1.
J. J. Watt
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Justin James J. J. Watt is an American football defensive end for the Houston Texans of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Texans with the 11th pick in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft, Watt received the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award three times in his first five seasons. Although primarily a defensive end, he shifts to defensive tackle in some situations. He has also taken snaps on offense, catching three passes during the 2014 season. In 2014, Watt became the first player in NFL history to record two 20+ sack seasons in a career and he holds the Texans franchise records for both sacks and forced fumbles. Watt was born on March 22,1989, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, to parents Connie, a building operations vice-president, and John Watt, the Watt family has Scottish ancestry. One of Watts brothers, Derek Watt, is an NFL fullback for the San Diego Chargers and his younger brother, T. J. Watt, is a student and football player at the University of Wisconsin. Watt played hockey from age four to age 13 and played for teams that traveled to Canada. He gave up hockey when weekly games started to conflict with his schedule, Watt also played football throughout his childhood and became passionate about football while he was in fifth grade. Watt attended Pewaukee High School, where he was a four-year letter-winner in football and also lettered in basketball, baseball, during his senior year, he was selected for first-team All-State. He earned the Woodland Conference Player of the Year Award his senior year, and first-team All-State, All-County, All-Area and he was also named the teams MVP. During his senior year, Watt accumulated a total of 399 receiving yards,26 catches, Watt followed in his fathers footsteps and competed in the shot put during his senior season, earning first-team All-state selection. He captured the title in the shot put at the 2007 WIAA Division II Championship. Regarded as a recruit by both Rivals. com and Scout. com, Watt was ranked neither among the top tight end nor among the top defensive end prospects in his class. After official visits to Central Michigan, Colorado, and Minnesota, Watt received a scholarship offer from Central Michigan University and matriculated there. Watt has stated that he was led to believe that as a tight end, at Central Michigan, he played 14 games, compiling 77 receiving yards and 8 receptions. Watts coaches suggested that he move to tackle, but Watt decided to forgo his starting spot and scholarship to walk on at the University of Wisconsin. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Watt was redshirted for the 2008 season and was named Wisconsin’s Scout Team Player of the Year, in 2009, he played in 13 games as defensive end
2.
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
3.
Reggie White
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Reginald Howard White was a professional American football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League for 15 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. He played college football for the University of Tennessee, and was recognized as an All-American, during his professional career, he was also known for his Christian ministry as an ordained Evangelical minister, leading to his nickname, the Minister of Defense. White is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, White was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He played high school football at Howard High School under Coach Robert Pulliam, during his senior year with the Hustlin Tigers, White recorded 140 tackles and 10 sacks, and received All-American honors. He was rated the number one recruit in Tennessee by the Knoxville News Sentinel, White played college football at Tennessee from 1980 to 1983. He was awarded the Andy Spiva Award, given annually to the Vols most improved defensive player, as a sophomore during the 1981 season, White registered 95 tackles, a team-leading eight sacks, and a team-leading seven tackles-for-loss. He also blocked three extra-point attempts and he had 10 tackles and two sacks, one of which resulted in a safety, against Memphis State, and was named the teams outstanding defensive player for the game. For his performance in Tennessees 10-7 win over Georgia Tech, which included a fumble recovery that sealed the Vols victory. White had eight tackles in Tennessees 28-21 victory over Wisconsin in the 1981 Garden State Bowl, at the end of the season, he was named to the Sophomore All-American team by The Football News. White was named a Preseason All-American going into the 1982 season, but was bothered by an ankle injury. While he registered just 47 tackles, he led the team with seven sacks. His best game of the came in the Vols 24-24 tie against LSU, in which he registered eight tackles, including a sack. He had eight tackles, two sacks, and a fumble in Tennessees 28-22 loss to Iowa in the 1982 Peach Bowl. He had two sacks in Tennessees 31-6 win over New Mexico, and a school record four sacks in the Vols blowout win over the The Citadel. In Tennessees 30-23 win over Maryland in the 1983 Florida Citrus Bowl, White sacked heralded Maryland quarterback Boomer Esiason in the second quarter, White was a consensus All-American, SEC Player of the Year, and a Lombardi Award finalist. During his tenure at the University of Tennessee, White registered 293 tackles,32 sacks,19 tackles-for-loss, four fumble recoveries and his 15 sacks in a season remained a school record until 2016. His mark of 32 career sacks remained a record until it was broken by Derek Barnett during the 2016 season. His school single-game record of four sacks stood until 2013, when Corey Miller had four, after his college football career, White signed with the Memphis Showboats of the USFL
4.
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
5.
Minnesota Vikings
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The Minnesota Vikings are an American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as a team in 1960. The team competes in the National Football Conference North division, before that, the Vikings were in the NFC Central, the team has played in four Super Bowl games, but lost each one. The team plays its games at U. S. Bank Stadium in the Downtown East section of Minneapolis, professional football in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area began with the Minneapolis Marines/Red Jackets, an NFL team that played intermittently in the 1920s and 1930s. However, a new team in the area did not surface again until August 1959. Skoglund, and Max Winter were awarded a franchise in the new American Football League. Ole Haugsrud was added to the NFL team ownership because, in the 1920s, when he sold his Duluth Eskimos team back to the league, the agreement allowed him 10 percent of any future Minnesota team. Coincidentally or not, the teams from Ole Haugsruds high school, Central High School in Superior, Wisconsin, were called the Vikings. From the teams first season in 1961 to 1981, the team called Metropolitan Stadium in suburban Bloomington home, the Vikings conducted summer training camp at Bemidji State University from 1961 to 1965. In 1966, the moved to their current training camp at Minnesota State University in Mankato. The Vikings played their games at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis from 1982 to 2013. The Vikings played their last game at the Metrodome on December 29,2013, since the teams first season in 1961, the Vikings have had one of the highest winning percentages in the NFL. As of 2014, they have won at least three games in every season except in 1962, and are one of only six NFL teams to win at least 15 games in a regular season. The Vikings have won one NFL Championship, in 1969, before the merger with the American Football League. Since the league merger in 1970, they have qualified for the playoffs 26 times, the team has played in Super Bowls IV, VIII, IX, and XI, though failing to win any of them. In addition, they have lost in their last five NFC Championship Game appearances since 1978, the team currently has 13 members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The team was named the Minnesota Vikings on September 27,1960
6.
New York Giants
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The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues National Football Conference East division. The team plays its games at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Giants hold their training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The Giants were one of five teams that joined the NFL in 1925 and their championship tally is surpassed only by the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. Throughout their history, the Giants have featured 28 Hall of Fame players, including NFL Most Valuable Player award winners Mel Hein, Frank Gifford, Y. A. Tittle, and Lawrence Taylor. The teams heated rivalry with the Philadelphia Eagles is the oldest of the NFC East rivalries, dating all the way back to 1933, the Giants played their first game as an away game against All New Britain in New Britain, Connecticut, on October 4,1925. They defeated New Britain 26–0 in front of a crowd of 10,000, the Giants were successful in their first season, finishing with an 8–4 record. In its third season, the finished with the best record in the league at 11–1–1 and was awarded the NFL title. In 1930, there were many who questioned the quality of the professional game. In December 1930, the Giants played a team of Notre Dame All Stars at the Polo Grounds to raise money for the unemployed of New York City and it was also an opportunity to establish the skill and prestige of the pro game. Knute Rockne reassembled his Four Horsemen along with the stars of his 1924 Championship squad and told them to score early, Rockne, like much of the public, thought little of pro football and expected an easy win. But from the beginning it was a one-way contest, with Friedman running for two Giant touchdowns and Hap Moran passing for another, when it was all over, Coach Rockne told his team, That was the greatest football machine I ever saw. I am glad none of you got hurt, the game raised $100,000 for the homeless, and is often credited with establishing the legitimacy of the professional game for those who were critical. It also was the last game the legendary Rockne ever coached, in a 14-year span from 1933 to 1947, the Giants qualified to play in the NFL championship game 8 times, winning twice. During this period the Giants were led by Hall of Fame coach Steve Owen, the period also featured the 1944 Giants, which are ranked as the #1 defensive team in NFL history. a truly awesome unit. They gave up only 7.5 points per game and shut out five of their 10 opponents, though they lost 14-7 to the Green Bay Packers in the 1944 NFL Championship Game. The famous Sneakers Game was played in this era where the Giants defeated the Chicago Bears on an icy field in the 1934 NFL Championship Game, the Giants played the Detroit Lions to a scoreless tie on November 7,1943
7.
Terrell Suggs
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Terrell Raymonn Suggs, nicknamed T-Sizzle or Sizzle, is an American football outside linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He played college football at Arizona State, and was recognized as a unanimous All-American, the Ravens selected him with the tenth overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft, and he is now the teams all-time leader in sacks. Suggs is a six-time Pro Bowl selection, a two time All-Pro and was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2011, Suggs was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Laverne Diane and Donald Lee Suggs. He was raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, while growing up in Saint Paul, he played youth football, as a center, with future baseball player Joe Mauer. Suggs moved to Arizona after eighth grade As a teenager, he attended multiple schools and he later transferred to Hamilton High School where he set the Arizona Class 5A record for rushing yards in a game with 367 against Yuma Kofa as a junior in 1999. In addition, Suggs lettered three times in basketball and once in track and field, Suggs decided to attend Arizona State University, where he played defensive end for coach Bruce Snyder and coach Dirk Koetters Arizona State Sun Devils football teams from 2000 to 2002. He set an NCAA single-season record with 24 sacks in 2002, following his 2002 junior season, he was a first-team All-Pac-10 selection and the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, and was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American. Suggs enjoyed immediate success as a rookie in 2003 as he tied an NFL record by posting a sack in each of his first four games. He finished the season with 27 tackles,12 sacks,6 forced fumbles,2 pass deflections and 1 interception, the next season in 2004, he was elected to his first Pro Bowl as he recorded 10.5 sacks and 60 tackles. In 2005, the Ravens new defensive co-ordinator Rex Ryan, son of famous defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, despite registering a then-career-low 8 sacks, Suggs also set new career-highs in tackles with 69 and interceptions with 2. In 2006, Suggs was part of the NFLs best overall defense and he recorded 64 tackles,9.5 sacks and set new career-high in pass deflections with 8. After the season, he was voted to the Pro Bowl for the second time and he was a major contributor as the Ravens went 13-3. For the season, Suggs started nine games at defensive end in the Ravens base 4-3. The following season in 2007, Suggs made 80 tackles and five sacks, as he, like the season before, Suggs was a hybrid defensive end/linebacker, playing 50 percent of the defensive snaps at defensive end in the Ravens base 4-3 defense. On February 19,2008, the Ravens placed the tag on Suggs. He initially filed a grievance because the team had designated him as a LB with the franchise tag rather than a DE, despite being unhappy with the franchise tag, Suggs reported to off-season mini-camps to practice with the team. On May 13,2008, he reached an agreement with the team to split the difference in the franchise tag amounts of a LB and a DE and drop his grievance. In Week 7 of the 2008 NFL season, Suggs intercepted a pass from Chad Pennington of the Miami Dolphins and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown, two weeks later, he intercepted Derek Anderson of the Cleveland Browns for a game-sealing touchdown
8.
Baltimore Ravens
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The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League as a club of the American Football Conference North division. The team plays its games at M&T Bank Stadium and is headquartered in Owings Mills. The Ravens were established in 1996, when Art Modell, who was then the owner of the Cleveland Browns, in return, he was allowed to take his own personnel and team to Baltimore, where such personnel would then form an expansion team. The Ravens organization has been led by general manager Ozzie Newsome since 1996, the team is owned by Steve Bisciotti and valued at $1.5 billion, making the Ravens the 24th-most valuable sports franchise in the world. The name Ravens was inspired by Edgar Allan Poes poem The Raven, chosen in a fan contest that drew 33,288 voters, the allusion honors Poe, who spent the early part of his career in Baltimore and is buried there. As the Baltimore Sun reported at the time, fans also liked the tie-in with the birds in town, the Orioles. After the controversial relocation of the Colts to Indianapolis, several attempts were made to bring an NFL team back to Baltimore. In 1993, ahead of the 1995 league expansion, the city was considered a favorite, behind only St. Louis and this led to public outrage and the Baltimore Sun describing Taglibue as having an Anybody But Baltimore policy. Maryland governor William Donald Schaefer said afterward that Taglibue had led him on, praising Baltimore, by May 1994, Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos had gathered a new group of investors, including author Tom Clancy, to bid on teams whose owners had expressed interest in relocating. Angelos found a partner in Georgia Frontiere, who was open to moving the Los Angeles Rams to Baltimore. Jack Kent Cooke opposed the move, intending to build the Redskins new stadium in Laurel, Maryland and this led to heated arguments between Cooke and Angelos, who accused Cooke of being a carpetbagger. Following this, Angelos made an unsuccessful $200 million bid to bring the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Baltimore, enticed by Baltimores available funds for a first-class stadium, Modell announced on November 6,1995 his intention to relocate the team from Cleveland to Baltimore the following year. The resulting controversy ended when representatives of Cleveland and the NFL reached a settlement on February 8,1996, tagliabue promised the city of Cleveland that an NFL team would be located in Cleveland, either through relocation or expansion, no later than 1999. Additionally, the agreement stipulated that the Browns name, colors, uniform design, the franchise history includes Browns club records and connections with Pro Football Hall of Fame players. Modells Baltimore team, while retaining all current player contracts, would, for purposes of history, appear as an expansion team. Not all players, staff or front office would make the move to Baltimore, after relocation, Modell hired Ted Marchibroda as the head coach for his new team in Baltimore. Marchibroda was already well known because of his work as coach of the Baltimore Colts during the 1970s
9.
Brian Urlacher
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Brian Urlacher is a former American football linebacker who spent his entire 13-year career playing for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He played college football for the University of New Mexico, where he was recognized as a consensus All-American, the Bears selected Urlacher with the ninth overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. Urlacher quickly established himself as one of the NFLs most productive defensive players, after winning the NFL Rookie of the Year Award in 2000, he was elected to eight Pro Bowls, and won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 2005. His playing style, accomplishments and reputation have made him one of the teams most popular players, after retiring from professional football, he was briefly an analyst for Fox Sports 1. Urlacher was born to Bradley and Lavoyda Urlacher in Pasco, Washington, after his parents separated, Lavoyda raised Urlacher and his siblings in Lovington, New Mexico. He spent his youth immersed in sports, and developed an interest in football, basketball, track and later table tennis, while his mother worked several jobs to keep her family afloat, Urlacher spent his teenage years playing sports for Lovington High School and training in weight rooms. The training helped Urlacher gain the speed, stamina, and strength he would need to solidify his football career, as he progressed through high school, Urlacher gained experience in all three phases of football. He saw playing time as a back, wide receiver, return specialist. Urlacher led the Lovington High School Wildcats to an undefeated 14–0 season, and he finished the season with twelve touchdown receptions, six touchdown returns, and two rushing touchdowns. He additionally merited state-recognized honors in football, as well as basketball, Lovington has since recognized Urlachers accomplishments by retiring his high-school jersey number, and naming a holiday after him. Urlacher wanted to attend Texas Tech University, but the school did not offer him an athletic scholarship, Urlacher enrolled at the University of New Mexico, majored in criminology, and played for the New Mexico Lobos football team. The Lobos head coach, Dennis Franchione, converted Urlacher to linebacker, the team finished with winning records during Urlachers first two years and even made a trip to the 1997 Insight. com Bowl. The teams success prompted Franchione to leave New Mexico in favor of Texas Christian University and his departure prompted the school to hire Rocky Long, a former coach at UCLA. Urlacher not only received more playing time, but also played a versatile role on both offense and defense. Long converted Urlacher into a Lobo-Back, a cross between a linebacker and free safety, and placed him in a 3-3-5 defense scheme and he spent significant time training with the teams defensive coordinator, Bronco Mendenhall, who helped Urlacher refine his skills as a defensive back. Long also used Urlacher as a return specialist and wide throughout his final two years with the Lobos. Despite Longs extensive changes to the roster, formations, and work ethic. However, Urlacher became one of the teams most productive players during this time and he finished his career with 442 tackles, three interceptions,11 sacks, and 11 forced fumbles
10.
Chicago Bears
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The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Bears compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues National Football Conference North division. The Bears have won nine NFL Championships and one Super Bowl and hold the NFL record for the most enshrinees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Bears have also recorded more victories than any other NFL franchise. The franchise was founded in Decatur, Illinois, in 1919 and it is one of only two remaining franchises from the NFLs founding. The team played games at Wrigley Field on Chicagos North Side through the 1970 season, they now play at Soldier Field on the Near South Side. The Bears have a rivalry with the Green Bay Packers. The team headquarters, Halas Hall, is in the Chicago suburb of Lake Forest, the Bears practice at adjoining facilities there during the season. They hold their training camp from late July to mid-August at Ward Field on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois. Originally named the Decatur Staleys, the club was established by the A. E. Staley food starch company of Decatur and this was the typical start for several early professional football franchises. The company hired George Halas and Edward Dutch Sternaman in 1920 to run the team, the 1920 Decatur Staleys season was their inaugural regular season completed in the newly formed American Professional Football Association. Full control of the team was turned over to Halas and Sternaman in 1921, official team and league records cite Halas as the founder as he took over the team in 1920 when it became a charter member of the NFL. The team relocated to Chicago in 1921, where the club was renamed the Chicago Staleys, under an agreement reached by Halas and Sternaman with Staley, Halas purchased the rights to the club from Staley for US$100. In 1922, Halas changed the name from the Staleys to the Bears. The team moved into Wrigley Field, which was home to the Chicago Cubs baseball franchise, as with several early NFL franchises, the Bears derived their nickname from their citys baseball team. Halas liked the bright colors of his alma mater, the University of Illinois. The Staleys/Bears dominated the league in the early years and their rivalry with the Chicago Cardinals, the oldest in the NFL, was key in four out of the first six league titles. During that span, the Bears posted 34 shutouts, the Bears rivalry with the Green Bay Packers is one of the oldest and most storied in American professional sports, dating back to 1921. The franchise was a success under Halas, capturing the NFL Championship in 1921
