A drop kick is a type of kick in various codes of football. It involves a player intentionally dropping the ball and then kicking it either 'as it rises from the first bounce' (rugby) or 'as, or immediately after, it touches the ground'.
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The Patriots play home games at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Boston. The franchise is owned by Robert Kraft, who purchased the team in 1994. As of 2023, the Patriots are tied for the third most valuable sports team in the world and have sold out every home game since 1994.
Stevonne Latrall Smith Sr., primarily known during his playing career as just Steve Smith, is an American sportscaster and a former professional football player. Smith was a wide receiver for sixteen seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Carolina Panthers, also playing for the Baltimore Ravens. He played college football for the Utah Utes, and was selected by the Panthers in the third round of the 2001 NFL draft. After retiring from the NFL, Smith became a sports analyst and show host for NFL Network.
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 a record 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.
Rodney Scott Harrison is an American former football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons with the San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots. He was selected in the fifth round of the 1994 NFL draft by the Chargers, where he spent his first nine seasons, and was a member of the Patriots in his following six. Since leaving the NFL in 2009, he has served as a commentator for NBC's Football Night in America.
Antrel Rocelious Rolle is an American former professional football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, earning unanimous All-American honors. He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the eighth overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft. Rolle also played for the Chicago Bears and New York Giants, winning Super Bowl XLVI with New York in 2011 over the New England Patriots.
Edward G. Hochuli is an American retired attorney and former American football official. He served as an attorney at Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, P.L.C. from 1983 to 2021, and was an official in the National Football League (NFL) from 1990 to 2017; his uniform number was 85. Before becoming a football official, he played college football for four seasons at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).
Adalius Donquail Thomas is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. He was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft, and also played for the NFL's New England Patriots.
Walt Coleman III is a former American football official who officiated in the National Football League (NFL) from the 1989 season until the end of the 2018 season. He wore uniform number 65. During his final season in 2018, Coleman was the NFL's longest current tenured referee.
The 2007 NFL season was the 88th regular season of the National Football League (NFL).
Super Bowl XLVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2012 season. The Ravens defeated the 49ers by the score of 34–31, handing the 49ers their first Super Bowl loss in their franchise history. The game was played on Sunday, February 3, 2013, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. This was the seventh Super Bowl played in the Superdome, and the tenth to be played in New Orleans, equaling Miami's record of ten in an individual city. This was the first Super Bowl to be held in New Orleans since Super Bowl XXXVI and it was the first to be played there since Hurricane Katrina struck the city in 2005.
Michael Carey is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL). His uniform number was 94. Prior to his officiating career, he played college football as a running back for Santa Clara University.
The tuck rule was a controversial rule in American football used by the National Football League from 1999 until 2013. It stated:
NFL Rule 3, Section 22, Article 2, Note 2. When [an offensive] player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Also, if the player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble.
Eugene Joseph Steratore is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL) from 2003 until his retirement from the NFL in June 2018. He also worked as a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball referee from 1997 to 2018. Since the fall of 2018, Steratore has served as a rules analyst for CBS Sports, including the NFL on CBS, SEC on CBS, College Basketball on CBS, and CBS/Turner NCAA March Madness.
The Snowplow Game was a regular-season game played between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots on December 12, 1982, at Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Due in part to icy conditions, the game remained scoreless until late in the fourth quarter, when the snowplow operator was called in to clear a spot on the snowy field specifically for New England kicker John Smith so he could kick the game-winning field goal to give the Patriots a 3–0 win.
The Colts–Patriots rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots. As the Colts play in the AFC South and the Patriots are in the AFC East, the two teams do not play every year; instead, they play at least once every three years and at least once every six seasons at each team's home stadium due to the NFL's rotating division schedules during which their divisions are paired up, sometimes more often if the two teams finish in the same place in their respective divisions or meet in the playoffs.
The Butt Fumble was a notorious American football play from a National Football League (NFL) game played on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012, between the New York Jets and New England Patriots.
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.
The Patriots–Ravens rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens. As the Patriots play in the AFC East and the Ravens in the AFC North, the two teams do not play every year; instead, they play at least once every three years and at least once every six seasons at each team's home stadium during which their divisions are paired up, sometimes more often if the two teams finish in the same place in their respective divisions or meet in the playoffs. Though the two franchises are in different divisions within the American Football Conference and did not start playing each other until the late 1990s, their rivalry is noted for competitiveness in the playoffs, especially in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
The Colts Catastrophe was an unsuccessful National Football League (NFL) trick play attempted by the Indianapolis Colts against the New England Patriots on October 18, 2015. It occurred near the end of the third quarter in the teams' Week 6 game of the 2015 NFL season.
