CHRONOLOGY OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL · can football, first became involved with the game. 1892 In...

1869 Rutgers and Princeton playeda college soccer footballgame, the first ever, November6. The game used modifiedLondon Football Associationrules. During the next sevenyears, rugby gained favor withthe major eastern schoolsover soccer, and modern foot-ball began to develop fromrugby.

1876 At the Massasoit convention,the first rules for Americanfootball were written. WalterCamp, who would becomeknown as the father of Ameri-can football, first becameinvolved with the game.

1892 In an era in which football wasa major attraction of local ath-letic clubs, an intense compe-tition between two Pittsburgh-area clubs, the Allegheny Ath-letic Association (AAA) andthe Pittsburgh Athletic Club(PAC), led to the making of thefirst professional football play-er. Former Yale All-Americaguard William (Pudge) Hef-felfinger was paid $500 by theAAA to play in a game againstthe PAC, becoming the firstperson to be paid to play foot-ball, November 12. The AAAwon the game 4-0 when Hef-felfinger picked up a PAC fumble and ran 35 yardsfor a touchdown.

1893The Pittsburgh Athletic Clubsigned one of its players,probably halfback Grant Dib-ert, to the first known pro foot-ball contract, which coveredall of the PAC’s games for theyear.

1895John Brallier became the firstfootball player to openly turnpro, accepting $10 andexpenses to play for the Latrobe YMCA against theJeannette Athletic Club.

1896 The Allegheny Athletic Associ-ation team fielded the firstcompletely professional teamfor its abbreviated two-gameseason.

1897 The Latrobe Athletic Associa-tion football team went entire-

ly professional, becoming thefirst team to play a full seasonwith only professionals.

1898 A touchdown was changedfrom four points to five.

Chris O’Brien formed aneighborhood team, whichplayed under the name theMorgan Athletic Club, on thesouth side of Chicago. Theteam later became known asthe Normals, then the Racine(for a street in Chicago) Cardi-nals, the Chicago Cardinals,the St. Louis Cardinals, thePhoenix Cardinals, and, in1994, the Arizona Cardinals.The team remains the oldestcontinuing operation in profootball.

1900William C. Temple took overthe team payments for theDuquesne Country and Athlet-ic Club, becoming the firstknown individual club owner.

1902 Baseball’s Philadelphia Athlet-ics, managed by ConnieMack, and the PhiladelphiaPhillies formed professionalfootball teams, joining thePittsburgh Stars in the firstattempt at a pro footballleague, named the NationalFootball League. The Athleticswon the first night footballgame ever played, 39-0 overKanaweola AC at Elmira, NewYork, November 21.

All three teams claimed thepro championship for the year,but the league president, DaveBerry, named the Stars thechampions. Pitcher RubeWaddell was with the Athlet-ics, and pitcher Christy Math-ewson a fullback for Pitts-burgh.

The first World Series of profootball, actually a five-teamtournament, was playedamong a team made up ofplayers from both the Athleticsand the Phillies, but simplynamed New York; the NewYork Knicker bockers; the Syra-cuse AC; the Warlow AC; andthe Orange (New Jersey) AC atNew York’s original MadisonSquare Garden. New York andSyracuse played the firstindoor football game before3,000, December 28. Syra-cuse, with Glen (Pop) Warnerat guard, won 6-0 and went onto win the tournament.

1903The Franklin (Pa.) Athletic Clubwon the second and lastWorld Series of pro footballover the Oreos AC of AsburyPark, New Jersey; the Water-town Red and Blacks; and theOrange AC.

Pro football was popular-ized in Ohio when the Massil-lon Tigers, a strong amateurteam, hired four Pittsburghpros to play in the season-ending game against Akron. Atthe same time, pro footballdeclined in the Pittsburgharea, and the emphasis on thepro game moved west fromPennsylvania to Ohio.

1904A field goal was changed fromfive points to four.

Ohio had at least seven proteams, with Massillon winningthe Ohio Independent Champi-on ship, that is, the pro title.Talk surfaced about forming astate-wide league to end spi-raling salaries brought aboutby constant bidding for play-ers and to write universal rulesfor the game. The feeble attempt to start the leaguefailed.

Halfback Charles Follissigned a contract with theShelby (Ohio) AC, making himthe first known black pro foot-ball player.

1905 The Canton AC, later tobecome known as the Bull-dogs, became a professionalteam. Massillon again won theOhio League championship.

1906 The forward pass was legal-ized. The first authenticatedpass completion in a progame came on October 25,when George (Peggy) Parrattof Massillon threw a comple-tion to Dan (Bullet) Riley in avictory over a combined Ben-wood-Moundsville team.

Arch-rivals Canton andMassillon, the two best proteams in America, playedtwice, with Canton winning thefirst game but Massillon win-ning the second and the OhioLeague championship. A bet-ting scandal and the financialdisaster wrought upon the twoclubs by paying huge salariescaused a temporary decline ininterest in pro football in thetwo cities and, somewhat,

throughout Ohio.

1909 A field goal dropped from fourpoints to three.

1912 A touchdown was increasedfrom five points to six.

Jack Cusack revived astrong pro team in Canton.

1913 Jim Thorpe, a former footballand track star at the CarlisleIndian School (Pa.) and a dou-ble gold medal winner at the1912 Olympics in Stockholm,played for the Pine VillagePros in Indiana.

1915Massillon again fielded amajor team, reviving the oldrivalry with Canton. Cusacksigned Thorpe to play for Canton for $250 a game.

1916 With Thorpe and formerCarlisle teammate Pete Calacstarring, Canton went 9-0-1,won the Ohio League champi-onship, and was acclaimedthe pro football champion.

1917 Despite an upset by Massillon,Canton again won the OhioLeague championship.

1919 Canton again won the OhioLeague championship, despitethe team having been turnedover from Cusack to RalphHay. Thorpe and Calac werejoined in the backfield by JoeGuyon.

Earl (Curly) Lambeau andGeorge Calhoun organized theGreen Bay Packers. Lam-beau’s employer at the IndianPacking Company provided$500 for equipment andallowed the team to use thecompany field for practices.The Packers went 10-1.

1920 Pro football was in a state ofconfusion due to three majorproblems: dramatically risingsalaries; players continuallyjumping from one team toanother following the highestoffer; and the use of collegeplayers still enrolled in school.A league in which all the mem-bers would follow the samerules seemed the answer. An

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organizational meeting, atwhich the Akron Pros, CantonBulldogs, Cleveland Indians,and Dayton Triangles wererepresented, was held at theJordan and Hupmobile autoshowroom in Canton, Ohio,August 20. This meetingresulted in the formation of theAmerican Professional Foot-ball Conference.

A second organizationalmeeting was held in Canton,September 17. The teamswere from four states—Akron,Canton, Cleveland, and Day-ton from Ohio; the HammondPros and Muncie Flyers fromIndiana; the Rochester Jeffer-sons from New York; and theRock Island Independents,Decatur Staleys, and RacineCardinals from Illinois. Thename of the league waschanged to the American Pro-fessional Football Association.Hoping to capitalize on hisfame, the members electedThorpe president; StanleyCofall of Cleveland was elect-ed vice president. A member-ship fee of $100 per team wascharged to give an appearanceof respectability, but no teamever paid it. Scheduling wasleft up to the teams, and therewere wide variations, both inthe overall number of gamesplayed and in the numberplayed against APFA memberteams.

Four other teams—the Buf-falo All-Americans, ChicagoTigers, Columbus Panhandles,and Detroit Heralds—joinedthe league sometime duringthe year. On September 26,the first game featuring anAPFA team was played atRock Island’s Douglas Park. Acrowd of 800 watched theIndependents defeat the St.Paul Ideals 48-0. A week later,October 3, the first gamematching two APFA teamswas held. At Triangle Park,Dayton defeated Columbus14-0, with Lou Partlow ofDayton scoring the first touch-down in a game betweenAssociation teams. The sameday, Rock Island defeatedMuncie 45-0.

By the beginning of Decem-ber, most of the teams in theAPFA had abandoned theirhopes for a championship,and some of them, includingthe Chicago Tigers and theDetroit Heralds, had finishedtheir seasons, disbanded, and

had their franchises canceledby the Association. Fourteams—Akron, Buffalo, Can-ton, and Decatur—still hadchampionship aspirations, buta series of late-season gamesamong them left Akron as theonly undefeated team in theAssociation. At one of thesegames, Akron sold tackle BobNash to Buffalo for $300 andfive percent of the gate receipts—the first APFA play-er deal.

1921At the league meeting inAkron, April 30, the champi-onship of the 1920 seasonwas awarded to the AkronPros. The APFA was reorga-nized, with Joe Carr of theColumbus Panhandles namedpresident and Carl Storck ofDayton secretary-treasurer.Carr moved the Association’sheadquar ters to Columbus,drafted a league constitutionand by-laws, gave teams terri-torial rights, restricted playermovements, developed mem-bership criteria for the fran-chises, and issued standingsfor the first time, so that theAPFA would have a clearchampion.

The Association’s member-ship increased to 22 teams,including the Green Bay Pack-ers, who were awarded toJohn Clair of the Acme Pack-ing Company.

Thorpe moved from Cantonto the Cleveland Indians, buthe was hurt early in the sea-son and played very little.

A.E. Staley turned theDecatur Staleys over to player-coach George Halas, whomoved the team to Cubs Parkin Chicago. Staley paid Halas$5,000 to keep the name Sta-leys for one more year. Halasmade halfback Ed (Dutch)Sternaman his partner.

Player-coach Fritz Pollard ofthe Akron Pros became thefirst black head coach.

The Staleys claimed theAPFA championship with a9-1-1 record, as did Buffalo at9-1-2. Carr ruled in favor ofthe Staleys, giving Halas hisfirst championship.

1922 After admitting the use ofplayers who had college eligi-bility remaining during the1921 season, Clair and theGreen Bay management with-

drew from the APFA, January28. Curly Lambeau promisedto obey league rules and thenused $50 of his own money tobuy back the franchise. Badweather and low attendanceplagued the Packers, andLambeau went broke, but localmerchants arranged a $2,500loan for the club. A public non-profit corporation was set upto operate the team, with Lam-beau as head coach and man-ager.

The American ProfessionalFootball Association changedits name to the National Foot-ball League, June 24. TheChicago Staleys became theChicago Bears.

The NFL fielded 18 teams,including the new Oorang Indi-ans of Marion, Ohio, an all-Indian team featuring Thorpe,Joe Guyon, and Pete Calac,and sponsored by the Oorangdog kennels.

Canton, led by player-coachGuy Chamberlin and tacklesLink Lyman and Wilbur (Pete)Henry, emerged as theleague’s first true power-house, going 10-0-2.

1923 For the first time, all of thefranchises considered to bepart of the NFL fielded teams.Thorpe played his second andfinal season for the OorangIndians. Against the Bears,Thorpe fumbled, and Halaspicked up the ball and returnedit 98 yards for a touchdown, arecord that would last until1972.

Canton had its second con-secutive undefeated season,going 11-0-1 for the NFL title.

1924 The league had 18 franchises,including new ones in KansasCity, Kenosha, and Frankford,a section of Philadelphia.League champion Canton,successful on the field but notat the box office, was pur-chased by the owner of theCleveland franchise, who keptthe Canton franchise inactive,while using the best playersfor his Cleveland team, whichhe renamed the Bulldogs.Cleveland won the title with a7-1-1 record.

1925 Five new franchises wereadmitted to the NFL—the NewYork Giants, who were award-

ed to Tim Mara and Billy Gib-son for $500; the Detroit Pan-thers, featuring Jimmy Conzel-man as owner, coach, and tail-back; the Providence SteamRoller; a new Canton Bulldogsteam; and the PottsvilleMaroons, who had been per-haps the most successfulindependent pro team. TheNFL established its first playerlimit, at 16 players.

Late in the season, the NFLmade its greatest coup ingaining national recognition.Shortly after the University ofIllinois season ended inNovember, All-America half-back Harold (Red) Grangesigned a contract to play withthe Chicago Bears. OnThanksgiving Day, a crowd of36,000—the largest in profootball history—watchedGrange and the Bears play theChicago Cardinals to a score-less tie at Wrigley Field. At thebeginning of December, theBears left on a barnstormingtour that saw them play eightgames in 12 days, in St.Louis, Philadelphia, New YorkCity, Washington, Boston,Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Chica-go. A crowd of 73,000watched the game against theGiants at the Polo Grounds,helping assure the future ofthe troubled NFL franchise inNew York. The Bears thenplayed nine more games in theSouth and West, including agame in Los Angeles, in which75,000 fans watched themdefeat the Los Angeles Tigersin the Los Angeles MemorialColiseum.

Pottsville and the ChicagoCardinals were the top con-tenders for the league title,with Pottsville winning a late-season meeting 21-7.Pottsville scheduled a gameagainst a team of former NotreDame players for Shibe Park inPhiladelphia. Frankford lodgeda protest not only because thegame was in Frankford’s pro-tected territory, but because itwas being played the sameday as a Yellow Jackets homegame. Carr gave three differ-ent notices forbiddingPottsville to play the game, butPottsville played anyway,December 12. That day, Carrfined the club, suspended itfrom all rights and privileges(including the right to play forthe NFL championship), andre-turned its franchise to the


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league. The Cardinals, whoended the season with thebest record in the league, werenamed the 1925 champions.

1926 Grange’s manager, C.C. Pyle,told the Bears that Grangewouldn’t play for them unlesshe was paid a five-figuresalary and given one-thirdownership of the team. TheBears refused. Pyle leasedYankee Stadium in New YorkCity, then petitioned for an NFLfranchise. After he wasrefused, he started the firstAmerican Football League. Itlasted one season and includ-ed Grange’s New York Yan-kees and eight other teams.The AFL champion Philadel-phia Quakers played a December game against theNew York Giants, seventh inthe NFL, and the Giants won31-0. At the end of the season, the AFL folded.

Halas pushed through arule that prohibited any teamfrom signing a player whosecollege class had not graduat-ed.

The NFL grew to 22 teams,including the Duluth Eskimos,who signed All-America full-back Ernie Nevers of Stanford,giving the league a gate attrac-tion to rival Grange. The 15- member Eskimos, dubbed theIron Men of the North, played29 exhibition and leaguegames, 28 on the road, andNevers played in all but 29minutes of them.

Frankford edged the Bearsfor the championship, despiteHalas having obtained John(Paddy) Driscoll from the Car-dinals. On December 4, theYellow Jackets scored in thefinal two minutes to defeat theBears 7-6 and move ahead ofthem in the standings.

1927 At a special meeting in Cleve-land, April 23, Carr decided tosecure the NFL’s future byeliminating the financiallyweaker teams and consolidat-ing the quality players onto alimited number of more suc-cessful teams. The new-lookNFL dropped to 12 teams, andthe center of gravity of theleague left the Midwest, wherethe NFL had star ted, andbegan to emerge in the largecities of the East. One of thenew teams was Grange’s New

York Yankees, but Grange suf-fered a knee injury and theYankees finished in the middleof the pack. The NFL champi-onship was won by the cross-town rival New York Giants,who posted 10 shutouts in 13games.

1928 Grange and Nevers bothretired from pro football, andDuluth disbanded, as the NFLwas reduced to only 10teams. The Providence SteamRoller of Jimmy Conzelmanand Pearce Johnson won thechampionship, playing in theCycledrome, a 10,000-seatoval that had been built forbicycle races.

1929 Chris O’Brien sold the ChicagoCardinals to David Jones, July27.

The NFL added a fourthofficial, the field judge, July28.

Grange and Nevers returnedto the NFL. Nevers scored sixrushing touchdowns and fourextra points as the Cardinalsbeat Grange’s Bears 40-6,November 28. The 40 pointsset a record that remains theNFL’s oldest.

Providence became the firstNFL team to host a game atnight under floodlights,against the Cardinals, Novem-ber 6.

The Packers added backJohnny Blood (McNally), tack-le Cal Hubbard, and guardMike Michalske, and won theirfirst NFL championship, edg-ing the Giants, who featuredquarterback Benny Friedman.

1930 Dayton, the last of the NFL’soriginal franchises, was pur-chased by William B. Dwyerand John C. Depler, moved toBrooklyn, and renamed theDodgers. The Por tsmouth,Ohio, Spartans entered theleague.

The Packers edged theGiants for the title, but themost improved team was theBears. Halas retired as a play-er and replaced himself ascoach of the Bears with RalphJones, who refined the T-for-mation by introducing wideends and a halfback in motion.Jones also introduced rookieAll-America fullback-tackleBronko Nagurski.

The Giants defeated a teamof former Notre Dame playerscoached by Knute Rockne22-0 before 55,000 at the PoloGrounds, December 14. Theproceeds went to the New YorkUnemployment Fund to helpthose suffering because of theGreat Depression, and the easyvictory helped give the NFLcredibility with the press andthe public.

1931 The NFL decreased to 10teams, and halfway throughthe season the Frankford fran-chise folded. Carr fined theBears, Packers, andPortsmouth $1,000 each forusing players whose collegeclasses had not graduated.

The Packers won anunprecedented third consecu-tive title, beating out the Spar-tans, who were led by rookiebacks Earl (Dutch) Clark andGlenn Presnell.

1932 George Preston Marshall, Vin-cent Bendix, Jay O’Brien, andM. Dorland Doyle were award-ed a franchise for Boston, July9. Despite the presence of tworookies—halfback Cliff Battlesand tackle Glen (Turk)Edwards—the new team,named the Braves, lost moneyand Marshall was left as thesole owner at the end of theyear.

NFL membership dropped toeight teams, the lowest in his-tory. Official statistics werekept for the first time. TheBears and the Spartans fin-ished the season in the first-ever tie for first place. After theseason finale, the league officearranged for an additional reg-ular-season game to determinethe league champion. Thegame was moved indoors toChicago Stadium because ofbitter cold and heavy snow.The arena allowed only an 80-yard field that came right to thewalls. The goal posts weremoved from the end lines tothe goal lines and, for safety,inbounds lines or hashmarkswhere the ball would be put inplay were drawn 10 yards fromthe walls that butted againstthe sidelines. The Bears won9-0, December 18, scoring thewinning touchdown on a two-yard pass from Nagurski toGrange. The Spartans claimedNagurski’s pass was thrown

from less than five yardsbehind the line of scrimmage,violating the existing passingrule, but the play stood.

1933 The NFL, which long had fol-lowed the rules of collegefootball, made a number ofsignificant changes from thecollege game for the first timeand began to develop rulesserving its needs and the styleof play it preferred. The inno-vations from the 1932 cham-pionship game—inboundsline or hashmarks and goalposts on the goal lines—wereadopted. Also the forwardpass was legalized from any-where behind the line ofscrimmage, February 25.

Marshall and Halas pushedthrough a proposal that divid-ed the NFL into two divisions,with the winners to meet in anannual championship game, July 8.

Three new franchises joinedthe league—the PittsburghPirates of Art Rooney, thePhiladelphia Eagles of Bert Belland Lud Wray, and the Cincin-nati Reds. The Staten IslandStapletons suspended opera-tions for a year, but neverreturned to the league.

Halas bought out Sterna-man, became sole owner ofthe Bears, and reinstated him-self as head coach. Marshallchanged the name of theBoston Braves to the Red-skins. David Jones sold theChicago Cardinals to CharlesW. Bidwill.

In the first NFL Champi-onship Game scheduledbefore the season, the West-ern Division champion Bearsdefeated the Eastern Divisionchampion Giants 23-21 atWrigley Field, December 17.

1934 G.A. (Dick) Richards pur-chased the Portsmouth Spar-tans, moved them to Detroit,and renamed them the Lions.

Professional football gainednew prestige when the Bearswere matched against the bestcollege football players in thefirst Chicago College All-StarGame, August 31. The gameended in a scoreless tie before79,432 at Soldier Field.

The Cincinnati Reds losttheir first eight games, thenwere suspended from theleague for defaulting on pay-



ments. The St. Louis Gunners,an independent team, joinedthe NFL by buying the Cincin-nati franchise and went 1-2the last three weeks.

Rookie Beattie Feathers ofthe Bears became the NFL’sfirst 1,000-yard rusher, gain-ing 1,004 on 101 carries. TheThanksgiving Day gamebetween the Bears and theLions became the first NFLgame broadcast nationally,with Graham McNamee theannouncer for NBC radio.

In the championship game,on an extremely cold and icyday at the Polo Grounds, theGiants trailed the Bears 13-3in the third quar ter beforechanging to basketball shoesfor better footing. The Giantswon 30-13 in what has cometo be known as the SneakersGame, December 9.

The player waiver rule wasadopted, December 10.

1935 The NFL adopted Bert Bell’sproposal to hold an annualdraft of college players, tobegin in 1936, with teamsselecting in an inverse order offinish, May 19. The inboundsline or hashmarks were movednearer the center of the field,15 yards from the sidelines.

All-America end Don Hut-son of Alabama joined GreenBay. The Lions defeated theGiants 26-7 in the NFL Cham-pionship Game, December 15.

1936 There were no franchise trans-actions for the first year sincethe formation of the NFL. Italso was the first year inwhich all member teamsplayed the same number ofgames.

The Eagles made Universityof Chicago halfback and Heis-man Trophy winner JayBerwanger the first player everselected in the NFL draft, Feb-ruary 8. The Eagles traded hisrights to the Bears, butBerwanger never played profootball. The first playerselected to actually sign wasthe number-two pick, RileySmith of Alabama, who wasselected by Boston.

A rival league was formed,and it became the second tocall itself the American FootballLeague. The Boston Sham-rocks were its champions.

Because of poor atten-

dance, Marshall, the owner ofthe host team, moved theChampionship Game fromBoston to the Polo Grounds inNew York. Green Bay defeatedthe Redskins 21-6, December13.

1937 Homer Marshman was grant-ed a Cleveland franchise,named the Rams, February12. Marshall moved the Red-skins to Washington, D.C.,February 13. The Redskinssigned TCU All-America tail-back Sammy Baugh, who ledthem to a 28-21 victory overthe Bears in the NFL Champi-onship Game, December 12.

The Los Angeles Bulldogshad an 8-0 record to win theAFL title, but then the 2-year-old league folded.

1938 At the suggestion of Halas,Hugh (Shorty) Ray became atechnical advisor on rules andofficiating to the NFL. A newrule called for a 15-yardpenalty for roughing the pass-er.

Rookie Byron (Whizzer)White of the Pittsburgh Piratesled the NFL in rushing. TheGiants defeated the Packers23-17 for the NFL title,December 11.

Marshall, Los AngelesTimes sports editor Bill Henry,and promoter Tom Galleryestablished the Pro Bowlgame between the NFL cham-pion and a team of pro all-stars.

1939 The New York Giants defeatedthe Pro All-Stars 13-10 in thefirst Pro Bowl, at Wrigley Field,Los Angeles, January 15.

Carr, NFL president since1921, died in Columbus, May20. Carl Storck was namedacting president, May 25.

An NFL game was televisedfor the first time when NBCbroadcast the BrooklynDodgers-Philadelphia Eaglesgame from Ebbets Field to theapproximately 1,000 sets thenin New York, October 22.

Green Bay defeated NewYork 27-0 in the NFL Champi-onship Game, December 10 atMilwaukee. NFL attendanceexceeded 1 million in a seasonfor the first time, reaching1,071,200.

1940 A six-team rival league, thethird to call itself the AmericanFootball League, was formed,and the Columbus Bullies wonits championship.

Halas’ Bears, with addition-al coaching by Clark Shaugh-nessy of Stanford, defeatedthe Redskins 73-0 in the NFLChampionship Game, Decem -ber 8. The game, which wasthe most decisive victory inNFL history, popularized theBears’ T-formation with aman-in-motion. It was the firstchampionship carried on net-work radio, broadcast by Red Barber to 120 stations of theMutual Broadcasting System,which paid $2,500 for therights.

Art Rooney sold the Pitts-burgh franchise to AlexisThompson, December 9, thenbought part interest in thePhiladelphia Eagles.

Bell and Rooney traded theEagles to Thompson for thePirates, then re-named theirnew team the Steelers.

1941Elmer Layden was named thefirst Commissioner of the NFL,March 1; Storck, the actingpresident, resigned, April 5.NFL headquar ters weremoved to Chicago.

Homer Marshman sold theRams to Daniel F. Reeves andFred Levy, Jr.

The league by-laws wererevised to provide for playoffsin case there were ties in divi-sion races, and sudden-deathovertimes in case a playoffgame was tied after four quar-ters. An official NFL RecordManual was published for thefirst time.

Columbus again won thechampionship of the AFL, butthe two-year-old league thenfolded.

The Bears and the Packersfinished in a tie for the West-ern Division championship,setting up the first divisionalplayoff game in league history.The Bears won 33-14, thendefeated the Giants 37-9 forthe NFL championship,December 21.

1942 Players departing for servicein World War II depleted therosters of NFL teams. Halasleft the Bears in midseason tojoin the Navy, and Luke John-

sos and Hear tley (Hunk)Anderson served as co-coaches as the Bears went11-0 in the regular season.The Redskins defeated theBears 14-6 in the NFL Cham-pionship Game, December 13.

1943 The Cleveland Rams, with co-owners Reeves and Levy inthe service, were granted per-mission to suspend opera-tions for one season, April 6.Levy transferred his stock inthe team to Reeves, April 16.

The NFL adopted free sub-stitution, April 7. The leaguealso made the wearing of hel-mets mandatory and approveda 10-game schedule for allteams.

Philadelphia and Pittsburghwere granted permission tomerge for one season, June19. The team, known as Phil-Pitt (and called the Steagles byfans), divided home gamesbetween the two cities, andEarle (Greasy) Neale ofPhiladelphia and Walt Kieslingof Pittsburgh served as co-coaches. The merger auto-matically dissolved the lastday of the season, December5.

Ted Collins was granted afranchise for Boston, tobecome active in 1944.

Sammy Baugh led theleague in passing, punting,and interceptions. He led theRedskins to a tie with the Giants for the Eastern Divisiontitle, and then to a 28-0 victo-ry in a divisional playoff game.The Bears beat the Redskins41-21 in the NFL Champi-onship Game, December 26.

1944 Collins, who had wanted afranchise in Yankee Stadium inNew York, named his newteam in Boston the Yanks.Cleveland resumed opera-tions. The Brooklyn Dodgerschanged their name to theTigers.

Coaching from the benchwas legalized, April 20.

The Cardinals and the Steel-ers were granted permissionto merge for one year underthe name Card-Pitt, April 21.Phil Handler of the Cardinalsand Walt Kiesling of the Steel-ers served as co-coaches.The merger automatically dis-solved the last day of the sea-son, December 3.



In the NFL ChampionshipGame, Green Bay defeated theNew York Giants 14-7,December 17.

1945 The inbounds lines or hash-marks were moved from 15yards away from the sidelinesto nearer the center of thefield—20 yards from the side-lines.

Brooklyn and Bostonmerged into a team thatplayed home games in bothcities and was known simplyas The Yanks. The team wascoached by former Bostonhead coach Herb Kopf. InDecember, the Brooklyn fran-chise withdrew from the NFLto join the new All-AmericaFootball Conference; all theplayers on its active andreserve lists were assigned toThe Yanks, who once againbecame the Boston Yanks.

Halas rejoined the Bearslate in the season after servicewith the U.S. Navy. AlthoughHalas took over much of thecoaching duties, Andersonand Johnsos remained thecoaches of record throughoutthe season.

Steve Van Buren ofPhiladelphia led the NFL inrushing, kickoff returns, andscoring.

After the Japanese surren-dered ending World War II, acount showed that the NFLservice roster, limited to menwho had played in leaguegames, totaled 638, 21 ofwhom had died in action.

Rookie quar terback BobWaterfield led Cleveland to a15-14 victory over Washing-ton in the NFL ChampionshipGame, December 16.

1946 The contract of CommissionerLayden was not renewed, andBert Bell, the co-owner of theSteelers, replaced him, Janu-ary 11. Bell moved the leagueheadquarters from Chicago tothe Philadelphia suburb ofBala-Cynwyd.

Free substitution was with-drawn and substitutions werelimited to no more than threemen at a time. Forward pass-es were made automaticallyincomplete upon striking thegoal posts, January 11.

The NFL took on a trulynational appearance for thefirst time when Reeves was

granted permission by theleague to move his NFL cham-pion Rams to Los Angeles.

Halfback Kenny Washing-ton (March 21) and endWoody Strode (May 7) signedwith the Los Angeles Rams tobecome the first African-Americans to play in the NFLin the modern era. Guard BillWillis (August 6) and runningback Marion Motley (August9) joined the AAFC with theCleveland Browns.

The rival All-America Foot-ball Conference began playwith eight teams. The Cleve-land Browns, coached by PaulBrown, won the AAFC’s firstchampionship, defeating theNew York Yankees 14-9.

Bill Dudley of the Steelersled the NFL in rushing, inter-ceptions, and punt returns,and won the league’s mostvaluable player award.

Backs Frank Filchock andMerle Hapes of the Giants werequestioned about an attempt bya New York man to fix thechampionship game with theBears. Bell suspended Hapesbut allowed Filchock to play; heplayed well, but Chicago won24-14, December 15.

1947 The NFL added a fifth official,the back judge.

A bonus choice was madefor the first time in the NFLdraft. One team each yearwould select the specialchoice before the first roundbegan. The Chicago Bearswon a lottery and the rights tothe first choice and draftedback Bob Fenimore of Okla-homa A&M.

The Cleveland Brownsagain won the AAFC title,defeating the New York Yan-kees 14-3.

Charles Bidwill, Sr., ownerof the Cardinals, died April 19,but his wife and sons retainedownership of the team. OnDecember 28, the Cardinalswon the NFL ChampionshipGame 28-21 over the Philadel-phia Eagles, who had beatenPittsburgh 21-0 in a playoff.

1948 Plastic helmets were prohibit-ed. A flexible artificial tee waspermitted at the kickoff. Offi-cials other than the refereewere equipped with whistles,not horns, January 14.

Fred Mandel sold the Detroit

Lions to a syndicate headedby D. Lyle Fife, January 15.

Halfback Fred Gehrke of theLos Angeles Rams paintedhorns on the Rams’ helmets,the first modern helmetemblems in pro football.

The Cleveland Browns wontheir third straight champi-onship in the AAFC, going14-0 and then defeating theBuffalo Bills 49-7.

In a blizzard, the Eaglesdefeated the Cardinals 7-0 inthe NFL Championship Game,December 19.

1949 Alexis Thompson sold thechampion Eagles to a syndi-cate headed by James P.Clark, January 15. The BostonYanks became the New YorkBulldogs, sharing the PoloGrounds with the Giants.

Free substitution wasadopted for one year, January20.

The NFL had two 1,000-yard rushers in the same sea-son for the first time—SteveVan Buren of Philadelphia andTony Canadeo of Green Bay.

The AAFC played its seasonwith a one-division, seven-team format. On December 9,Bell announced a mergeragreement in which threeAAFC franchises—Cleveland,San Francisco, and Balti-more—would join the NFL in1950. The Browns won theirfourth consecutive AAFC title,defeating the 49ers 21-7,December 11.

In a heavy rain, the Eaglesdefeated the Rams 14-0 in theNFL Championship Game,December 18.

1950 Unlimited free substitutionwas restored, opening the wayfor the era of two platoons andspecialization in pro football,January 20.

Curly Lambeau, founder ofthe franchise and Green Bay’shead coach since 1921,resigned under fire, February 1.

The name National FootballLeague was restored afterabout three months as theNational-American FootballLeague. The American andNational conferences werecreated to replace the Easternand Western divisions, March3.

The New York Bulldogsbecame the Yanks and divided

the players of the former AAFCYankees with the Giants. Aspecial allocation draft washeld in which the 13 teamsdrafted the remaining AAFCplayers, with special consider-ation for Baltimore, which received 15 choices com-pared to 10 for other teams.

The Los Angeles Ramsbecame the first NFL team tohave all of its games—bothhome and away— televised.The Washington Redskins fol-lowed the Rams in arrangingto televise their games; otherteams made deals to putselected games on television.

In the first game of the sea-son, former AAFC championCleveland defeated NFL cham-pion Philadelphia 35-10. Forthe first time, deadlocks occurred in both conferencesand playoffs were necessary.The Browns defeated theGiants in the American and theRams defeated the Bears inthe National. Cleveland defeat-ed Los Angeles 30-28 in theNFL Championship Game,December 24.

1951 The Pro Bowl game, dormantsince 1942, was revived undera new format matching the all-stars of each conference atthe Los Angeles MemorialColiseum. The American Con-ference defeated the NationalConference 28-27, January14.

Abraham Watner returnedthe Baltimore franchise and itsplayer contracts back to theNFL for $50,000. Baltimore’sformer players were madeavailable for drafting at thesame time as college players,January 18.

A rule was passed that notackle, guard, or center wouldbe eligible to catch a forwardpass, January 18.

The Rams reversed theirtelevision policy and televisedonly road games.

The NFL ChampionshipGame was televised coast-to-coast for the first time,December 23. The DuMontNetwork paid $75,000 for therights to the game, in whichthe Rams defeated the Browns24-17.

1952 Ted Collins sold the New YorkYanks’ franchise back to theNFL, January 19. A new fran-



chise was awarded to a groupin Dallas after it purchased theassets of the Yanks, January24. The new Texans went1-11, with the owners turningthe franchise back to theleague in midseason. For thelast five games of the season,the commissioner’s officeoperated the Texans as a roadteam, using Hershey, Pennsyl-vania, as a home base. At theend of the season the fran-chise was canceled, the lasttime an NFL team failed.

The Pittsburgh Steelersabandoned the Single-Wingfor the T-formation, the lastpro team to do so.

The Detroit Lions won theirfirst NFL championship in 17years, defeating the Browns17-7 in the title game, December 28.

1953 A Baltimore group headed byCarroll Rosenbloom wasgranted a franchise and wasawarded the holdings of thedefunct Dallas organization,January 23. The team, namedthe Colts, put together thelargest trade in league history,acquiring 10 players fromCleveland in exchange for five.

The names of the Americanand National conferenceswere changed to the Easternand Western conferences,January 24.

Jim Thorpe died, March 28.Mickey McBride, founder of

the Cleveland Browns, soldthe franchise to a syndicateheaded by Dave R. Jones,June 10.

The NFL policy of blackingout home games was upheldby Judge Allan K. Grim of theU.S. District Court in Philadel-phia, November 12.

The Lions again defeatedthe Browns in the NFL Cham-pion ship Game, winning 17-16, December 27.

1954 The Canadian Football Leaguebegan a series of raids on NFLteams, signing quar terbackEddie LeBaron and defensiveend Gene Brito of Washingtonand defensive tackle ArnieWeinmeister of the Giants,among others.

Fullback Joe Perry of the49ers became the first playerin league history to gain 1,000yards rushing in consecutiveseasons.

Cleveland defeated Detroit56-10 in the NFL Champion -ship Game, Decem ber 26.

1955 The sudden-death overtimerule was used for the first timein a preseason game betweenthe Rams and Giants at Port-land, Oregon, August 28. TheRams won 23-17 three min-utes into overtime.

A rule change declared theball dead immediately if theball carrier touched the groundwith any part of his bodyexcept his hands or feet whilein the grasp of an opponent.

The Baltimore Colts madean 80-cent phone call to John-ny Unitas and signed him as afree agent. Another quarter-back, Otto Graham, played hislast game as the Brownsdefeated the Rams 38-14 inthe NFL Championship Game,December 26. Graham hadquarterbacked the Browns to10 championship-gameappearances in 10 years.

NBC replaced DuMont asthe network for the title game,paying a rights fee of$100,000.

1956 The NFL Players Associationwas founded.

Grabbing an opponent’sfacemask (other than the ballcarrier) was made illegal.Using radio receivers to com-municate with players on thefield was prohibited. A naturalleather ball with white endstripes replaced the white ballwith black stripes for nightgames.

The Giants moved from thePolo Grounds to Yankee Stadi-um.

Halas retired as coach ofthe Bears, and was replacedby Paddy Driscoll.

CBS became the first net-work to broadcast some NFLregular-season games toselected television marketsacross the nation.

The Giants routed the Bears47-7 in the NFL ChampionshipGame, December 30.

1957 Pete Rozelle was named gen-eral manager of the Rams.Anthony J. Morabito, founderand co-owner of the 49ers,died of a heart attack during agame against the Bears atKezar Stadium, October 28.

An NFL-record crowd of102,368 saw the 49ers-Ramsgame at the Los AngelesMemorial Coliseum, Novem-ber 10.

The Lions came from 20points down to post a 31-27playoff victory over the 49ers,December 22. Detroit defeatedCleveland 59-14 in the NFLChampionship Game, Decem-ber 29.

1958 The bonus selection in thedraft was eliminated, January29. The last selection wasquarterback King Hill of Riceby the Chicago Cardinals.

Halas reinstated himself ascoach of the Bears.

Jim Brown of Clevelandgained an NFL-record 1,527yards rushing. In a divisionalplayoff game, the Giants heldBrown to eight yards anddefeated Cleveland 10-0.

Baltimore, coached byWeeb Ewbank, defeated theGiants 23-17 in the first sud-den-death overtime in an NFLChampion ship Game, Decem-ber 28. The game ended whenColts fullback Alan Amechescored on a one-yard touch-down run after 8:15 of over-time.

1959 Vince Lombardi was namedhead coach of the Green BayPackers, January 28. TimMara, the co-founder of theGiants, died, February 17.

Lamar Hunt of Dallasannounced his intentions toform a second pro footballleague. The first meeting washeld in Chicago, August 14,and consisted of Hunt repre-senting Dallas; Bob Howsam,Denver; K.S. (Bud) Adams,Houston; Barron Hilton, LosAngeles; Max Winter and BillBoyer, Minneapolis; and HarryWismer, New York City. Theymade plans to begin play in1960.

The new league was namedthe American Football League,August 22. Buffalo, owned byRalph Wilson, became theseventh franchise, October28. Boston, owned by WilliamH. Sullivan, became the eighthteam, November 22. The firstAFL draft, lasting 33 rounds,was held, November 22. JoeFoss was named AFL Com-missioner, November 30. Anadditional draft of 20 rounds

was held by the AFL, Decem-ber 2.

NFL Commissioner Ber tBell died of a heart attack suf-fered at Franklin Field,Philadelphia, during the lasttwo minutes of a gamebetween the Eagles and theSteelers, October 11. Treasur-er Austin Gunsel was namedpresident in the office of thecommissioner, October 14.

The Colts again defeatedthe Giants in the NFL Champi-onship Game, 31-16, Decem-ber 27.

1960 Pete Rozelle was elected NFLCommissioner as a compro-mise choice on the twenty-third ballot, January 26.Rozelle moved the leagueoffices to New York City.

Hunt was elected AFL pres-ident for 1960, January 26.Minneapolis withdrew fromthe AFL, January 27, and thesame ownership was given anNFL franchise for Minnesota(to start in 1961), January 28.Dallas received an NFL fran-chise for 1960, January 28.Oakland received an AFL fran-chise, January 30.

The AFL adopted the two-point option on points aftertouchdown, January 28. A no-tampering verbal pact, relativeto players’ contracts, wasagreed to between the NFLand AFL, February 9.

The NFL owners voted toallow the transfer of the Chica-go Cardinals to St. Louis,March 13.

The AFL signed a five-yeartelevision contract with ABC,June 9.

The Boston Patriots defeat-ed the Buffalo Bills 28-7before 16,000 at Buffalo in thefirst AFL preseason game,July 30. The Denver Broncosdefeated the Patriots 13-10before 21,597 at Boston in thefirst AFL regular-seasongame, September 9.

Philadelphia defeated GreenBay 17-13 in the NFL Champi-onship Game, December 26.

1961 The Houston Oilers defeatedthe Los Angeles Chargers24-16 before 32,183 in thefirst AFL Championship Game,January 1.

Detroit defeated Cleveland17-16 in the first Playoff Bowl,or Ber t Bell Benefit Bowl,



between second-place teamsin each conference in Miami,January 7.

End Willard Dewveall of theBears played out his optionand joined the Oilers, becom-ing the first player to play outhis contract and jump from theNFL to the AFL, January 14.

Ed McGah, Wayne Valley,and Robert Osborne boughtout their partners in the own-ership of the Raiders, January17. The Chargers were trans-ferred to San Diego, February10. Dave R. Jones sold theBrowns to a group headed byArthur B. Modell, March 22.The Howsam brothers sold theBroncos to a group headed byCalvin Kunz and Gerry Phipps,May 26.

NBC was awarded a two-year contract for radio andtelevision rights to the NFLChampionship Game for$615,000 annually, $300,000of which was to go directlyinto the NFL Player BenefitPlan, April 5.

Canton, Ohio, where theleague that became the NFLwas formed in 1920, waschosen as the site of the ProFootball Hall of Fame, April 27.

A bill legalizing single-net-work television contracts byprofessional sports leagueswas introduced in Congressby Representative EmanuelCeller. It passed the House andSenate and was signed intolaw by President John F.Kennedy, September 30.

Houston defeated SanDiego 10-3 for the AFL cham-pionship, December 24. GreenBay won its first NFL champi-onship since 1944, defeatingthe New York Giants 37-0,December 31.

1962 The Western Division defeatedthe Eastern Division 47-27 inthe first AFL All-Star Game,played before 20,973 in SanDiego, January 7.

Both leagues prohibitedgrabbing any player’s face-mask. The AFL voted to makethe scoreboard clock the official timer of the game.

The NFL entered into a sin-gle- network agreement withCBS for telecasting all regular-season games for $4.65 mil-lion annually, January 10.

Judge Roszel Thompson ofthe U.S. District Court in Balti-more ruled against the AFL in

its antitrust suit against theNFL, May 21. The AFL hadcharged the NFL with monop-oly and conspiracy in areas ofexpansion, television, andplayer signings. The case last-ed two and a half years, thetrial two months.

McGah and Valley acquiredcontrolling interest in theRaiders, May 24. The AFLassumed financial responsibil-ity for the New York Titans,November 8. With Commis -sioner Rozelle as referee,Daniel F. Reeves regained theownership of the Rams, out-bidding his partners in sealed-envelope bidding for the team,November 27.

The Dallas Texans defeatedthe Oilers 20-17 for the AFLchampionship at Houstonafter 17 minutes, 54 secondsof overtime on a 25-yard fieldgoal by Tommy Brooker. Thegame lasted a then record 77minutes, 54 seconds, Decem-ber 23.

Judge Edward Weinfeld ofthe U.S. District Court in NewYork City upheld the legality ofthe NFL’s television blackoutwithin a 75-mile radius ofhome games and denied aninjunction that would haveforced the championshipgame between the Giants andthe Packers to be televised inthe New York City area,December 28. The Packersbeat the Giants 16-7 for theNFL title, December 30.

1963 Don Shula, who went on tobecome the winningest headcoach in NFL history, replacedWeeb Ewbank as head coachof the Colts, January 8.

Paul Brown, head coach ofthe Browns since their incep-tion, was fired on January 9and replaced the following dayby Blanton Collier.

The Dallas Texans trans-ferred to Kansas City, becom-ing the Chiefs, February 8. TheNew York Titans were sold to afive-man syndicate headed byDavid (Sonny) Werblin, March28. Weeb Ewbank became theTitans’ new head coach andthe team’s name was changedto the Jets, April 15. Theybegan play in the PoloGrounds.

NFL Properties, Inc., wasfounded to serve as thelicensing arm of the NFL.

Rozelle indefinitely sus-

pended Green Bay halfbackPaul Hornung and Detroitdefensive tackle Alex Karrasfor placing bets on their ownteams and on other NFLgames; he also fined five otherDetroit players $2,000 eachfor betting on one game inwhich they did not participate,and the Detroit Lions FootballCompany $2,000 on each oftwo counts for failure to reportinformation promptly and forlack of sideline supervision,April 17.

The AFL allowed the Jetsand Raiders to select playersfrom other franchises in hopesof giving the league morecompetitive balance, May 11.

NBC was awarded exclu-sive network broadcastingrights for the 1963 NFL Cham-pionship Game for $926,000,May 23.

The Pro Football Hall ofFame was dedicated at Can-ton, Ohio, September 7.

The U.S. Four th CircuitCourt of Appeals reaffirmedthe lower court’s finding forthe NFL in the $10-million suitbrought by the AFL, endingthree and a half years of litiga-tion, November 21.

Jim Brown of Clevelandrushed for an NFL single-sea-son record 1,863 yards.

Boston defeated Buffalo26-8 in the first divisionalplayoff game in AFL history,December 28.

The Bears defeated theGiants 14-10 in the NFLChampionship Game, a recordsixth and last title for Halas inhis thirty-sixth season as theBears’ coach, December 29.

1964 The Chargers defeated thePatriots 51-10 in the AFLChampionship Game, January5.

William Clay Ford, the Lion-s’ president since 1961, pur-chased the team, January 10.A group representing the lateJames P. Clark sold the Eaglesto a group headed by JerryWolman, January 21. CarrollRosen bloom, the majorityowner of the Colts since 1953,acquired complete ownershipof the team, January 23.

The AFL signed a five-year,$36- million television contractwith NBC to begin with the1965 season, January 29.

Hornung and Karras werereinstated by Rozelle, March

16.CBS submitted the winning

bid of $14.1 million per yearfor the NFL regular-seasontelevision rights for 1964 and1965, January 24. CBS acquired the rights to thechampionship games for1964 and 1965 for $1.8 mil-lion per game, April 17.

Pete Gogolak of Cornellsigned a contract with Buffalo,becoming the first soccer-style kicker in pro football.

Buffalo defeated San Diego20-7 in the AFL ChampionshipGame, December 26. Cleve-land defeated Baltimore 27-0in the NFL ChampionshipGame, December 27.

1965 The NFL teams pledged not tosign college seniors until com-pletion of all their games,including bowl games, andempowered the Commission-er to discipline the clubs up toas much as the loss of anentire draft list for a violationof the pledge, February 15.

The NFL added a sixth offi-cial, the line judge, February 19.The color of the officials’ penal-ty flags was changed fromwhite to bright gold, April 5.

Commissioner Rozellenegotiated an agreement onbehalf of the NFL clubs to pur-chase Ed Sabol’s Blair MotionPictures, which was renamedNFL Films, April.

Atlanta was awarded an NFLfranchise for 1966, with RankinSmith, Sr., as owner, June 30.Miami was awarded an AFLfranchise for 1966, with JoeRobbie and Danny Thomas asowners, August 16.

Field Judge Burl Tolerbecame the first black officialin NFL history, September 19.

According to a Harris sur-vey, sports fans chose profes-sional football (41 percent) astheir favorite sport, overtakingbaseball (38 percent) for thefirst time, October.

Green Bay defeated Balti-more 13-10 in sudden-deathovertime in a Western Confer-ence playoff game. Don Chan-dler kicked a 25-yard field goalfor the Packers after 13 min-utes, 39 seconds of overtime,December 26. The Packersthen defeated the Browns 23-12 in the NFL Champi-onship Game, January 2.

In the AFL ChampionshipGame, the Bills defeated the



Chargers, 23-0, December 26.CBS acquired the rights to

the NFL regular-season gamesin 1966 and 1967, with anoption for 1968, for $18.8 mil-lion per year, December 29.

1966 The AFL-NFL war reached itspeak, as the leagues spent acombined $7 million to signtheir 1966 draft choices. TheNFL signed 75 percent of its232 draftees, the AFL 46 per-cent of its 181. Of the 111common draft choices, 79signed with the NFL, 28 withthe AFL, and 4 went unsigned.

Buddy Young became thefirst African-American to workin the league office whenCommis sioner Rozelle namedhim director of player rela-tions, February 1.

The rights to the 1966 and1967 NFL ChampionshipGames were sold to CBS for$2 million per game, February14.

Foss resigned as AFL Com-missioner, April 7. Al Davis,the head coach and generalmanager of the Raiders, wasnamed to replace him, April 8.

Goal posts offset from thegoal line, painted bright yel-low, and with uprights 20 feetabove the cross-bar weremade standard in the NFL,May 16.

A series of secret meetingsregarding a possible AFL-NFLmerger were held in the springbetween Hunt of Kansas Cityand Tex Schramm of Dallas.Rozelle announced the merg-er, June 8. Under the agree-ment, the two leagues wouldcombine to form an expandedleague with 24 teams, to beincreased to 26 in 1968 and to28 by 1970 or soon thereafter.All existing franchises wouldbe retained, and no franchiseswould be transferred outsidetheir metropolitan areas. Whilemaintaining separate sched-ules through 1969, theleagues agreed to play anannual AFL-NFL World Cham-pionship Game beginning inJanuary, 1967, and to hold acombined draft, also begin-ning in 1967. Preseasongames would be held betweenteams of each league startingin 1967. Official regular-sea-son play would start in 1970when the two leagues wouldofficially merge to form oneleague with two conferences.

Rozelle was named Commis-sioner of the expanded leaguesetup.

Davis rejoined the Raiders,and Milt Woodard was namedpresident of the AFL, July 25.

The St. Louis Cardinalsmoved into newly constructedBusch Memorial Stadium.

Barron Hilton sold theChargers to a group headedby Eugene Klein and SamSchulman, August 25.

Congress approved theAFL-NFL merger, passing leg-islation exempting the agree-ment itself from antitrust action, October 21.

New Orleans was awardedan NFL franchise to begin playin 1967, November 1. JohnMecom, Jr., of Houston wasdesignated majority stock-holder and president of thefranchise, December 15.

The NFL was realigned forthe 1967-69 seasons into theCapitol and Century Divisionsin the Eastern Conference andthe Central and Coastal Divi-sions in the Western Confer-ence, December 2. NewOrleans and the New YorkGiants agreed to switch divi-sions in 1968 and return to the1967 alignment in 1969.

The rights to the SuperBowl for four years were soldto CBS and NBC for $9.5 mil-lion, December 13.

1967 Green Bay earned the right torepresent the NFL in the firstAFL-NFL World ChampionshipGame by defeating Dallas34-27, January 1. The sameday, Kansas City defeated Buf-falo 31-7 to represent the AFL.The Packers defeated theChiefs 35-10 before 61,946fans at the Los AngelesMemorial Coliseum in the firstgame between AFL and NFLteams, January 15. The win-ning players’ share for thePackers was $15,000 each,and the losing players’ sharefor the Chiefs was $7,500each. The game was televisedby both CBS and NBC.

The “sling-shot” goal postand a six-foot-wide borderaround the field were madestandard in the NFL, February22.

Baltimore made BubbaSmith, a Michigan Statedefensive lineman, the firstchoice in the first combinedAFL-NFL draft, March 14.

The AFL awarded a fran-chise to begin play in 1968 toCincinnati, May 23. A groupwith Paul Brown as par towner, general manager, andhead coach, was awarded theCincinnati franchise, Septem-ber 27.

Arthur B. Modell, the presi-dent of the Cleveland Browns,was elected president of theNFL, May 28.

Defensive back Emlen Tun-nell of the New York Giantsbecame the first black playerto enter the Pro Football Hall ofFame, August 5.

An AFL team defeated anNFL team for the first time,when Denver beat Detroit 13-7in a preseason game, August5.

Green Bay defeated Dallas21-17 for the NFL champi-onship on a last-minute 1-yardquarterback sneak by BartStarr in 13-below-zero tem-perature at Green Bay, Decem-ber 31. The same day, Oak-land defeated Houston 40-7for the AFL championship.

1968 Green Bay defeated Oakland33-14 in Super Bowl II atMiami, January 14. The gamehad the first $3-million gate inpro football history.

Vince Lombardi resigned ashead coach of the Packers,but remained as general man-ager, January 28.

Werblin sold his shares inthe Jets to his partners DonLillis, Leon Hess, TownsendMartin, and Phil Iselin, May21. Lillis assumed the presi-dency of the club, but thendied July 23. Iselin wasappointed president, August 6.

Halas retired for the fourthand last time as head coach ofthe Bears, May 27.

The Oilers left Rice Stadiumfor the Astrodome andbecame the first NFL team toplay its home games in adomed stadium.

The movie Heidi became afootnote in spor ts historywhen NBC didn’t show the last50 seconds of the Jets-Raiders game in order to per-mit the children’s special tobegin on time. The Raidersscored two touchdowns in thelast 42 seconds to win 43-32,November 17.

Ewbank became the firstcoach to win titles in both theNFL and AFL when his Jets

defeated the Raiders 27-23 forthe AFL championship, Decem ber 29. The same day, Baltimore defeated Cleveland34-0.

1969 The AFL established a playoffformat for the 1969 season,with the winner in one divisionplaying the runner-up in theother, January 11.

An AFL team won the SuperBowl for the first time, as theJets defeated the Colts 16-7 atMiami, January 12 in SuperBowl III. The title Super Bowlwas recognized by the NFL forthe first time.

Vince Lombardi becamepart owner, executive vice-president, and head coach ofthe Washington Redskins,February 7.

Wolman sold the Eagles toLeonard Tose, May 1.

Baltimore, Cleveland, andPittsburgh agreed to join theAFL teams to form the 13-team American Football Con-ference of the NFL in 1970,May 10. The NFL also agreedon a playoff format that wouldinclude one “wild-card” teamper conference—the second-place team with the bestrecord.

The NFL announced a three-year agreement with ABC totelevise Monday Night Football.The new series makes the NFLthe first league with a regularseries of national telecasts inprime time, May 26.

George Preston Marshall,president emeritus of the Red-skins, died at 72, August 9.

The NFL marked its fiftiethyear by the wearing of a spe-cial patch by each of the 16teams.

1970 Kansas City defeated Min-nesota 23-7 in Super Bowl IVat New Orleans, January 11.The gross receipts of approxi-mately $3.8 million were thelargest ever for a one-daysports event.

A special league meetingwas held to determine the divi-sional realignment of theNational Football Conference.With no consensus, Rozelleordered the five most viableplans be written down onsheets of paper. Rozelle’sassistant, Thelma Elkjer,picked the winning one out ofa vase at random, January 17.



Four-year television con-tracts, under which CBSwould televise all NFC gamesand NBC all AFC games(except Monday night games)and the two would divide tele-vising the Super Bowl andAFC-NFC Pro Bowl games,were announced, January 26.

Ar t Modell resigned aspresident of the NFL, March12. Milt Woodard resigned aspresident of the AFL, March13. Lamar Hunt was electedpresident of the AFC andGeorge Halas was electedpresident of the NFC, March19.

The merged 26-teamleague adopted rules changesputting names on the backs ofplayers’ jerseys, making apoint after touchdown worthonly one point, and making thescoreboard clock the officialtiming device of the game,March 18.

The Players NegotiatingCommittee and the NFL Play-ers Association announced afour-year agreement guaran-teeing approximately$4,535,000 annually to playerpension and insurance bene-fits, August 3. The ownersalso agreed to contribute$250,000 annually to improveor implement items such asdisability payments, widows’benefits, maternity benefits,and dental benefits. Theagreement also provided forincreased presea son gameand per diem payments, aver-aging approximately $2.6 mil-lion annually.

The Pittsburgh Steelersmoved into Three Rivers Sta-dium. The Cincinnati Bengalsmoved to Riverfront Stadium.

Vince Lombardi died ofcancer at 57, September 3.

The Super Bowl trophy wasrenamed the Vince Lombarditrophy, September 10.

Tom Dempsey of NewOrleans kicked a game-win-ning NFL-record 63-yard fieldgoal against Detroit, November 8.

1971 Baltimore defeated Dallas16-13 on Jim O’Brien’s 32-yard field goal with fiveseconds to go in Super Bowl Vat Miami, January 17.

The NFC defeated the AFC27-6 in the first AFC-NFC ProBowl at Los Angeles, January24.

The Boston Patriotschanged their name to theNew England Patriots, March25. Their new stadium, Schae-fer Stadium, was dedicated ina 20-14 preseason victoryover the Giants.

The Philadelphia Eagles leftFranklin Field and played theirgames at the new VeteransStadium.

The San Francisco 49ersleft Kezar Stadium and movedtheir games to CandlestickPark.

Daniel F. Reeves, the presi-dent and general manager ofthe Rams, died at 58, April 15.

The Dallas Cowboys movedfrom the Cotton Bowl into theirnew home, Texas Stadium,October 24.

Miami defeated Kansas City27-24 in sudden-death over-time in an AFC Divisional Play-off Game, December 25. GaroYepremian kicked a 37-yardfield goal for the Dolphins after22 minutes, 40 seconds ofovertime, as the game lasted82 minutes, 40 seconds over-all, making it the longest gamein history.

1972 Dallas defeated Miami 24-3 inSuper Bowl VI at New Orleans,January 16.

The inbounds lines or hash-marks were moved nearer thecenter of the field, 23 yards, 1foot, 9 inches from the side-lines, March 23. The methodof determining won-lost per-centage in standings changed.Tie games, previously notcounted in the standings, weremade equal to a half-gamewon and a half-game lost,May 24.

Robert Irsay purchased theLos Angeles Rams and trans-ferred ownership of the club toCarroll Rosenbloom inexchange for the BaltimoreColts, July 13.

William V. Bidwill pur-chased the stock of his broth-er Charles (Stormy) Bidwill tobecome the sole owner of theSt. Louis Cardinals, Septem-ber 2.

The National District Attor-neys Association endorsedthe position of professionalleagues in opposing proposedlegalization of gambling onprofessional team spor ts, September 28.

Franco Harris’ “ImmaculateReception” gave the Steelers

their first postseason win ever,13-7 over the Raiders,December 23.

1973 Rozelle announced that allSuper Bowl VII tickets weresold and that the game wouldbe telecast in Los Angeles, thesite of the game, on an exper-imental basis, January 3.

Miami defeated Washington14-7 in Super Bowl VII at LosAngeles, completing a 17-0season, the first perfect-record regular-season andpost season mark in NFL histo-ry, January 14.

The AFC defeated the NFC33-28 in the Pro Bowl in Dal-las, the first time since 1942that the game was played out-side Los Angeles, January 21.

A jersey numbering systemwas adopted, April 5: 1-19 forquarterbacks and specialists,20-49 for running backs anddefensive backs, 50-59 forcenters and linebackers, 60-79 for defensive linemen andinterior offensive linemenother than centers, and 80-89for wide receivers and tightends. Players who had been inthe NFL in 1972 could contin-ue to use old numbers.

NFL Charities, a nonprofitorganization, was created toderive an income from moniesgenerated from NFL Proper-ties’ licensing of NFL trade-marks and team names, June26. NFL Charities was set upto support education andcharitable activities and tosupply economic support topersons formerly associatedwith professional football whowere no longer able to supportthemselves.

Congress adopted experi-mental legislation (for threeyears) requiring any NFL gamethat had been declared a sell-out 72 hours prior to kickoff tobe made available for localtelevising, September 14. Thelegislation provided for anannual review to be made bythe Federal Communications Commission.

The Buffalo Bills movedtheir home games from WarMemorial Stadium to Rich Sta-dium in nearby Orchard Park.The Giants tied the Eagles23-23 in the final game in Yan-kee Stadium, September 23.The Giants played the rest oftheir home games at the YaleBowl in New Haven, Connecti-

cut.A rival league, the World

Football League, was formedand was reported in operation,October 2. It had plans to startplay in 1974.

O.J. Simpson of Buffalobecame the first player to rushfor more than 2,000 yards in aseason, gaining 2,003.

1974 Miami defeated Minnesota24-7 in Super Bowl VIII atHouston, the second consec-utive Super Bowl champi-onship for the Dolphins, January 13.

Rozelle was given a 10-yearcontract effective January 1,1973, February 27.

Tampa Bay was awardedthe twenty-seventh franchiseto begin operation in 1976,April 24.

Sweeping rules changeswere adopted to add actionand tempo to games: one sud-den-death over time periodwas added for preseason andregular-season games; thegoal posts were moved fromthe goal line to the end lines;kickoffs were moved from the40- to the 35-yard line; aftermissed field goals frombeyond the 20, the ball was tobe returned to the line ofscrimmage; restrictions wereplaced on members of thepunting team to open up returnpossibilities; roll-blocking andcutting of wide receivers waseliminated; the extent ofdownfield contact a defendercould have with an eligiblereceiver was restricted; thepenalties for offensive holding,illegal use of the hands, andtripping were reduced from 15to 10 yards; wide receiversblocking back toward the ballwithin three yards of the line ofscrimmage were preventedfrom blocking below the waist,April 25.

Seattle was awarded thetwenty-eighth NFL franchise tobegin play in 1976, June 4.Lloyd W. Nordstrom, presidentof the Seattle Seahawks, andHugh Culver house, presidentof the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,signed franchise agreements,December 5.

The Birmingham Americansdefeated the Florida Blazers22-21 in the WFL World Bowl,winning the league champi-onship, December 5.



1975 Pittsburgh defeated Minnesota16-6 in Super Bowl IX at NewOrleans, the Steelers’ firstchampionship since enteringthe NFL in 1933, January 12.

The Memphis Southmen ofthe WFL signed Larry Csonka,Jim Kiick, and Paul Warfield ofMiami, March 31.

The divisional winners withthe highest won-loss percent-age were made the hometeam for the divisional play-offs, and the surviving winnerswith the highest percentagemade home teams for thechampionship games. Previ-ously, the home sites werepre-determined by division ona rotating basis, June 26.

Referees were equippedwith wireless microphones forall preseason, regular-season,and playoff games.

The Lions moved to thenew Pontiac Silverdome. TheGiants played their homegames in Shea Stadium. TheSaints moved into theLouisiana Superdome.

The World Football Leaguefolded, October 22.

1976 Pittsburgh defeated Dallas21-17 in Super Bowl X inMiami. The Steelers joinedGreen Bay and Miami as the only teams to win two SuperBowls; the Cowboys becamethe first wild-card team to playin the Super Bowl, January 18.

Lloyd Nordstrom, the presi-dent of the Seahawks, died at66, January 20. His brotherElmer succeeded him asmajority representative of theteam.

The owners adopted theuse of two 30-second clocksfor all games, visible to bothplayers and fans to note theofficial time between theready-for-play signal and snapof the ball, March 16.

A veteran player allocationwas held to stock the Seattleand Tampa Bay franchiseswith 39 players each, March30-31. In the college draft,Seattle and Tampa Bay eachreceived eight extra choices,April 8-9.

The Giants moved into newGiants Stadium in East Ruther-ford, New Jersey.

The Steelers defeated theCollege All-Stars in a storm-shortened Chicago CollegeAll-Star Game, the last of the

series, July 23. St. Louisdefeated San Diego 20-10 in apreseason game before38,000 in Korakuen Stadium,Tokyo, in the first NFL gameoutside of Nor th America,August 16.

1977 Oakland defeated Minnesota32-14 in Super Bowl XI atPasadena, January 9. Thepaid attendance was a prorecord 103,438.

The NFL Players Associa-tion and the NFL ManagementCouncil ratified a collectivebargaining agreement extend-ing until 1982, covering fivefootball seasons while contin-uing the pension plan—including years 1974, 1975,and 1976—with contributionstotaling more than $55 million.The total cost of the agree-ment was estimated at $107million. The agreement calledfor a college draft at leastthrough 1986; contained a no-strike, no-suit clause; estab-lished a 43-man active playerlimit; reduced pension vestingto four years; provided forincreases in minimum salariesand preseason and postsea-son pay; improved insurance,medical, and dental benefits;modified previous practices inplayer movement and control;and reaffirmed the NFL Com-missioner’s disciplinaryauthority. Additionally, theagreement called for the NFLmember clubs to make pay-ments totaling $16 million thenext 10 years to settle variouslegal disputes, February 25.

The San Francisco 49erswere sold to Edward J. DeBar-tolo, Jr., March 28.

A 16-game regular season,4-game preseason wasadopted to begin in 1978. Asecond wild-card team wasadopted for the playoffs beginning in 1978, with thewild-card teams to play eachother and the winners advanc-ing to a round of eight post-season series, March 29.

The Seahawks were perma-nently aligned in the AFCWestern Division and the Buc-caneers in the NFC CentralDivision, March 31.

Rules changes were adopt-ed to open up the passinggame and to cut down oninjuries. Defenders were per-mitted to make contact witheligible receivers only once;

the head slap was outlawed;offensive linemen were pro-hibited from thrusting theirhands to an opponent’s neck,face, or head; and widereceivers were prohibited fromclipping, even in the legal clip-ping zone.

Rozelle negotiated con-tracts with the three televisionnetworks to televise all NFLregular-season and postsea-son games, plus selected pre-season games, for four yearsbeginning with the 1978 sea-son. ABC was awarded yearlyrights to 16 Monday nightgames, four primetimegames, the AFC-NFC ProBowl, and the Hall of Famegames. CBS received therights to all NFC regular-sea-son and postseason games(except those in the ABCpackage) and to Super BowlsXIV and XVI. NBC received therights to all AFC regular-sea-son and postseason games(except those in the ABCpackage) and to Super BowlsXIII and XV. Industry sourcesconsidered it the largest singletelevision package ever nego-tiated, October 12.

1978 Dallas defeated Denver 27-10in Super Bowl XII, held indoorsfor the first time, at theLouisiana Superdome in NewOrleans, January 15. Dallas’victory was the first for theNFC in six years.

According to a Louis HarrisSports Survey, 70 percent ofthe nation’s sports fans saidthey followed football, com-pared to 54 percent who fol-lowed baseball. Footballincreased its lead as the coun-try’s favorite, 26 percent to 16percent for baseball, January19.

A seventh official, the sidejudge, was added to the offici-ating crew, March 14.

The NFL continued a trendtoward opening up the game.Rules changes permitted adefender to maintain contactwith a receiver within fiveyards of the line of scrim-mage, but restricted contactbeyond that point. The pass-blocking rule was interpretedto permit the extending ofarms and open hands, March17.

A study on the use ofinstant replay as an officiatingaid was made during seven

nationally televised preseasongames.

The NFL played for the firsttime in Mexico City, with theSaints defeating the Eagles14-7 in a preseason game,August 5.

Bolstered by the expansionof the regular-season sched-ule from 14 to 16 weeks, NFLpaid attendance exceeded 12million (12,771,800) for thefirst time. The per-game aver-age of 57,017 was the third-highest in league history andthe most since 1973.

1979 Pittsburgh defeated Dallas35-31 in Super Bowl XIII atMiami to become the firstteam ever to win three SuperBowls, January 21.

NFL rules changes empha-sized additional player safety.The changes prohibited play-ers on the receiving team fromblocking below the waist dur-ing kickoffs, punts, and field-goal attempts; prohibited thewearing of torn or alteredequipment and exposed padsthat could be hazardous;extended the zone in whichthere could be no crackbackblocks; and instructed officialsto quickly whistle a play deadwhen a quar terback wasclearly in the grasp of a tack-ler, March 16.

Carroll Rosenbloom, thepresident of the Rams,drowned at 72, April 2. His widow, Georgia, assumedcontrol of the club.

1980 Pittsburgh defeated the LosAngeles Rams 31-19 in SuperBowl XIV at Pasadena tobecome the first team to winfour Super Bowls, January 20.

The AFC-NFC Pro Bowl,won 37-27 by the NFC, wasplayed before 48,060 fans atAloha Stadium in Honolulu,Hawaii. It was the first time inthe 30-year history of the ProBowl that the game wasplayed in a non-NFL city.

Rules changes placedgreater restrictions on contactin the area of the head, neck,and face. Under the heading of“personal foul,” players wereprohibited from directly strik-ing, swinging, or clubbing onthe head, neck, or face. Start-ing in 1980, a penalty could becalled for such contact whetheror not the initial contact was



made below the neck area.CBS, with a record bid of

$12 million, won the nationalradio rights to 26 NFL regular-season games, includingMonday Night Football, and all10 postseason games for the1980-83 seasons.

The Los Angeles Ramsmoved their home games toAnaheim Stadium in nearbyOrange County, California.

The Oakland Raiders joinedthe Los Angeles ColiseumCommission’s antitrust suitagainst the NFL. The suit con-tended the league violated antitrust laws in declining toapprove a proposed move bythe Raiders from Oakland toLos Angeles.

The NFL Draft is televisedfor the first time by ESPN,April 29.

Television ratings in 1980were the second-best in NFLhistory, trailing only the com-bined ratings of the 1976 sea-son. All three networks postedgains, and NBC’s 15.0 ratingwas its best ever. CBS andABC had their best ratingssince 1977, with 15.3 and20.8 ratings, respectively.CBS Radio reported a recordaudience of 7 million for Mon-day night and special games.

1981Oakland defeated Philadelphia27-10 in Super Bowl XV at theLouisiana Superdome in NewOrleans, to become the firstwild-card team to win a SuperBowl, January 25.

Edgar F. Kaiser, Jr., pur-chased the Denver Broncosfrom Gerald and Allan Phipps,February 26.

The owners adopted a dis-aster plan for re-stocking ateam should the club beinvolved in a fatal accident,March 20.

A CBS-New York Times pollshowed that 48 percent ofsports fans preferred footballto 31 percent for baseball.

The NFL teams hosted 167representatives from 44 pre-dominantly black colleges dur-ing training camps for a totalof 289 days. The programwas adopted for renewal dur-ing each training camp period.

ABC and CBS set all-timerating highs. ABC finished witha 21.7 rating and CBS with a17.5 rating. NBC was downslightly to 13.9.

1982 San Francisco defeated Cin -cinnati 26-21 in Super BowlXVI at the Pontiac Silverdome,in the first Super Bowl held inthe North, January 24. TheCBS telecast achieved thehighest rating of any televisedsports event ever, 49.1 with a73.0 share.

The NFL signed a five-yearcontract with the three televi-sion networks (ABC, CBS, andNBC) to televise all NFL regu-lar-season and postseasongames starting with the 1982season.

A jury ruled against the NFLin the antitrust trial brought bythe Los Angeles ColiseumCommission and the OaklandRaiders, May 7. The verdictcleared the way for theRaiders to move to Los Ange-les, where they defeatedGreen Bay 24-3 in their firstpreseason game, August 29.

The 1982 season wasreduced from a 16-gameschedule to nine as the resultof a 57-day players’ strike.The strike was called by theNFLPA at midnight on Monday,September 20, following theGreen Bay at New York Giantsgame. Play resumed Novem-ber 21-22 following ratifica-tion of the Collective Bargain-ing Agreement by NFL own-ers, November 17 in NewYork.

Under the Collective Bar-gain ing Agreement, whichwas to run through the 1986season, the NFL draft wasextended through 1992 andthe veteran free-agent systemwas left basically unchanged.A minimum salary schedulefor years of experience wasestablished; training camp andpostseason pay wereincreased; players’ medical,insurance, and retirement ben-efits were increased; and aseverance-pay system wasintroduced to aid in careertransition, a first in profession-al sports.

Despite the players’ strike,the average paid attendance in1982 was 58,472, the fifth-highest in league history.

1983 Because of the shortened sea-son, the NFL adopted a formatof 16 teams competing in aSuper Bowl Tournament forthe 1982 playoffs. The NFC’snumber-one seed, Washing-

ton, defeated the AFC’s num-ber-two seed, Miami, 27-17 inSuper Bowl XVII at the RoseBowl in Pasadena, January30.

Super Bowl XVII was thesecond-highest rated live tele-vision program of all time, giv-ing the NFL a sweep of the top10 live programs in televisionhistory.

George Halas, the owner ofthe Bears and the last surviv-ing member of the NFL’s sec-ond organizational meeting,died at 88, October 31.

1984 The Los Angeles Raidersdefeated Washington 38-9 inSuper Bowl XVIII at TampaStadium, January 22.

An 11-man group headedby H.R. (Bum) Bright pur-chased the Dallas Cowboysfrom Clint Murchison, Jr.,March 20. Club president TexSchramm was designated asmanaging general partner.

Wellington Mara wasnamed president of the NFC,March 20.

Patrick Bowlen purchased amajority interest in the DenverBroncos from Edgar Kaiser,Jr., March 21.

The Colts relocated to Indi-anapolis, March 28. Their newhome became the HoosierDome.

The New York Jets movedtheir home games to GiantsStadium in East Rutherford,New Jersey.

Alex G. Spanos purchaseda majority interest in the SanDiego Chargers from EugeneV. Klein, August 28.

Houston defeated Pitts-burgh 23-20 to mark the one-hundredth overtime game inregular-season play sinceover time was adopted in1974, December 2.

On the field, many all-timerecords were set: Dan Marinoof Miami passed for 5,084yards and 48 touchdowns;Eric Dickerson of the LosAngeles Rams rushed for2,105 yards; Ar t Monk ofWashington caught 106 pass-es; and Walter Payton ofChicago broke Jim Brown’scareer rushing mark, finishingthe season with 13,309 yards.

According to a CBSSports/New York Times sur-vey, 53 percent of the nation’ssports fans said they most enjoyed watching football,

compared to 18 percent forbaseball, December 2-4.

1985 San Francisco defeated Miami38-16 in Super Bowl XIX atStanford Stadium in Stanford,California, January 20. Presi-dent Ronald Reagan, who tookhis second oath of officebefore tossing the coin for thegame, was one of115,936,000 viewers. SuperBowl XIX had a direct econom-ic impact of $113.5 million onthe San Francisco Bay area.

NBC Radio and the NFLentered into a two-year agree-ment granting NBC the radiorights to a 37-game packagein each of the 1985-86 sea-sons, March 6. The packageincluded 27 regular-seasongames and 10 postseasongames.

Norman Braman, in part-nership with Edward Lei-bowitz, bought the Philadel-phia Eagles from LeonardTose, April 29.

A group headed by TomBenson, Jr., was approved topurchase the New OrleansSaints from John W. Mecom,Jr., June 3.

The NFL owners adopted aresolution calling for a seriesof overseas preseasongames, beginning in 1986,with one game to be played inEngland/ Europe and/or onegame in Japan each year. Thegame would be a fifth presea-son game for the clubsinvolved and all arrangementsand selection of the clubswould be under the control ofthe Commissioner, May 23.

The league-wide conver-sion to videotape from moviefilm for coaching study wasapproved.

A Louis Harris poll inDecember revealed that profootball remained the sportmost followed by Americans.Fifty-nine percent of thosesurveyed followed pro foot-ball, compared with 54 per-cent who followed baseball.

The Chicago-Miami Mon-day game had the highest rat-ing, 29.6, and share, 46.0, ofany primetime game in NFLhistory, December 2. Thegame was viewed in morethan 25 million homes.

The NFL showed a ratingsincrease on all three networksfor the season, gaining 4 per-cent on NBC, 10 on CBS, and



16 on ABC.

1986 Chicago defeated New Eng-land 46-10 in Super Bowl XXat the Louisiana Superdome,January 26. The Patriots hadearned the right to play theBears by becoming the firstwild-card team to win threeconsecutive games on theroad. The NBC telecastreplaced the final episode ofM*A*S*H as the most-viewedtelevision program in history,with an audience of 127 mil-lion viewers, according to A.C.Nielsen figures. In addition todrawing a 48.3 rating and a 70percent share in the UnitedStates, Super Bowl XX wastelevised to 59 foreign coun-tries and beamed via satelliteto the QE II.

The owners adopted limiteduse of instant replay as anofficiating aid, prohibited play-ers from wearing or otherwisedisplaying equipment, apparel,or other items that carry com-mercial names, names oforganizations, or personalmessages of any type, March11.

After an 11-week trial, ajury in U.S. District Court inNew York awarded the UnitedStates Football League onedollar in its $1.7 billionantitrust suit against the NFL.The jury rejected all of theUSFL’s television-relatedclaims, which were the self-proclaimed heart of the USFL’scase. The jury deliberated fivedays, July 29.

Chicago defeated Dallas17-6 at Wembley Stadium inLondon in the first AmericanBowl. The game drew a selloutcrowd of 82,699 and the NBCnational telecast in this coun-try produced a 12.4 rating and36 percent share, making itthe highest daytime preseasontelevision audience ever with10.65-million viewers, August3.

ABC’s NFL Monday NightFootball, in its seventeenthseason, became the longest-running primetime series inthe history of the network.

1987 The New York Giants defeatedDenver 39-20 in Super BowlXXI and captured their firstNFL title since 1956. Thegame, played in Pasadena’sRose Bowl, drew a sellout

crowd of 101,063, January25.

New three-year TV con-tracts with ABC, CBS, andNBC were announced for1987-89 at the NFL annualmeeting in Maui, Hawaii,March 15. Commis sionerRozelle and Broadcast Com-mittee Chairman Art Modellalso announced a three-yearcontract with ESPN to televise13 primetime games eachseason. The ESPN contractwas the first with a cable net-work. However, NFL games onESPN also were scheduled forregular television in the city ofthe visiting team and in thehome city if the game wassold out 72 hours in advance.

A special payment programwas adopted to benefit nearly1,000 former NFL players whopar ticipated in the Leaguebefore the current Bert BellNFL Pension Plan was createdand made retroactive to the1959 season. Players coveredby the new program spent atleast five years in the Leagueand played all or part of theircareer prior to 1959. Eachvested player would receive$60 per month for each yearof service in the League forlife.

NFL and CBS Radio jointlyannounced agreement granti-ng CBS the radio rights to a40-game package in each ofthe next three NFL seasons,1987-89, April 7.

Over 400 former NFL play-ers from the pre-1959 erareceived first payments fromNFL owners, July 1.

The NFL’s debut on ESPNproduced the two highest-rated and most-watchedsports programs in basic cable history. The Chicago atMiami game on August 16drew an 8.9 rating in 3.81 mil-lion homes. Those records felltwo weeks later when the Los Angeles Raiders at Dallasgame achieved a 10.2 cablerating in 4.36 million homes.

The 1987 season wasreduced from a 16-game sea-son to 15 as the result of a 24-day players’ strike. The strikewas called by the NFLPA onTuesday, September 22, fol-lowing the New England atNew York Jets game. Gamesscheduled for the third week-end were canceled but thegames of weeks four, five, andsix were played with replace-

ment teams. Striking playersreturned for the seventh weekof the season, October 25.

In a three-team deal involv-ing 10 players and/or draftchoices, the Los AngelesRams traded running backEric Dickerson to the Indi-anapolis Colts for six draftchoices and two players. Buf-falo obtained the rights to line-backer Cornelius Bennett fromIndianapolis, sending GregBell and three draft choices tothe Rams. The Colts addedOwen Gill and three draftchoices of their own to com-plete the deal with the Rams,October 31.

The Chicago at Minnesotagame became the highest-rated and most-watchedsports program in basic cablehistory when it drew a 14.4cable rating in 6.5 millionhomes, December 6.

1988 Washington defeated Denver42-10 in Super Bowl XXII toearn its second victory thisdecade in the NFL Champi-onship Game. The game,played for the first time in SanDiego Jack Murphy Stadium,drew a sellout crowd of73,302. Doug Williams, thegame’s MVP, became the firstAfrican-American quarterbackto play in a Super Bowl, Janu-ary 31.

In a unanimous 3-0 deci-sion, the 2nd Circuit Court ofAppeals in New York upheldthe verdict of the jury that inJuly, 1986, had awarded theUnited States Football Leagueone dollar in its $1.7 billionantitrust suit against the NFL.In a 91-page opinion, JudgeRalph K. Winter said the USFLsought through court decreethe success it failed to gainamong football fans, March10.

By a 23-5 margin, ownersvoted to continue the instantreplay system for the thirdconsecutive season with theInstant Replay Official to beassigned to a regular seven-man, on-the-field crew. At theNFL annual meeting inPhoenix, Arizona, a 45-sec-ond clock was also approvedto replace the 30-secondclock. For a normal sequenceof plays, the interval betweenplays was changed to 45seconds from the time theball is signaled dead until it is

snapped on the succeedingplay.

NFL owners approved thetransfer of the Cardinals’ fran-chise from St. Louis toPhoenix; approved two sup-plemental drafts each year—one prior to training camp andone prior to the regular sea-son; and voted to initiate anannual series of games inJapan/ Asia as early as the1989 preseason, March 14-18.

The NFL Annual SelectionMeeting returned to a separatetwo-day format and for thefirst time originated on a Sun-day. ESPN drew a 3.6 ratingduring their seven-hour cover-age of the draft, which wasviewed in 1.6 million homes,April 24-25.

Art Rooney, founder andowner of the Steelers, died at87, August 25.

Johnny Grier became thefirst African-American refereein NFL history, September 4.

Commissioner Rozelleannounced that two teamswould play a preseason gameas part of the American Bowlseries on August 6, 1989, inthe Korakuen Tokyo Dome inJapan, December 16.

1989 San Francisco defeated Cin -cinnati 20-16 in Super BowlXXIII. The game, played for thefirst time at Joe Robbie Stadi-um in Miami, was attended bya sellout crowd of 75,129,January 22.

Commissioner Rozelleannounced his retirement,pending the naming of a suc-cessor, March 22 at the NFL annual meeting in PalmDesert, California.

Following the announce-ment, AFC president LamarHunt and NFC presidentWellington Mara announcedthe formation of a six-mansearch committee composedof Art Modell, Robert Parins,Dan Rooney, and Ralph Wilson. Hunt and Mara servedas co-chairmen.

By a 24-4 margin, ownersvoted to continue the instantreplay system for the fourthstraight season. A strength-ened policy regarding anabolicsteroids and masking agentswas announced by Commis -sioner Rozelle. NFL clubscalled for strong disciplinarymeasures in cases of feigned



injuries and adopted a jointproposal by the Long-RangePlanning and Finance commit-tees regarding player person-nel rules, March 19-23.

Two hundred twenty-nineunconditional free agentssigned with new teams undermanagement’s Plan B system,April 1.

Jerry Jones purchased amajority interest in the DallasCowboys from H.R. (Bum)Bright, April 18.

Tex Schramm was namedpresident of the new WorldLeague of American Football towork with a six-man committeeof Dan Rooney, chairman; Nor-man Braman, Lamar Hunt, Vic-tor Kiam, Mike Lynn, and BillWalsh, April 18.

NFL and CBS Radio jointlyannounced agreement extend-ing CBS’s radio rights to anannual 40-game packagethrough the 1994 season, April18.

As of opening day, Septem-ber 10, of the 229 Plan B freeagents, 111 were active and23 others were on teams’reserve lists. Ninety-two oth-ers were waived and threeretired.

Art Shell was named headcoach of the Los AngelesRaiders making him the NFL’sfirst black head coach sinceFritz Pollard coached theAkron Pros in 1921, October3.

The site of the New EnglandPatriots at San Francisco49ers game scheduled forCandlestick Park on October22 was switched to StanfordStadium in the aftermath ofthe Bay Area Earthquake ofOctober 17. The change wasannounced on October 19.

Paul Tagliabue became theseventh chief executive of theNFL on October 26 when hewas chosen to succeed Com-mis sioner Pete Rozelle on thesixth ballot of a three-daymeeting in Cleveland, Ohio.

In all, 12 ballots wererequired to select Tagliabue.Two were conducted at ameeting in Chicago on July 6,and four at a meeting in Dallason October 10-11. On thetwelfth ballot, with Seattleabsent, Tagliabue receivedmore than the 19 affirmativevotes required for electionfrom among the 27 clubs pre-sent.

The transfer from Commis -

sioner Rozelle to Commission-er Tagliabue took place at12:01 A.M. on Sunday,November 5.

NFL Charities donated $1million through United Way tobenefit Bay Area earthquakevictims, November 6.

1990 San Francisco defeated Den-ver 55-10 in Super Bowl XXIVat the Louisiana Superdome,January 28. San Franciscojoined Pittsburgh as the NFL’sonly teams to win four SuperBowls.

The NFL announced revi-sions in its 1990 draft eligibil-ity rules. College juniorsbecame eligible but must renounce their collegiate foot-ball eligibility before applyingfor the NFL Draft, February 16.

Commissioner Tagliabueannounced NFL teams willplay their 16-game scheduleover 17 weeks in 1990-92 and16 games over 18 weeks in1993, February 27.

The NFL revised its playoffformat to include two addition-al wild-card teams (one perconference), which raised thetotal to six wild-card teams.

Commissioner Tagliabueand Broadcast CommitteeChairman Ar t Modellannounced a four-year con-tract with Turner Broadcastingto televise nine Sunday-nightgames.

New four-year TV agree-ments were ratified for 1990-93 for ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN,and TNT at the NFL annualmeeting in Orlando, Florida,March 12. The contractstotaled $3.6 billion, the largestin TV history.

The NFL announced plansto expand its American Bowlseries of preseason games. Inaddition to games in Londonand Tokyo, American Bowlgames were scheduled forBerlin, Germany, and Montre-al, Canada, in 1990.

For the fifth straight year,NFL owners voted to continuea limited system of InstantReplay. Beginning in 1990, thereplay official will have a two-minute time limit to make adecision. The vote was 21-7,March 12.

Commissioner Tagliabueannounced the formation of aCommittee on Expansion andRealignment, March 13. Healso named a Player Advisory

Coun cil, comprised of 12 for-mer NFL players, March 14.

One-hundred eighty-fourPlan B unconditional freeagents signed with newteams, April 2.

Commissioner Tagliabueappointed Dr. John Lombardoas the League’s Drug Advisorfor Anabolic Steroids, April 25and named Dr. LawrenceBrown as the League’s Advi-sor for Drugs of Abuse, May17.

NFL International Week wascelebrated with four presea-son games in seven days inTokyo, London, Berlin, andMontreal. More than 200,000fans on three continentsattended the four games,August 4-11.

Commissioner Tagliabueannounced the NFL Teacher ofthe Month program in whichthe League furnishes grantsand scholarships in recogni-tion of teachers who provideda positive influence upon NFLplayers in elementary and sec-ondary schools, September20.

For the first time since1957, every NFL club won atleast one of its first fourgames, October 1.

The Super Bowl Most Valu-able Player trophy wasrenamed the Pete Rozelle tro-phy, October 8.

1991 The New York Giants defeatedBuffalo 20-19 in Super BowlXXV to capture their secondtitle in five years. The gamewas played before a selloutcrowd of 73,813 at TampaStadium and became the firstSuper Bowl decided by onepoint, January 26.

New York businessmanRobert Tisch purchased a 50percent interest in the NewYork Giants from Mrs. HelenMara Nugent and her children,Tim Mara and Maura MaraConcannon, February 2.

NFL clubs voted to continuea limited system of InstantReplay for the sixth consecu-tive year. The vote was 21-7,March 19.

The NFL launched theWorld League of AmericanFootball, the first spor tsleague to operate on a weeklybasis on two separate conti-nents, March 23.

NFL Charities presented a$250,000 donation to the

United Service Organization.The donation was the secondlargest single grant ever byNFL Charities, April 5.

Commissioner Tagliabuenamed Harold Henderson asExecutive Vice President forLabor Relations and Chairmanof the NFL Management Coun-cil Executive Committee, April8.

NFL clubs approved a rec-ommendation by the Expan-sion and Realignment Com-mittee to add two teams forthe 1994 season, resulting insix divisions of five teamseach, May 22.

“NFL International Week”featured six 1990 playoffteams playing nationally tele-vised games in London,Berlin, and Tokyo on July 28and August 3-4. The gamesdrew more than 150,000 fans.

Paul Brown, founder of theCleveland Browns and Cincin-nati Bengals, died at age 82,August 5.

NFL clubs approved a reso-lution establishing an interna-tional division. A three-yearfinancial plan for the WorldLeague was approved by NFLclubs at a meeting in Dallas,October 23.

1992 The NFL agreed to provide aminimum of $2.5 million infinancial support to the NFLAlumni Association and assis-tance to NFL Alumni-relatedprograms. The agreementincluded contributions fromNFL Charities to the Pre-59ersand Dire Need Programs forformer players, January 25.

The Washington Redskinsdefeated the Buffalo Bills37-24 in Super Bowl XXVI tocapture their third worldchampionship in 10 years,January 26. The game wasplayed before a sellout crowdof 63,130 at the Hubert H.Humphrey Metrodome in Min-neapolis.

The use in officiating of alimited system of InstantReplay was not approved. Thevote was 17-11 in favor ofapproval (21 votes wererequired). Instant Replay hadbeen used for six consecutiveyears (1986-1991), March18.

St. Louis businessmanJames Orthwein purchasedcontrolling interest in the NewEngland Patriots from Victor



Kiam, May 11.In a Harris Poll taken during

the NFL offseason, profes-sional football again wasdeclared the nation’s mostpopular spor t. Professionalfootball finished atop similarsurveys conducted by Harrisin 1985 and 1989, May 23.

NFL clubs accepted thereport of the Expansion Com-mittee at a league meeting inPasadena. The report namesfive cities as finalists for thetwo expansion teams—Balti-more, Charlotte, Jacksonville,Memphis, and St. Louis, May19.

At a league meeting in Dal-las, NFL clubs approved a pro-posal by the World LeagueBoard of Directors to restruc-ture the World League andplace future emphasis on itsinternational success, Sep-tember 17.

The Professional and Ama-teur Spor ts Protection Actmade it unlawful for a govern-ment entity to operate a lotteryor other betting scheme basedon pro or collegiate games.Four states that already hadsuch betting were grandfa-thered, October 6.

NFL teams played their 16-game regular-season sched-ule over 18 weeks for the onlytime in league history.

1993 The NFL and lawyers for theplayers announced a settle-ment of various lawsuits andan agreement on the terms ofa seven-year deal that includ-ed a new player system to bein place through the 1999 sea-son, January 6.

Commissioner Tagliabueannounced the establishmentof the “NFL World PartnershipProgram” to develop amateurfootball internationally througha series of clinics conductedby former NFL players andcoaches, January 14.

As par t of Super BowlXXVII, the NFL announced thecreation of the first NFL YouthEducation Town, a facilitylocated in south central LosAngeles for inner city youth.January 25.

The Dallas Cowboysdefeated the Buffalo Bills52-17 in Super Bowl XXVII tocapture their first NFL titlesince 1978. The game wasplayed before a crowd of98,374 at the Rose Bowl in

Pasadena, California, January31.

The NFL and the NFL Play-ers Association officiallysigned a 7-year Collective Bar-gaining Agreement in Wash-ington, D.C., which guaran-tees more than $1 billion inpension, health, and post-career benefits for current andretired players—the mostextensive benefits plan in prosports. It was the NFL’s firstCBA since the 1982 agree-ment expired in 1987, June29.

NFL Enterprises, a newlyformed division of the NFLresponsible for NFL Films,home video, and specialdomestic and internationaltelevision programming wasannounced, August 19.

NFL announced plans toallow fans, for the first timeever, to join players andcoaches in selecting the annu-al AFC and NFC Pro Bowlteams, October 12.

NFL clubs unanimouslyawarded the league’s twenty-ninth franchise to the Caroli-na Panthers and owner JerryRichardson at a meeting inChicago, October 26.

At the same meeting inChicago, NFL clubs approveda plan to form a Europeanleague with joint venture part-ners, October 27.

Don Shula became the win-ningest coach in NFL historywhen Miami beat Philadelphiato give Shula his 325th victo-ry, one more than GeorgeHalas, November 14.

NFL clubs awarded theleague’s thirtieth franchise tothe Jacksonville Jaguars andowner Wayne Weaver at ameeting in Chicago, Novem-ber 30.

The NFL announced new 4-year television agreementswith NBC, ABC, ESPN, TNT,and NFL newcomer FOX,which took over the NFC pack-age from CBS, December 18.

The NFL completed its newTV agreements by announcingthat NBC would retain therights to the AFC package,December 20.

1994The Dallas Cowboys defeatedthe Buffalo Bills 30-13 inSuper Bowl XXVIII to becomethe fifth team to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles, Janu-ary 30.

NFL clubs unanimouslyapproved the transfer of theNew England Patriots fromJames Orthwein to Robert Kraftat a meeting in Orlando, Febru-ary 22.

In a move to increase offen-sive production, NFL clubs atthe league’s annual meeting inOrlando adopted a package ofchanges, including modifica-tions in line play, chuckingrules, and the roughing-the-passer rule, plus the adoptionof the two-point conversionand moving the spot of thekickoff back to the 30-yardline, March 22.

NFL clubs approved thetransfer of the majority interestin the Miami Dolphins from theRobbie family to H. WayneHuizenga, March 23.

The NFL and FOX announ -ced the formation of a jointventure to create a six-teamWorld League to begin play inEurope in April, 1995, March23.

The Carolina Panthersearned the right to select firstin the 1995 NFL draft by win-ning a coin toss with the Jack-sonville Jaguars. The Jaguarsreceived the second selectionin the 1995 draft, April 24.

NFL clubs approved thetransfer of the PhiladelphiaEagles from Norman Bramanto Jeffrey Lurie, May 6.

The NFL launched “NFLSunday Ticket,” a new seasonsubscription service for satel-lite television dish owners,June 1.

An all-time NFL recordcrowd of 112,376 attended theAmerican Bowl game betweenDallas and Houston in MexicoCity. It concluded the biggestAmerican Bowl series in NFLhistory with four games attract-ing a record 256,666 fans,August 15.

The NFL reached agreementon a new seven-year contractwith its game officials, Sep-tember 22.

The NFL ManagementCouncil and the NFL PlayersAssociation announced anagreement on the formulationand implementation of themost comprehensive drug andalcohol policy in sports, Octo-ber 28.

At an NFL meeting in Chica-go, Commissioner Tagliabueslotted the two new expansionteams into the AFC Central(Jacksonville Jaguars) and

NFC West (Carolina Panthers)for the 1995 season only. Healso appointed a special com-mittee on realignment to makerecommendations on the 1996season and beyond, November2.

1995The San Francisco 49ersbecame the first team to winfive Super Bowls when theydefeated the San Diego Charg-ers 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIXat Joe Robbie Stadium inMiami, January 29.

Carolina and Jacksonvillestocked their expansion rosterswith a total of 66 players fromother NFL teams in a veteran player allocation draftin New York, February 16.

CBS Radio and the NFLagreed to a new four-year con-tract for an annual 53-gamepackage of games, continuing arelationship that spanned 15 ofthe past 17 years, February 22.

NFL clubs approved thetransfer of the Tampa Bay Buc-caneers from the estate of thelate Hugh Culverhouse toSouth Florida businessmanMalcolm Glazer, March 13.

After a two-year hiatus, theWorld League of American Foot-ball returned to action with sixteams in Europe, April 8.

The NFL became the firstmajor sports league to estab-lish a site on the Internet sys-tem of on-line computer com-munication, April 10.

The transfer of the Ramsfrom Los Angeles to St. Louiswas approved by a vote of theNFL clubs at a meeting in Dal-las, April 12.

ABC’s NFL Monday NightFootball finished the 1994-95television season as the fifthhighest-rated show out of 146with a 17.8 average rating, thehighest finish in the 25-yearhistory of the series, April 18.

The Frankfurt Galaxy defeat-ed the Amsterdam Admirals26-22 to win the 1995 WorldBowl before a crowd of 23,847in Amsterdam’s Olympic Stadi-um, June 23.

The transfer of the Raidersfrom Los Angeles to Oaklandwas approved by a vote of theNFL clubs at a meeting inChicago, July 22.

Jacksonville Municipal Sta-dium opened in Jacksonville,Florida before a sold-outcrowd of more than 70,000 asthe St. Louis Rams defeated



the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-10 in their first preseasongame, August 18.

NFL Charities and 50 NFLplayers donated $1 million tothe United Negro College Fundin honor of the fiftieth anniver-sary of the UNCF and the inte-gration of the modern NFL,September 15.

The Trans World Domeopened in St. Louis with asold-out crowd of 65,598 asthe Rams defeated the Caroli-na Panthers 28-17, November12.

On the field, many signifi-cant records and milestoneswere achieved: Miami’s DanMarino surpassed Pro FootballHall of Famer Fran Tarkenton infour major passing cate-gories—attempts, comple-tions, yards, and touch-downs—to become the NFL’sall-time career leader. SanFrancisco’s Jerry Ricebecame the all-time receptionand receiving-yardage leader.

1996The Dallas Cowboys won theirthird Super Bowl title in fouryears when they defeated thePittsburgh Steelers 27-17 inSuper Bowl XXX at Sun DevilStadium in Tempe, Arizona,January 28.

An agreement between theNFL and the city of Clevelandregarding the ClevelandBrowns’ relocation wasapproved by a vote of the NFLclubs, February 9. Accordingto the agreement, the city ofCleveland retained the Brown-s’ heritage and records,including the name, logo, col-ors, history, playing records,trophies, and memorabilia,and committed to building anew 72,000-seat stadium fora reactivated Browns’ fran-chise to begin play there nolater than 1999. Ar t Modell received approval tomove his franchise to Balti-more and rename it.

The transfer of the Oilersfrom Houston to Nashville forthe 1998 season wasapproved by a vote of the NFLclubs at a meeting in Atlanta,April 30.

The Scottish Claymoresdefeated the Frankfurt Galaxy32-27 to win the 1996 WorldBowl in front of 38,982 at Mur-rayfield Stadium in Edinburgh,Scotland, June 23.

The NFL returned to Balti-

more when the new BaltimoreRavens defeated the Philadel-phia Eagles 17-9 in a presea-son game before a crowd of63,804 at Memorial Stadium,August 3.

Ericsson Stadium opened inCharlotte, North Carolina witha crowd of 65,350 as the Car-olina Panthers defeated theChicago Bears 30-12 in a pre-season game, August 3.

Former NFL CommissionerPete Rozelle died at his homein Rancho Santa Fe, California.Rozelle, regarded as the pre-mier commissioner in sportshistory, led the NFL for 29years, from 1960-1989,December 6.

1997Indianapolis Colts ownerRobert Irsay died from compli-cations related to a stroke hesuffered in 1995. Irsayacquired the club in 1972 whenhe traded his Los AngelesRams to Carrol Rosenbloomfor the Colts. He later movedthe Colts from Baltimore toIndianapolis in 1984, January14.

The Green Bay Packers wontheir first NFL title in 29 yearsby defeating the New EnglandPatriots 35-21 in Super BowlXXXI at the Louisiana Super-dome in New Orleans, January26.

The rules governing cross-ownership were modified, per-mitting NFL club owners toalso own teams in other sportsin their home market or mar-kets without NFL teams. Thevote was 24-5 (one abstention)in favor of approval, March 11.

Washington Redskins ownerJack Kent Cooke died at hishome in Washington, D.C.Cooke became majority ownerin 1974 and the Redskins wonthree Super Bowls under hisleadership, April 6.

The Barcelona Dragonsdefeated the Rhein Fire 38-24to win the 1997 World Bowl infront of 31,100 fans at EstadiOlimpic de Montjuic inBarcelona, Spain, June 22.

NFL clubs approved thetransfer of the Seattle Sea-hawks from Ken Behring toPaul Allen, August 19.

Jack Kent Cooke Stadiumopened in Raljon, Marylandwith a crowd of 78,270 as theWashington Redskins defeatedthe Arizona Cardinals 19-13 inovertime, September 14.

The 10,000th regular-sea-son game in NFL history wasplayed when the Seattle Sea-hawks defeated the TennesseeOilers 16-13 at the Kingdomein Seattle, October 5.

Atlanta Falcons ownerRankin Smith died of heart fail-ure three days prior to his sev-enty-third birthday. Smith wasthe founder of the Falcons andwas instrumental in bringingSuper Bowls XXVIII and XXXIVto Atlanta, October 26.

1998The NFL reached agreement onrecord eight-year televisioncontracts with four networks.ABC (NFL Monday Night Foot-ball) and FOX (NFC) retainedtheir previous rights, CBS tookover the AFC package fromNBC, and ESPN won the rightto broadcast the entire Sundaynight cable package, January13.

The World League wasrenamed the NFL EuropeLeague, January 22.

The Denver Broncos wontheir first Super Bowl by defeat-ing the defending championGreen Bay Packers 31-24 inSuper Bowl XXXII at QualcommStadium in San Diego, January25.

The NFL clubs approved anextension of the Collective Bar-gaining Agreement through2003. The extended CBA alsocreated a $100 million fund foryouth football, March 22.

The NFL clubs unanimouslyapproved an expansion teamfor Cleveland to fulfill the com-mitment to return the Brownsto the field in 1999, March 23.

The Rhein Fire defeated theFrankfurt Galaxy 34-10 to winthe 1998 World Bowl in frontof 47,846 fans in Frankfurt'sWaldstadion—the biggestcrowd to witness a WorldBowl since 1991, June 14.

NFL clubs approved thetransfer of the MinnesotaVikings from a 10-man owner-ship group to Red McCombs,July 28.

The NFL Stadium at Cam-den Yards opened in Balti-more, Maryland before acrowd of 65,938 as the Balti-more Ravens defeated theChicago Bears 19-14 in a pre-season game, August 8.

Raymond James Stadiumopened in Tampa, Floridabefore a crowd of 62,410 asthe Tampa Bay Buccaneers

defeated the Chicago Bears27-15, September 20.

Tennessee Oilers ownerBud Adams announced theteam will change its name tothe Tennessee Titans followingthe 1998 season. The NFLannounced that the name Oil-ers will be retired—a first inleague history, November 14.

1999The Denver Broncos won theirsecond consecutive SuperBowl title by defeating the NFCchampion Atlanta Falcons34-19 in Super Bowl XXXIII atPro Player Stadium in Miami,January 31.

Jim Pyne, a center allocat-ed by the Detroit Lions, wasthe first selection of the Cleve-land Browns in the 1999 NFLExpansion Draft. The Brownseventually selected 37 play-ers, February 9.

CBS Radio/Westwood Oneagreed to a 3-year extensionof their exclusive nationalradio rights to NFL games,March 11.

By a vote of 28-3, the own-ers adopted an instant replaysystem as an officiating aid forthe 1999 season, March 17.

New York Jets owner LeonHess died from complicationsof a blood disease. Hess hadbeen involved in the owner-ship of the Jets since 1963and was sole owner of theclub since 1984, May 9.

A group led by Washingtonarea businessman Daniel Sny-der is approved by NFL clubsas the new owner of theWashington Redskins at aleague meeting in Atlanta, May25.

The Frankfur t Galaxybecame the first team in NFLEurope League history to wina second World Bowl bydefeating the Barcelona Drag-ons 38-24 at Rheinstadion, inDüsseldorf, Germany, June27.

The Cleveland Brownsreturned to the field for the firsttime since 1995 and defeatedthe Dallas Cowboys 20-17 inovertime in the annual Hall ofFame Game at Canton, Ohio,August 9.

Cleveland Browns Stadiumopened in Cleveland, Ohiobefore a crowd of 71,398 asthe Minnesota Vikings defeat-ed the Browns in a preseasongame, 24-17, August 21.

Adelphia Coliseum opened



in Nashville, Tennessee beforea crowd of 65,729 with theTennessee Titans defeating theAtlanta Falcons 17-3 in a pre-season game, August 26.

Houston, Texas and ownerRobert McNair were awardedthe NFL’s thirty-second fran-chise in a vote of the NFLclubs at a league meeting inAtlanta. The team will beginplay in 2002. The NFL clubsalso voted to realign into eightdivisions of four teams eachfor the 2002 season, October6.

Walter Payton, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, died ofliver cancer at the age of 45,November 1. The NFL Man ofthe Year Award, the only NFLaward that recognizes a playerfor his community serviceactivities as well as his excel-lence on the field, wasrenamed in his honor shortlyafter his passing.

Former NFL CommissionerPete Rozelle, who guided astill-developing league to itsposition today as America’smost popular spor t, wasnamed by The Sporting Newsas the most powerful personin sports in the 20th Century,December 15.

2000New York businessmanRobert Wood Johnson IV wasapproved by NFL clubs as thenew owner of the New YorkJets at a league meeting, Jan-uary 18.

The St. Louis Rams wontheir first Super Bowl bydefeating the AFC championTennessee Titans 23-16 inSuper Bowl XXXIV at the Geor-gia Dome in Atlanta, January30.

For the first time in leaguehistory, paid attendancetopped 16 million for the regu-lar season and more than65,000 per game, an increaseof 1,300 per game over 1998.Paid attendance for all NFLgames increased in 1999 forthe third year in a row and wasthe highest ever in the 80-yearhistory of the league. Itmarked the first time in leaguehistory that the 20-million paidattendance mark was reachedfor all games in a season,March 27.

The Rhein Fire won theirsecond World Bowl in threeyears, defeating the ScottishClaymores 13-10 to win World

Bowl 2000 in front of 35,680at Frankfur t’s Waldstadion,June 25.

More than 100 of the 136living members of the ProFootball Hall of Fame gatheredto celebrate Pro Football’sGreatest Reunion in Canton,Ohio, July 28-31.

Paul Brown Stadiumopened in Cincinnati, Ohiowith a crowd of 56,180 as theCincinnati Bengals defeatedthe Chicago Bears 24-20 in apreseason game, August 19.

Minnesota’s Gary Andersonconverted a 21-yard field goalagainst Buffalo to pass GeorgeBlanda as the NFL’s all-timescoring leader with 2,004points, October 22.

2001NFL clubs approved additionalleague-wide revenue sharingat a special league meeting inDallas. The teams agreed topool the visiting team share ofgate receipts for all preseasonand regular-season gamesand divide the pool equallystarting in 2002, January 17.

The Baltimore Ravens wontheir first Super Bowl bydefeating the NFC championNew York Giants 34-7 in SuperBowl XXXV at RaymondJames Stadium in Tampa Bay,January 28.

The Sports Business Dailynamed NFL CommissionerPaul Tagliabue the 2000Sports Industrialist of the Year,February 28.

NFL owners unanimouslyapproved a realignment planfor the league star ting in2002. With the addition of theHouston Texans, the league’s32 teams will be divided intoeight four-team divisions.Seven clubs change divisions,and the Seattle Seahawkschange conferences, movingfrom the AFC to the NFC. Anew scheduling formatensures that every teammeets every other team in theleague at least once every fouryears, May 22.

The Berlin Thunder wontheir first World Bowl, defeat-ing the Barcelona Dragons 24-17 to win World Bowl IX infront of 32,116 at AmsterdamArenA, June 30.

Heinz Field opened in Pitts-burgh, Pennsylvania before acrowd of 57,829 with thePittsburgh Steelers defeatingthe Detroit Lions 20-7 in a pre-

season game; and INVESCOField at Mile High opened inDenver, Colorado before acrowd of 74,063 with the Den-ver Broncos defeating the NewOrleans Saints 31-24 in a pre-season game, August 25.

President George W. Bushbecame the first United StatesPresident to be involved in anNFL regular-season pregamecoin toss as he helped kick offthe 2001 season from theWhite House. Via satellite,President Bush tossed thecoin for the 10 regular-seasongames that started at 1:00 P.M.ET, September 9.

In the wake of the Septem-ber 11 terrorist attacks, Com-missioner Paul Tagliabue post-poned the games scheduledfor September 16-17, Sep-tember 13.

The league’s 16-game reg-ular season was retainedwhen the postponed Week 2games were rescheduled forthe weekend of January 6-7,September 18.

The NFL and its game offi-cials agreed to a new six-yearCollective Bargaining Agree-ment, ending a two-weeklockout of the regular officials,who returned to work on Sep-tember 23, September 19.

The NFL announced that theleague’s prohibition of anabol-ic steroids and related sub-stances had been strength-ened to include supplementscontaining ephedrine andother high-risk supplements,September 27.

The NFL announced that theSuper Bowl would be re-scheduled from January 27 toFebruary 3 in order to retainthe full playoff format for the2001 season. It will be the firstSuper Bowl played in Febru-ary, October 3.

President Bush designatedSuper Bowl XXXVI as a“National Special SecurityEvent,” allowing all securityfor the game to be coordinatedby the Secret Service, Novem-ber 26.

2002The NFL and the NFL PlayersAssociation agreed to a fourthextension of the 1993 Collec-tive Bargaining Agreementthrough 2007, January 7.

In an AFC Wild Cardmatchup, the Oakland Raidersdefeated the New York Jets38-24 in the NFL’s first-ever

primetime playoff game, Janu-ary 12.

In a special meeting in NewOrleans, NFL owners votedunanimously to approve thepurchase of the Atlanta Fal-cons to Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank, Febru-ary 2.

The New England Patriotswon their first Super Bowl bydefeating the NFC championSt. Louis Rams 20-17 inSuper Bowl XXXVI at theLouisiana Superdome in NewOrleans. The game marked thefirst time in Super Bowl histo-ry that the winning pointscame on the final play, a 48-yard field goal by Patriots kick-er Adam Vinatieri, February 3.

Tony Boselli, a five-time ProBowl tackle allocated by theJacksonville Jaguars, was thefirst selection of the HoustonTexans in the 2002 NFLExpansion Draft. The Texansselected 19 players, February18.

The NFL and WestwoodOne/CBS Radio Spor tsannounced the renewal of amultiyear agreement for West-wood One/CBS Radio Sportsto continue as the exclusivenetwork radio home of theNFL, April 9.

NFL Europe kicked off itstenth season with a record254 players allocated by NFLclubs, April 13-14.

The Berlin Thunder becamethe first team to win consecu-tive World Bowls, defeatingthe Rhein Fire 26-20 to winWorld Bowl X in front of53,109 fans at Rheinstadion,June 22.

Seahawks Stadium openedin Seattle, Washington with anattendance of 52,902 fans asthe Indianapolis Colts defeatedthe Seattle Seahawks 28-10 ina preseason game, August 10.

Gillette Stadium opened inFoxboro, Massachusetts witha crowd of 68,436 fans as theNew England Patriots defeatedthe Philadelphia Eagles 16-15in a preseason game, August17.

Reliant Stadium opened inHouston, Texas with 69,432fans in attendance, the largestnon-Super Bowl crowd to everwatch an NFL game in Hous-ton as the Miami Dolphinsdefeated the Houston Texans24-3 in a preseason game,August 24.

For the first time, the NFL



season kicked off on a Thurs-day night in prime time as theSan Francisco 49ers defeatedthe New York Giants 16-13 atGiants Stadium. The gamewas preceded by “NFL KickoffLive From Times Square,” pre-sented by New York City andthe NFL, a football and musicfestival honoring the resilientspirit of New York and Ameri-ca, September 5.

Week 1 of the 2002 seasonproduced the highest-scoringand most competitive KickoffWeekend in NFL history. The16 games averaged 49.3points per game. A total of788 points and 89 touch-downs were scored, the mostin league history for an open-ing weekend. Eleven of the 16games were decided by onescore (eight points or less), aKickoff Weekend record, Sep-tember 5-9.

Oakland Raiders widereceiver Jerry Rice becamethe all-time leader in yardsfrom scrimmage, surpassingPro Football Hall of Fame run-ning back Walter Payton(21,281 yards), September29.

Cleveland Browns owner AlLerner, the NFL Finance Com-mittee Chairman and Chair-man and CEO of MBNA Cor-poration, died at the age of 69,October 23.

Dallas Cowboys runningback Emmitt Smith becamethe NFL’s all-time rushingleader, surpassing Pro FootballHall of Fame running backWalter Payton (16,726 yards),October 27.

The NFL and NFLPAannounced the creation ofUSA Football, the first nationaladvocacy organization repre-senting all levels of amateurfootball, December 5.

NFL clubs implemented anexpanded program to promotediversity in their coaching andfront office ranks based uponrecommendations of the NFLCommittee on WorkplaceDiversity, December 19. Thecommittee, appointed byCommissioner Tagliabue onOctober 31, comprised 10owners and team executiveswith Pittsburgh Steelers ownerDan Rooney serving as chair-man.

The 2002 season conclud-ed with 25 overtime games,the most in NFL history,December 30.

2003The Tampa Bay Buccaneerswon their first Super Bowl bydefeating the AFC championOakland Raiders 48-21 inSuper Bowl XXXVII at Qual-comm Stadium in San Diego,January 26.

Chicago Bears chairmanemeritus Edward W.McCaskey died at the age of83, April 8.

The Frankfur t Galaxybecame the first team to winthree World Bowls, defeatingthe Rhein Fire 35-16 to winWorld Bowl XI in front of28,138 fans at Hampden Park,June 14.

Tex Schramm, the leg-endary team president andgeneral manager of the DallasCowboys and a member of thePro Football Hall of Fame, diedat the age of 83, July 15.

Lincoln Financial Fieldopened in Philadelphia, Penn-sylvania with an attendance of66,279 fans as the New Eng-land Patriots defeated thePhiladelphia Eagles 24-12 in apreseason game, August 22.

A renovated Lambeau Fieldopened in Green Bay, Wiscon-sin with a crowd of 69,831fans as the Carolina Panthersdefeated the Green Bay Pack-ers 20-7 in a preseason game,August 23.

A renovated Soldier Fieldopened in Chicago, Illinoiswith an attendance of 61,500fans as the Green Bay Packersdefeated the Chicago Bears38-23 in a regular seasongame on ABC’s NFL MondayNight Football, September 29.

NFL Network, the first 24-hour, year-round televisionchannel dedicated to the NFLand the spor t of football,launched on DirecTV, Novem-ber 4.

2004The New England Patriots wontheir second Super Bowl inthree years by defeating theNFC champion Carolina Pan-thers 32-29 in Super BowlXXXVIII at Reliant Stadium inHouston, February 1.

By a vote of 29-3, NFLowners extended the instantreplay system for another fiveseasons through 2008, March30.

Steve Bisciotti took over asthe controlling owner of theBaltimore Ravens, succeedingArt Modell, who operated the

franchise for 43 years, April 8.Former Arizona Cardinals

safety Pat Tillman was killed ina firefight while on combatpatrol with the U.S. ArmyRangers in Afghanistan, April22.

A federal appeals court for-mally ruled in favor of theNFL’s draft eligibility rule inMaurice Clarett’s lawsuit, cit-ing federal labor policy in per-mitting the NFL and the Play-ers Association to set rules forwhen players can enter theleague, May 24.

The Berlin Thunder defeatedthe Frankfurt Galaxy 30-24 towin World Bowl XII in front of35,413 fans at Arena Auf-Schalke, June 12.

The New England Patriotsdefeated the New York Jets13-7 for their NFL-record 18thconsecutive regular-seasonvictory, October 24.

The NFL reached an agree-ment on six-year contractextensions with two of its net-work television par tners—CBS and FOX—to run throughthe 2011 season, November8.

The NFL and DirecTVannounced a five-year exten-sion on the NFL Sunday Ticketsubscription television pack-age to run through the 2010season, November 8.

NFL Europe named theHamburg Sea Devils as theleague’s newest team,November 24.

2005Indianapolis Colts quarterbackPeyton Manning set the NFLsingle-season record with 49touchdown passes, January2.

The New England Patriotsbecame the second team inNFL history to win three SuperBowls in four seasons bydefeating the PhiladelphiaEagles 24-21 in Super BowlXXXIX at ALLTEL Stadium inJacksonville, February 6.

The Pat Tillman USO Centeropened in Afghanistan. TheNFL donated $250,000 to theUSO to honor the memory ofthe former Arizona Cardinalsplayer who died in Afghanistanwhile serving in the U.S. Army,April 1.

The NFL reached long-termagreements for its Sunday andMonday primetime TV pack-ages. NBC returned to the NFLby acquiring the Sunday night

package for six years (2006-2011). ESPN agreed on aneight-year deal to televiseMonday Night Football from2006-2013, April 18.

The NFL strengthened itssteroids program by adoptingthe Olympic testosterone test-ing standard, tripling the num-ber of times a player can berandomly tested during theoffseason from two to six,adding substances to the listof banned substances, andputting new language in thepolicy to allow for testing ofdesigner drugs and other sub-stances that may have evadeddetection, April 27.

NFL owners voted unani-mously to approve the sale ofthe Minnesota Vikings to real-estate developer Zygi Wilf,May 25.

The Amsterdam Admiralsdefeated the Berlin Thunder27-21 to win World Bowl XIIIin front of 35,134 fans at LTUArena in Düsseldorf, Germany,June 11.

The NFL designated Sep-tember 18-19 as “HurricaneRelief Weekend,” which con-cluded with a telethon in con-junction with a Monday NightFootball doubleheader on ABCand ESPN. The New YorkGiants-New Orleans Saintsgame, originally scheduled forthe Louisiana Superdome,was moved to Giants Stadiumfollowing Hurricane Katrina. Intotal, the NFL, its owners,teams, players, and fans con-tributed $21 million to aid theHurricane Katrina rebuildingeffort, September 19.

An NFL record 103,467fans attended the Arizona Car-dinals’ 31-14 victory over theSan Francisco 49ers at Mexi-co City’s Azteca Stadium, thefirst-ever regular-season NFLgame played outside the Unit-ed States, October 2.

Wellington Mara, the NewYork Giants’ president and co-chief executive officer, died atthe age of 89, October 25.

Preston Robert Tisch, theGiants’ chairman and co-chiefexecutive officer, died at theage of 79, November 15.

2006The NFL announced that NFLNetwork would begin airing a“Road To The Playoffs” pack-age of eight primetime regularseason NFL games starting in2006, January 28.



The Pittsburgh Steelerswon their fifth Super Bowl,defeating the Seattle Sea-hawks 21-10 in Super BowlXL at Ford Field in Detroit,Michigan, February 5.

The NFL clubs approved anextension of the CollectiveBargaining Agreement through2012, March 8.

Commissioner Tagliabueannounced his decision toretire by the end of July. TheNFL enjoyed an era of unri-valed prosperity in the Tagli-abue Era, including laborpeace throughout his 17-yeartenure, March 20.

NFL clubs unanimouslydecided to return the name ofthe official game ball to “TheDuke” in honor of the late NewYork Giants owner WellingtonMara, March 27.

The Amsterdam Admiralsdefeated the Berlin Thunder22-7 to win World Bowl XIV infront of 36,286 fans at LTUArena in Düsseldorf, Germany,May 27.

Roger Goodell became theeighth chief executive of theNFL on August 8 when he waschosen to succeed Paul Tagli-abue as commissioner by aunanimous vote of the clubs ata three-day meeting in Chica-go, Illinois. The transfer fromCommissioner Tagliabue toCommissioner Goodell tookplace at 6:00 A.M. on Friday,September 1.

Cardinals Stadium openedin Glendale, Arizona with acrowd of 63,400 fans onAugust 12 as the Arizona Car-dinals defeated the PittsburghSteelers 21-13 in a preseasongame. The facility was laterrenamed University of PhoenixStadium on September 26.

President George W. Bushsigned into law HR 4954,which included the InternetGambling Prohibition andEnforcement Act. The bill pro-hibits online gamblers fromusing credit cards, checks andelectronic fund transfers toplace and settle bets,strengthening enforcement offederal and state gamblinglaws that had been evaded byoverseas gambling operationsusing the Internet, October 13.

NFL owners approved aresolution to stage a limitednumber of international regu-lar-season games—up to twoper season—beginning in2007 and continuing through

2011, October 24.The NFL Network broadcast

its first-ever regular-seasongame as the Kansas CityChiefs defeated the DenverBroncos 19-10 at ArrowheadStadium on Thanksgivingnight, November 23.

San Diego Chargers run-ning back LaDainian Tomlin-son set the NFL single-seasonrecord for touchdowns with29 on December 10. He fin-ished the season with 31touchdowns and also set asingle-season record forpoints with 186.

Lamar Hunt, founder of theKansas City Chiefs and theAmerican Football League,died at the age of 74, Decem-ber 13.

2007The Indianapolis Colts wontheir second Super Bowl,defeating the Chicago Bears29-17 in Super Bowl XLI atDolphin Stadium in SouthFlorida, February 4. Bothteams were coached byAfr ican-Amer icans: TonyDungy of the Colts and LovieSmith of the Bears.

NFL clubs approved addi-tional league-wide revenuesharing at a league meeting inPhoenix, Arizona. The teamsagreed to redistribute up to$430 million over a four-yearspan, retroactive to 2006,March 26.

The NFL announcedchanges to its long-standingpersonal conduct policy andprograms for players, coach-es, and other team and leagueemployees. The modificationsfocus on expanded education-al and support programs inaddition to increased levels ofdiscipline for violations of thepolicy, April 10.

The NFL, NFL Players Asso-ciation, NFL Retired PlayersAssociation, NFL AlumniAssociation, NFL Charities andPro Football Hall of Fameformed the first-ever Allianceto coordinate medical supportservices for former players,May 22.

The Hamburg Sea Devilsdefeated the Frankfurt Galaxy37-28 to win World Bowl XV infront of 48,125 fans at Com-merzbank-Arena in Frankfurt,Germany, June 23.

The NFL announced it willfocus its international busi-ness strategy on reaching the

widest possible global audi-ence, including the staging ofinternational regular-seasongames, and discontinued NFLEuropa after 15 seasons ofoperation, June 29.

NFL owners unanimouslyapproved $10 million in addi-tional Alliance funding forretired players to help pay forjoint replacement surgeriesand other medical assistance,supplementing the initial $7million committed in July byAlliance members, October24.

The New York Giantsdefeated the Miami Dolphins13-10 at London’s in front of81,176 fans at Wembley Sta-dium in the first regular-sea-son game played outside ofNorth America, October 28.

On the field in the 2007season, many significantrecords and milestones wereachieved: Green Bay quarter-back Brett Favre surpassedPro Football Hall of Famer DanMarino in both passing cate-gories—touchdowns andyards—to become the NFL’sall-time career leader. Patriotsquarterback Tom Brady set thesingle-season record with 50touchdown passes, including23 to wide receiver RandyMoss—also a record. NewEngland, which became thefirst team ever to finish 16-0 inthe regular season, scored arecord 589 points.

2008The NFL, United StatesOlympic Committee, UnitedStates Anti-Doping Agencyand MLB announced a part-nership to form a clean com-petition anti-doping researchcollaborative, January 10.

Georgia Frontiere, majorityowner of the St. Louis Rams,died at the age of 80, January18.

The NFL announced it willstage a re gular-season gamein the United Kingdom duringeach of the next three sea-sons, beginning with the NewOrleans Saints hosting the SanDiego Chargers on October26, 2008 at London’s Wemb-ley Stadium, February 1.

The New York Giantsscored with 35 secondsremaining to win their thirdSuper Bowl, defeating the NewEngland Patriots 17-14 inSuper Bowl XLII at Universityof Phoenix Stadium in Glen-

dale, Arizona, February 3.The NFL set an all-time paid

attendance record in 2007 forthe sixth consecutive season.Attendance for all 2007 gameswas 22,256,502, an increaseof 56,790 over the previousmark. The Washington Red-skins set an all-time NFL regu-lar-season home paid atten-dance record of 711,471 foreight games, breaking theirown record of 708,852 in2006.

NFL clubs voted unani-mously to exercise their optionto shorten by two years thecurrent Collective BargainingAgreement, which now willrun through the 2010 seasonand 2011 NFL Draft, May 20.

Lucas Oil Stadium openedin Indianapolis, Indiana with acrowd of 65,333 as the Buffa-lo Bills defeated the Indianapo-lis Colts by a score of 20-7 ina preseason game, August 24.

The NFL established a newfan code of conduct to helpsupport a positive fan environ-ment at all NFL stadiums,August 5.

NFLPA Executive Directorand Pro Football Hall of FamerGene Upshaw died at the ageof 63, August 20.

For the first time, an NFLgame was broadcast on NBCand also streamed live in itsentirety to fans on the Internet viaNFL.com and NBCSports.comas the Giants beat the Redskins16-7 in the 2009 NFL Kickoffgame, September 4.

Owners approved a restruc-tured ownership plan for thePittsburgh Steelers that willkeep the team under the con-trol of chairman Dan Rooneyand team president Ar tRooney II, December 17.

The NFL announced that the2010 Pro Bowl will be playeda week prior to Super BowlXLIV on Sunday, January 31,2010. Both games will beplayed in South Florida,December 30.

In the 256 regular-seasongames of 2008, 44.1 pointsper game were scored—thehighest average since 1970.

2009Stephen M. Ross purchasedan additional 45 percent of theMiami Dolphins from WayneHuizenga and became theteam’s managing par tner.Coupled with his April 1, 2008purchase of 50 percent of the



franchise, the stadium, andthe excess developable land,Ross now owns 95 percent ofthe Dolphins and the stadiumwhile Huizenga retains a fivepercent share of both andremains a 50 percent partnerin that land, January 20.

The NFL re-named itsminority coaching internshipprogram the Bill Walsh NFLMinority Coaching Fellowship,honoring the Pro Football Hallof Fame coach who conceivedof the program, January 29.

The Pittsburgh Steelersscored a touchdown with 42seconds remaining to claimtheir NFL-record sixth SuperBowl title, defeating the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 inSuper Bowl XLIII at RaymondJames Stadium in Tampa Bay,February 1.

The NFL and WestwoodOne announced a new two-year agreement for WestwoodOne to continue as the exclu-sive network radio partner ofthe NFL, March 12.

The NFLPA selected Wash-ington-based attorney DeMau-rice Smith as its new execu-tive director, March 16.

The NFL and DIRECTVannounced an agreement toextend DIRECTV’s rights to carryNFL Sunday Ticket through the2014 season, March 23.

The NFL reached an agree-ment on two-year contractextensions with two of its net-work television par tners –CBS and FOX – to run throughthe 2013 season, May 19.

The NFL extended by twoyears its broadcast partner-ship with NBC to televise theSunday night package throughthe 2013 season, August 19.

Cowboys Stadium openedin Arlington, Texas with acrowd of 75,720 as the DallasCowboys defeated the Ten-nessee Titans by a score of30-10 in a preseason game,August 21.

The NFL announced gamesthat were blacked out in hometeam markets during the 2009season would be shown onNFL.com in their entirety on adelayed basis, September 10.

The NFL launched a new“Red Zone Channel,” offeringfans crucial live action cut-insof all Sunday afternoongames, September 13.

Pro Football Hall of Famehead coach and broadcasterJohn Madden was appointed

special advisor to Commis-sioner Goodell, September 10.

NFL appointed former headcoach Tony Dungy to lead anew NFL Player AdvisoryForum and serve as a specialadvisor to CommissionerGoodell, November 19.

Commissioner Goodellnotified NFL teams of new andexpanded guidelines onreturn-to-play for any playerwho sustains a concussion,December 2.

2010For the first time, the Pro

Bowl was played in the SuperBowl city the week before theSuper Bowl, as the AFC All-Stars beat the NFC All-Stars41-34 in the 2010 Pro Bowl atSun Life Stadium in SouthFlorida. The game drew70,697 fans – the highestattendance for a Pro Bowlsince 1959, January 31.

The New Orleans Saintswon their first Super Bowl title,defeating the IndianapolisColts 31-17 in Super BowlXLIV at Sun Life Stadium inSouth Florida, February 7.

Dr. Hunt Batjer of North-western University FeinbergSchool of Medicine and Dr.Richard G. Ellenbogen of theUniversity of WashingtonSchool of Medicine werenamed the new co-chairs ofthe NFL Head, Neck and SpineMedical Committee, March 16.

NFL owners voted to amendpostseason overtime rules toa modified sudden death for-mat, guaranteeing at least onepossession for each club if thereceiving team fails to score atouchdown on its first over-time possession, March 23.

The NFL and NFL AlumniAssociation announced a newneurological care program forretired players, one of a seriesof NFL initiatives addressingthe quality of life of retiredplayers, March 24.

NFL rules changes empha-sized additional player safety.Protection for defenselessplayers was standardized andexpanded, protecting a playerwho has just completed acatch from blows to the heador neck by an opponent wholaunches. Additional protec-tion was also given tolongsnappers. Play will nowstop if a ball carrier’s helmet isremoved, March 24.

The NFL Draft debuted a

new three-day format, with thefirst two days broadcast inprimetime. A record combinedtotal of 45.4 million viewerstuned in to watch the 75th NFLDraft on NFL Network, ESPNand ESPN2, April 22-24.

New Meadowlands Stadiumopened in East Rutherford,New Jersey as the New YorkGiants defeat the New YorkJets by a score of 31-16 in apreseason game, August 16.

Stan Kroenke purchased anadditional 60 percent of the St.Louis Rams from the Rosen-bloom family and became theteam’s sole owner and chair-man, August 25.

A renovated ArrowheadStadium opened in KansasCity, Missouri as the Philadel-phia Eagles defeated theKansas City Chiefs 20-17 in apreseason game, August 27.

A poster created by the NFLand the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC)to help educate young athleteson concussions was releasedto the public. The poster, sim-ilar to one on display in NFLlocker rooms, stresses theimportance of recognizing aconcussion, taking time torecover, and not returning toplay too soon, October 11.

The NFL, NFL Alumni andGay Culverhouse Players’ Out-reach Program announced apartnership to expand ser-vices for retired NFL players.The outreach program identi-fies retired players in need,ensuring they receive compre-hensive medical evaluationsand assistance in applying forthe expanded benefits and ser-vices created in recent yearsby the NFL, October 12.

Commissioner RogerGoodell notified NFL teamsthat more significant disci-pline, including suspensions,would be imposed on playersthat strike an opponent in thehead or neck area in violationof the rules, October 20.

The NFL and WestwoodOne Radio announced therenewal of a multi-year agree-ment for Westwood One tocontinue as the exclusive net-work radio home of the NFL,December 22.

2011The NFL appointed Pro

Football Hall of Famers RonnieLott and John Madden as co-chairs of a new Player Safety

Advisory Panel. The panel pro-vides recommendations on avariety of safety-related foot-ball matters, while taking along-term view towards mak-ing the game safer at everylevel of the sport, January 4.

The Green Bay Packerswon their fourth Super Bowltitle, defeating the PittsburghSteelers 31-25 in Super BowlXLV at Cowboys Stadium inNorth Texas, February 6.

The NFL Head, Neck andSpine Committee announced anew standardized sidelineconcussion assessment pro-tocol for team medical per-sonnel. The new protocolincludes a symptom checklist,limited neurologic examinationand balance assessment, Feb-ruary 25.

On the steps of the ProFootball Hall of Fame in Can-ton, Ohio, CommissionerGoodell & NFLPA ExecutiveDirector DeMaurice Smith for-mally announced a compre-hensive settlement of litigationand signed a new 10-year Col-lective Bargaining Agreement,August 4. The agreementincluded additional funding forplayer alumni of $1 billion,including a $620 million“Legacy Fund” to increasebenefits for pre-1993 retirees.

A record 107.4 million fanstuned into Kickoff Weekendgames on CBS, ESPN, FOXand NBC, September 8, 11-12.

The NFL announced aneight-year extension of itscontract with ESPN for thebroadcast rights to MondayNight Football through the2021 season, September 8.

NFL teams, players andfans remembered the courageand resilience that followedthe events of September 11,2001 with special tributes ineach stadium and on televi-sion during all games on Sun-day, September 11.

Al Davis, the OaklandRaiders’ owner and Pro Foot-ball Hall of Famer, died at theage of 82, October 8.

NFL owners approved aresolution to continue playingregular-season games in theUnited Kingdom through the2016 season, October 11.

The NFL reached an agree-ment on nine-year contractextensions of its Sundaybroadcast television packageswith CBS, FOX and NBC to runthrough the 2022 season,



December 14. The agree-ments also enabled the NFL toexpand its Thursday nightpackage of games on NFLNetwork, which increasedfrom eight to 13 games for the2012 season.

NFL clubs unanimouslyapproved the majority owner-ship transfer of the Jack-sonville Jaguars from WayneWeaver to businessmanShahid Khan at a meeting inDallas, December 14.

On the field, many all-timerecords were set: 11,356points were scored, the mostof any season in NFL history;New Orleans’ Drew Breespassed for 5,476 yards; andGreen Bay’s Aaron Rodgersled the league with a 122.5passer rating.

2012NFL clubs extended Com-

missioner Goodell’s contractthrough March 31, 2019, Jan-uary 25.

The New York Giants wontheir fourth Super Bowl title,defeating the New EnglandPatriots 21-17 in Super BowlXLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium inIndianapolis, February 5.

The NFL announced a newcomprehensive health pro-gram, NFL Total Wellness, forformer and current players toprovide additional resourcesfor physical and mental healthissues, July 26.

Art Modell, former owner ofthe Cleveland Browns-Balti-more Ravens franchise andlongtime chairman of theNFL’s Broadcast Committee,died at the age of 87, Septem-ber 6.

NFL Network’s ThursdayNight Football schedule wasexpanded from eight to 13regular-season games, debut-ing with the Green Bay Packer-s’ 23-10 victory against theChicago Bears, September 13.

The NFL announced anextension of its exclusive radiobroadcast agreement with DialGlobal through the 2017 sea-son, September 20.

NFL Films President SteveSabol died at the age of 69,September 18.

The NFL and its game offi-cials agreed to a new eight-year Collective BargainingAgreement, ending a four-month dispute. The union offi-cials returned to work forWeek 4, September 27.

NFL clubs unanimouslyapproved the majority owner-ship transfer of the ClevelandBrowns from Randy Lerner toJimmy Haslam at a meeting inChicago, October 16.

The NFL announced the for-mation of the National FootballLeague Foundation to focuson youth football, health andsafety, and community,December 12. The newly cre-ated Foundation resulted fromthe restructuring of the NFL’sprevious charitable arms –NFL Charities and the NFLYouth Football Fund.

2013The Baltimore Ravens won

their second Super Bowl,defeating the San Francisco49ers 34-31 in Super BowlXLVII at the Mercedes-BenzSuperdome in New Orleans.The game was viewed by164.1 million people, makingit the most-watched programin U.S. television history, Feb-ruary 3.

GE and the NFL announcedthe Head Health Initiative, afour-year, $60 million collabo-ration to advance diagnostictools for treating concussionsand the development of newmaterials for head protection,March 11.

NFL COMMISSIONERS AND PRESIDENTS*1920....Jim Thorpe, President1921-39 ...Joe Carr, President1939-41.Carl Storck, President1941-46 ..........Elmer Layden,

Commissioner1946-1959..............Bert Bell,

Commissioner1960-1989 ........Pete Rozelle,

Commissioner1989-2006 .....Paul Tagliabue,

Commissioner2006-present ..Roger Goodell,

Commissioner*NFL treasurer Austin Gunselserved as president in theoffice of the commissionerfollowing the death of BertBell (Oct. 11, 1959) until theelection of Pete Rozelle (Jan.26, 1960).



CHRONOLOGY OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL · can football, first became involved with the game. 1892 In...

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