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Super Bowl XIII

Super Bowl XIII

Super Bowl XIII was the 13th Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League (NFL). The game was played on January 21, 1979 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida following the 1978 regular season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys, 35–31. It was the first ever Super Bowl rematch. The Steelers previously beat the Cowboys in Super Bowl X, 21–17. Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw was named Super Bowl MVP. Bradshaw, who completing 17 out of 30 passes, broke Super Bowl records for the most passing yards in a game (318) and the most touchdown passes in a game (4). Also, his 75-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter tied Johnny Unitas in Super Bowl V for the longest in a Super Bowl.

Background

After the NFL increased its exposure by extending its schedule from 14 regular season games to 16, and increasing the playoffs from an 8-team tournament to 10, the league could not have been more happier to see its two then-most popular teams meet in the Super Bowl again.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers came into the game attempting to be the first team to ever win a third Super Bowl (after Super Bowl IX and Super Bowl X). Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw had the best season of his career, completing 207 of 368 passes for 2,915 yards and 28 touchdowns. He ranked as the second highest rated passer in the league (84.8), his 28 touchdown passes led the league, and he won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award. Wide receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth provided the team with a great deep threat. Swann recorded 61 receptions for 880 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Stallworth had 41 receptions for 798 yards and 9 touchdowns. Tight end Randy Grossman, who replaced injured starter Bennie Cunningham for most of the season, also was a big weapon by recording 37 receptions for 448 yards and one touchdown. In the Steelers' rushing game, running back Franco Harris was the team's leading rusher for the 7th consecutive season, recording 1,082 yards and 8 touchdowns, while also catching 22 passes for another 144 yards. Fullback Rocky Bleier had 633 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns, while also catching 17 passes for 168 yards. The Steelers' success on offense was due in large measure to their stellar offensive line, anchored by future hall of fame center Mike Webster Although Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain" defense had some new starters this season, such as linemen John Banaszak and Steve Furness, and defensive back Tony Dungy, they finished second in the league against the run (allowing 107.8 yards per game) and ranked third in fewest total yards allowed (4,529). Once again, defensive tackles Joe Greene and L. C. Greenwood anchored the line, while Pro Bowl linebackers Jack Ham and Jack Lambert combined for 7 interceptions. Dungy lead the team with 6 interceptions, while the rest of the secondary, defensive backs Mel Blount, Donny Shell, and Ron Johnson, combined for 11. The Steelers went on to finish with the league's best regular season record (14-2).

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys became the first team to appear in five Super Bowls (after playing in Super Bowls V, VI, X and XII). The defending Super Bowl champions were again led by quarterback Roger Staubach. Staubach finished the season as the top rated passer in the NFL (84.9) by throwing 231 out of 413 completions for 3,190 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also rushed for 182 yards and another touchdown. Wide receivers Drew Pearson and Tony Hill provided the deep passing threats, combining for 90 receptions, 1,537 yards, and 9 touchdowns. Tight end Billy Joe Dupree contributed 34 receptions for 509 yards and 9 touchdowns. Running back Tony Dorsett had another fine season, recording a total of 1,703 combined rushing and receiving yards, and scoring a total of 9 touchdowns. Fullback Robert Newhouse and halfback Preston Pearson also contributed from the offensive backfield, combining for 1,326 rushing and receiving yards, while Newhouse also scored 10 touchdowns. The Cowboys also had a superb offensive line, led by Herbert Scott and 6-time Pro Bowler Rayfield Wright The Cowboys' "Doomsday Defense" finished the season as the top ranked defense in the league against the run by only allowing 107.6 yards per game. Pro Bowl linemen Ed "Too Tall" Jones and Harvey Martin anchored the line, while linebackers Mike Hegeman, D.D. Lewis and Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson provided solid support. Their secondary, lead by safeties Cliff Harris and Bennie Barnes, along with cornerbacks Charlie Watters and Aaron Kyle, combined for 16 interceptions. The Cowboys started the regular season slowly, winning only six of their first ten games. Both the offense and the defense played ineffectively, including giving up interceptions and fumbles. But Dallas finished strong, winning their last six regular season games to post a 12-4 record.

Playoffs

Dallas marched through the playoffs, defeating the Atlanta Falcons, 27-20, and the Los Angeles Rams, 28-0. Meanwhile, the Steelers easily demolished the Denver Broncos, 33-10, and the Houston Oilers, 34-5.

Super Bowl pregame hype

Much of the pregame hype surrounded Super Bowl XIII centered around Cowboys linebacker Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson. Henderson caused quite a stir before the NFC Championship Game by claiming that the Rams had "No Class" and the Cowboys would shut them out. His prediction turned out to be very accurate; the Cowboys did shut them out, aided by Henderson's 68-yard interception return for a touchdown. In the days leading up the Super Bowl, Henderson began talking about the Steelers in the same manner. He predicted another shutout and then made unfriendly comments about several Pittsburgh players. He put down the talent Grossman and the intellegence of Bradshaw, proclaiming "Bradshaw couldn't spell 'cat' if you gave him the 'c' and the 'a'". But the Steelers refused to get into a war of words with Henderson. Greene responded by saying the Steeler didn't need to say they were the best, they would just go out on the field and "get the job done".

Television and entertainment

The game was broadcast in the United States by NBC with Curt Gowdy handling play-by-play and color commentators Merlin Olsen and John Brodie. The pregame festivities featured the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and several military bands. The Colgate University Seven later performed the national anthem. The coin toss ceremony featured Pro Football Hall of Famer and longtime Chicago Bears owner/head coach George Halas. The halftime show was a "Carnival Salute to Caribbean" with various Caribbean bands.

Game summary

Although both teams entered the game with the best defenses in the league (the Cowboys only allowed 107.6 rushing yards per game while the Steelers only allowed 107.8), each side took advantage of the other team's mistakes throughout the game. But Dallas could not overcome their miscues in the second half. On their opening drive, the Cowboys advanced to the Pittsburgh 38-yard line, with running back Tony Dorsett gaining 38 yards off 3 running plays. But they lost the ball on a fumbled handoff while attempting to fool the Steelers defense with a double reverse play. After defensive lineman John Banaszak recovered the loose ball on the Pittsburgh 47-yard line, the Steelers attempted 2 running plays with running back Franco Harris carrying the ball, but only gained 1 yard. Then on third down, wide receiver John Stallworth caught a 12-yard pass to the Cowboys' 40-yard line. Then after throwing an incomplete pass, Bradshaw completed three consecutive passes, the last one being a 28-yard touchdown completion to Stallworth to take a 7-0 lead. On their next drive, the Cowboys responded by advancing to the Steelers 39-yard line, but were pushed back to their own 39-yard line after quarterback Roger Staubach was sacked twice, and they were forced to punt. Then on the Steelers' ensuing drive, Bradshaw threw a 22-yard pass to Harris and followed it up with a 13-yard pass to receiver Lynn Swann to move the ball to the Dallas 30-yard line. But on the very next play, Dallas linebacker D.D. Lewis ended the drive by intercepting a pass intended for Stallworth. With a little more than a minute to go in the period, Bradshaw fumbled the ball while being sacked by Cowboys lineman Harvey Martin, and defensive end Ed "Too Tall" Jones recovered it. On the next play from scrimmage, Staubach capitalized on Bradshaw's mistake with a 39-yard scoring strike to Tony Hill to tie the game at 7 as the first quarter expired. It was the first first quarter touchdown surrendered by Pittsburgh all season. The Steelers took possession at the start of the second quarter and advanced to their own 48-yard line. But on the next play, Dallas linebackers Mike Hegman and Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson blitzed Bradshaw as he dropped back to pass. Henderson tackled Bradshaw as he was about to throw, causing him to fumble. Hegman picked up the loose ball and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown, giving the Cowboys a 14-7 lead. The Cowboys lead didn’t last long. On the third play of Pittsburgh's ensuing possession, Stallworth caught a pass from Bradshaw at the Steelers 35-yard line. He then broke a tackle from defensive back Aaron Kyle and outraced every other defender to the end zone, turning a simple 10-yard pass into a 75-yard touchdown completion to tie the score, 14-14. With less than two minutes remaining in the half, Dallas advanced to the Pittsburgh 32-yard line, after starting from their own 34-yard line. But Pittsburgh defensive back Mel Blount intercepted a pass from Staubach and returned it to the 29. With time running out, Bradshaw completed 2 passes to Swann for gains of 29 and 21 yards, moving the ball to the 16-yard line with 40 seconds left in the half. Then after throwing an incomplete pass, Harris ran the ball the ball to the 7-yard line. Then with just 26 seconds left, Bradshaw completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to fullback Rocky Bleier, giving the Steelers a 21-14 lead at halftime. The torrid scoring pace slowed during much of the third quarter, as both teams began to assert themselves on the defensive side of the ball. But late in the third quarter, Dallas drove down to the Steelers 10-yard line, mostly with Dorsett's rushing. Then on third down with less than three minutes remaining in the period, Staubach spotted 38-year old reserve tight end Jackie Smith wide open in the end zone and threw him the ball. The pass was a little behind Smith, but it was catchable. However, Smith dropped the pass and the Cowboys had to settle for a field goal from kicker Rafael Septien, cutting their deficit to 21-17. Though Smith played 16 years in the league and is now enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he is perhaps best known for his embarassing blunder on the sport's biggest stage. A controversial penalty early in the fourth quarter paved the way for the Steelers to score 14 unanswered points. The Steelers advanced to their own 44-yard line after a crucial 3rd down pass from Bradshaw to tight end Randy Grossman, a 13-yard pass to Swann, and a 5-yard run by Harris. Bradshaw then attempted a pass to Swann, but the receiver collided with Cowboys defensive back Benny Barnes and fell to the ground as the ball rolled incomplete. However, Barnes was called for pass interference even though replays later showed that it could have been incidental contact. The penalty gave Pittsburgh a first down at Dallas' 23-yard line. Two plays and a penalty later, the Steelers faced third down and nine at the 22-yard line. Assuming the Cowboys would be expecting a pass, Bradshaw handed the ball off to Harris, who took the ball all the way into the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown run. The score increased Pittsburgh's lead to 28-17. Dallas then fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Dennis White recovered for the Steelers at the Cowboys 18-yard line. Pittsburgh took advantage of the turnover, scoring on the next play with Bradshaw's touchdown pass to Swann, increasing the lead to 35-17 with less than 7 minutes left in the game. Some of the Steelers were already celebrating on the sidelines, but the Cowboys were ready to attempt a comeback. Dallas stormed down the field on their next drive, marching 89 yards in 8 plays to score on Staubach's 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Billy Joe DuPree. Then, after recovering an onside kick, Dallas drove 52 yards in 9 plays, featuring 2 completions to receiver Drew Pearson for 22 and 25 yards, and scoring another touchdown on wide receiver Butch Johnson's 4-yard reception, cutting the score 35-31 with just 22 seconds left in the game. But the Cowboys' second onside kick attempt was unsuccessful. Bleier recovered the ball and the Steelers were able to run out the clock to win the game. Swann was the leading receiver in the game with 7 receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown. Stallworth recorded 115 yards and a touchdown off just 3 receptions. Dorsett was the top rusher of the game with 96 rushing yards, and also caught 5 passes for 44 yards. Harris was Pittsburgh's leading rusher with 68 yards, and he caught a pass for 22 yards. Staubach finished the game with exactly as many passing attempts (30) and completions (17) as Bradshaw, good for 228 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception.

Scoring summary


- PIT- Stallworth 28 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)
- DAL- Hill 39 pass from Staubach (Septien kick)
- DAL- Hegman 37 fumble return (Septien kick)
- PIT- Stallworth 75 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)
- PIT- Bleier 7 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)
- DAL- FG Septien 27
- PIT- Harris 22 run (Gerela kick)
- PIT- Swann 18 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)
- DAL- DuPree 7 pass from Staubach (Septien kick)
- DAL- Johnson 4 pass from Staubach (Septien kick)

Trivia


- Dallas' Butch Johnson became just the second player to score touchdowns in back-to-back Super Bowls. Former Dallas running back Duane Johnson did this in Super Bowls V and VI.
- Both teams would meet again in Super Bowl XXX
- The Cowboys were the first defending champion to lose in the Super Bowl

See also


- 1978 NFL season
- NFL playoffs, 1978-79

References


- [http://www.superbowl.com/ Super Bowl official 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)
- http://www.pro-football-reference.com - Large online database of NFL data and statistics
- [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) Super Bowl 013 Category:1979 in sports Category:The NFL on NBC

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

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

1979

This page refers to the year 1979. For the Smashing Pumpkins song, see 1979 (song). 1979 (MCMLXXIX) is a common year starting on Monday.

Events


- 1979 energy crisis - occurred in the wake of the Iranian Revolution

January


- January 1 - United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the "International Year of the Child." Many musicians donate to the "Music for UNICEF" fund.
- January 1 - Sino-American relations: United States and the People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations
- January 4 - State of Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to families of dead and injured in Kent State University shootings.
- January 7 - Vietnam and Vietnam-backed Cambodian insurgents announce the fall of Phnom Penh, Cambodian capital, and the collapse of the Pol Pot regime. Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge retreat to Thailand
- January 8 - The French tanker Betelgeuse explodes at the Gulf Oil terminal at Bantry in Ireland - 50 dead
- January 13 - YMCA sues the Village People for libel because of their song of the same name
- January 16 - The Shah of Iran flees Iran with his family and relocate to Egypt after a year of turmoil.
- January 19 - Former US Attorney General John N. Mitchell released on parole after 19 months at a federal prison in Alabama
- January 29 - Brenda Ann Spencer opens fire at random in San Diego, California, killing two teachers and wounding 8 students

February


- February 1 - Convicted bank robber Patty Hearst is released from prison after her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter
- February 1 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.
- February 2 - Sid Vicious dies of heroin overdose
- February 3 - Khomeini creates the Council of the Islamic Revolution
- February 7 - Supporters of Khomeini take over the Iranian law enforcement, courts and government administration
- February 7 - Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either planet was known to science.
- February 10-February 11 - Iranian army mutinies and joins the Islamic Revolution
- February 11 - Khomeini seizes power in Iran.
- February 14 - In Kabul, Muslim extremists kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs, who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police
- February 14 - Musician Walter Carlos reveals that he has undergone a sex change operation and become Wendy
- February 17 - The People's Republic of China invades northern Vietnam, launching the Sino-Vietnamese War.
- February 22 - Independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom.

March

March and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel sign the Camp David Accords.]]
- March 1 - Scotland voted narrowly for home rule, which was not implemented, and Wales voted against
- March 5 - Voyager I passes Jupiter
- March 13 - In Grenada, Maurice Bishop leads a successful coup
- March 14 - In China, a Hawker-Siddeley Trident crashes into a factory near Beijing killing at least 200
- March 25 - The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, was delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch
- March 26 - In a ceremony at the White House, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel sign a peace treaty
- March 28 - Nuclear power plant accident at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, releases radiation
- March 28 - In Britain, Jim Callaghan's government loses a motion of confidence by one vote, forcing a general election
- March 29 - Sultan Yahya Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim Petra, 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia dies in office. He is replaced by Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Mustain Billah ibni Almarhum Sultan Sir Abu Bakar Riayatuddin Al-Muadzam Shah, Sultan of Pahang.
- March 30 - Airey Neave, World War Two veteran and Conservative Northern Ireland spokesman, is killed by INLA bomb in British House of Commons car park
- March 31 - The Royal Navy withdraws from Malta

April-May

May.]]
- April 1 - Iran's government becomes Islamic Republic by a 98% vote, overthrowing the Shah officially
- April 1-April 18 - Police lock Andreas Mihavecz in a holding cell in Bregenz, Austria and forget him there for the next 18 days without food or drink
- April 2 - Soviet biowarfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores. 66 dead plus unknown amount of livestock
- April 4 - President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan is executed
- April 10 - A tornado hits in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people. It was the most notable tornado of twenty-six that hit that day.
- April 11 - Tanzanian troops take Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Idi Amin flees
- April 17 - Schoolchildren in the Central African Republic arrested for protesting against wearing the expensive, school uniforms. Around 100 killed.
- April 23 - Fighting in London between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group results in the death of protestor Blair Peach
- May 1 - Greenland gets home rule
- May 4 - Conservatives win the British general election; Margaret Thatcher becomes the new prime minister.
- May 9 - Unabomber bomb injures Northwestern University graduate student John Harris
- May 10 - The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing.
- May 25 - American Airlines Flight 191: In Chicago, Illinois, a DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport killing 271 on board and two people on the ground.

June


- June 1 - The first black-led government of Rhodesia in 90 years takes power, in succession to Ian Smith and under his power-sharing deal.
- June 2 - Pope John Paul II visits his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country
- June 3 - A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 600,000 tons (176,400,000 gallons) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the worst oil spill to date. Some estimate the spill to be 428 million gallons, making it the largest unintentional oil spill ever.
- June 4 - Joe Clark becomes Canada's sixteenth, and youngest, prime minister.
- June 12 - Bryan Allen flies the Gossamer Albatross, man powered, across the English Channel.
- June 18 - Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT II agreement in Vienna.
- June 20 - a national guard soldier in Nicaragua kills ABC TV news correspondent Bill Stewart and his interpreter Juan Espinosa. Other members of the news crew capture the killing on tape
- June 23 - Sydney: New South Wales Premier Neville Wran officially opens the Eastern Suburbs Railway. It operates as a shuttle between Central & Bondi Junction until full integration with the Illawarra Line during 1980.

July-August


- July 2 - The Susan B. Anthony one-dollar coin is introduced in the US.
- July 3 - President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.
- July 9 - A car bomb destroys a Renault owned by "Nazi hunters" Serge and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France. A note purportedly from ODESSA claims responsibility.
- July 11 - The space station Skylab returns to Earth.
- July 12 - A "Disco Demolition Night" publicity stunt goes awry at Comiskey Park forcing the Chicago White Sox to forfeit their game against the Detroit Tigers.
- July 12 - Assassination of Carmine Galante, boss of Bonanno mafia family
- July 13 - Skylab re-enters the Earth atmosphere; the wreckage lands in Australia
- July 16 - Iraqi President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and Vice President Saddam Hussein replaces him
- July 17 - Nicaraguan president General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami; Sandinistas form a new government on July 19.
- July 19 - The Marxist Sandinistas take control of Nicaragua
- July 19 - Maria de Lurdes Pintasilgo becomes prime minister of Portugal
- July 24 - Soviet Union exchanges Gerald Brook for spies Peter and Helen Kroger with United Kingdom
- July 31 - 400 Iranian pilgrims are killed after clashes with Saudi security forces in Mecca
- August 5 - Polisario signs a peace treaty with Mauritania
- August 5 - Government of Mauritania signs a peace treaty with Polisario
- August 9 - The first British nudist beach is established in Brighton
- August 27 - Lord Mountbatten and three others assassinated by the I.R.A..

September-October


- September 1 - The American Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passes the planet at a distance of 21,000 km
- September 7 - The Chrysler Corporation asks the United States government for $1 billion to avoid bankruptcy.
- September 7 - ESPN starts broadcasting.
- September 16 - Three families flee from East Germany by balloon
- September 20 - French paratroopers help David Dacko to overthrow Bokassa
- September 22 - The South Atlantic Flash is observed near Bouvet Island, thought to be a nuclear weapons test.
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