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The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league composed 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.
The Super Bowl is the annual league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game has been played on the second Sunday in February. Prior Super Bowls were played on Sundays in early to mid-January from 1967 to 1978, late January from 1979 to 2003, and the first Sunday of February from 2004 to 2021. Winning teams are awarded the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after the eponymous coach who won the first two Super Bowls. Because the NFL restricts the use of its "Super Bowl" trademark, it is frequently referred to as the "big game" or other generic terms by non-sponsoring corporations. The day the game is held is commonly referred to as "Super Bowl Sunday" or simply "Super Sunday".
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) South division. They joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team, along with the Seattle Seahawks, and played its first season in the American Football Conference (AFC) West division.
Monday Night Football is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on ABC from 1970 to 2005, before moving exclusively to sister network ESPN from 2006 to 2019. While still airing on ESPN, MNF returned to ABC in 2020 beginning with select ESPN simulcasts, later expanding to select ABC exclusive telecasts in 2022, and since 2023 ABC has aired the bulk of the games in simulcast with ESPN. In addition, ESPN2 features the Manningcast alternate telecast of select games, which was established in 2020, and since 2021, ESPN+ has served as the U.S. streaming home of MNF.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coaches, officials, franchise owners, and front-office personnel, almost all of whom made their primary contributions to the game in the National Football League (NFL).
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots and was a central contributor to the franchise's dynasty from 2001 to 2019. In his final three seasons, he played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning the Super Bowl and earning Super Bowl MVP honors in his first season with the team. Many regard Brady as the greatest NFL player of all time.
Kurtis Eugene Warner is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals. His career, which saw him ascend from an undrafted free agent to a two-time Most Valuable Player and Super Bowl MVP, is widely regarded as one of the greatest Cinderella stories in NFL history.
Peyton Williams Manning is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and four with the Denver Broncos. Manning is considered one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. A member of the Manning football dynasty, he is the second son of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, older brother of former NFL quarterback Eli Manning, and uncle of Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning. He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers, winning the Maxwell, Davey O'Brien, and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm awards as a senior en route to victory in the 1997 SEC Championship Game.
Randy Gene Moss is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, and San Francisco 49ers. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record, as well as the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie.
William Stephen Belichick is an American football coach who is the head football coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 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.
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.
Larry Darnell Fitzgerald Jr. is an American former professional football wide receiver who played 17 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers, earning unanimous All-American honors in 2003. Fitzgerald was selected by the Cardinals with the third overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft. He is widely considered by fans, coaches and peers to be one of the greatest receivers in NFL history.
Aaron Charles Rodgers is an American professional football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears, before being selected in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers, spending 18 seasons with the team. He is regarded among the greatest and most talented quarterbacks of all time.
Anthony Cris Collinsworth is an American former professional football player and sports broadcaster who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons (1981–1988) with the Cincinnati Bengals. He played college football at the University of Florida, where he was recognized as an All-American. He is a television sportscaster for NBC, Showtime, and the NFL Network, and winner of 17 Sports Emmy Awards. He is also the majority owner of Pro Football Focus.
Thursday Night Football is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time.
Games held by the National Football League (NFL) on Christmas Day, December 25, are an occasional part of the league's schedule. In contrast to Thanksgiving Day games, however, they have not been an annual occurrence, since Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday while Christmas can fall on any day of the week. The NFL held two Divisional Playoff games on Christmas Day in 1971 when the regular season only spanned a 14-week period. This proved unpopular, and the league avoided any more games on Christmas Day until 1989. Since then, the league has played occasional Christmas Day and/or Christmas Eve games in certain years, as part of week 16 or 17 of the regular season.
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with possession of the oval-shaped football, attempts to advance down the field by running with the ball or throwing it, while the defense, the team without possession of the ball, aims to stop the offense's advance and to take control of the ball for themselves. The offense must advance the ball at least ten yards in four downs or plays; if they fail, they turn over the football to the defense, but if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs to continue the drive. Points are scored primarily by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
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.
References
- ↑ The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia (first ed.). Sterling Publishing. 2007. ISBN 978-1-4027-4216-3.
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