1.
Lamar Hunt
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Lamar Hunt was an American sportsman and promoter of American football, soccer, basketball, tennis and ice hockey in the United States. He was the founder of the American Football League and Major League Soccer, as well as MLSs predecessor, the North American Soccer League. He was also the founder and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League, the Kansas City Wizards of MLS, in Kansas City, Hunt also helped establish the Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun theme parks. The oldest ongoing soccer tournament in the United States, the U. S. Open Cup. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972, into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1982, the National Soccer Hall of Fame bestowed upon Hunt their Medal of Honor in 1999, an award given to only three recipients in history thus far. He was married for 42 years to his second wife Norma, and had four children, Sharron, Lamar Jr. Daniel, and Clark Hunt. Hunt was born in El Dorado, Arkansas, the son of oil tycoon H. L. Hunt and younger brother of tycoons Nelson Bunker Hunt, Lamar was raised in Dallas, Texas. He attended Culver Military Academy and graduated from The Hill School in Pennsylvania in 1951 and Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 1956, Hunt was a college football player who rode the bench but was still an avid sports enthusiast during his time in college and throughout his entire childhood. While attending SMU in 1952, Hunt joined the Kappa Sigma fraternity, in 1972 he was selected as Kappa Sigmas Man of the Year. On the strength of his great inherited oil wealth, Hunt applied for a National Football League expansion franchise but was turned down, Hunt also attempted to purchase the NFLs Chicago Cardinals franchise in 1959 with the intent to move them to Dallas, but was again turned down. The group of the eight founders of the AFL teams was referred to as the Foolish Club, Hunts goal was to bring professional football to Texas and to acquire an NFL team for the Hunt family. Hunt became owner of the Dallas Texans and hired future hall-of-famer Hank Stram as the teams first head coach. As a response to the newly formed league and the presence of an AFL franchise in Dallas, the NFL quickly placed a new franchise of their own in Dallas, in 1963 Hunt began to consider moving the team. Kansas City became one of the cities for the franchise. In order to convince Hunt to move the team to Kansas City, Hunt finally agreed to move the team to Kansas City and in 1963 the Dallas Texans became the Kansas City Chiefs. In 1966, the NFL and AFL agreed to merge, with a game between the two leagues to be played after that season. In a July 25,1966, letter to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, Hunt wrote, I have kiddingly called it the Super Bowl, Hunt would later say the name was likely in his head because his children had been playing with a Super Ball toy. In the Chiefs first two seasons attendance did not match the levels Mayor Bartle had promised, but in 1966 average home attendance at Chiefs games increased and reached 37,000, by 1969 Chiefs average home attendance had reached 51,000
2.
2017 NFL season
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The 2017 NFL season, the 98th season in the history of the National Football League, will begin on September 7,2017, with the defending Super Bowl LI champion, New England Patriots hosting a game. The season will conclude with Super Bowl LII, the championship game, on February 4,2018. For the second year, a team relocated to the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The 2017 NFL League year began on March 9 at 4,00 p. m. EST. On March 7, clubs were allowed to contact and enter into negotiations with the agents of players who became unrestricted free agents upon the expiration of their contracts two days later. The 2017 trading period also began the same day, a total of 496 players became free agents on March 9. On March 9, the Jacksonville Jaguars traded tight end Julius Thomas to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a 2017 seventh-round draft pick, on March 9, the Miami Dolphins traded offensive tackle Branden Albert to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for a 2018 seventh-round draft pick. On March 9, the Indianapolis Colts traded tight end Dwayne Allen, on March 9, the Los Angeles Rams traded defensive end William Hayes along with a 2017 seventh-round draft pick to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a 2017 sixth-round draft pick. On March 10, the New Orleans Saints traded wide receiver Brandin Cooks, the 2017 NFL Draft will be held on April 27–29,2017 in Philadelphia. The first overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft belongs to the Cleveland Browns, training camps for the 2017 season will be held in late July through August. Teams will start training camp no earlier than 15 days before the teams first scheduled preseason game, prior to the start of the regular season, each team will play four preseason exhibition games, beginning on August 10. The preseason will begin on the evening of August 3 with the 2017 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game and it will be televised nationally on NBC. The 65-game preseason schedule will end on August 31, the 2017 regular seasons 256 games will be played over a seventeen-week schedule which will begin on September 7. Each of the leagues 32 teams plays a 16-game schedule, with one bye week for each team, the slate also features games on Monday nights. There are games played on Thursday, including the National Football League Kickoff game in time on September 7. The regular season will conclude with a slate of 16 games on Sunday, December 31, all of which will be intra–division matchups. Scheduling formula Under the NFLs current scheduling formula, each plays the other three teams in its own division twice. In addition a team plays against four teams in one division from each conference
3.
Gillette Stadium
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Gillette Stadium is a stadium located in Foxborough, Massachusetts,24 miles southwest of downtown Boston and 20 miles northeast of downtown Providence, Rhode Island. It serves as the stadium and administrative offices for both the NFLs New England Patriots football franchise and MLSs New England Revolution soccer team. In 2012, it became the home stadium for the football program of the University of Massachusetts. Gillette will continue to host higher attended home games, the facility opened in 2002, replacing the old Foxboro Stadium. The seating capacity is 68,756, including 6,000 club seats and 87 luxury suites, the stadium is owned and operated by Kraft Sports Group, a subsidiary of The Kraft Group, the company through which businessman Robert Kraft owns the Patriots and Revolution. The stadium was known as CMGI Field before the naming rights were bought by Gillette after the dot-com bust. Gillette and the Patriots jointly announced in September 2010 that their partnership, additionally, uBid as of 2009 continues to sponsor one of the main entrance gates to the stadium. The Town of Foxborough approved plans for the construction on December 6,1999. The first official event was a New England Revolution soccer game on May 11,2002, the Rolling Stones played at Gillette Stadium on September 5,2002 on the bands Licks Tour. Jeremiah Freed was the first band to play at the WBCN river rave on June 9th,2002 making them the first band to ever play Gillette Stadium. Gillette Stadium is accessible by rail via the Providence/Stoughton and Franklin lines at the Foxboro MBTA station, the Patriots have sold out every home game since moving to the stadium—preseason, regular season, and playoffs. This streak dates back to the 1994 season, while the team was still at Foxboro Stadium, as of September 11,2016 this streak was at 231 straight games. From the 1971 NFL season until the 2001 NFL season, the Patriots played all of their games at Foxboro Stadium. The stadium was funded on an extremely small budget and featured few amenities. Its aluminum benches would freeze over during games with cold weather and it had an unorganized dirt parking lot. Foxboro Stadium did not prove to bring in the profit that was needed to keep an NFL team in New England, as it was one of the smallest stadiums in the NFL, with just over 60,000 seats. The team had fallen into debt after team executive Chuck Sullivan funded the Jackson Victory Tour, Tickets sales failed, however, and the teams debt increased even further – to a final total of US$126 million. After two unsuccessful owners bought the team and stadium, it was clear that a new stadium had to be built for the team to stay in New England
4.
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
5.
National Football League
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The National Football League is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The NFL is one of the four professional sports leagues in North America. The NFLs 17-week regular season runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing 16 games, the NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season, the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. S. The NFLs executive officer is the commissioner, who has authority in governing the league. The team with the most NFL championships is the Green Bay Packers with thirteen, the current NFL champions are the New England Patriots, who defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34–28 in Super Bowl LI. Another meeting held on September 17,1920 resulted in the renaming of the league to the American Professional Football Association, the league hired Jim Thorpe as its first president, and consisted of 14 teams. Only two of these teams, the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Cardinals, remain, the first event occurred on September 26,1920 when the Rock Island Independents defeated the non-league St. Paul Ideals 48–0 at Douglas Park. On October 3,1920, the first full week of league play occurred, the following season resulted in the Chicago Staleys controversially winning the title over the Buffalo All-Americans. In 1922, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League, in 1932, the season ended with the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans tied for first in the league standings. This method had used since the leagues creation in 1920. The league quickly determined that a game between Chicago and Portsmouth was needed to decide the leagues champion. Playing with altered rules to accommodate the playing field, the Bears won the game 9–0. Fan interest in the de facto championship game led the NFL, beginning in 1933, the 1934 season also marked the first of 12 seasons in which African Americans were absent from the league. The de facto ban was rescinded in 1946, following public pressure, the NFL was always the foremost professional football league in the United States, it nevertheless faced a large number of rival professional leagues through the 1930s and 1940s. Rival leagues included at least three separate American Football Leagues and the All-America Football Conference, on top of regional leagues of varying caliber. Three NFL teams trace their histories to these leagues, including the Los Angeles Rams
6.
American football
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The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie
7.
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
8.
NFC Championship Game
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The National Football Conference Championship Game is one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the United States. The game is played on the penultimate Sunday in January and determines the champion of the National Football Conference, the winner then advances to face the winner of the American Football Conference Championship Game in the Super Bowl. The game was established as part of the 1970 merger between the NFL and the American Football League, with the merged league realigning into two conferences. Since 1984, each winner of the NFC Championship Game has also received the George Halas Trophy, named after the founder and longtime owner of the NFLs Chicago Bears, George Halas. The first NFC Championship Game was played following the 1970 regular season after the merger between the NFL and the American Football League. The game is considered the successor to the original NFL Championship, every NFC team has played in an NFC Championship at least once. The Seattle Seahawks, who have members in both the AFC and the NFC, hold the distinction of appearing in both conference title games. Only the Detroit Lions have yet to win an NFC Championship Game, at the end of each regular season, a series of playoff games involving the top six teams in the NFC are conducted. In the current NFL playoff structure, this consists of the four division champions, the two teams remaining following the Wild Card round and the divisional round play in the NFC Championship game. Initially, the site of the game was determined on a rotating basis, since the 1975–76 season, the site of the NFC Championship has been based on playoff seeding based on the regular season won-loss record, with the highest surviving seed hosting the game. A wild card team can only host the game if both participants are wild cards, in case the fifth seed would host the sixth seed. Such an instance has never occurred in the NFL, the original design consisted of a wooden base with a sculpted NFC logo in the front and a sculpture of various football players in the back. The trophies are now a new, silver design with the outline of a hollow football positioned on a base to more closely resemble the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Numbers in parentheses in the winning team column are NFC Championships won by that team, bold indicates team won Super Bowl that year. Numbers in parentheses in the city and stadium column is the amount of times that area and stadium has hosted a NFC Championship. ^ a, Overtime ^ b, The Seahawks were members of the NFC in 1976 and then members of the AFC from 1977–2001, including their only appearance in the AFC Championship Game, they hold a combined 3–1 record between both Conference Championship Games
9.
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
10.
American Football League
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The American Football League was a major professional American football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when it merged with the National Football League. The upstart AFL operated in competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence. The AFL was created by a number of owners who had been refused NFL expansion franchises or had shares of NFL franchises. The league first gained attention by signing 75% of the NFLs first-round draft choices in 1960, the transformation of the struggling Titans into the New York Jets under new ownership further solidified the leagues reputation among the major media. As fierce competition made player salaries skyrocket in both leagues, especially after a series of raids, the agreed to a merger in 1966. Among the conditions were a common draft and a game played between the two league champions, which would eventually become known as the Super Bowl. The AFL and NFL operated as separate leagues until 1970, with regular season. During this time the AFL added the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals, in 1970, the AFL was absorbed into the NFL, and the ten AFL franchises along with the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers became the American Football Conference. During the 1950s, the National Football League had grown to rival Major League Baseball as one of the most popular sports leagues in the United States. One franchise that did not share in this success of the league was the Chicago Cardinals, owned by the Bidwill family. The Bidwills hoped to relocate their franchise, preferably to St. Louis, needing cash, the Bidwills began entertaining offers from would-be investors, and one of the men who approached the Bidwills was Lamar Hunt, son and heir of millionaire oilman H. L. Hunt. Hunt offered to buy the Cardinals and move them to Dallas, while Hunt negotiated with the Bidwills, similar offers were made by Bud Adams, Bob Howsam, and Max Winter. When Hunt, Adams, and Howsam were unable to secure a controlling interest in the Cardinals, they approached NFL commissioner Bert Bell, Bell, wary of expanding the 12-team league and risking its newfound success, rejected the offer. On his return flight to Dallas, Hunt conceived the idea of a new league. He contacted Adams, Howsam, and Winter to gauge their interest in starting a new league, hunts first meeting with Adams was held in March 1959. Hunt, who felt a regional rivalry would be critical for the success of the new league, convinced Adams to join, Hunt next secured an agreement from Howsam to bring a team to Denver. After Winter and Boyer agreed to start a team in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Hunt then approached Willard Rhodes, who hoped to bring pro football to Seattle. With no place for his team to play, Rhodes effort came to nothing, Hunt also sought franchises in Los Angeles, Buffalo and New York City
11.
Kansas City Chiefs
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The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues American Football Conference West division. The team was founded in 1960 as the Dallas Texans by businessman Lamar Hunt and was a member of the American Football League. In 1963, the relocated to Kansas City and assumed their current name. The Chiefs joined the NFL as a result of the merger in 1970, the team is valued at just under $1 billion. The Chiefs were also the team, after the Green Bay Packers, to appear in more than one Super Bowl. The Chiefs Wild-Card playoff victory ended what was at the time the third-longest drought in the NFL, in 1959, Lamar Hunt began discussions with other businessmen to establish a professional football league that would rival the National Football League. Hunts desire to secure a team was heightened after watching the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the New York Giants and Baltimore Colts. After unsuccessful attempts to purchase and relocate the NFLs Chicago Cardinals to his hometown of Dallas, Texas, Hunt went to the NFL and asked to create an expansion franchise in Dallas. The NFL turned him down, so Hunt then established the American Football League and started his own team, the Dallas Texans, to begin play in 1960. Hunt hired an assistant coach from the University of Miami football team, Hank Stram, to be the teams head coach after the job offer was declined by Bud Wilkinson. The Texans shared the Cotton Bowl with the NFLs cross-town competition Dallas Cowboys for three seasons, the Texans were to have exclusive access to the stadium until the NFL put an expansion team, the Dallas Cowboys, there. While the team averaged a league-best 24,500 at the Cotton Bowl, in the franchises first two seasons, the team managed only a 14–14 record. In their third season, the Texans strolled to an 11–3 record, the game was broadcast nationally on ABC and the Texans defeated the Oilers 20–17 in double overtime. The game lasted 77 minutes and 54 seconds, which stands as the longest championship game in professional football history. It turned out to be the last game the team would play as the Dallas Texans and he considered moving the Texans to either Atlanta or Miami for the 1963 season. However, he was swayed by an offer from Kansas City Mayor Harold Roe Bartle. Bartle promised to triple the franchises season ticket sales and expand the capacity of Municipal Stadium to accommodate the team
12.
Cleveland Browns
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The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns compete in the National Football League as a club of the American Football Conference North division. The Browns play their games at FirstEnergy Stadium, which opened in 1999, with administrative offices and training facilities in Berea. The Browns official colors are brown, orange and white and they are unique among the 32 member franchises of the NFL in that they do not have a logo on their helmets and are the only team named after a specific person, original coach Paul Brown. The franchise was founded in 1945 by businessman Arthur B, McBride and coach Paul Brown as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference. The Browns dominated the AAFC, compiling a 47–4–3 record in the four active seasons. When the AAFC folded after the 1949 season, the Browns joined the National Football League along with the San Francisco 49ers, from 1965 to 1995, they made the playoffs 14 times, but did not win another championship or appear in the Super Bowl in that period. In 1995, owner Art Modell, who had purchased the Browns in 1961, announced plans to move the team to Baltimore, Maryland. The Browns intellectual property, including name, logos, training facility, and history, were kept in trust. A new team would be established by 1999 either by expansion or relocation, the Browns were announced as an expansion team in 1998 and resumed play in 1999. Since resuming operations in 1999, the Browns have struggled to find success and they have had only two winning seasons, one playoff appearance, and no playoff wins. The franchise has also noted for a lack of stability with quarterbacks. To date, the Browns overall win-loss record since 1999 is 88–200, the Browns origins date to 1944, when taxicab magnate Arthur B. Mickey McBride secured the rights to a Cleveland franchise in the newly formed All-America Football Conference. S, early in 1945, McBride named 36-year-old Ohio State Buckeyes coach Paul Brown as the teams head coach and general manager and gave him a share in its profits. The move surprised and upset Buckeye fans, who had hoped he would resume his successful run at the school after the war, the name of the team was at first left up to Paul Brown, who rejected calls for it to be christened the Browns. The franchise and the Cleveland Plain Dealer then held a naming contest to publicize the team, in June 1945, a committee selected Panthers as the new teams name, named after a failed American Football League franchise in Cleveland which only lasted a single season in 1926. It is unclear whether Panthers was the highest vote-getter, or if it was second-highest behind Browns, however, the owner of the failed AFL Panthers franchise, General C. X. Zimmerman, indicated that he owned the name Cleveland Panthers, at this point, Paul Brown bowed to popular sentiment and agreed to the Browns name
13.
Pittsburgh Steelers
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The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers compete in the National Football League, as a club of the leagues American Football Conference North division. Founded in 1933, the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC, Pittsburgh has won more Super Bowl titles and hosted more conference championship games than any other NFL team. The Steelers have won 8 AFC championships, tied with the Denver Broncos and they share the record for most conference championship games played in with the San Francisco 49ers. The Steelers share the record for second most Super Bowl appearances with the Broncos, and Dallas Cowboys, the Steelers lost their most recent championship appearance, Super Bowl XLV, on February 6,2011. The Steelers were founded as the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 8,1933, by Art Rooney, taking its name from the baseball team of the same name. The ownership of the Steelers has remained within the Rooney family since its founding, the current owner is Arts son, Dan Rooney, who has given much control of the franchise to his son Art Rooney II. The Steelers enjoy a large, widespread fanbase nicknamed Steeler Nation, the Steelers currently play their home games at Heinz Field on Pittsburghs North Side in the North Shore neighborhood, which also hosts the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. Built in 2001, the stadium replaced Three Rivers Stadium which hosted the Steelers for 31 seasons, prior to Three Rivers, the Steelers had played their games in Pitt Stadium and Forbes Field. The Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL first took to the field as the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 20,1933, through the 1930s, the Pirates never finished higher than second place in their division, or with a record better than.500. Prior to the 1940 season, the Pirates renamed themselves the Steelers, during World War II, the Steelers experienced player shortages. They twice merged with other NFL franchises to field a team, during the 1943 season, they merged with the Philadelphia Eagles forming the Phil-Pitt Eagles and were known as the Steagles. In 1944, they merged with the Chicago Cardinals and were known as Card-Pitt and this team finished 0–10, marking the only winless team in franchise history. The Steelers made the playoffs for the first time in 1947 and this forced a tie-breaking playoff game at Forbes Field, which the Steelers lost 21–0. The Steelers also received a $3 million relocation fee, which was a windfall for them, the Steelers history of bad luck changed with the hiring of coach Chuck Noll for the 1969 season. The Pittsburgh Steelers 1974 draft was their best ever, no team has ever drafted four future Hall of Famers in one year. They also enjoyed a regular season streak of 49 consecutive wins against teams that would finish with a record that year. The Steelers suffered a rash of injuries in the 1980 season, the 1981 season was no better, with an 8–8 showing
14.
Houston Texans
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The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team competes in the National Football League as a club of the American Football Conference South division. The Texans first played in 2002 as a team, making them the youngest franchise in the NFL currently. The Texans replaced Houstons previous franchise, the Houston Oilers, which moved to Nashville, the teams majority owner is Bob McNair. While the team struggled in the 2000s, they clinched its first playoff berth during the 2011 season as AFC South division champions. The Texans have gone on to win more AFC South championships in 2012,2015, to date, the Texans are the only NFL franchise to have never played in a conference championship game. In 1996, an earlier, the Cleveland Browns had controversially relocated to become the Baltimore Ravens. As part of the settlement between the NFL, the city of Cleveland, Ohio, and the owned by Art Modell. In order to out the franchisees at 32, the league also contemplated adding another expansion franchise. In association with Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, they would push for a domed stadium as part of the bid to lure the NFL back to Houston, on October 6,1999 the NFL awarded the 32nd team to Houston, at the cost of $700 million. The Houston Texans joined the league at the 2002 NFL season, while the team struggled in early seasons, results began to improve once native Houstonian Gary Kubiak became the head coach in 2006. The Texans finished with a.500 season in both 2007 and 2008, and nearly qualified for the 2009–10 NFL playoffs with a 9–7 result in 2009. In 2010, the team started the season on a 4–2 record going into a Week 7 bye week, the Texans then beat wild card Cincinnati Bengals 31–10 in the first round of the 2011–12 NFL playoffs, before a 20–13 defeat by the Ravens in the semifinals. The Texans surged as the team to beat in the AFC South in 2012, however, they lost three of their last four games to finish 12–4, beating the rival Indianapolis Colts in that four-game stretch allowed them to clinch their 2nd AFC South title. The Texans beat the Bengals again in the round. The Texans started 2–0 in 2013 but went into a tailspin, Kubiak was fired as head coach after being swept by the rival Jacksonville Jaguars, who themselves started 0–8. Wade Phillips filled in as coach, but the Texans poor form did not change. The 14-game losing streak is also the worst in franchise history, the Texans entered the 2014 season with a 14-game losing streak
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Seattle Seahawks
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The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football franchise based in Seattle, Washington. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues National Football Conference West division. The Seahawks joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team, the Seahawks are owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and are currently coached by Pete Carroll. Since 2002, the Seahawks have played their games at CenturyLink Field. The Seahawks previously played games in the Kingdome and Husky Stadium. Seahawks fans have referred to collectively as the 12th Man, 12th Fan. Largent, Kennedy, Jones, and Easley have been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame primarily or wholly for their accomplishments as Seahawks. Brown, Easley, Green, Jones, Kennedy, Krieg, Largent, Warner, the Seahawks have won ten division titles and three conference championships. They are the team to have played in both the AFC and NFC Championship Games. They are also the first, and to date only, post-merger expansion team in NFL history to play in consecutive Super Bowls, as per one of the agreed parts of the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, the NFL began planning to expand from 26 to 28 teams. In June 1972, Seattle Professional Football Inc. a group of Seattle business and community leaders, in June 1974, the NFL gave the city an expansion franchise. That December, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced the signing of the franchise agreement by Lloyd W. Nordstrom. In March 1975, John Thompson, former Executive Director of the NFL Management Council, the name Seattle Seahawks was selected on June 17,1975 after a public naming contest which drew more than 20,000 entries and over 1,700 different names. Thompson recruited and hired Jack Patera, a Minnesota Vikings assistant coach, to be the first head coach of the Seahawks, the hiring was announced on January 3,1976. The expansion draft was held March 30–31,1976, with Seattle, the Seahawks were awarded the 2nd overall pick in the 1976 draft, a pick they used on defensive tackle Steve Niehaus. The team took the field for the first time on August 1,1976 in a game against the San Francisco 49ers in the then newly constructed Kingdome. The Seahawks are, to date, the only NFL team to switch conferences twice in the post-merger era, the franchise began play in 1976 in the aforementioned NFC West but switched conferences with the Buccaneers after one season and joined the AFC West. The Seahawks won both matchups against the Buccaneers in their first two seasons, the former of which was the Seahawks first regular season victory, in 1983, the Seahawks hired Chuck Knox as head coach
16.
History of the Los Angeles 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
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Super Bowl XVIII
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The Raiders defeated the Redskins by the score of 38–9. The Raiders 38 points and their 29-point margin of victory broke Super Bowl records, the game was played on January 22,1984, at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida, the first time the Super Bowl was held in that city. This would be the AFCs last Super Bowl win until Super Bowl XXXII, the Raiders posted a 12-4 regular season record in 1983, their second in Los Angeles, having moved there from Oakland in May 1982. As the favored team, the Redskins 38–9 defeat at the hands of the black-jerseyed Raiders led Super Bowl XVIII to be known as Black Sunday, the Raiders outgained the Redskins in total yards,385 to 283. The telecast of the game on CBS was seen by an estimated 77.62 million viewers, the broadcast was notable for airing the famous 1984 television commercial, introducing the Apple Macintosh. The NFL highlight film of this game was the voiceover work for famous NFL narrator John Facenda. NFL owners voted to award Super Bowl XVIII to Tampa on June 3,1981 at a meeting held in Detroit. This was first time Tampa hosted the game, making it the first Super Bowl to be played in Florida in a city other than Miami. The Redskins entered the game appearing to be better than the previous season when they defeated the Miami Dolphins 27–17 in Super Bowl XVII. The Redskins finished the season with a 14–2 record, the best in the NFL. In addition, the Redskins set new NFL records with 541 points, and also had a margin of +43. The Redskins had a number of efficient offensive weapons and he rushed for 234 yards and another touchdown. Washingtons main deep threats were wide receivers Charlie Brown and Art Monk, wide receiver Alvin Garrett, who replaced Monk during that time, emerged as a significant contributor by catching 25 passes for 332 yards. Fullback John Riggins once again was the top rusher with 1,347 yards. Multi-talented running back Joe Washington recorded 772 rushing yards, while catching 47 passes for 454 yards and 6 touchdowns. Kicker Mark Moseley led the NFL in scoring with 161 points, while Riggins ranked second with 144, Washingtons powerful offensive line was led by two Pro Bowlers, guard Russ Grimm and tackle Joe Jacoby. The Redskins defense led the league in fewest rushing yards allowed, Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dave Butz recorded 11.5 sacks and a fumble recovery. On the other side of the line, defensive end Dexter Manley recorded 11 sacks, the Raiders made it to their fourth Super Bowl in team history after posting a 12–4 regular season record
18.
Carolina Panthers
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The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League, as a club of the leagues National Football Conference South division. The team president is Danny Morrison, and the coach is Ron Rivera. The Panthers were announced as the leagues 29th franchise in 1993 and they did not have another winning season until 2003, when they won the NFC Championship Game and reached Super Bowl XXXVIII, losing 32–29 to the New England Patriots. After recording playoff appearances in 2005 and 2008, the failed to record another playoff appearance until 2013. After losing in the round to the San Francisco 49ers in 2013 and the Seattle Seahawks in 2014, the Panthers finally returned to the Super Bowl in 2016. The Panthers have reached the playoffs seven times, advancing to four NFC Championship Games and they have won six division titles, one in the NFC West and five in the NFC South. The Carolina Panthers are legally registered as Panther Football, LLC, the team is headquartered in Bank of America Stadium in uptown Charlotte, also the teams home field. They are one of the few NFL teams to own the stadium they play in, the team hosts its annual training camp at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. On December 15,1987, entrepreneur Jerry Richardson announced his bid for an NFL expansion franchise in the Carolinas. Richardson drew his inspiration to pursue an NFL franchise from George Shinn, who had made a bid for an expansion National Basketball Association team in Charlotte. Richardson founded Richardson Sports, a partnership consisting of himself, his family, Richardson looked at four potential locations for a stadium, ultimately choosing uptown Charlotte. In choosing the name, the Richardsons did not run focus groups with potential fans. Their intention had always been the Panthers, Jerry Richardson began driving a car with the license plate PNTHRS near the end of 1989, to highlight the demand for professional football in the Carolinas, Richardson Sports held preseason games around the area from 1989 to 1991. The matchups were between existing NFL teams, in 1991, the group formally filed an application for the open expansion spot, and on October 26,1993, the 28 NFL owners unanimously named the Carolina Panthers as the 29th member of the NFL. The Panthers first competed in the 1995 NFL season, they were one of two teams to begin play that year, the other being the Jacksonville Jaguars. Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dom Capers was named the first head coach, the team finished its inaugural season 7–9, the best performance ever from a first-year expansion team. They performed even better in their season, finishing with a 12–4 record and winning the NFC West division
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