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, including four division winners and three wild card teams, advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament, which culminates in the Super Bowl, played in early February between the winners of the AFC and NFC championship games.
Deion Luwynn Sanders Sr. is an American football coach and former player who is the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes football team. Nicknamed "Prime Time", "Neon Deion", and since becoming a coach, "Coach Prime", 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.
LeRoy Butler III is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 12-year career from 1990 to 2001 as a safety for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2022.
Michael Croel is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) and XFL.
Andre Trevor Ware is an American sports analyst and commentator, and a former professional football quarterback. He played in the National Football League (NFL), Canadian Football League (CFL) and NFL Europe. Ware played college football for the Houston Cougars, winning the Heisman Trophy and Davey O'Brien Award in 1989. He was the first black quarterback to receive the Heisman. In the 1990 NFL draft, Ware was selected in the first round by the Detroit Lions with the seventh overall pick. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
The 1990 NFL season was the 71st regular season of the National Football League (NFL). To increase revenue, the league, for the first time since 1966, reinstated bye weeks, so that all NFL teams would play their 16-game schedule over a 17-week period. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 10 teams to 12 teams by adding another wild card from each conference, thus adding two more contests to the postseason schedule; this format was modified with realignment in 2002 before the playoffs expanded to 14 teams in 2020.
Mark Anthony Carrier III is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans, where he won the Jim Thorpe Award. Carrier was selected by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 1990 NFL draft.
The 1989 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft was held April 23–24, 1989, at the Marriott Marquis in New York City, New York. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season.
The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks.
The 1969 NFL/AFL draft was part of the common draft, the third and final year in which the NFL and AFL held a joint draft of college players. The draft took place January 28–29, 1969.
Anthony Q. Thompson is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Indiana Hoosiers and was selected in the second round by the Phoenix Cardinals in the 1990 NFL draft. Thompson also played for the Los Angeles Rams. He later became a pastor at the Lighthouse Community Church in Bloomington, Indiana.
Craig Neil Erickson is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). Prior to entering the NFL, he played college football for the Miami Hurricanes. He was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 1991 NFL draft and also by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fourth round of the 1992 NFL draft. He is one of the few NFL players to be drafted twice. Coincidentally, each was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The 1972 NFL draft was the thirty-seventh annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft was held on February 1 and 2 at the Essex House in New York City, New York.
Bernard Eric Green is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 1990 NFL draft. Green was a two-time Pro Bowl selection for the Steelers in 1993 and 1994.
Lamar Lavante Lathon is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Houston Cougars and was selected by the Houston Oilers in the first round of the 1990 NFL draft. Lathon played eight seasons in the league. He last played in 1998 with the Carolina Panthers.
Ray Mitchell Agnew Jr. is an American professional football executive and former player who is the assistant general manager for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He served as the director of pro personnel with the Los Angeles Rams from 2017 to 2020.
Cary Lee Conklin is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and the San Francisco 49ers.
James Edward Williams is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL).
Roger W. Brown Jr. is a former American football defensive back in the National Football League (NFL). He graduated from the Cardinal Gibbons School in 1986, where he lettered in football. Brown attended college at Virginia Tech and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the eighth round of the 1990 NFL draft. Brown played three seasons in the NFL, with the New York Giants in 1990 and 1991 and the New England Patriots in 1992. He won the Super Bowl with the 1990 Giants.
