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.
Sidney Luckman was an American football quarterback who played for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1939 through 1950. During his 12 seasons with the Bears, he led them to four NFL championships in 1940, 1941, 1943, and 1946.
Howard Matthew Moses Long is an American former football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He spent his entire career with the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders franchise, who selected him in the second round of the 1981 NFL draft. Long received eight Pro Bowl and three first-team All-Pro selections while helping the team win Super Bowl XVIII. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
Derrick Dewan Brooks is an American former football linebacker who played for his entire 14-year career in the National Football League (NFL) with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brooks played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, earning consensus All-American honors twice. He was selected by the Buccaneers in the first round of the 1995 NFL draft. An 11-time Pro Bowl selection and five-time first-team All-Pro, Brooks was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2002 en route to winning the franchise's first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XXXVII. Following his retirement, Brooks served as co-owner and president of the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football League (AFL) from 2011 to 2017. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
Andrew Scott Walter is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils and was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He was also a member of the New England Patriots. After his playing career, he ran for office in the Arizona House of Representatives.
Will Herthie Shields is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, earning consensus All-American honors and winning the Outland Trophy. Shields played his entire, 14-year professional career with the Kansas City Chiefs and never missed a game. Shields was selected to 12 Pro Bowls, was a 3× First-Team All-Pro, a 4x Second-Team All-Pro, and was selected to the NFL 2000's All-Decade Team. He won the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award in the 2003 season, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Walter Jones Jr. is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. Born in Alabama, he played college football for the Florida State Seminoles.
Keith Van Horne is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. He played college football for the USC Trojans and earned consensus All-American honors. Van Horne was selected in the first round of the 1981 NFL Draft, and played professionally for the NFL's Chicago Bears. He is also the former son-in-law of former Vice President of the United States Walter Mondale.
Walter Andrew Kiesling was an American football guard who spent 36 years as a player, coach, and aide with National Football League (NFL) teams. He was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966 and was named to the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team in 1969.
Troy McHenry Walters is an American football coach and former player who is the wide receivers coach for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). Walters played as a wide receiver and punt returner in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. Walters played college football for the Stanford Cardinal, earning consensus All-American honors and winning the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the season’s outstanding college football receiver. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings, and also played for the Indianapolis Colts, Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions of the NFL.
Walter Jerry Payton was an American professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears. Nicknamed "Sweetness", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time.
Stanley Peter Walters Jr. is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for Syracuse Orange, he was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the ninth round of the 1972 NFL Draft. He spent three years with the Bengals, starting at left tackle for the majority of his tenure, before he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1975. A two-time Pro Bowl selection with the Eagles, Walters started in 122 consecutive games at left tackle in his nine years with the team. Following his retirement, he was a radio color commentator for the Eagles from 1984 through 1997.
Dean Elmer Steinkuhler is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons in the 1980s and 1990s. Steinkuhler played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and was recognized as an All-American. He was selected in the first round of the 1984 NFL draft, and played professionally for the Houston Oilers of the NFL.
Michael David Walter is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Oregon Ducks.
Walter Ree Holmer was an American football player and coach. He played professionally as a quarterback and running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals, Boston Redskins, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Holmer served as the head football coach at Boston University from 1942 to 1946 and at Colby College from 1947 to 1950.
Wayne Roderick Walters II is a former American football offensive lineman for the National Football League (NFL). Walters was drafted fourteenth overall by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1976 NFL Draft from the University of Iowa and played with the team until the middle of the 1980 season. Walters played for the Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins for the remainder of that 1980 season.
The Colgate Raiders football team represents Colgate University in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) college football competition as a member of the Patriot League.
Walter Riley Thurmond III is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League. He was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He won Super Bowl XLVIII with the Seahawks over the Denver Broncos, and he also played for the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football for the Oregon Ducks.
The San Francisco Dons football program were the intercollegiate American football team for University of San Francisco located in San Francisco, California. The team competed in NCAA Division II as a Division II Independent football program. The school's first football team was fielded in 1917. The program disbanded in 1982.
The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award is presented annually by the National Football League (NFL) honoring a player's commitment to philanthropy and community impact, as well as his excellence on the field. Prior to 1999, it was called simply the NFL Man of the Year Award. Shortly after Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton died, the award was renamed to honor his legacy as a humanitarian.
