Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle was an American professional football executive. Rozelle served as the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) for nearly thirty years, from January 1960 until his retirement in November 1989. He became the youngest commissioner in NFL history at the age of just 33. He is credited with making the NFL into one of the most successful sports leagues in the world.
James Edward Finks was an American professional football player, coach, and executive.
The Philadelphia / Baltimore Stars were a professional American football team which played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Owned by real-estate magnate Myles Tanenbaum, they were the short-lived league's dominant team, playing in all three championship games and winning the latter two. They played their first two seasons in Philadelphia as the Philadelphia Stars before relocating to Baltimore, where they played as the Baltimore Stars for the USFL's final season. Coached by Jim Mora, the Stars won a league-best 41 regular season games and 7 playoff games.
Jon Steven Young is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, most notably with the San Francisco 49ers. He was drafted by and played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to his NFL career, Young was a member of the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons. He played college football for the BYU Cougars, setting school and NCAA records en route to being runner-up for the 1983 Heisman Trophy.
Elroy Leon "Crazylegs" Hirsch was an American professional football player, sport executive and actor. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974. He was also named to the all-time All-Pro team selected in 1968 and to the National Football League (NFL) 1950s All-Decade Team.
The NFL draft, officially known as 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.
Donald Montgomery Hutson, nicknamed "the Alabama Antelope", was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). In the era of the one-platoon football, he played as an end and spent his entire 11-year career with the Green Bay Packers. Under head coach Curly Lambeau, Hutson led the Packers to four NFL Championship Games, winning three in 1936, 1939, and 1944.
The Playoff Bowl was a post-season game for third place in the National Football League (NFL), played ten times following the 1960 through 1969 seasons, all at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was originally known as the Runner-Up Bowl.
The 1974 NFL season was the 55th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl IX when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings. Players held a strike from July 1 until August 10, prior to the regular season beginning; only one preseason game was canceled, and the preseason contests were held with all-rookie rosters.
Lionel Aldridge was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers. He played college football for the Utah State Aggies.
James Joseph FitzPatrick, III is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL).
Bart Steven Oates is an American former professional football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers. He played for the Giants from 1985 to 1993 and with the 49ers from 1994 to 1995. He was a member of the Giants teams that won Super Bowls XXI and XXV and the 49ers team that won Super Bowl XXIX.
William Henry Fuller Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Fuller played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels and professionally for the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars of the United States Football League (USFL), and the Houston Oilers, Philadelphia Eagles, and San Diego Chargers of the NFL. Fuller was one of the better pass rushers in the NFL during his time in the league and finished his career with 100.5 sacks. He was named to the Pro Bowl four times and selected as an All-American twice while in college. In 2004, Fuller was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. During his career and after his retirement, Fuller has also done considerable work in raising funds for diabetes research.
Dirk Borgognone is a former National Football League placekicker who currently holds the record for the longest field goal ever kicked in the history of high school football, 68 yards.
Donald E. Perkins was a professional American football player who played running back for four seasons for the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears.
Justin James Watt is an American former professional football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Houston Texans. He played college football for the Central Michigan Chippewas and Wisconsin Badgers and was selected by the Texans in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft.
John Sterling is a former American football running back who played for the Green Bay Packers in the National Football League (NFL). He played in two games with the Packers during the 1987 NFL season as a replacement player after the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) went on strike for 24 days. Sterling played college football for the University of Central Oklahoma where he was named as an honorable mention All-American by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in 1987.
Bubba Wyche is a former American and Canadian football quarterback in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and World Football League (WFL). He played in the CFL for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the WFL for the Chicago Fire, Detroit Wheels, and Shreveport Steamers. After playing for North Fulton High School, Wyche played college football at Tennessee.
The Instant Replay Game, also known as the Asterisk Game, was a National Football League (NFL) game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears on November 5, 1989. The Packers defeated the visiting Bears 14–13 on a controversial fourth-down touchdown pass from Don Majkowski to Sterling Sharpe with less than a minute to play in the game. Line judge Jim Quirk initially called a penalty on the play for an illegal forward pass, thus nullifying the potentially game-winning score. Quirk's penalty was based on the belief that Majkowski had thrown the pass after the ball had passed the line of scrimmage.
The National Football League 50th Anniversary All-Time Team was selected in 1969 by Pro Football Hall of Fame voters from each franchise city of the National Football League (NFL) to honor the greatest players of the first 50 years of the league. A total of 16 players were named, including 15 position winners and one special "legend" category for Jim Thorpe, who was described "as the star that never diminishes." At the time, all but three of the players had played in 20 prior years; four were on NFL rosters at the time of the selections: Johnny Unitas, Gale Sayers, John Mackey, and Ray Nitschke. Additionally, two runners-up were also named for each of the 15 positions.
