13. ^ "NFL Tie-Breaking Procedures" . Nfl.com. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
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Bibliography
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Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League. Harper Collins. ISBN 1-
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MacCambridge, Michael (2004–2005), America's Game. New York:Anchor Books ISBN ISBN 978-0-307-
48143-6
External links
Official website (Mobile )
Official NFL Players Association (labor union) website
Official Super Bowl website
NFL History – Champion and Award Lists
NFL Digest of Rules
ESPN.com's NFL Section
NFL Video at ESPN's Video Archive
Pro Football Reference – Historical stats of every team, player and coach in the NFL
Playerfilter – Sortable and exportable player, game and season data
NFL's Economic Model Shows Signs of Strain
Process of game-time decisions will eliminate TV duds, create chaos by Michael Hiestand, USA
Today, April 5, 2006 (Last accessed April 5, 2006)
Five NFL teams worth over $1 billion
Gadget for iGoogle NFL standings and schedule
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Categories: National Football League American football leagues in the United States
Cooperatives in the United States Sports leagues established in 1920
Professional sports leagues in the United States Supraorganizations
1920 establishments in the United States
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