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.
Wilver Dornell Stargell, nicknamed "Pops" later in his career, was an American professional baseball left fielder and first baseman who spent all of his 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1962–1982) with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Among the most feared power hitters in baseball history, Stargell had the most home runs (296) of any player in the 1970s decade. During his career, he batted .282 with 2,232 hits, 1,194 runs, 423 doubles, 475 home runs, and 1,540 runs batted in, helping his team win six National League (NL) East division titles, two NL pennants, and two World Series championships in 1971 and 1979, both over the Baltimore Orioles. Stargell was a seven-time All-Star and two-time NL home run leader. In 1979, he became the first and currently only player to win the NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, the NL Championship Series MVP Award and the World Series MVP Award in one season. In 1982, the Pirates retired his uniform number 8. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.
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.
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.
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.
Howard Griffith is an American former professional football player who was a fullback for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) from 1991 to 2001. While playing college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini, Griffith set the NCAA single-game record for touchdowns with eight. It occurred on September 22, 1990, against Southern Illinois University in a 56–21 Illinois win. Raised in Chicago, Griffith attended now defunct Mendel Catholic Prep High School of the Chicago Catholic League until his sophomore year. For his junior year, he transferred to Julian High School, where he was an All-City performer.
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.
Renaldo Antonio Turnbull is a former professional American football defensive end and linebacker who played for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He was the Saints 1st round in the 1990 NFL draft. Turnbull, a 6'5", 252 lb (114 kg) linebacker-defensive end from West Virginia University, played eight seasons in the NFL from 1990 to 1997 for the Saints and Carolina Panthers. In his NFL career, Turnbull played in 120 games with 45.5 sacks and one interception.
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).
Michael Eric Buck is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL).
Carl Delano Howard, Jr. is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New York Jets. He played college football at Rutgers University.
