1.
Super Bowl XV
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The Raiders defeated the Eagles by the score of 27–10, becoming the first wild card playoff team to win a Super Bowl. The game was played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 25,1981, the game was thus held under patriotic fervor, as the pregame ceremonies honored the end of the crisis. The Raiders were making their third Super Bowl appearance after posting an 11–5 regular season record, Oakland then advanced to the Super Bowl with playoff victories over the Houston Oilers, Cleveland Browns, and San Diego. The Eagles were making their first Super Bowl appearance after posting a 12–4 regular season record and postseason victories over the Minnesota Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys. Aided by two passes from quarterback Jim Plunkett, the Raiders jumped out to a 14–0 lead in the first quarter of Super Bowl XV. Oakland linebacker Rod Martin also intercepted Philadelphia quarterback Ron Jaworski three times for a Super Bowl record, Plunkett was named the Super Bowl MVP after completing 13 of 21 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 9 yards. Plunkett was also the second Heisman Trophy winner to be named Super Bowl MVP after Roger Staubach in Super Bowl VI, the NFL awarded Super Bowl XV to New Orleans on March 13,1979 at the owners meetings in Honolulu. Super Bowl XV was the climax of Plunketts revival as an NFL starting quarterback, the 1970 Heisman Trophy winner was drafted by the New England Patriots and was later named the 1971 NFL Rookie of the Year. But Plunkett suffered through five losing seasons with the Patriots and two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers before being released as a free agent before the 1978 season. Plunkett was signed by Oakland to be their quarterback, and thus he did not see much playing time, throwing no passes in 1978. But after the Raiders started the 1980 season with a 2–3 record, starter Dan Pastorini broke his leg, the 33-year-old Plunkett got off to a bad start, throwing 5 interceptions in a 31–17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs after relieving Pastorini. However, he recovered and led the Raiders to victory in 9 of their last 11 games in the season, Plunkett made 165 out of 320 pass completions for 2,299 yards,18 touchdown passes, and was intercepted 15 times. He also contributed 141 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground, the Raiders main offensive deep threat was wide receiver Cliff Branch, while wide receiver Bob Chandler contributed 49 receptions for 786 yards and 10 touchdowns. Running back Mark van Eeghen was the top rusher with 838 yards and 5 touchdowns. Halfback Kenny King rushed for 761 yards and catching 22 passes for 145 yards, the Raiders also had an outstanding offensive line led by two future Hall of Famers, tackle Art Shell and guard Gene Upshaw. Upshaw became the first player to play in three Super Bowls with the team in three different decades. He also played in Super Bowls II and XI, Oaklands defense, anchored by defensive end John Matuszak, was punishing. Defensive back Lester Hayes led the league in interceptions and interception return yards, the Raiders also had a trio of great linebackers, future Hall of Famer Ted Hendricks, Pro Bowler Rod Martin, and standout rookie Matt Millen
2.
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
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The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, often referred to simply as the Superdome, is a domed sports and exhibition venue located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It primarily serves as the venue for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. Plans were drawn up in 1967 by the New Orleans modernist architectural firm of Curtis and Davis and the building opened as the Louisiana Superdome in 1975. Its steel frame covers a 13-acre expanse and the 273-foot dome is made of a lamellar multi-ringed frame and has a diameter of 680 feet and it is adjacent to the Smoothie King Center. The Superdome gained international attention of a different type in 2005 when it housed thousands of people seeking shelter from Hurricane Katrina, the building suffered extensive damage as a result of the storm, and was closed for many months afterward. It was eventually decided the building would be refurbished and reopened in time for the Saints 2006 home opener on September 25. On October 3,2011, it was announced that German automaker Mercedes-Benz purchased naming rights to the stadium, the new name took effect on October 23,2011. Atlantas Mercedes-Benz Stadium, set to open in 2017, will become the fifth stadium to bear the name of the German automaker, the Superdome is located on 70 acres of land, including the former Girod Street Cemetery. The dome has a space of 125,000,000 cubic feet, a height of 253 feet, a dome diameter of 680 feet. The Superdome has a listed seating capacity of 76,468 or 73,208. However, published figures from events such as the Sugar Bowl football game have exceeded 79,000. The basketball capacity does not reflect the NCAAs new policy on arranging the basketball court on the 50-yard line on the football field, in 2011,3,500 seats were added, increasing the Superdomes capacity to 76,468. The Superdomes capacity was 75,167 for WWE WrestleMania XXX, the actual capacity is 73,208 people. The team regularly draws capacity crowds, the NFL has hosted seven Super Bowls at the Superdome, most recently Super Bowl XLVII in 2013. The 1976 Pro Bowl was held at the Superdome on Monday and it was the NFLs 26th annual all-star game. Tulane University played their games at the stadium from 1975 to 2013 before moving to on-campus Yulman Stadium. The BCS National Championship Game was played at the Superdome four times, the College Football Playoff semifinal game is played every three years in the stadium. Two other bowl games are played there annually, the Sugar Bowl
3.
New Orleans
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New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The population of the city was 343,829 as of the 2010 U. S. Census, the New Orleans metropolitan area had a population of 1,167,764 in 2010 and was the 46th largest in the United States. The New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa Combined Statistical Area, a trading area, had a 2010 population of 1,452,502. The city is named after the Duke of Orleans, who reigned as Regent for Louis XV from 1715 to 1723, as it was established by French colonists and it is well known for its distinct French and Spanish Creole architecture, as well as its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine, music, and its celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras. The city is referred to as the most unique in the United States. New Orleans is located in southeastern Louisiana, straddling the Mississippi River, the city and Orleans Parish are coterminous. The city and parish are bounded by the parishes of St. Tammany to the north, St. Bernard to the east, Plaquemines to the south, and Jefferson to the south and west. Lake Pontchartrain, part of which is included in the city limits, lies to the north, before Hurricane Katrina, Orleans Parish was the most populous parish in Louisiana. As of 2015, it ranks third in population, trailing neighboring Jefferson Parish, La Nouvelle-Orléans was founded May 7,1718, by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, on land inhabited by the Chitimacha. It was named for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who was Regent of the Kingdom of France at the time and his title came from the French city of Orléans. The French colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire in the Treaty of Paris, during the American Revolutionary War, New Orleans was an important port for smuggling aid to the rebels, transporting military equipment and supplies up the Mississippi River. Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez successfully launched a campaign against the British from the city in 1779. New Orleans remained under Spanish control until 1803, when it reverted briefly to French oversight, nearly all of the surviving 18th-century architecture of the Vieux Carré dates from the Spanish period, the most notable exception being the Old Ursuline Convent. Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, thereafter, the city grew rapidly with influxes of Americans, French, Creoles, and Africans. Later immigrants were Irish, Germans, and Italians, Major commodity crops of sugar and cotton were cultivated with slave labor on large plantations outside the city. The Haitian Revolution ended in 1804 and established the republic in the Western Hemisphere. It had occurred several years in what was then the French colony of Saint-Domingue
4.
1980 Pittsburgh Steelers season
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The 1980 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchises 48th season in the National Football League. In 1980, the Steelers struggled for the first time in many years, the aging defense was not as effective as it had been in the 1978 and 79 seasons, falling from 2nd to 15th in yards allowed. The Steelers also surrendered 313 points, ranked 15th in the league, the Pittsburgh defense only garnered 18 quarterback sacks. The offense was plagued with 42 total turnovers,42 total, but ranking 6th in total offense. Pittsburgh remained in the playoff hunt until a 28–13 loss to Buffalo in week 12, to many, these two losses marked the end of the Steeler Dynasty. Several key players retired after the 1980 season and the team was never the same again, the 1980 season was the first in which the Steelers did not qualify for the playoffs since 1971. 1980 Pittsburgh Steelers season at Pro Football Reference Steelers on jt-sw. com
5.
1980 Philadelphia Eagles season
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The 1980 Philadelphia Eagles season was the teams 48th season in the National Football League. The Eagles won twelve of their sixteen games, winning their division for the first time in twenty years, the Eagles started the season winning eleven of their first twelve games, only to finish the season losing three of their final four. Still, the 12–4 record was enough to win the NFC East division title for the first time in franchise history since the NFC East had been formed. After going 11–5 in the 1979 season and making the playoffs again as a wildcard team, the 1980 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting, the draft was held April 29–30,1979. As was started with the 1977 NFL Draft, this would be 12 rounds, ESPN would cover all 12 rounds live for the first time. This would be over 2 days, the Philadelphia Eagles would get the 23rd to the 25th pick in the 12 rounds. The Eagles would draft 10 players in this years draft, the 1980 season schedule was set by how the Eagles finished in 1979, 2nd in NFC East. The way it was out,4 of the 5 teams in the same division could end up having 10 to 14 common opponents during the 1980 season. Also, when the last regular season game is over you know who you play the next year, a home and home series vs Dallas, New York Giants, St. com
6.
NFL playoffs
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The National Football League playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the National Football League regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each of the two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season records, and a tie-breaking procedure exists in the case of equal records. The tournament ends with the Super Bowl, the championship game. NFL postseason history can be traced to the first NFL Championship Game in 1933, though in the early years, from 1933 to 1966, the NFL postseason generally only consisted of the NFL Championship Game, pitting the leagues two division winners. The NFL playoffs then expanded in 1967, when four teams qualified for the tournament, when the league merged with the American Football League in 1970, the playoffs expanded to eight teams. The playoffs were expanded to 10 teams in 1978 and 12 teams since 1990, the 32-team league is divided into two conferences, the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference, each of which has 16 teams. Since 2002, each conference has been divided into four divisions of four teams each. The tournament brackets are made up of six teams each of the leagues two conferences, following the end of the regular season. Qualification into the works as follows, The 4 division champions from each conference. Two wild-card qualifiers from each conference, which are seeded 5 and 6, the names of the first three playoff rounds date back to the postseason format that was first used in 1978, when the league began using wild-card teams. The first round of the playoffs is dubbed the wild-card playoffs, in this round, the third-seeded division winner hosts the sixth seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth. There are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round, the NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system. The number 1 seed will host the worst surviving seed from the first round, only twice since 1990 has neither a number one-seeded team nor a number two-seeded team hosted a conference championship game. If teams are tied, the seeding is determined by a set of tie-breaking rules. One potential disadvantage is that the two teams with the best records in a conference could play each other before the championship if they are in the same division. The New York Giants and New York Jets have shared the home stadium since 1984. Thus, if both teams need to host playoff games on the weekend, they are always required to play on separate days. Often, teams will finish a season with identical records and it becomes necessary, therefore, to devise means to break these ties, either to determine which teams will qualify for the playoffs, or to determine seeding in the playoff tournament
7.
Oakland Raiders
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The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football franchise based in Oakland, California. The Raiders currently compete in the NFL as a club of the leagues American Football Conference West division. At the end of the NFLs 2015 season, the Raiders boasted a lifetime record of 444 wins,397 losses. The Raiders plan to remain in Oakland through 2018 – and possibly 2019 –, the Raiders off-field fortunes have varied considerably over the years. The teams first three years of operation were marred by poor performance, financial difficulties, and spotty attendance. In 1963, however, the Raiders fortunes improved dramatically with the introduction of head coach Al Davis, in 1967, after several years of improvement, the Raiders reached the postseason for the first time. The team would go on to win its first AFL Championship that year, in doing so, the Raiders advanced to Super Bowl II, the Raiders run of success intensified during the 1970s. From 1970 to 1977, the team won six division titles, in 1976, the team captured its first NFL Championship with a convincing victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI. In 1982, amidst much controversy, the Raiders relocated to Los Angeles, the team finished with the NFLs best regular season record that year, one year later, the Raiders beat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII to capture their third Super Bowl championship. The Raiders fortunes declined following the 1985 season, they would win just one division title. In 1995, the Raiders returned to Oakland, after several years of continued mediocrity, the team entered a brief period of pronounced success in the early 2000s. From 2000 to 2002, the Raiders won three division titles and four playoff games, their renaissance culminated with a lopsided 2002 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII. The Super Bowl loss marked the beginning of a period of futility for the Raiders, from 2003 through 2015. In 2016, the Raiders finally ended their postseason drought with a victory over the division rival San Diego Chargers. At the end of the 2016 NFL season, the finished with a 12–4 record. The Raiders are known for their fan base and distinctive team culture. Since 1963, the team has won 15 division titles, four AFC Championships, one AFL Championship, fourteen former members of the team have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Having enjoyed a successful coaching career at Navy during the 1950s
8.
Philadelphia Eagles
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The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football franchise based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Eagles compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues National Football Conference East division. The franchise was established in 1933 as a replacement for the bankrupt Frankford Yellow Jackets, when a group led by Bert Bell secured the rights to an NFL franchise in Philadelphia. Bell, Chuck Bednarik, Bob Brown, Reggie White, Steve Van Buren, Tommy McDonald, Greasy Neale, Pete Pihos, Sonny Jurgensen, the team has an intense rivalry with the New York Giants. This rivalry is the oldest in the NFC East and is among the oldest in the NFL and they also have a historic rivalry with the Washington Redskins, as well as their bitter rivalry with the Dallas Cowboys, which has become more high-profile in the last three decades. The team consistently ranks in the top three in attendance and has sold out every game since the 1999 season, in a Sports Illustrated poll of 321 NFL players, Eagles fans were selected the most intimidating fans in the NFL. Midway through the 1931 season, the Frankford Yellow Jackets went bankrupt, the Bell-Wray group had to pay an entry fee of $3,500 and assumed a total debt of $11,000 that was owed to three other NFL franchises. Neither the Eagles nor the NFL officially regard the two franchises as the same, citing the period of dormancy. Furthermore, almost no Yellow Jackets players were on the Eagles first roster, the Eagles, along with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the now-defunct Cincinnati Reds, joined the NFL as expansion teams. To accommodate football at Shibe Park during the winter, management set up stands in right field, some 20 feet high, these east stands had 22 rows of seats. The goalposts stood along the first base line and in left field, the uncovered east stands enlarged capacity of Shibe Park to over 39,000, but the Eagles rarely drew more than 25 to 30,000. The Eagles struggled over the course of their first decade, enduring repeated losing seasons, soon after, Bell and Rooney traded the Eagles franchise to Thompson and moved it to Pittsburgh, while Thompson moved the Steelers franchise to Philadelphia. By the late 1940s, head coach Earle Greasy Neale and running back Steve Van Buren led the team to three consecutive NFL Championship Games, winning two of them in 1948 and 1949. After the 1957 season, the Eagles moved from Connie Mack Stadium to Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania, Franklin Field would seat over 60,000 for the Eagles, whereas Connie Mack had a capacity of 39,000. The stadium switched from grass to AstroTurf in 1969 and it was the first NFL stadium to use artificial turf. In 1960, the Eagles won their third NFL championship, under the leadership of future Pro Football Hall of Famers Norm Van Brocklin and Chuck Bednarik, the head coach was Buck Shaw. The 1960 Eagles, by a score of 17–13, became the team to defeat Vince Lombardi. The Eagles had a good 1961 season and then fell on hard times in 1962
9.
Louisiana
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Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Louisiana is the 31st most extensive and the 25th most populous of the 50 United States and its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the state in the U. S. with political subdivisions termed parishes. The largest parish by population is East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana is bordered by Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, Texas to the west, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Much of the lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh. These contain a rich southern biota, typical examples include birds such as ibis, there are also many species of tree frogs, and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish. In more elevated areas, fire is a process in the landscape. These support a large number of plant species, including many species of orchids. Louisiana has more Native American tribes than any other state, including four that are federally recognized, ten that are state recognized. Before the American purchase of the territory in 1803, the current Louisiana State had been both a French colony and for a period, a Spanish one. In addition, colonists imported numerous African people as slaves in the 18th century, many came from peoples of the same region of West Africa, thus concentrating their culture. Louisiana was named after Louis XIV, King of France from 1643 to 1715, when René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the territory drained by the Mississippi River for France, he named it La Louisiane. The suffix -ana is a Latin suffix that can refer to information relating to an individual, subject. Thus, roughly, Louis + ana carries the idea of related to Louis, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist 250 million years ago when there was but one supercontinent, Pangea. As Pangea split apart, the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico opened, Louisiana slowly developed, over millions of years, from water into land, and from north to south. The oldest rocks are exposed in the north, in such as the Kisatchie National Forest. The oldest rocks date back to the early Tertiary Era, some 60 million years ago, the history of the formation of these rocks can be found in D. Spearings Roadside Geology of Louisiana. The sediments were carried north to south by the Mississippi River
10.
Super Bowl
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The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League. The game is the culmination to a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. Normally, Roman numerals are used to each game, rather than the year in which it is held. For example, Super Bowl I was played on January 15,1967, the single exception to this rule is Super Bowl 50, which was played on February 7,2016, following the 2015 regular season. The next game, Super Bowl LII, scheduled for February 4,2018, the game was created as part of a merger agreement between the NFL and its then-rival league, the American Football League. It was agreed that the two champion teams would play in the AFL–NFL World Championship Game until the merger was to officially begin in 1970. After the merger, each league was redesignated as a conference, currently, the National Football Conference leads the league with 26 wins to 25 wins for the American Football Conference. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most Super Bowl championship titles, with six, the New England Patriots have the most Super Bowl appearances, with nine. The day on which the Super Bowl is played, now considered by some as an unofficial American national holiday, is called Super Bowl Sunday and it is the second-largest day for U. S. food consumption, after Thanksgiving Day. In addition, the Super Bowl has frequently been the most-watched American television broadcast of the year, in 2015, Super Bowl XLIX became the most-watched American television program in history with an average audience of 114. The NFL restricts the use of its Super Bowl trademark, it is called the Big Game or other generic terms by non-sponsoring corporations. As a result, watching and discussing the broadcasts commercials has become a significant aspect of the event, for four decades after its 1920 inception, the NFL successfully fended off several rival leagues. However, in 1960, it encountered its most serious competitor when the American Football League was formed. The AFL vied heavily with the NFL for both players and fans, but by the middle of the decade the strain of competition led to merger talks between the two leagues. Prior to the 1966 season, the NFL and AFL reached an agreement that was to take effect for the 1970 season. As part of the merger, the champions of the two agreed to meet in a world championship game for professional American football until the merger was effected. A bowl game is a college football game. Exploiting the Rose Bowl Games popularity, post-season college football contests were created for Miami, New Orleans, and El Paso, Texas in 1935, by the time the first Super Bowl was played, the term bowl for any major American football game was well established
11.
American Football Conference
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The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League, the highest professional level of American football in the United States. This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference, currently contain 16 teams each, a series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making the current total 16 clubs per each conference. Since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, the New England Patriots have won nine AFC titles, the most of any team in the conference, since 2002, the AFC has 16 teams, organized into four divisions each with four teams, East, North, South and West. Two of these games are assigned on the basis of a teams final divisional standing from the previous season. The remaining 8 games are split between the roster of two other NFL divisions and this assignment shifts each year and will follow a standard cycle. Using the 2012 regular season schedule as an example, each team in the AFC West plays against every team in the AFC North and NFC South. In this way, non-divisional competition will be mostly among common opponents – the exception being the two games assigned based on the teams prior-season divisional standing, at the end of each season, the top six teams in the conference proceeds into the playoff. These teams consist of the four winners and the top two wild card teams. The AFC playoffs culminate in the AFC Championship Game with the receiving the Lamar Hunt Trophy. The AFC Champion then plays the NFC Champion in the Super Bowl, both the AFC and the NFC were created after the NFL merged with the American Football League in 1970. The AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams, and added two expansion clubs before the merger. In order to equalize the number of teams in each conference, since the merger, five expansion teams have joined the AFC and two have left, thus making the current total 16. When the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976 and this arrangement lasted for one season only before the two teams switched conferences. The Seahawks eventually returned to the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment, the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars joined the AFC in 1995. There have been five teams that have relocated at least once, in 1984, the Baltimore Colts relocated to Indianapolis in 1984. In California, the Oakland Raiders relocated to Los Angeles in 1982, the Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee in 1997, where they were renamed the Tennessee Oilers. The team would change its name again, two later, to the Tennessee Titans. The NFL would again expand in 2002, adding the Houston Texans to the AFC, by contrast, the NFC has sent 12 different teams during that same time frame
12.
National Football Conference
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The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League, the highest professional level of American football in the United States. This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference, currently contain 16 teams each, a series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making the current total 16 clubs per each conference. Since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, the Dallas Cowboys lead the NFC with the most conference titles, the current NFC title holders are the Atlanta Falcons. Since 2002, the NFC has 16 teams that organized into four divisions each with four teams, East, North, South, two of these games are assigned on the basis of a particular teams final divisional standing from the previous season. The remaining 8 games are split between the roster of two other NFL divisions and this assignment shifts each year and will follow a standard cycle. Using the 2012 regular season schedule as an example, each team in the NFC West plays against every team in the AFC East and NFC North. In this way, non-divisional competition will be mostly among common opponents – the exception being the two games assigned based on the teams prior-season divisional standing, at the end of each season, the top six teams in the conference proceeds into the playoff. These teams consist of the four winners and the top two wild card teams. The NFC playoffs culminate in the NFC Championship Game with the receiving the George Halas Trophy. The NFC Champion then plays the AFC Champion in the Super Bowl, both the AFC and NFC were created after the NFL merged with the American Football League in 1970. When the AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams, the NFL consisted of 13 clubs, by 1969, the AFL had expanded to ten teams and NFL to 16 clubs. However, team owners could not agree to a plan on how to align the clubs in the NFC. When the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976, they were placed in the NFC and AFC, respectively. The Seahawks returned to the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment, the Carolina Panthers joined the NFC in 1995. Parity is generally greater among NFC teams than AFC teams, the only NFC team that has never made a Super Bowl appearance is the Detroit Lions. Since the 2002 realignment, the time that an NFC team made back-to-back Super Bowl appearances was the Seattle Seahawks in 2013 and 2014. Since 1970, only two teams have relocated, in 1988, the St. Louis Cardinals moved to Phoenix, Arizona, while the Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995, and back to Los Angeles again in 2016. The original NFC logo, in use from 1970–2009, depicted a blue N with three stars across it, the three stars represented the three divisions that were used from 1970–2001
13.
AFC East
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The American Football Conference – Eastern Division or AFC East is a division of the National Football League s American Football Conference. There are currently four teams that reside in the division, the Buffalo Bills, the Miami Dolphins, the New England Patriots, and the New York Jets. Since the divisions enfranchisement in 1960, with the creation of the American Football League, the most recent appearance and championship in the Super Bowl won by an AFC East team was the Patriots in Super Bowl LI. Entering 2017 the Patriots had the most wins in the history, with a record of 476-383-9. The Dolphins were second at 439-341-4 with a record of 20-21. The Bills were at 400-460-8 with a record of 14-15. The Jets held a record of 392-468-8, with a record of 12-13 including victory in Super Bowl III. The Bills have won ten titles, and the Jets have won four. The American Football League Eastern Division was formed during the season of the American Football League in 1960. The divisional alignment consisted of the Buffalo Bills, Boston Patriots, New York Titans, the Miami Dolphins entered the AFL in 1966 as part of its Eastern division. The division was absorbed nearly intact with the AFL–NFL Merger in 1970, none of the AFC East teams currently plays within the central city of their metropolitan area, The Bills play in Orchard Park, New York. They played in the city of Buffalo from 1960–72, the Jets play in East Rutherford, New Jersey The Dolphins play in Miami Gardens, Florida, a suburb of Miami The Patriots play in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Jets are now coached by Todd Bowles and the Bills were coached by Rex Ryan for 31 games, parcells himself coached the Patriots and the Jets and was Vice President of Football Operations for the Dolphins until the summer of 2010. ESPNs Chris Berman often calls this division the AFC Adams due to its similarity to the old Adams Division of the NHL. Along with the AFC West, the AFC East is the oldest NFL division in terms of creation date, place cursor over year for division champ or Super Bowl team. A Boston Patriots renamed to New England Patriots, B Houston Oilers move to newly created AFC Central division and later are renamed the Tennessee Oilers, then Tennessee Titans. Moved to AFC South in 2002, moved to AFC South in 2002. + – A players strike in 1982 reduced the season to nine games
14.
Cleveland Stadium
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Cleveland Stadium, commonly known as Municipal Stadium or Lakefront Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate baseball and football. Through most of its tenure as a facility, the stadium was the largest in Major League Baseball by seating capacity, seating over 78,000 initially. For football, the stadium seated approximately 80,000 people, former Browns owner Art Modell took over control of the stadium from the city in the 1970s and while his organization made improvements to the facility, it continued to decline. The Indians played their game at the stadium in October 1993. The Browns played their game at the stadium in December 1995. Cleveland Stadium was demolished in 1996 to make way for FirstEnergy Stadium, much of the debris from the demolition was placed in Lake Erie to create an artificial reef. The impetus for Cleveland Municipal Stadium came from city manager William R, another common misconception is that Cleveland Municipal Stadium was a Works Progress Administration project, in fact, the WPA was not created until 1935, four years after the stadium was built. In November 1928, Cleveland voters passed by 112,448 to 76,975, a 59% passage rate, with 55% needed to pass, actual construction costs overran that amount by $500,000. Built during the administrations of city managers William R. Hopkins and Daniel E. Morgan, it was designed by the firms of Walker and Weeks. It featured an early use of structural aluminum, the stadium was dedicated on July 1,1931. On July 3,1931, it hosted a match for the National Boxing Association World Heavyweight Championship between Max Schmeling and Young Stribling, with 37,000 fans in attendance. Schmeling retained his title by a technical knockout -victory in the 15th round, the Donald Gray Gardens were installed on the stadiums north side in 1936 as part of the Great Lakes Exposition. They remained until the construction of Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Indians played all of their games at the stadium from the middle of the 1932 season through 1933. However, the players and fans complained about the huge outfield, moreover, as the Great Depression worsened, attendance plummeted. The Indians returned to their previous home, League Park. In 1937, the Indians began playing Sunday and holiday games at Cleveland Stadium during the summer, adding selected important games there in 1938. League Park lacked field lighting, so the emergence of baseball in the 1930s led to the addition of night games to the schedule after lights were installed at the stadium in 1939
15.
SDCCU Stadium
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Qualcomm Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in San Diego, California, United States. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known for many years as Jack Murphy Stadium. Since 1997, the naming rights have been owned by Qualcomm. It is the home of the San Diego State Aztecs football team from San Diego State University, two college football bowl games, the Holiday Bowl and Poinsettia Bowl, are held in the stadium every December. The stadium was the home of two professional franchises, the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League and the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball. The stadium has hosted three Super Bowl games, Super Bowl XXII in 1988, Super Bowl XXXII in 1998, humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Qualcomm Stadium is located immediately northwest of the interchange of Interstate 8, the stadium is served by the Qualcomm Stadium station of the San Diego Trolley, accessible via the Green Line running toward Downtown San Diego to the west, and Santee to the east. In the early 1960s, local sportswriter Jack Murphy, the brother of New York Mets broadcaster Bob Murphy, in November 1965, a $27 million bond was passed allowing construction to begin on a stadium, which was designed in the Brutalist style. Construction on the stadium began one month later, when completed, the facility was named San Diego Stadium. The Chargers played the first game ever at the stadium on August 20,1967, San Diego Stadium had a capacity of around 50,000, the three-tier grandstand was in the shape of a horseshoe, with the east end low. Due to expansion of Major League Baseball, this team was replaced by the current San Diego Padres major-league team beginning in the 1969 season and this was replaced in 1987 by a White Way Sign scoreboard, in which the video screen is surrounded almost entirely by three messageboards. The original video board was replaced in 1996 by a Sony JumboTron, after Jack Murphys death in September 1980, San Diego Stadium was renamed San Diego–Jack Murphy Stadium by a 6–2 vote of the San Diego City Council on January 6,1981. In 1983, over 9,000 bleachers were added to the deck on the open end of the stadium raising the capacity to 59,022. The most substantial addition was completed in 1997, when the stadium was fully enclosed, nearly 11,000 seats were added in readiness for Super Bowl XXXII in 1998, bringing the capacity to 70,561. Also in 1997, the facility was renamed Qualcomm Stadium after Qualcomm Corporation paid $18 million for the naming rights, the naming rights will belong to Qualcomm until 2017. In order to continue to honor Murphy, the city named the stadium site Jack Murphy Field, however, as part of the naming agreement Jack Murphy Field was not allowed to be used alongside Qualcomm Stadium. Some San Diegans, however, still refer to the stadium as Jack Murphy or simply The Murph, before his death in 2004, Bob Murphy still referred to it as Jack Murphy Stadium during New York Mets broadcasts, even after it was renamed. The stadium was temporarily renamed Snapdragon Stadium for 10 days in December 2011 as a tie in for Qualcomms Snapdragon brand
16.
Texas Stadium
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Texas Stadium was an American football stadium located in Irving, Texas, a suburb west of Dallas. Opened in October 1971, it was the field of the NFLs Dallas Cowboys for 38 seasons, through 2008. In 2009, the Cowboys moved to the $1.15 billion AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas Stadium was demolished on April 11,2010 by a controlled implosion. The Cowboys had played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas since their inception in 1960, Murchison was denied a request by mayor Erik Jonsson to build a new stadium in downtown Dallas as part of a municipal bond package. Murchison envisioned a new stadium with sky boxes and one in which attendees would have to pay a personal seat license as a prerequisite to purchasing season tickets. With two games left for the Cowboys to play in the 1967 season, Murchison and Cowboys general manager Tex Schramm announced a plan to build a new stadium in the northwest suburb of Irving. Texas Stadium, along with Arrowhead Stadium, Rich Stadium, More so than its contemporaries, Texas Stadium featured a proliferation of luxury boxes, which provided the team with a large new income source exempt from league revenue sharing. It hosted its first game on October 24,1971, a 44–21 victory over the New England Patriots, the Cowboys entered the season as defending NFC champions and won their first world title in Super Bowl VI in January 1972. The field was surrounded by a blue wall emblazoned with white stars, Texas Stadiums field alignment was southwest-to-northeast, perpendicular to the Cotton Bowl, which is southeast-to-northwest. The most distinctive element of Texas Stadium was its partial roof, the roof was originally supposed to be the first retractable roof in the NFL. However, it was discovered that the structure could not support the additional weight and this resulted in most of the stands being enclosed but not the playing field itself. This design prompted Cowboys linebacker D. D. Lewis to make his now-famous quip Texas Stadium has a hole in its roof so God can watch His favorite team play. This meant that weather could become a factor in games, perhaps most famously in the Thanksgiving Day game against the Miami Dolphins in 1993, which saw the field covered with snow. The roof at Texas Stadium, whose worn paint had become unsightly in the early 2000s, was repainted in the summer of 2006 by the city of Irving and it was the first time the famed roof was repainted since Texas Stadium opened. The roof was structurally independent from the stadium it covered, the stadium hosted neutral-site college football games and was the home field of the SMU Mustangs for eight seasons, from 1979 through 1986. After the school returned from an NCAA-imposed suspension in 1988, school officials moved back to the schools on-campus Ownby Stadium to signify a clean start for the football program. The 2001 Big 12 Football Championship Game was held at the site, the 1973 Pro Bowl was held at Texas Stadium in front of 47,879 spectators. In November and December, Texas Stadium was a venue for high school football
17.
Veterans Stadium
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Veterans Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Philadelphia, in the U. S. state of Pennsylvania. It was located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, the listed seating capacities in 1971 were 65,358 seats for football, and 56,371 for baseball. It hosted the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League from 1971 to January 2003, the 1976 and 1996 Major League Baseball All-Star Games were held at the venue. The Vet also hosted the annual Army-Navy football game seventeen times, in addition to professional baseball and football, the stadium hosted other amateur and professional sports, large entertainment events, and other civic affairs. It was demolished by implosion in March 2004 after being replaced by the adjacent Citizens Bank Park, a parking lot now sits on its former site. As early as 1959, Phillies owner Bob Carpenter proposed building a new ballpark for the Phillies on 72 acres adjacent to the Garden State Park Racetrack in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The Phillies then-home, Connie Mack Stadium, was starting to show its age, had inadequate parking, furthermore, in 1959 alcohol sales at sporting events were banned in Pennsylvania but were legal in New Jersey. The proposed ballpark would have seated 45,000 fans, been expandable to 60,000, the American Leagues Philadelphia Athletics had moved to Kansas City, Missouri after the 1954 season and Philadelphians werent about to lose another professional sports franchise. In 1964, Philadelphia voters approved a US$25-million-bond issue for a new stadium to serve as the home of both the Eagles and the Phillies, because of cost overruns, the voters had to go to the polls again in 1967 to approve another $13 million. At a total cost of $60 million, it was one of the most-expensive ballparks to date, the stadium was named by the Philadelphia City Council, in 1968, for the veterans of all wars. As early as December 1969, the Phillies expected that they would play the first month of the 1970 season at Connie Mack Stadium before moving to the new venue, however, the opening was delayed a year because of a combination of bad weather and cost overruns. The stadiums design was circular, and was known as an octorad design. Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego had been similarly designed, as was the case with other cities where this dual approach was tried, the fundamentally different sizes and shapes of the playing fields made the stadium inadequate to the needs of either sport. The Phillies played their first game at the stadium on Saturday, April 10,1971, beating the Montreal Expos, 4–1, jim Bunning was the winning pitcher while Bill Stoneman took the loss. Entertainer Mike Douglas, whose daily talk show was taped in Philadelphia, the emcee for the opening ceremonies was newly arrived Harry Kalas. Boots Day opened the game by grounding out to Bunning, larry Bowa had the stadiums first hit and Don Money slugged the first home run. As the stadium aged, its condition deteriorated, a hole in the wall allowed visiting teams players to peep into the Eagles Cheerleaders dressing room. So many mice infested the stadium that the security force employed cats as mousers, the final football game played at the Vet was the Eagles 27–10 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game on January 19,2003
18.
Oakland, California
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Oakland /ˈoʊklənd/ is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. The city was incorporated in 1852, Oaklands territory covers what was once a mosaic of California coastal terrace prairie, oak woodland, and north coastal scrub. Its land served as a resource when its hillside oak and redwood timber were logged to build San Francisco. In the late 1860s, Oakland was selected as the terminal of the Transcontinental Railroad. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many San Francisco citizens moved to Oakland, enlarging the citys population, increasing its housing stock and it continued to grow in the 20th century with its busy port, shipyards, and a thriving automobile manufacturing industry. Oakland is known for its sustainability practices, including a top-ranking for usage of electricity from renewable resources, in addition, due to a steady influx of immigrants during the 20th century, along with thousands of African-American war-industry workers who relocated from the Deep South during the 1940s. Oakland is the most ethnically diverse city in the country. The earliest known inhabitants were the Huchiun Indians, who lived there for thousands of years, the Huchiun belonged to a linguistic grouping later called the Ohlone. In Oakland, they were concentrated around Lake Merritt and Temescal Creek, in 1772, the area that later became Oakland was claimed, with the rest of California, by Spanish settlers for the King of Spain. In the early 19th century, the Spanish crown granted the East Bay area to Luis María Peralta for his Rancho San Antonio, the grant was confirmed by the successor Mexican republic upon its independence from Spain. Upon his death in 1842, Peralta divided his land among his four sons, Most of Oakland fell within the shares given to Antonio Maria and Vicente. The portion of the parcel that is now Oakland was called encinal—Spanish for oak grove—due to the oak forest that covered the area. In 1851, three men—Horace Carpentier, Edson Adams, and Andrew Moon—began developing what is now downtown Oakland, on May 4,1852, the Town of Oakland incorporated. Two years later, on March 25,1854, Oakland re-incorporated as the City of Oakland, with Horace Carpentier elected the first mayor, the city and its environs quickly grew with the railroads, becoming a major rail terminal in the late 1860s and 1870s. In 1868, the Central Pacific constructed the Oakland Long Wharf at Oakland Point, a number of horsecar and cable car lines were constructed in Oakland during the latter half of the 19th century. The first electric streetcar set out from Oakland to Berkeley in 1891, at the time of incorporation, Oakland consisted of the territory that lay south of todays major intersection of San Pablo Avenue, Broadway, and Fourteenth Street. The city gradually annexed farmlands and settlements to the east and the north, Oaklands rise to industrial prominence, and its subsequent need for a seaport, led to the digging of a shipping and tidal channel in 1902. This resulted in the town of Alameda being made an island
19.
Eastern Time Zone
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Places that use Eastern Standard Time when observing standard time are 5 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time. Eastern Daylight Time, when observing daylight saving time DST is 4 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time, in the northern parts of the time zone, on the second Sunday in March, at 2,00 a. m. EST, clocks are advanced to 3,00 a. m. EDT leaving a one-hour gap, on the first Sunday in November, at 2,00 a. m. EDT, clocks are moved back to 1,00 a. m, southern parts of the zone do not observe daylight saving time. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 ruled that daylight saving time would run from the last Sunday of April until the last Sunday in October in the United States, the act was amended to make the first Sunday in April the beginning of daylight saving time as of 1987. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended daylight saving time in the United States beginning in 2007. So local times change at 2,00 a. m. EST to 3,00 a. m. EDT on the second Sunday in March, in Canada, the time changes as it does in the United States. However, a handful of communities unofficially observe Eastern Time because they are part of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area – Phenix City, Smiths Station, Lanett, and Valley. Florida, All of Florida is in the Eastern Time zone except for the portion of the Florida Panhandle west of the Apalachicola River, as the Eastern–Central zone boundary approaches the Gulf of Mexico, it follows the Bay/Gulf county line. Indiana, All of Indiana observes Eastern Time except for six counties in the Chicago metropolitan area. Kentucky, Roughly, the half of the state, including all of metropolitan Louisville, is in the Eastern Time Zone. Historically the entire state observed Central Time, when daylight saving time was first introduced, the Lower Peninsula remained on DST after it formally ended, effectively re-aligning itself into the Eastern Time Zone. The Upper Peninsula continued to observe Central Time until 1972, when all, Tennessee, Most of the eastern third of Tennessee is legally on Eastern Time. Eastern Time is also used somewhat as a de facto official time for all of the United States, since it includes the capital and the largest city. Major professional sports leagues also post all game times in Eastern time, for example, a game time between two teams from Pacific Time Zone will still be posted in Eastern time. Most cable television and national broadcast networks advertise airing times in Eastern time, national broadcast networks generally have two primary feeds, an eastern feed for Eastern and Central time zones, and a tape-delayed western feed for the Pacific Time Zone. The prime time is set on Eastern and Pacific at 8,00 p. m. with the Central time zone stations receiving the eastern feed at 7,00 p. m. local time. Mountain Time Zone stations receive a separate feed at 7,00 p. m. local time, as Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, during the summer months, it has its own feed at 7,00 p. m. local time
20.
NFL on NBC
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NFL on NBC is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League games that are produced by NBC Sports, and televised on the NBC television network in the United States. The name was used until 1998, when the network lost the rights to the American Football Conference to CBS. NFL coverage returned to NBC on August 6,2006, under the title NBC Sunday Night Football, NBC also packages a limited number of Thursday night games each year. Since NBC acquired the Sunday Night Football package from ESPN, game coverage is usually preceded by the pre-game show Football Night in America. By 1955, NBC became the home to the NFL Championship Game. The 1958 NFL Championship Game, played at Yankee Stadium, between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants went into sudden death overtime, NBC televised the NFL Championship Game until 1963. The contract for the game was separate than the regular season contract held by CBS. Prior to 1962, each team had its own television contract. NBC also held the rights to home games involving the Pittsburgh Steelers. While the games were blacked out in Pittsburgh and Baltimore, they were broadcast on other NBC stations, in some cases, the game broadcast was seen on CBS in the visiting teams home region. NBC covered eleven games in 1960 and 13 games in 1961 in a Game of the Week format, NBC would take one week off due to its coverage of the World Series. During this era, NBC broadcast pre-recorded and edited hour-long broadcasts of NFL games in the off-season under the title Best of Pro Football, during this period, NBC also held the rights to the Pro Bowl via the Los Angeles newspapers charities. NBC televised the Pro Bowl following the 1951 and 1952 seasons, on April 5,1961, NBC was awarded a two-year contract for the radio and television rights to the NFL Championship Game, paying US$615,000 annually for the rights. On May 23,1963, NBC was awarded exclusive network broadcast rights for the 1963 NFL Championship Game for $926,000, NBC resumed football telecasts on a regular basis in 1965. On December 13,1966, the rights to the Super Bowl for four years were sold to CBS, the first ever AFL-NFL World Championship Game was played on January 15,1967. Because CBS held the rights to nationally televise NFL games and NBC had the rights to broadcast AFL games, NBC did have some problems with the dual telecast, the network did not return in time from a halftime commercial break for the start of the second half. Therefore, the first kickoff was stopped by the officials and was redone once NBC returned to the broadcast. The next three AFL-NFL World Championship Games, later renamed the Super Bowl, were divided by the two networks, CBS broadcast Super Bowls II and IV while NBC covered III
21.
Sports commentator
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In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action, in the case of television commentary, the commentators are on screen rarely if at all during the event. The main commentator, also called the play-by-play announcer or commentator in North America and they are valued for their articulateness and for their ability to describe each play or event of an often fast-moving sporting event. Other main commentators may, however, only one sport. The analyst or color commentator provides expert analysis and background information, such as statistics, strategy on the teams and athletes and they are usually former athletes or coaches in their respective sports, although there are some exceptions. The term color refers to levity and insight provided by analyst, the most common format for a sports broadcast is to have an analyst/color commentator work alongside the main/play-by-play announcer. Vin Scully, longtime announcer for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, is one of few examples of this practice still existing today, a sideline reporter assists a sports broadcasting crew with sideline coverage of the playing field or court. Sideline reporters are often granted inside information about an important update, such as injury, in cases of big events, teams consisting of many sideline reporters are placed strategically so that the main commentator has many sources to turn to. In British sports broadcasting, the presenter of a sports broadcast is usually distinct from the commentator, in North America, the on-air personality based in the studio is called the studio host. During their shows, the presenter/studio host may be joined by analysts or pundits. In North American English, sportscaster is a term for any type of commentator in a sports broadcast. It may also refer to a talk show host or a newscaster covering sports news. In 1975, the National Hockey League made headlines when two coaches from the N. H. L, all-Star Game in Montreal allowed Robin Herman and Marcel St. Cyr. access into the mens locker room. Both were believed to have been the first women allowed to enter a professional mens locker room to conduct a post-game interview. Sport organizations began to follow in the N. H. L. s footsteps, Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn and other officials chose to discriminate her based on her sex. Knowing that this would put Sports Illustrated in a disadvantage from other publishers, Time Inc. and Ludtke filed a lawsuit against Kuhn. The lawsuit was taken to the U. S. District Court in 1978 where Judge Constance Baker Motley ruled the act as violating the 14th amendment of the U. S. Constitution. The court ruled that the Yankees organization devise a plan to protect the players of their privacy while female sportswriters conducted interviews, society viewed the issue as women sportswriters only wanting access to the mens locker room to see players naked
22.
Len Dawson
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Leonard Ray Dawson is a former American football quarterback and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He played 19 seasons for three teams, the last 14 seasons with the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs, and played college football at Purdue University. Dawson led the Texans/Chiefs to three American Football League Championships, and a victory in Super Bowl IV, for which he won the games MVP award, Dawson retired from professional football after the 1975 season, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. He is sports director at KMBC-TV in Kansas City and color analyst for the Chiefs Radio Network, Dawson was the ninth of 11 children of Ohio native James and England-born Annie Dawson. He attended Alliance High School in Alliance, Ohio and he was MVP of the football team and was named outstanding Ohio back of the year by the International News Service. A three-sport athlete, Dawson set school records in football and in basketball, during the recruiting process, Dawson had to choose between Ohio State University in Columbus and Purdue University in Indiana. During three seasons with the Boilermakers, Dawson threw for over 3,000 yards, leading the Big Ten Conference in that category during each campaign, while at Purdue, Dawson was initiated into the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. As a sophomore in 1954, Dawson put together an outstanding first season as the NCAAs leader in pass efficiency, while playing defense. Despite his status as a first round pick in the 1957 NFL draft, following his rookie campaign, his status in the Steel City became even more tenuous when the Steelers acquired future Hall of Famer Bobby Layne early in the 1958 season. Failing to dislodge the colorful signal caller, Dawson was then traded after the 1959 season to the Cleveland Browns on December 31. After encountering similar problems in battling Browns quarterback Milt Plum, Dawson was released, having completed only 21 passes for 204 yards, however, he soon found his calling when he signed with the American Football Leagues Dallas Texans on June 30,1962. The move reunited him with Stram, who was beginning his third year as the Texans head coach, in that first season,1962, Dawson led the league in touchdowns and yards per attempt, and was The Sporting News selection as the AFL MVP. He also led Dallas to the first of three titles in a thrilling double-overtime victory over the two-time defending champion Oilers in Houston. Dawson ran an offense in the 20-17 win, and tossed a 28-yard touchdown pass to halfback Abner Haynes. The team then moved north to Kansas City and were renamed The Chiefs in 1963, Dawson was also selected by his peers as a Sporting News 1966 AFL All-League player. A pinpoint passer, Dawsons mobility helped him flourish in Strams moving pocket offense and he would win four AFL passing titles and was selected as a league All-Star six times, ending the 10-year run of the league as its highest-rated career passer. From 1962 to 1969, Dawson threw more passes than any other professional football quarterback during that time. The NFL champion Green Bay Packers won easily, 35-10, but Dawson had a good performance in the game, completing 16 of 27 passes for 210 yards
23.
Color commentator
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A color commentator is a North American term for a sports commentator who assists the main commentator, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. In other regions this role is referred to as an analyst or summariser. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, the color commentator provides expert analysis and background information, such as statistics, strategy and injury reports on the teams and athletes, and occasionally anecdotes or light humor. Color commentators are often former athletes or coaches of the sport being broadcast, the term color refers to levity and insight provided by a secondary announcer. A sports color commentator customarily works alongside the play-by-play broadcaster, commentary teams typically feature one professional commentator describing the passage of play, and another, usually a former player or coach, providing supplementary input as the game progresses. Additionally, former players and managers appear as pundits, carrying out a role to the co-commentator during the pre-game show preceding a given contest. In American motorsports coverage, there may be as many as two color commentators in the booth for a given broadcast, in the United Kingdom, the term color commentator is relatively unknown, rather the role is called analyst, summarizer, or simply commentator. Cricket coverage on ESPNcricinfo uses similar terminology, in Australia, the term is not used. Those giving the analysis alongside the main commentator are sometimes said to be giving additional or expert analysis, or are special comments, there is no mention or translation to the term color. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden the term ekspertkommentator / expertkommentator is used for a sidekick to the play-by-play announcer. In Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries, the position is known as a comentarista and comentador, respectively, similarly, in Finland kommentaattori is used for the second commentator, and selostaja for the main one. In France, the term for a commentator is consultant. In Italy, the commentator is usually referred to as responsible for the commento tecnico whereas the play-by-play commentator is the main telecronista. In Italy, too, the commentator is usually a person formerly directly involved in the sport. Recent Formula 1 races have no fewer than three commentators, the telecronista, a pilot, and an engineer, the last two sharing the commento tecnico. In Turkey, the term spiker is used for the play-by-play announcer whereas the color commentator is referred to simply as yorumcu, in some countries, the two-person commentating team is not used as much as elsewhere. In Germany, most broadcasts of sports matches traditionally feature a single play-by-play announcer who provides commentary, background information. If the broadcast is on TV, the announcer will usually not comment on visually obvious things, in those cases, a current or former athlete or coach is often used as co-commentator or Experte
24.
Earl Campbell
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Earl Christian Campbell is a former American football running back who played professionally in the National Football League for the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints. Known for his aggressive, punishing running style and ability to break tackles and he played college football for the University of Texas, where he won the Heisman Trophy and earned unanimous All-America honors in his senior season, as well as numerous other accolades. He was drafted first overall by the Oilers in 1978 and had an impact in the league. Campbell was named the NFLs Offensive Player of the Year in each of his first three seasons, during which he rushed for 5,081 yards and scored 45 touchdowns. He won the AP NFL Most Valuable Player Award in 1979 after leading the league in rushing yards, with head coach Bum Phillips, Campbells emergence in Houston coincided with the Luv Ya Blue era, a period of sustained success in which the Oilers made three straight playoff appearances. He was traded to the Saints six games into the 1984 season, where he spent his final season and a half before retiring. Campbell is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame, and his number is retired by the University of Texas. Earl Christian Campbell was born on March 29,1955, the sixth of eleven siblings in Tyler, Texas, leading to the eponymous nickname and his father died when Campbell was 11 years old. He began playing football in fifth grade as a kicker, but moved to linebacker in sixth grade after watching Dick Butkus and his mother Ann Campbell attempted to persuade Earl not to play football in high school. In 1973, he led the Corky Nelson-coached John Tyler High School to the Texas 4A State Championship and that season he was named Mr. Football USA as he was adjudged the national high school player of the year. While heavily recruited, Campbell narrowed his choices to Houston, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, after in-home visits from Barry Switzer from Oklahoma and Darrell Royal from Texas, Campbell ultimately chose Texas. Campbell attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he played football for the Texas Longhorns football team from 1974 to 1977. As a freshman in 1974, he played in all 11 games and rushed for 928 yards, leg injuries kept him out of four games during his junior season, and he rushed for 653 yards and three touchdowns in seven games as Texas finished with a 5–5–1 record. Campbell led the nation in rushing as a senior in 1977, in the third game of the season, against the Rice Owls, Campbell scored four touchdowns during a 72–15 blowout in which Texas kicker Russell Erxleben set an NCAA record with a 67-yard field goal. In his final season game, Campbell rushed for a career-high 222 yards in a 57–28 victory over rival Texas A&M. After clinching the Southwest Conference championship, the top-ranked Longhorns then faced No.5 Notre Dame, led by quarterback Joe Montana, Campbell carried 29 times for 116 yards in the game, but Notre Dame was victorious, 38–10, and claimed the national championship. Texas was ranked fourth in the final AP Poll, Campbell was awarded the Heisman Memorial Trophy as the most outstanding college player after the season, becoming the University of Texas first winner of the award. He also became the first recipient of the Davey OBrien Memorial Trophy which was awarded to the player in the Southwest Conference
25.
Jim Plunkett
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He led the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories. He is the only quarterback to start two Super Bowls without being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Plunkett was born to Mexican–American parents with an Irish-German great-grandfather on his paternal side, Plunketts father was a news vendor afflicted with progressive blindness, who had to support his blind wife along with their three children. Plunketts parents were born in New Mexico, his mother, whose maiden name was Carmen Blea, was born in Santa Fe and his father, William Gutierrez Plunkett. Carmen is also part Native American, William died of a heart attack in 1969. The Plunketts moved to California during World War II, William Plunkett first worked in the Richmond shipyards. By this time, Jims two older sisters, Genevieve and Mary Ann had been born, Jim was born in 1947 and they later moved to San Jose where William ran a newsstand, and where they were able to find low-cost housing. The family lived in poverty, and received state financial aid. Jim and his sisters learned to work hard and do things for themselves as they grew up and they also helped Carmen with cooking and other household chores. The familys financial situation was a big problem for Jim as he was growing up and he did not like the area he lived in, often did not have money for dates, and avoided bringing friends to his house. He worked from an age, cleaning up at a gas station while in elementary school, delivering newspapers, bagging groceries. In his high school years, he worked in the summers, overfelt High School in the 9th and 10th grades and then transferred to and graduated from James Lick High School, both located in east San Jose, California. Plunkett showed his talent for tossing the football by winning a throwing contest at the age of 14 with a heave of over 60 yards, once he arrived at the school, he played quarterback and defensive end for the football team. He competed in basketball, baseball, track and wrestling, Plunkett is on the Hall of Fame wall at James Lick. Upon entering Stanford University, Plunkett endured a rough freshman campaign after being weakened by a thyroid operation. He earned the opportunity to start in 1968, and in his first game, completed ten of thirteen passes for 277 yards and four touchdowns, Plunketts arrival ushered in an era of wide-open passing, pro-style offenses in the Pac-8, a trend that has continued to the present. His successful junior campaign saw him set league records for touchdown passes, passing yards and this display of offensive firepower led Washington State coach Jim Sweeney to call Plunkett The best college football player Ive ever seen. In his senior year,1970, he led Stanford to their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1952, with eighteen passing and three rushing touchdowns added to his 2,715 passing yards on the year, Plunkett was awarded the 1970 Heisman Trophy
