The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and the highest professional level of American football in the world. Each NFL season begins annually with a three-week preseason in August, followed by the 18-week regular season which runs from early September to early January, with each team playing 17 games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, seven teams from each conference advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament that culminates in the Super Bowl, which is contested in February and is played between the winners of the AFC and NFC championship games.
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 23 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots and was a central contributor to the franchise's dynasty from 2001 to 2019. In his final three seasons, he was a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady is widely regarded as the greatest quarterback of all time.
Jerry Lee Rice is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 20 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He won three Super Bowl titles with the San Francisco 49ers before two shorter stints at the end of his career with the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks. Nicknamed "World" because of his superb catching ability, his accomplishments and numerous records, Rice is widely regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in NFL history. His biography on the official Pro Football Hall of Fame website names him "the most prolific wide receiver in NFL history with staggering career totals". In 1999, The Sporting News listed Rice second behind Jim Brown on its list of "Football's 100 Greatest Players". In 2010, he was chosen by NFL Network's NFL Films production The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players as the greatest player in NFL history.
Kurtis Eugene Warner is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals. An undrafted free agent, Warner ascended from the Arena Football League and NFL Europe to become a two-time Most Valuable Player and a Super Bowl MVP. Warner appeared in three Super Bowls as a starting quarterback and is one of very few quarterbacks to lead multiple franchises to a Super Bowl. His career is widely regarded as one of the greatest Cinderella stories in NFL history.
Peyton Williams Manning is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and four with the Denver Broncos. Manning is considered one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. A member of the Manning football dynasty, he is the second son of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, older brother of former NFL quarterback Eli Manning, and uncle of Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning. He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers, winning the Maxwell, the Davey O'Brien, and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Awards as a senior en route to victory in the 1997 SEC Championship Game.
Randy Gene Moss is an American former football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, and San Francisco 49ers. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record, as well as the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie. All-time, Moss ranks second in career touchdown receptions as well as fourth in career receiving yards. In addition to possessing extraordinary speed at his size and superior leaping ability, he was famously known for often securing spectacular contested catches in tight coverage by physically overpowering defenders. The term "mossed", referring to this ability, has since become a common term in the football lexicon.
Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. is an American former football linebacker who played his entire 17-year career for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, where he earned All-America honors.
William Stephen Belichick is an American sports analyst and football coach. Widely regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, he holds numerous coaching records, including the record of most Super Bowl wins (six) as a head coach, all with the New England Patriots, along with two more during his time as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, for the record of eight combined total Super Bowl victories as coach and coordinator. A renowned American football historian, Belichick is often referred to as a "student of the game" with a deep knowledge of the intricacies of each player position. During his tenure with the Patriots, Belichick was a central figure as the head coach and de facto general manager during the franchise's dynasty from 2001 to 2019.
Drew Christopher Brees is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is second all-time in career passing yards, career touchdown passes, career pass completions, and career completion percentage. Brees also holds the record of consecutive games with a touchdown pass, breaking the record held by Johnny Unitas for 52 years. He is regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
The National Football League draft, also called the NFL draft or (officially) the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order relative to its record in the previous year, which means that the last place team is positioned first and the Super Bowl champion is last. From this position, the team can either select a player or trade its position to another team for other draft positions, a player or players, or any combination thereof. The round is complete when each team has either selected a player or traded its position in the draft. The first draft was held in 1936, and has been held every year since.
Shannon Sharpe is an American former football tight end who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Denver Broncos. Regarded as one of the greatest tight ends of all time, he ranks third in tight end receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. He was also the first NFL tight end to amass over 10,000 receiving yards. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
Drew McQueen Bledsoe is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football at Washington State University, where he won Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year as a junior, and was selected by the Patriots first overall in the 1993 NFL draft. Considered the face of the Patriots franchise during his nine seasons with the team, Bledsoe helped improve New England's fortunes from 1993 to 2001. Under Bledsoe, the Patriots ended a seven-year postseason drought, qualified for the playoffs four times, clinched their division twice, and made a Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XXXI. He was also named to three Pro Bowls and became the youngest quarterback to play in the NFL's Pro Bowl game in 1995.
Deion Luwynn Sanders Sr. is an American football coach and former player who is the head football coach for the Colorado Buffaloes. Nicknamed "Prime Time", he played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, and Baltimore Ravens. Sanders was also a baseball outfielder for nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and San Francisco Giants. He won two Super Bowl titles and made one World Series appearance in 1992, making him the only athlete to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series.
Aaron Charles Rodgers is an American football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears, before being selected in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers, spending 18 seasons with the team. He is regarded among the greatest and most talented quarterbacks of all time.
Julian Francis Edelman is an American former football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the New England Patriots. He started playing college football at College of San Mateo and later transferred to play college football for the Kent State Golden Flashes as a quarterback and was selected in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Patriots, where he transitioned to a return specialist and wide receiver. Edelman became a primary offensive starter in 2013 and was a staple of the Patriots' receiving corps until his retirement after the 2020 season.
Robert Gronkowski is an American former football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. Nicknamed "Gronk", Gronkowski played nine seasons for the New England Patriots, then played his final two seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Regarded as one of the greatest tight ends of all time, he is a four-time Super Bowl champion, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, a four-time first-team All-Pro selection, and was selected to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team and NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Tyreek Hill is an American football wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). Hill was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL draft. He played college football at Garden City, Oklahoma State, and West Alabama.
Aaron Charles Donald is an American former football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons with the Los Angeles Rams franchise. He is regarded as one of the greatest defensive players of all time.
The Deflategate scandal was a National Football League (NFL) controversy in the United States involving the allegation that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady ordered the deliberate deflation of footballs that were used in the Patriots' victory against the Indianapolis Colts during the 2014 AFC Championship Game on January 18, 2015. The controversy resulted in Brady being suspended for four games, while the team was fined $1 million and forfeited two draft selections in 2016.
Patrick Lavon Mahomes II is an American football quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Mahomes has led the Chiefs to six consecutive AFC Championship Game appearances and four Super Bowl appearances since becoming the team's starting quarterback in 2018. He is one of five quarterbacks in NFL history to win three or more Super Bowls as a starter. Mahomes's career accolades through seven seasons in the NFL have earned him widespread praise from sports journalists, and he is considered to be one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.
