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Super Bowl

Super Bowl

] In professional American football, the Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League (NFL) in the United States. Since 1967, it has been played annually after the regular season and the playoffs end, either on the last Sunday in January or the first Sunday in February. The game and its ancillary festivities constitute Super Bowl Sunday (sometimes "Super Sunday"), which over the years has almost become a de facto American national holiday. The Super Bowl is one of the most-watched American television broadcasts of the year, attracting many companies to spend millions of dollars (USD) on commercials. In addition, many popular singers and musicians have performed during the Super Bowl's pre-game and halftime ceremonies.

History

Origins

The Super Bowl was created as part of the merger agreement between the National Football League (NFL) and its rival, the American Football League (AFL). After its inception in 1920, the NFL fended off several rival leagues before the AFL began play in 1960. The intense competitive war for players and fans led to serious merger talks between the two leagues in 1966 (See AFL-NFL Merger for more information). One of the conditions of the agreement was that the winners of each league's championship game would meet in a contest to determine the "world champion of football". During the discussions to iron out the details, AFL founder and Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt had jokingly referred to the proposed interleague championship as the "Super Bowl." Hunt thought of the name after seeing his daughter playing with a toy called a Super Ball. The ball is now on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The name was feasible because postseason college football games had long been known as "bowl games" (The term originates with the Rose Bowl game, which was in turn named for the bowl-shaped stadium in which it is played). Hunt only meant his suggested name to be a stopgap until a better one could be found. Not having thought of one, the owners named the contest the NFL-AFL World Championship Game. Unsurprisingly, fans and media tended to use the shorter, unofficial name. Starting with the third contest in 1969, the name "Super Bowl" became official. After the NFL's Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls in convincing victories, some team owners feared for the future of the merger, since many doubted that AFL teams could compete with their NFL counterparts. However, in one of the biggest upsets in American sports history, the AFL's New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. One year later, the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV. When both the NFL and the AFL merged into one combined league before the 1970 season, three NFL teams joined the 10 AFL teams to form the American Football Conference (AFC), and the other 13 teams became the National Football Conference (NFC). Since then, the Super Bowl has featured the champions of the AFC and NFC. As of 2005, former AFL teams have won 10 Super Bowls, pre-1970 NFL teams have won 23 games, and two games have been won by teams created after 1970. The winning team receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named for the coach of the Green Bay Packers, who won the first two Super Bowl games. The trophy was named the Vince Lombardi Trophy prior to Super Bowl V in his honor following his death in 1970.

Ratings and commercials

The Super Bowl tends to have high Nielsen television ratings which usually come in around a 40 rating and 60 share (i.e. on average, 40 percent of all U.S. households, and 60 percent of all homes tuned into television during the game). This means that on average, 80 to 90 million Americans are tuned into the Super Bowl at any given moment. Also it is estimated that 130-140 million tune into some part of the game. The most watched Super Bowl was 1998's Super Bowl XXXII between the Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers which received a 44.5 rating and 67 share, attracting 90 million viewers. In terms of household percentage, the most watched was Super Bowl XVI in 1982 which was watched in 49.1% of households (73 share) or 40,020,000 households at the time. Following Apple Computer's 1984 commercial introducing the Apple Macintosh computer, directed by Ridley Scott, the broadcast of the Super Bowl became the premier showcase for high concept or simply extravagantly expensive commercials. Famous commercial campaigns include the Budweiser "Bud Bowl" campaign, and the 1999 and 2000 dot-com ads. Prices have increased each year, with reports citing a record $2.5 million (US) for a 30 second spot during Super Bowl XL in 2006. In recent years, the NFL has denied the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority the opportunity to run Super Bowl ads for the city as a tourist destination. The ban includes the game, as well as the pre-game and post-game shows. Many groups are denied the chance to run Super Bowl ads on various grounds, but Las Vegas is the only city to be denied in such a fashion; the NFL has stated that it does not want the Super Bowl to be associated with the perception of Las Vegas as a gambling mecca. If the television show Las Vegas stays on the air when NBC gets their next Super Bowl Broadcast (which will be Super Bowl XLIII in 2009), they may not be allowed to promote the series during the entire block of programming. [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2005-08-04-las-vegas-ads_x.htm]

Entertainment

Because of the large number of viewers that the Super Bowl generates, a number of popular singers and musicians have performed during its pre-game ceremonies, the halftime show, or even just singing the national anthem of the United States, "The Star-Spangled Banner". Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003 alone had singers Carlos Santana, Beyonce Knowles, and Michelle Branch perform before the game; Celine Dion sing "God Bless America"; the Dixie Chicks perform the national anthem; and Shania Twain, No Doubt, and Sting featured during the halftime show.

Venue

The location of the Super Bowl is chosen by the NFL well in advance, usually 3-5 years before the game. Cities compete to host the game in a selection bidding process similar to ones used by the Olympic Games and the Football World Cup. To this date, the chosen venues have either been located in the southern regions of the United States where the wintertime weather is expected to be mild, or in domed stadiums where weather is not an issue. Over half of the Super Bowls have been played in one of the following three cities: New Orleans, Louisiana (9 times), Miami, Florida (8 times) and Los Angeles (7 total, 5 times at Pasadena's Rose Bowl stadium and twice at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum). Miami has been selected to host two future games: Super Bowl XLI in 2007 and Super Bowl XLIV in 2010. After Hurricane Katrina damaged the Louisiana Superdome and the city, the game might never return to New Orleans. And the last time the Los Angeles area hosted the game was Super Bowl XXVII in 1993; the area is currently not considered a possible venue after the league's two teams vacated the city in 1995: the Raiders moved back to Oakland, California and the Rams moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Coincidentally, no NFL team has ever played the Super Bowl on its own home turf. However, Super Bowl XIV (which involved the then-Los Angeles Rams) was played at nearby Pasadena's Rose Bowl stadium; and Super Bowl XIX (which involved the San Francisco 49ers) was played at the nearby Stanford Stadium on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto. The designated "home team" alternates between the NFC team in odd-numbered years (the Philadelphia Eagles in 2005), and the AFC team in even-numbered years (the New England Patriots in 2004). The home team is given the choice of either wearing their colored jerseys or their white ones; this started with Super Bowl XIII. Prior to that, the home team always wore the dark jerseys. The Dallas Cowboys wore their rarely-used blue uniform tops in Super Bowl V, and lost to the then-Baltimore Colts, which has led to the widely-held belief that the Cowboys do not play well in their blue shirts. While most home teams in the Super Bowl choose to wear their colored jerseys, only the Cowboys in XIII and XXVII and the Washington Redskins in XVII have worn white as the home team. The television network showing the game changes from year to year. In the United States it is currently shared between three of the four major television networks - ABC, CBS, and FOX. Super Bowl XXXVIII was shown on CBS, Super Bowl XXXIX was shown on FOX, and Super Bowl XL will be shown on ABC, which will be the final NFL game broadcast on that network for the forseeable future. With the new television contracts beginning in 2006, NBC, which last telecast Super Bowl XXXII in 1998, will take ABC's place in the network rotation starting with Super Bowl XLIII in 2009.

Trivia


- The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather than the year it was held. The NFL season spreads over two calender years, so identifying the games by the year of the Super Bowl could cause some confusion. For example, the New England Patriots, winners of Super Bowl XXXIX are the champions of the 2004 NFL season, even though the championship game was played in February of 2005.
- In 1994, the 49ers became the first team to wear a throwback jersey during the Super Bowl. Since it was the league's 75th season, every team wore a throwback jersey during the season and San Francisco decided to continue to wear their jerseys all the way through the playoffs and into Super Bowl XXIX. The jerseys they wore paid tribute to the 1957 team.
- In the months leading up to Super Bowl XXX (or Super Bowl Thirty), some proxy servers were blocking the web site for the upcoming event. Many proxy servers' filters were configured to block the text string "XXX" whenever occuring to prevent access to pornography. As a result, additional settings were necessary to grant exceptions for other uses of "XXX".
- Super Bowl XXXVI was originally scheduled to be played on January 27, 2002. But the game was moved back one week to February 3, 2002 because of the September 11, 2001 attacks. This was the first Super Bowl to be played in February. With the exception of Super Bowl XXXVII on January 26, 2003, all of the succeeding Super Bowls have been scheduled for February. Also, because of the attacks, the Super Bowl is now a National Special Security Event (NSSE).
- Super Bowl XXXIX was the first such game to be tied after three quarters of play.
- No American Football Conference (AFC) team has ever won a Super Bowl that was broadcast on ABC (The NFC is currently 6-0). The closest an AFC team came to winning the Super Bowl on that network was when the Buffalo Bills lost to the New York Giants 20-19 in Super Bowl XXV.
- The NFC won 13 Super Bowls in a row from 1985 to 1997, starting with Super Bowl XIX. The AFC broke the streak in 1998 in Super Bowl XXXII.
- The last Super Bowl to start at 3:30 pm Eastern Standard Time was Super Bowl XI which was played in Pasadena. This is also the last Super Bowl which was played outside to not end in dusk. Since the early 1980s Super Bowls have been starting at around 6 pm Eastern Standard Time. The kickoff has been since moved back to 6:30 pm Eastern starting with Super Bowl XXXVII.

Post-Super Bowl loss jinx

Commentators and sports analysts note a tendency for teams that have made it to the Super Bowl and lost to collapse the following season. The season after a Super Bowl loss a team usually returns with a losing, or mediocre at best, record. This effect can be traced to the loss of momentum a team has built up, accumulating injuries, losing successful free agents between seasons, and the aging of talented players. There are notable exceptions to this pattern, such as the Buffalo Bills who went to the Super Bowl and lost four years in a row, from XXV to XXVIII.

Game history

Super Bowl XXXVII

Notable Super Bowl Games


- Super Bowl III: Speaking to the press in the week before the game, New York Jets quarterback "Broadway" Joe Namath famously guarantees a victory over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. The Jets defense backs him up as they upset the Colts, 16-7.
- Super Bowl VII: Coach Don Shula and the Miami Dolphins complete the only undefeated season in NFL history, defeating the Washington Redskins 14-7.
- Super Bowl XIII: The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Dallas Cowboys 35-31 in the second Super Bowl matchup of these 1970's powerhouses.
- Super Bowl XXIII: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana leads a 92 yard fourth quarter drive, as the 49ers score the game-winning touchdown with 34 seconds left and defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16.
- Super Bowl XXIV: The San Francisco 49ers defeat the Denver Broncos 55-10, the largest margin of victory in Super Bowl history. The 55 points are the most scored by any team in a Super Bowl.
- Super Bowl XXV: As time expires, the Buffalo Bills' Scott Norwood attempts a 47-yard field goal but misses wide to the right, and the New York Giants win 20-19. A tightly contested game with no turnovers by either team, it remains the only game to be decided by a single point.
- Super Bowl XXX: The Dallas Cowboys make history with a record 8th Super Bowl appearance and a 27-17 win over the arch-rival Pittsburgh Steelers to become the first NFL team in history to win 3 Super Bowls in a 4 year span. The victory also tied the Cowboys with the San Francisco 49ers for the most Super Bowl titles in team history (5). Playing for Dallas, Charles Haley became the first player to win 5 Super Bowls after winning two with San Francisco (XXIII and XXIV) and two previously with Dallas (XXVII and XXVIII).
- Super Bowl XXXII: After four painful losses, the Denver Broncos finally win a title, upsetting the heavily favored, defending champion Green Bay Packers 31-24 and becoming the first AFC Super Bowl champion in 14 years.
- Super Bowl XXXIV: In an incredibly close finish, Tennessee Titans wide receiver Kevin Dyson catches a short pass but is stopped at the 1 yard line as he stretches for the end zone with no time left on the clock, and the St. Louis Rams hold on to win 23-16.
- Super Bowl XXXVI: Placekicker Adam Vinatieri kicks a 48-yard field goal as time expires to lift the New England Patriots to a 20-17 upset over the Rams, and the first of 3 Super Bowl wins in four years (a feat previously accomplished by only one other team, the Dallas Cowboys). Two years later, Vinatieri would kick another game-winning field goal at the end of Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Super Bowl appearances

8 - Dallas Cowboys (won 5, lost 3)
6 - Denver Broncos (won 2, lost 4)
5 - San Francisco 49ers (won 5)
5 - Pittsburgh Steelers (won 4, lost 1)
5 - Oakland Raiders (won 3, lost 2; one win as Los Angeles Raiders)
5 - Washington Redskins (won 3, lost 2)
5 - New England Patriots (won 3, lost 2)
5 - Miami Dolphins (won 2, lost 3)
4 - Green Bay Packers (won 3, lost 1)
4 - Buffalo Bills (lost 4)
4 - Minnesota Vikings (lost 4)
3 - New York Giants (won 2, lost 1)
3 - St. Louis Rams (won 1, lost 2; one loss as Los Angeles Rams)
2 - Kansas City Chiefs (won 1, lost 1)
2 - Baltimore Colts (won 1, lost 1; franchise now Indianapolis Colts)
2 - Cincinnati Bengals (lost 2)
2 - Philadelphia Eagles (lost 2)
1 - Baltimore Ravens (won 1)
1 - Chicago Bears (won 1)
1 - New York Jets (won 1)
1 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (won 1)
1 - Atlanta Falcons (lost 1)
1 - Carolina Panthers (lost 1)
1 - San Diego Chargers (lost 1)
1 - Tennessee Titans (lost 1)

Teams with no Super Bowl appearances


- Arizona Cardinals
-
- Cleveland Browns
-
- Detroit Lions
-
- Houston Texans
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- New Orleans Saints
- Seattle Seahawks
- Note: The Cardinals, Browns, and Lions have previously won NFL league championships prior to Super Bowl I. The Cardinals were named NFL champions in 1925 and 1947. The Browns won the NFL championship in 1950, 1954, 1955, and 1964. And the Lions won the NFL championship in 1935, 1952, 1953, and 1957

Super Bowl winners

1957 5 - Dallas Cowboys
5 - San Francisco 49ers
4 - Pittsburgh Steelers
3 - Green Bay Packers
3 - New England Patriots
3 - Oakland Raiders (one win as Los Angeles Raiders)
3 - Washington Redskins
2 - Denver Broncos
2 - Miami Dolphins
2 - New York Giants
1 - Baltimore Colts
1 - Baltimore Ravens
1 - Chicago Bears
1 - Kansas City Chiefs
1 - New York Jets
1 - St. Louis Rams
1 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

See also


- Super Bowl MVP
- National Football League championships
- List of National Football League franchise post-season droughts
- List of sporting events
- Super Bowl Halftime Shows
- NFL lore
- Carioca Bowl

References


- [http://www.superbowl.com/ Super Bowl's website]
- NFL Record and Fact Book(ISBN 193299436X)
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0062701746)
- The Sporting News Complete Super Bowl Book 1995 (ISBN 089204523X)
- The Super Bowl: An Official Retrospective with DVD. Ballantine Books, 2005 (ISBN 0345487192)
- MacCambridge, Michael. America's Game. Random House, 2004. (ISBN 0375504540)
- http://www.pro-football-reference.com - Large online database of NFL data and statistics
- [http://nflhistory.net/ The NFL History Network] - includes a large database of historic NFL box scores
- Chris Jones (2 Feb 2005). "NFL tightens restrictions on Super Bowl advertisements". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
- [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/super/superbowl-plays.htm Super Bowl play-by-plays] from USA Today (Last accessed September 28, 2005)
- [http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=sportsnetwork&page=nfl/superbowl/2005/superbowl-alltime-odds.htm All-Time Super Bowl Odds] from The Sports Network (Last accessed October 16, 2005)
- [http://espn.go.com/page2/s/superbowlmoments100.html 100 Greatest Super Bowl Moments] by Kevin Jackson, Jeff Merron, and David Schoenfield; espn.com (Last accessed October 31, 2005)
- [http://www.superbowl.com/history/rings Super Bowl Rings] A gallery of Super Bowl winners' Championship rings
  - Category:American football competitions Category:American football Category:National Football League ja:スーパーボウル th:ซูเปอร์โบวล์

American football

American football rules shape, and usually has a large set of stitches along one side.]] American football, known in North America simply as football, is a competitive team sport. The object of the game is to advance the football towards the opposing team's end zone and score points. The ball can be advanced by carrying the ball, or by throwing or handing it from one teammate to the other. Points can be scored in a variety of ways, including carrying the ball over the goal line, throwing the ball to another player past the goal line or kicking it through the goal posts. The winner is the team with the most points when the time expires. Outside of the United States, Canada, and a few other countries such as American Samoa, the sport is usually referred to as American football (or sometimes as gridiron) to differentiate it from other football games, especially association football and rugby football. American football evolved as a separate sport from rugby football in the late 19th century. Arena football is a variant of American football.

Popularity

Since the 1960s, football has surpassed baseball as the most popular spectator sport in the United States. The 32-team National Football League (NFL) is the most popular and only major professional American football league. Its championship game, the Super Bowl, is watched by nearly half of US television households, and is also televised in over 150 other countries. Super Bowl Sunday has become an annual ritual in late January or early February. It is also the most watched sport on television in the US. The NFL also operates a developmental league, NFL Europe, with 6 teams based in European cities. NFL Europe player tries to thwart his progress.]] College football is also extremely popular throughout the U.S., especially in markets not served by an NFL team. Several college football stadiums seat more than 100,000 fans -- which regularly sell out. Even high school football games can attract five-figure crowds, especially in hotbeds like Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Texas and Georgia. The weekly autumn ritual of college and high-school football -- which includes marching bands, cheerleaders and parties -- is an important part of the culture in much of smalltown America. Football is also played recreationally by amateur club and youth teams (e.g., the Pop Warner little-league programs). There are also many "semi-pro" teams in leagues where the players are paid to play, but at a small enough salary that they generally must also hold a full-time job. Organized football is played almost exclusively by men and boys.

The rules of American football

Objective: Like most other games of football, the object of American football is to advance the ball towards the opponent's end of the field and score more points than the opposing team within a set time limit.

Field and players

football The American football field is often called the gridiron because the markings on the field resemble that type of grill that can be used to cook food over a fire. The game is played on a rectangular field 120 yards (110 metres) long by 53 1/3 yards (49 metres) wide. The longer boundary lines are sidelines, while the shorter boundary lines are end lines. Near each end of the field is a goal line; they are 100 yards apart. A scoring area called an end zone extends 10 yards beyond each goal line to each end line. Yard lines cross the field every 5 yards, and are numbered from each goal line to the 50-yard line, or midfield (similar to a typical rugby league field). Two rows of lines, known as hash marks parallel the side lines near the middle of the field. All plays start with the ball on or between the hash marks. At the back of each end zone are two goal posts (also called uprights) that are 18.5 feet apart. The posts are connected by a crossbar 10 feet from the ground. Successful kicks must go above the crossbar and between the uprights. (At many fields the uprights and crossbar are attached by a curved bar to a post outside the field of play, to reduce the chance of players running into the supports.) Each team has 11 players on the field at a time. However, teams may substitute for any or all of their players between plays. As a result, players have very specialized roles, and almost all of the 53 players on an NFL team will play in any given game. Thus, teams are divided into three separate units: the offense, the defense and the special teams (see below).

Game duration

A standard football game consists of four 15-minute (typically 12 minutes in high school football) periods (called quarters), with an intermission (called halftime) after the second quarter. The clock stops after certain plays; therefore, a game can last considerably longer (often more than three hours in real time). If an NFL game is tied after four quarters, the teams play up to another 15 minutes. The first team that scores wins; if neither team scores, the game is a tie. College overtime rules are more complicated and are described at Overtime (sport).

Advancing the ball

Advancing the ball in American football resembles the six-tackle rule and the play-the-ball in rugby league football. The team that takes possession of the ball (the offense) has four attempts, called downs, to advance the ball 10 yards towards their opponent's (the defense's) end zone. When the offense gains 10 yards, it gets a first down, or another set of four downs to gain 10 yards. If the offense fails to gain a first down, it loses possession of the ball. Except at the beginning of halves and after scores (see Kickoffs and free kicks below), the ball is always put into play by a snap. All players line up facing each other at the line of scrimmage (the position on the field where the play begins). One offensive player, the center, then passes (or "snaps") the ball between his legs to a teammate, usually the quarterback. Players can then advance the ball in two ways:
- By running with the ball, also known as rushing.
- By throwing the ball to a teammate, known as passing. The forward pass is a key factor distinguishing American and Canadian football from other football sports. The offense can throw the ball forward only once on a play and only from behind the line of scrimmage. The ball can be thrown sideways or backwards at any time. This type of pass is known as a lateral and is much rarer in American football than in rugby league or rugby union. A play or down ends, and the ball becomes dead, after any of the following:
- The player with the ball is tackled to the ground by a member of the opposing team, or has his forward progress stopped (as determined by an official).
- A forward pass flies out of bounds or touches the ground before it is caught. This is known as an incomplete pass. The ball is returned to the original line of scrimmage for the next down.
- The ball or the player with the ball goes beyond the dimensions of the field (out of bounds).
- A team scores. Often an official will blow a whistle to notify all players that the play is over. The ball may also change position as a result of penalties. These penalties may be incurred by either the offensive or defensive team. Generally, penalties involve a loss of yardage for the penalized team, and sometimes an automatic first down. Field officials signal that a penalty has been incurred by throwing a yellow flag onto the field near the site of the penalty, while the play continues. When the play ends, the referee names the penalty and the consequences thereof.

Changes of possession

The offense maintains possession of the ball unless one of the following things happens:
- The team fails to get a first down, that is, move the ball forward at least 10 yards in four downs. The defensive team takes over the ball at the spot where the play ends.
- The offense scores a touchdown or field goal. The team that scored then kicks off the ball to the other team. (See Scoring and Kickoffs below.)
- The offense punts the ball to the defense. A punt is a kick in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground. Punts are nearly always made on fourth down, when the offensive team does not want to risk giving up the ball to the other team at its current spot on the field (through a failed attempt to make a first down) and feels it is too far from the other team's goal posts to kick a field goal.
- A defensive player catches a forward pass. This is called an interception, and the player who makes the interception can run with the ball until tackled, forced out of bounds, or scores.
- An offensive player drops the ball (a fumble), and a defensive player picks it up. As with interceptions, a player recovering a fumble can run with the ball until tackled or forced out of bounds. Lost fumbles and interceptions are together known as turnovers.
- The offensive team misses a field goal attempt. The defensive team gets the ball at the spot where the previous play began (or, in the NFL, at the spot of the kick). If the unsuccessful kick was attempted from very close to the end zone, the other team gets the ball at its own 20-yard line (that is, 20 yards from the end zone).
- An offensive player is tackled or forced out of bounds in his own end zone. This rare occurrence is called a safety. (See Scoring below.)

Scoring

A team scores points by the following plays:
- A touchdown (TD) is worth 6 points. A touchdown is scored when a player runs the ball into or catches a pass in his opponent's end zone.
  - After a touchdown, the scoring team attempts a conversion. The ball is placed at the other team's 3-yard-line (the 2-yard-line in the NFL). The team can attempt to kick it over the crossbar and through the goal posts for 1 point (an extra point), or run or pass it into the end zone for 2 points (a two-point conversion). The extra point is usually attempted because it is significantly easier to achieve.
- A field goal (FG) is worth 3 points, and it is scored by kicking the ball over the crossbar and through the goal posts. Field goals must be placekicked, that is, kicked when the ball is held vertically against the ground by a teammate. A field goal is usually attempted on fourth down instead of a punt when the ball is close to the goal line.
- A safety is worth 2 points. A safety is scored by the defense when the offensive player in possession of the ball is forced back into his own end zone and is tackled there, or fumbles the ball out of the end zone. Certain penalties by the offense occurring in the end zone also result in a safety.

Kickoffs and free kicks

Each half begins with a kickoff. Teams also kick off after scoring touchdowns and field goals. The ball is kicked from a kicking tee, which is made from one's own 30-yard line in the NFL and from the 35-yard line in college football. The other team's kick returner tries to catch the ball and advance it as far as possible. Where he is stopped is the point where the offense will begin its drive, or series of offensive plays. If the kick returner catches the ball in his own end zone, he can either run with the ball, or elect for a touchback by kneeling in the end zone. The receiving team can then start its offensive drive from its own 20-yard line. A touchback can also occur when the kick goes out of the end zone. Punts and turnovers in the end zone can also end in touchbacks. If a kickoff goes out of bounds over the sidelines without being interfered by the recieving team, the ball will be placed 30 yards from the spot of the kickoff (traditionally at the receiving team's 40-yard line in the NFL or the 35-yard line in college football). After safeties, there is a free kick instead of a kickoff. A free kick is made from a team's own 20-yard-line and can be punted or placekicked.

The players

As noted above, most football players have highly specialized roles. At the college and NFL levels, most play only offense or only defense.

Offense


- The offensive line (OL) consists of five players (two offensive tackles (OT), two guards (G), and a center (C)) whose job is to protect the passer and clear the way for runners by blocking members of the defense. All plays begin with the center handing the ball backwards between his legs, or snapping it, to a teammate, usually the quarterback.
- The quarterback (QB) receives the ball on most plays. He then hands or tosses it to a running back, throws it to a receiver or runs with it himself.
- Running backs (RB) line up behind or beside the QB and specialize in rushing with the ball. They also block, catch passes and, on rare occasions, pass the ball to others. There are two main kinds of running backs: fullbacks (FB), who usually block, and halfbacks or tailbacks, who are more likely to carry the ball.
- Wide receivers (WR) line up near the sidelines. They specialize in catching passes.
- Tight ends (TE) line up outside the offensive line. They can either play like wide receivers (try to catch passes) or like offensive linemen (protect the QB or create spaces for runners). Not all of these types of players will be in on every offensive play. Teams can vary the number of wide receivers, tight ends and running backs on the field at one time.

Defense


- The defensive line (DL) consists of three to five players (two defensive ends, one or two defensive tackles (DT), and possibly one nose guard (DT)) who line up across from the offensive line. They try to tackle the running backs before they can gain yardage or the quarterback before he can throw a pass.
- At least four players line up as defensive backs (DB). They may be cornerbacks (CB), free safeties (FS), or strong safeties (SS). They cover the receivers and try to stop pass completions. They occasionally rush the quarterback. However, in high school, it is not uncommon to see a team go without the addition of a strong safety, due to the inexperience of high school quarterbacks and wide receivers.
- The other players on the defense are known as linebackers (LB). They line up between the defensive line and backs and may either rush the quarterback or cover receivers and/or running backs. However, they are more proficient at stopping rushing plays. They are split up into two different types, middle linebackers and outside linebackers. A middle linebacker/s is committed to runs up the middle (dives, powers). The outside linebackers are committed to runs to the outside (sweeps) or misdirection runs (counters).

Special teams

The units of players who handle kicking plays are known as special teams. Special-teams players include the punter (P), who handles punts, and the placekicker or kicker (PK or K), who kicks off and attempts field goals and extra points. Field goal and extra point attempts also require a holder who receives the ball from the center and holds it in a position that allows the kicker to easily kick the ball. The holder is usually a backup quarterback, as the field goal formation is very occasionally used for a pass or run play instead in a last-ditch effort to get a first down or touchdown, called a fake field goal. Kickers have also (very rarely) been known to take the snap and run a fake field goal play themselves.

Basic football strategy

To many fans, the chief draw of football is the chess game that goes on between the two coaching staffs. Each team has a playbook of dozens to hundreds of plays. Plays are the directions for what the players should do on a down. Some plays are very safe; they are very likely to get a few yards, but not much more than that. Other plays have the potential for long gains but a greater risk of a loss of yardage or a turnover. Generally speaking, rushing plays are less risky than passing plays. However, there are relatively safe passing plays and risky running plays. To fool the other team, there are passing plays designed to look like running plays and vice versa. There are many trick or gadget plays, such as when a team lines up like it is going to kick and then tries to run or pass for a first down. Such high-risk plays are a great thrill to the fans when they work. However, they can spell disaster if the opposing team realizes the deception and acts accordingly. It has been said that football is the closest sport that strategically resembles real war, which may explain why it is by far the most popular sport in the American military. In fact, the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy, and the United States Air Force Academy each field football teams that participate in the collegiate leagues. The Army and Navy have a particularly historic rivalry.

Development of the game

Both American football and soccer have their origins in varieties of football played in the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century, and American football is directly descended from rugby football. Rugby was first introduced to North America in Canada, brought by the British Army garrison in Montreal which played a series of games with McGill University. Both Canadian and American football evolved from this point. For an in-depth overview of the differences and similarities of Canadian football and American football see: Comparison of Canadian and American football American colleges spearheaded the growth of football. The [http://www.scarletknights.com/football/history/first_game.htm first inter-collegiate football game] was played between Rutgers and Princeton Universities on November 6, 1869. The game was won by Rutgers (6-4) although "The game, which bore little resemblance to its modern-day counterpart, was played with two teams of 25 men each under rugby-like rules, but like modern football, it was “replete with surprise, strategy, prodigies of determination, and physical prowess,” to use the words of one of the Rutgers players." - [http://www.scarletknights.com/football/history/first_game.htm Rutgers Football] American football in its current form grew out of a series of three games between Harvard University and McGill University of Montreal in 1874. McGill played rugby football while Harvard played the Boston Game, which was closer to soccer. As often happened in those days of far from universal rules, the teams alternated rules so that both would have a fair chance. The Harvard players liked having the opportunity to run with the ball, and in 1875 persuaded Yale University to adopt rugby rules for their annual game. In 1876 Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, which used the rugby code, except for a slight difference in scoring. In 1880 Walter Camp introduced the scrimmage in place of the rugby scrum. In 1882 the system of downs was introduced to thwart Princeton's and Yale's strategy of controlling the ball without trying to score. In 1883 the number of players was reduced, at Camp's urging, to eleven, and Camp introduced the soon standard arrangement of a seven-man offensive line with a quarterback, two halfbacks, and a fullback. On September 3, 1895 the first professional football game was played, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, between the Latrobe YMCA and the Jeannette Athletic Club. (Latrobe won the contest 12-0.). By the 1890s interlocking offensive formations such as the flying wedge and the practice of teammates physically dragging ball-carrying players forward had made the game extremely dangerous. Despite restrictions on the flying wedge and other precautions, in 1905 eighteen players were killed in games. President Theodore Roosevelt informed the universities that the game must be made safer. To force them to respond to his concerns, he threatened to pressure Congress to make playing football a federal crime. In 1906, two rival organizing bodies, the Intercollegiate Rules Committee and the Intercollegiate Athletic Association, met in New York; eventually they agreed on several new rules intended to make the game safer, among them the addition of a neutral zone between the scrimmage lines and a requirement that at least six players from each team line up on them. The most far-reaching innovation they considered, though, was the legalization of the forward pass. This was very controversial at the time, much derided by purists. As an alternative means of opening out the play, Walter Camp would have preferred widening the field; but representatives from Harvard pointed to recently constructed Harvard Stadium, which could not be widened, and the forward pass was adopted; it has come to shape the whole history of American football, as opposed to its cousins around the world. In 1910, after further deaths, interlocking formations were finally outlawed; and in 1912 the field was changed to its current size, the value of a touchdown increased to 6 points, and a fourth down added to each possession. The game had achieved its modern form.

Problems in Football

Injuries are more common in American football than in many other sports, although rule changes made in the past 90 years (for instance, the elimination of "horse-collar tackles") have gradually lowered the rates of injuries. In addition, protective equipment has become better - for example, the optional leather helmets introduced during the 1890s have been replaced (in several stages) by required high-tech padded plastic helmets with bars protecting the face. More recently, the use of steroids and the extent thereof has become an object of debate in professional, college, and even high school football leagues. (Pop Warner leagues appear to so far be immune to questions of whether players "juice up" or not.) Another problem with football is that it is an expensive sport. The specialized helmets, uniforms, and pads can cost hundreds of dollars. There is a widespread perception that football teams based in schools and public recreational leagues consume far more than their fair share of the sports budget, although sales of tickets to college (and to some extent high school) football games often make it a revenue-producing sport. Pop Warner, home of the Cleveland Browns.]]

Professional, college, and other leagues

Football is played at a number of levels in the United States and abroad. These include the following:
- The National Football League - top-level men's professional league
- College football - played by many US colleges
- The Arena Football League - mid-level men's professional league. Played in indoor stadiums, hence the name "arena" football. One of the nation's fastest-growing sports.
- The Canadian Football League - men's professional league based in Canada, played using a slightly different set of rules known as Canadian football
- The Mexican College Football League or ONEFA - played by many Mexican colleges, with the same rules as in the US
- The North American Football League - Amateur minor league with more than 100 member organizations since 1996,
- Women's American football - since 2000, there has been a surge of women's professional leagues.
- High school football - played by most high schools
- Nine-man football, Eight-man football, and Six-man football - variations of high school football, usually played in sparsely populated areas
- Amateur and youth league football
- Flag football and Touch football - non-tackle; almost exclusively amateur
- Pop Warner or youth football - involves younger children who are too young to play high school, generally in middle school.
- Sprint football - players must weigh no more than 172 pounds
- British Collegiate American Football League (BCAFL) - Fast-growing college football league in the UK The descriptions in this article are based primarily on the current rules of the National Football League (NFL, 1920-present). Differences with college rules will be noted. Professional, college, high school, and amateur rules are similar. Professional leagues that no longer exist include the World Football League (WFL, 1974-75), the United States Football League (USFL, 1983-1985), the XFL (XFL, 2001), the All-America Football Conference (1946-1949) (2 teams are now in the NFL), the World League of American Football (WLAF, 1991-1993 — now NFL Europe), and four separate American Football Leagues (AFL, 1926, 1937-28, 1940-1941 and 1960-1969). The fourth AFL (1960-1969) merged with the NFL in 1970 and now exists (mostly) as the AFC with several new teams. The old NFL appeared as the NFC.

References


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-

See also


- American football strategy
- National Women's Football Association
- Canadian Football League
- German Football League
- American football glossary
- List of American football players
- Pro Football Hall of Fame
- List of defunct sports leagues
- Fantasy Football
- Gridiron football

External links


- The [http://www.nfl.com/ National Football League (NFL)] - the top professional league
- [http://www.players.com NFL Players Association]
- NCAA [http://www2.ncaa.org/media_and_events/ncaa_publications/playing_rules/ Playing Rules] (complete college football rules are available as a PDF file)
- [http://www.afca.org American Football Coaches Association]
- [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/papr:@FILREQ(@field(TITLE+@od1(Chicago-Michigan+football+game++))+@FIELD(COLLID+workleis)) Movie of 1903 football game between the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan]
- [http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/ Chronology of many events in the NFL]
- [http://www.iwflsports.com The Women's League] ko:미식축구 ja:アメリカンフットボール simple:American football th:อเมริกันฟุตบอล

National Football League

The National Football League (NFL) is the largest professional American football league, consisting of thirty-two teams from American cities and regions. The league was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, which adopted the name "National Football League" in 1922. The NFL is one of the major professional sports leagues of North America. Prior to the 1960s, the most popular version of American football was played collegiately. After the 1958 NFL Championship Game (which went into overtime), the NFL's greatest spurt in popularity came in the 1960s and 1970s with the merger of the rival American Football League, or AFL (1960-1969). The AFL introduced major on- and off-the-field innovations that were eventually adopted by the NFL. Currently, the league's 32 teams are divided into two conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each conference is then further divided into four divisions consisting of four teams each. During the league's regular season, each team plays 16 games over a 17-week period generally from September to December. At the end of each regular season, six teams from each conference play in the NFL playoffs, a 12-team single-elimination tournament that culminates with the NFL championship, the Super Bowl. This game is held at a pre-selected site which is usually a city that hosts an NFL team. One week later, selected all-star players from both the AFC and NFC meet in the Pro Bowl, currently held in Hawaii. In recent decades, the regular season had traditionally started on Labor Day Weekend and lasted through Christmas week. However, declining television ratings on Labor Day have pushed the start of the regular season ahead one week. This is where scheduling currently stands, with the first game of the season being played on the Thursday after Labor Day (the remaining Week 1 games are played three to four days later).

Current franchises

Regular season

The NFL season begins with most teams playing four "pre-season" exhibition games from early August through early September. Two "featured" exhibition games, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game and American Bowl, don't count toward the normal allottment of four games, so the four teams playing in those games each end up playing five exhibition games. The regular season starts the weekend after Labor Day. Each team plays 16 games during a 17-week period. Traditionally, every game is played on Sunday afternoon with the exception of one game per week being played in Sunday night, and another game being played on Monday night. In recent years, the league has started scheduling a nationally telecast regular season game on the Thursday night prior to the first Sunday of NFL games to "kickoff" the season. In addition, the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions each host a game on Thanksgiving Day. For the last three weeks or so of the regular season, after the end of the college football season, the league typically schedules two or three nationally televised games on Saturday afternoons or evenings. In 2005, with Christmas falling on a Sunday, the NFL has flipped their normal schedule for that weekend, having the normal slate (less the Sunday night contest) of Sunday games on Saturday (Christmas Eve day), with two nationally televised games on Sunday (Christmas Day), similar to what the NFL did in 1994 with the afternoon games on Saturday, and the primetime games the following two days (Detroit at Miami on Sunday, San Francisco at Minnesota on Monday). Currently, each team's regular season schedule is set using a pre-determined formula:
- Each team plays every other team in their division twice: once at home, and once on the road (six games).
- Each team plays the four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle: two at home, and two on the road (four games).
- Each team plays the four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle: two at home, and two on the road (four games).
- Each team plays two games versus two teams within its conference based on the prior year's standings. These games match a first-place team against the first-place teams in the two same-conference divisions the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in a conference are matched in the same way each year: one at home, and one on the road. This formula has been regarded as very successful, rekindling old rivalries while starting new ones, as teams will play in each other's stadiums eventually, which makes for a more consistent and attractive schedule each year. For the 2005 season, the assignments are the following:
Intraconference

- AFC East v. AFC West
- AFC North v. AFC South
- NFC East v. NFC West
- NFC North v. NFC South
Interconference

- AFC East v. NFC South
- AFC North v. NFC North
- AFC South v. NFC West
- AFC West v. NFC East

For the 2006 season, the assignments will be:
Intraconference

- AFC East v. AFC South
- AFC North v. AFC West
- NFC East v. NFC South
- NFC North v. NFC West
Interconference

- AFC East v. NFC North
- AFC North v. NFC South
- AFC South v. NFC East
- AFC West v. NFC West

Sixteen Game Schedule

Through 1977, the NFL schedule consisted of fourteen regular season games played over fourteen weeks. Opening weekend typically was the weekend after Labor Day, or even two weekends after Labor Day. Teams played six, or even seven preseason games. In 1978, the league changed the schedule to include sixteen regular season games and four preseason games. From 1978-1989, the sixteen games were played over sixteen weeks. In 1990, the NFL introduced a bye-week to the schedule. Each team would play sixteen regular season games over seventeen weeks. One week during the season, on a rotating basis, each team would have the weekend off. As a result, opening weekend was moved up to Labor Day weekend. In 1993, the league adjusted the schedule to include two bye weeks per team, and the sixteen games were played over eighteen weeks. In 1994, the schedule was changed back to seventeen weeks. In 2001, the NFL decided to move opening week to the weekend after Labor Day. Television ratings seemed to be sagging due to the holiday, and the stadium crowds were apparently lacking due to vacationing fans. In addition, it would leave the three-day holiday weekend alone to the opening weekend of college football, preventing conflicts, and maximizing exposure. In 2002, the NFL began scheduling a Thursday night special opening game, which would be nationally televised. Festivities and a pre-game concert would kick off the season.
- In 1999, the NFL moved the first week of the season one week later due to the conflict with January 1, 2000. The Y2K problem sparked travel concerns for the final week of the season, and playoffs. By moving the season a week later, the NFL hoped to prevent teams traveling complications.
- For most years, there has been an open weekend between the Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl. In the 1990 season, there was no bye, as the league was still adjusting the schedule from adding the bye week during the season. In the 1993 season, there was no bye week since the regular season consisted of eighteen weekends. The bye week was simply removed. In the 1999 season, the bye week was removed to accommodate the schedule being moved ahead one week. In the 2001 season, the bye week disappeared when the league moved opening weekend a week later. As a result, Super Bowl XXXVI had to be delayed after the league postponed the second week's games following the September 11 attacks. By the 2003 season, the bye week was restored. In the 1982 strike-shortened season, a postseason tournament replaced the traditional playoff format. The Super Bowl bye week was removed to accommodate the longer, expanded playoffs.

Playoffs

At the conclusion of each 16-game regular season, six teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament, which culminates in the Super Bowl:
- The four division champions from each conference (the team in each division with the best regular season won-lost-tied record), which are seeded one through four based on their regular season won-lost-tied record.
- Two wild card qualifiers (those non-division champions with the conference's best won-lost-tied percentages), which are seeded five and six. The third and the sixth seeded teams, and the fourth and the fifth seeds, face each other during the first round of the playoffs, dubbed the Wild Card Round. The first and the second seeds from each conference receive a bye in the first round, which entitles these teams to automatically advance to the second round, the Divisional Playoff games to face the Wild Card survivors. In any given playoff round, the highest surviving seed always plays the lowest surviving seed. And in any given playoff game, whoever has the higher seed gets the home field advantage (i.e. the game is held at the higher seed's home field). The two surviving teams from the Divisional Playoff games meet in Conference Championship games, with the winners of those contests going on to face one another in the Super Bowl. The terms "Wild Card Round" and "Divisional Playoffs" originated from the playoff format that was used before 1990. During that time, three division winners and two wild card teams from each conference qualified for the playoffs. Only the wild card teams played during the first round, while all of the division winners received a bye, automatically advancing to the second round. A major disadvantage that critics cite in the current system is that a divisional winner could host a playoff game against a wild card team that earned a better regular season record. For example, the Tennessee Titans finished the 2003 regular season with a 12-4 record, but only qualified as a wild card team and thus had to face the Baltimore Ravens, the AFC North division champions with a 10-6 record, in Baltimore, Maryland.

League championships

The NFL's method for determining its champions has changed over the years. For the history of the process see National Football League championships.

Tiebreaking rules

The league uses a set of rules to break ties in the final season standings, i.e. teams that have the same regular season won-lost-tied record. As mentioned above, each team's order of finish in their respective divisions (first-place, second-place, etc.) determine the opponents in two of their games during the following season. The tiebreaking rules are also used to help determine playoff seedings and the order in which teams pick in the NFL draft (see below). The process basically involves comparing a set of each team's season statistics, one record at a time, until one club has a higher value than the others. The first criterion that is always compared first is head-to-head, how the tied teams fared when they played each other during the regular season. Other data that is then compared include their record against teams in their division, their record against teams in their conference, their record against common opponents, net points scored, and net touchdowns scored. If the teams remain tied after comparing all of these statistics, then the tie is broken using a coin toss. To date, a coin toss has never been used by the league to break a tie.

The draft

Many of the USA's college football players want to play in the NFL. There is a highly organized and formal process called the draft (currently consisting of seven rounds) that takes place over two days in April, in which all NFL teams participate. The NFL team with the worst record in the previous year gets first pick of the draft. That is, the team is the first to select a player from a pool of all eligible college players in the country. The idea is that weak teams can thereby become strengthened over time, in the specialties where they need strengthening. Draft picks continue, in the order from the weakest team to the strongest team, and once all teams have picked one player, they all pick again starting with the weakest team. Draft picks are frequently traded in advance for players and other draft picks. For example, before the draft occurs, Team A might trade its first-round draft pick plus a certain player (who already plays for Team A) to Team B in exchange for another particular player who already plays for Team B. Occasionally a player drafted out of college will go right into a "first-string" position as the team's primary player in that position. However, these players usually begin as second- or third-string backups, only playing games if the first-stringer is injured, or if there has been a runaway score and the coach decides to put a backup in the game for a little experience, and to ensure his first-stringer does not get injured at the end in a play that is not meaningful to the team. See List of NFL first overall draft choices

Salaries and the salary cap

The minimum salary for an NFL player is $230,000 in his first year, and rises after that based on the number of years in service. Exhibition game minimum is $10,000. These numbers are set by contract between the NFL and the players' union, the National Football League Players' Association. These numbers are of course exceeded dramatically by the best players in each position. Escalating player salaries throughout the 1980s and the advent of free agency in 1992 led to the NFL's adoption of a salary cap in 1994, a maximum amount of money each team can pay its players in aggregate. The cap is determined via a complicated formula based on the revenue that all NFL teams receive during the previous year. For the 2004 season, the NFL's salary cap was $80.582 million, an increase of $5.5 million from 2003. The cap for the 2005 season is expected to be approximately $85.5 million. Proponents of the salary cap note that it prevents a well-financed team in a major city from simply spending giant amounts of money to secure the very best players in every position and thus dominating the entire sport. This has been seen as a problem in American baseball, long dominated since the advent of free agency by large market teams. They point to the relative parity of competition that exists in the NFL as of 2005 compared to Major League Baseball as evidence that the NFL salary cap preserves competitive balance. They claim fans end up paying higher ticket prices to help pay for escalating player salaries. These concerns, among others, led in part to modified salary cap adoption in the National Basketball Association in 1984 and the National Hockey League in 2005. Critics of the salary cap note that the driving reason for the cap was to maximize the profitability of the NFL teams, and limit the power of NFL players to command the high salaries they are said to deserve in exchange for bringing in large numbers of paying fans to the stadiums. They also note that the salary cap could hypothetically drive prospective athletes to other sports that do not cap the salaries of players; furthermore, they attribute NFL competitive parity instead to the league's extensive revenue sharing policies. The NFL's current CBA (collective bargaining agreement) expires in 2008.

Racial policies

Although the current NFL is well-represented at virtually every position by African-American athletes, that was not always the case. The league had a few black players until 1933, one year after entry to the league of George Preston Marshall. Marshall's policies not only excluded blacks from his Washington Redskins team but may have influenced the entire league to drop blacks until 1946, when pressure from the competing All-America Football Conference induced the NFL to be more liberal in its signing of blacks. Another theory holds that the NFL, like most of the United States during the Great Depression, simply fired black workers before white workers, but this could hardly account for the league's apparent "all-white" policy during this period. Still, Marshall refused to sign black players until threatened with civil rights legal action by the Kennedy administration in 1962, in which it was explained to him that his lease on the then-new D.C. Stadium, which was at the time controlled by the United States Department of the Interior, would be voided if he continued to refuse to sign any black players. This action, and pressure by another competing league, the more racially-liberal American Football League, slowly managed to reverse the NFL's racial quotas. The AFL's Denver Broncos were the first modern-era team to have a black starting quarterback, Marlin Briscoe, who started the fourth game of the 1968 season, and broke pro football rookie records for passing yardage and touchdowns. The next year 1969, another American Football League team, the Buffalo Bills were the first professional football team of the modern era to begin the season with a black, James Harris as their starting quarterback. The Chicago Bears had a black quarterback in 1953, Willie Thrower, who played in only one game and did not start in any games. After that, no old-line NFL team had a black starting quarterback until the Steelers' Joe Gilliam in 1972. Even after that, for many NFL teams the door would remain closed to black quarterbacks through the 1970s. 1978 Rose Bowl MVP Warren Moon played for six seasons in the CFL before his abilities finally landed him the starting role with the Houston Oilers. It took until 1988 before a black quarterback started for a Super Bowl team, when Doug Williams won it for the Redskins. To this day, the NFL's head-coach hiring policies are questioned, and it has had to institute measures to attempt to have black head coach candidates be treated more equitably. White skill players have become increasingly rare in the modern NFL, as most positions are filled by blacks. White running backs, defensive backs, and receivers have become less and less common over the last 25 years. In 2005, a slim majority of offensive linemen are white, while no whites are listed as Tailbacks or Cornerbacks on NFL rosters. Most quarterbacks, punters, and kickers are white, while almost all running backs, wide receivers, defensive backs, defensive linemen, safeties, punt returners, and kickoff returners are black. Increasingly, positions such as tight end, fullback, and linebacker are being filled by blacks. In the early 1980s, blacks and whites each made up roughly half of the players. Since then, the percentage of black players has increased steadily to its present 2005 level of 69%. Whites make up the majority of the remaining players, followed by Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, and Asians.

Television

The television rights to pro football are the most lucrative (and most expensive) rights of any sport available. In fact, it was television that brought pro football into prominence in the modern era of technology. Since then, NFL broadcasts have become among the most-watched programs on American television, and the fortunes of entire networks have rested on owning NFL broadcasting rights.

History

For information on the development of football prior to formation of the NFL, see: History of American football. Professional football dates at least to 1892, when an athletic club in Pittsburgh paid William "Pudge" Heffelfinger $500 to take part in a game. Over the next few decades, while most attention was paid to football at elite colleges on the East Coast, the professional game spread widely in the Midwest. The American Professional Football Association was founded in 1920 at a Hupmobile dealership in Canton, Ohio. Legendary athlete Jim Thorpe was elected president. The group of 11 teams, all but one in the Midwest, was originally less a league than an agreement not to rob other teams' players. In the early years, APFA members continued to play non-APFA teams. In 1921, the APFA began releasing official standings, and the following year, the group changed its name to the National Football League. However, the NFL was hardly a major league in the '20s. Teams entered and left the league frequently. Franchises included such colorful representatives as the Oorang Indians, an all-Native American outfit that also put on a performing dog show. Yet as former college stars like Red Grange and Benny Friedman began to test the professional waters, the pro game slowly began to increase in popularity. By 1934 all of the small-town teams, with the exception of the Green Bay Packers, had moved to or been replaced by big cities. One factor in the league's rising popularity was the institution of an annual championship game in 1933. By the end of World War II, pro football began to rival the college game for fans' attention. The spread of the T formation led to a faster-paced, higher-scoring game that attracted record numbers of fans. In 1945, the Cleveland Rams moved to Los Angeles, becoming the first big-league sports franchise on the West Coast. In 1950, the NFL accepted three teams from the defunct All-America Football Conference, expanding to 13 clubs. In the 1950s, pro football finally earned its place as a major sport. The NFL embraced television, giving Americans nationwide a chance to follow stars like Bobby Layne, Paul Hornung and Johnny Unitas. The 1958 NFL championship in New York -- considered by many to be the most-important game in the rise of the NFL -- drew record TV viewership and made national celebrities out of Unitas and his Baltimore Colts teammates. The rise of pro football was so fast that by the mid-'60s, it had surpassed baseball as Americans' favorite spectator sport in some surveys. As more people wanted to cash in on this surge of popularity than the NFL could accommodate, a rival league, the American Football League, was founded in 1960. The ensuing costly war for players between the NFL and AFL almost derailed the sport's ascent. In 1966, the leagues agreed to merge as of the 1970 season. The ten AFL teams joined three existing NFL teams to form the NFL's American Football Conference. The remaining 13 NFL teams became the National Football Conference. Another result of the merger was the creation of the Super Bowl to determine the "world champion" of pro football. In the 1970s and '80s, the NFL solidified its dominance as America's top spectator sport and its important role in American culture. The Super Bowl became an unofficial national holiday and the top-rated TV program most years. Monday Night Football, which first aired in 1970 brought in high ratings by mixing sports and entertainment. Rules changes in the late '70s ensured a fast-paced game with lots of passing to attract the casual fan. The founding of the United States Football League in the early '80s was the biggest challenge to the NFL in the post-merger era. The USFL was a well-financed competitor with big-name players and a national television contract. However, the USFL failed to make money and folded after three years. In recent years, the NFL has expanded into new markets and ventures. In 1993, the league formed the World League of American Football, (now NFL Europe), a developmental league now with teams in Germany and the Netherlands. The league played a regular-season NFL game in Mexico City in 2005 and intends to play more such games in other countries. In 2003, The NFL lauched its own cable-television channel, the NFL Network.

Video games

NFL Network]] Electronic Arts publishes an NFL video game for current video game consoles and for PCs each year, called Madden NFL, being named after former coach and current football commentator John Madden. Prior to the 2005-2006 football season, other NFL games were produced by competing video game publishers, such as Sega and Midway Games. However, in December 2004, Electronic Arts signed a five-year exclusive agreement with the NFL, meaning only Electronic Arts will publish games featuring NFL team and player names.

Commissioners and presidents

#President Jim Thorpe (1920) #President Joseph Carr (1921-1939) #President Carl Storck (1939-1941) #Commissioner Elmer Layden (1941-1946) #Commissioner Bert Bell (1946-1959) #Interim President Austin Gunsel (1959-1960, following death of Bell) #Commissioner Alvin "Pete" Rozelle (1960-1989) #Commissioner Paul Tagliabue (1989-present)

League offices


- Canton, Ohio (1920-1921)
- Columbus, Ohio (1921-1941)
- Chicago, Illinois (1941-1946)
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1946-1960)
- New York, New York (1960-present)

Players


- List of American football players
- Current NFL players

Rules named after players

The following is a partial list of rules that were enacted largely based on a single player's exploits on the field.
- the Bronko Nagurski Rule -- forward passing made legal from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage. Enacted in 1933. Prior to this rule change a player had to be five yards behind the line of scrimmage to throw a forward pass.
- the Deacon Jones Rule -- no head-slapping. Enacted in 1977.
- the Deion Sanders rule -- Player salary rule which correlates a contract's signing bonus with its yearly salary. Enacted after Deion Sanders signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 1995 for a minimum salary and a $13 million signing bonus. (There is also a college football rule with this nickname.)
- the Emmitt Smith Rule -- no taking your helmet off on the field of play. Enacted in 1997.
- the Erik Williams rule -- no hands to the facemask by offensive linemen.
- the Fran Tarkenton rule -- a line judge was added as the sixth official. Enacted in 1965.
- the Ken Stabler rule -- on fourth down or any down in the final two-minutes of play, if a player fumbles, only the fumbling player can recover and/or advance the ball. Enacted in 1979.
- the Lester Hayes rule -- no Stickum™ allowed. Enacted in 1981.
- the Lou Groza rule -- no artificial medium to assist in the execution of a kick. Enacted in 1956.
- the Mel Renfro rule -- allows a "double touch" by the offense. Enacted in 1978.
- the Michael Irvin rule -- no taunting. Another rule, resulting in offensive pass interference, prohibiting WRs to push off CBs, is also often called "the Michael Irvin rule."
- the Bert Emanuel rule -- the ball can touch the ground during a completed pass as long as the receiver maintains control of the ball.
- the Terrell Owens rule -- no "foreign objects" on a player's uniform (enacted in response to the 2002 "Sharpie™ incident").
- the Peyton Manning rule -- Defensive backs can only make contact with receivers within five yards of the line of scrimmage.
- the Roy Williams rule -- no horse-collar tackles. Enacted in 2005. See the external [http://www.footballresearch.com/articles/frpage.cfm?topic=rulesname Professional Football Researchers Association] for more "player named" rules, and background information on how these rules came about.

Awards


- Vince Lombardi Trophy
- Lamar Hunt Trophy
- George S. Halas Trophy
- Most Valuable Player
- Coach of the Year
- Offensive Player of the Year
- Defensive Player of the Year
- Offensive Rookie of the Year
- Defensive Rookie of the Year
- Super Bowl MVP
- NFL Comeback Player of the Year
- Walter Payton Man of the Year Award

Footnotes

# [http://www.nfl.com/schedules/tv/2005_opponents NFL scheduling formula at NFL.com]

See also


- Glossary of American football
- List of NFL seasons
- NFL Europe
- NFL Lore
- NFL Nicknames
- List of Professional Football Drafts
- American Football League
- Defunct NFL teams
- Pro Bowl
- Super Bowl
- Pro Football Hall of Fame
- NFL Individual Records
- NFL Team-Oriented Records
- Professional Football Championship Games
- Personal Seat License
- List of leagues of American football
- NFL Annual Rushing Leaders
- List of National Football League franchise post-season droughts
- Significant rivalries in the NFL
- Madden NFL series
- NFL Street series
- NFL Blitz
- List of NFL tied games (since 1974)

References


- [http://www.nfl.com Official NFL website]
- [http://www.superbowl.com Official Super Bowl website]
- [http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/history NFL History] - Champion and Award Lists
- "NFL Scores Nearly $18 Billion in TV Rights", by Stefan Fatsis and Kyle Pope, 14 January 1998, The Wall Street Journal (p. B1) [http://subscribe.wsj.com/microexamples/articlefiles/NFLScoresNearly18BillionInTVRights.doc]
- NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 193299436X)
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0062701746)
- http://www.pro-football-reference.com - Large online database of NFL data and statistics
- [http://nflhistory.net/ The NFL History Network] - includes a large database of historic NFL box scores
- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A57668-2005Jan7?language=printer NFL's Economic Model Shows Signs of Strain]
- [http://www.footballresearch.com/articles/frpage.cfm?topic=rulesname Professional Football Researchers Association] - detailed descriptions of why many of the rules named after players were enacted. Category:American football ja:NFL th:เอ็นเอฟแอล

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Viking