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.
Fantasy football is a game in which the participants serve as owners and general managers of virtual professional American football teams. The competitors select their rosters by participating in a draft in which all relevant National Football League (NFL) players are available. Fantasy points are awarded in weekly matchups based on the actual performances of football players in real-world competition. The game typically involves the NFL, but can also involve other leagues, such as the Canadian Football League or NCAA.
Jesse James Palmer is a Canadian television personality, sports commentator, and former professional football player who was a quarterback for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL) in the early 2000s. Palmer played college football for the Florida Gators under coach Steve Spurrier, and thereafter, he played professionally for the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers in the NFL before spending half of the 2006 season with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Ante Josip "Tony" Mandarich is a Canadian former football player who was a tackle for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected second overall by the Green Bay Packers in the 1989 NFL Draft and also played for the Indianapolis Colts.
Andre Trevor Ware is an American sports analyst and commentator, and a former football quarterback. He played in the National Football League (NFL), the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the 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.
Donald Amechi Igwebuike is a Nigerian-born former American football kicker who played professionally for the National Football League (NFL)'s Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1985 to 1989. He was selected by the Buccaneers in the tenth round of the 1985 NFL Draft. He is the seventh place all-time scorer for the Buccaneers with 416 overall points. Often kicking barefoot, Igwebuike also played for the 1990 Minnesota Vikings and in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Baltimore Stallions in 1994 and the Memphis Mad Dogs in 1995. Earlier, he attended Clemson University and was brought on as the kicker for the football team on the recommendation of his childhood friend and graduating Clemson kicker Obed Ariri. He agreed to join the team as long as he could continue playing for the soccer team, and took a football scholarship to save the soccer team a slot. His first attempt, a 52-yarder, was during the first American football game he had ever attended. He started as the kicker for the Tigers' 1981 national championship team.
Robert F. Waldrop is a former American college and professional gridiron football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at the University of Arizona, where he was a two-time consensus All-American for the Wildcats. Waldrop played professionally for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, and the Memphis Mad Dogs and Toronto Argonauts of the CFL. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
Patrick Dante Ross Cunningham is a former American football player who played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1990 to 1998. He was selected in the fourth round of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. He played for four teams in 80 games over eight seasons. He later played three seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Bruce M. Clark is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for 10 seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and National Football League (NFL) during the 1980s. Clark played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, earning All-American honors. He was the fourth pick overall in the 1980 NFL Draft, but chose to play for the CFL's Toronto Argonauts before joining the NFL's New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs.
Don Paul "Suds" Sutherin was a Canadian Football League (CFL) and National Football League (NFL) defensive back and placekicker. He is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame (1992).
James Edward Williams is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the New Orleans Saints (1990–1994), the Jacksonville Jaguars (1995–1996), the San Francisco 49ers (1997–1998), and the Cleveland Browns (1999). He played college football at Mississippi State University and was a sixth round draft choice in the 1990 NFL Draft. He was selected by the Jaguars in the 1995 NFL Expansion Draft.
James J. Spavital was an American gridiron football player, coach and executive in six different professional football leagues. He served as the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1970 to 1973 and as head coach of the Chicago Fire of the World Football League (WFL) in 1974. Spavital was the general manager of the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders from 1979 to 1982 and the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL) in 1983.
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football franchise based in the Washington metropolitan area. They are members of the East division in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL). The Commanders were founded in 1932 as the Boston Braves, named after the local baseball franchise. The franchise changed its name the following year to the Redskins and moved to Washington, D.C. in 1937. In 2020, the team retired the Redskins name after longstanding controversies surrounding it and briefly played as the Washington Football Team before becoming the Commanders in 2022.
Gene Taylor is a former professional American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 1987 NFL Draft. He played college football at Fresno State.
David Lee Robinson Jr. was an American professional football defensive back who played in the National Football League (NFL), the World League of American Football (WLAF), and the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played for the New England Patriots and Detroit Lions of the NFL, the Sacramento Surge of the WLAF, and the Sacramento Gold Miners and Memphis Mad Dogs of the CFL. Robinson played collegiately at East Carolina University.
Garry Lewis Jr. is a former American football defensive back who played four seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Los Angeles Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs. He was drafted by the Raiders in the seventh round of the 1990 NFL Draft. He played college football at Alcorn State University and attended Walter L. Cohen High School in New Orleans, Louisiana. Lewis was also a member of the Ottawa Rough Riders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.
Todd A. Jones is a former American football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, and Denver Broncos. He also played in the World League of American Football (WLAF) with the Orlando Thunder and the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Memphis Mad Dogs. He played college football at Arkansas and Henderson State.
