1.
Washington Redskins
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The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Redskins compete in the National Football League as a member of the National Football Conference East division. The Redskins have played more than 1,000 games since 1932, the Redskins have won five NFL Championships. The franchise has captured 14 NFL divisional titles and six NFL conference championships, the Redskins were the first team in the NFL with an official marching band, and also the first team to have a fight song, Hail to the Redskins. The team began play as the Boston Braves in 1932, based in Boston, before relocating to Washington, the Redskins won the 1937 and 1942 Championship games, as well as Super Bowls XVII, XXII, and XXVI. They also played in, and lost, the 1936,1940,1943 and they have made 24 postseason appearances, and have an overall postseason record of 23–18. All of the Redskins league titles were attained during two 10-year spans, from 1936 to 1945, the Redskins went to the NFL Championship six times, winning two of them. The second period lasted between 1982 and 1991 where the Redskins appeared in the seven times, captured four Conference titles. The Redskins have also experienced failure in their history, the most notable period of general failure was from 1946 to 1970, during which the Redskins posted only four winning seasons and did not have a single postseason appearance. During this period, the Redskins went without a winning season during the years 1956–1968. In 1961, the franchise posted their worst regular season record with a 1–12–1 showing, since 1992, the Redskins have only won the NFC East three times, made five postseason appearances, and had nine seasons with a winning record.85 billion. They also set the NFL record for attendance in 2007. The team name and logo have been the subject of controversy, with lawsuits being filed by Native American groups who consider the team name, polls conducted in the 2010s have shown a lack of major support among fans for a name change. The team originated as the Boston Braves, based in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1932, at the time the team played in Braves Field, home of the Boston Braves baseball team. The following year the club moved to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, to round out the change, Marshall hired William Lone Star Dietz, who was part Sioux, as the teams head coach. However, Boston wasnt much of a town at the time. The Redskins relocated to Washington, D. C. in 1937, in their early years in Washington, the Redskins shared Griffith Stadium with the Washington Senators baseball team. The Redskins played and won their first game in Washington, D. C. on September 16,1937, on December 5,1937, they earned their first division title in Washington against the Giants, 49–14, for the Eastern Championship
2.
Denver Broncos
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The Denver Broncos are an American football team based in Denver, Colorado. The Broncos compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues American Football Conference West division. The team began play in 1960 as a member of the American Football League. The Broncos are owned by the Pat Bowlen trust, the Broncos have played at Sports Authority Field at Mile High since 2001, after previously playing at Mile High Stadium from 1960 to 2000. The Broncos were barely competitive during their 10-year run in the AFL and they did not complete a winning season until 1973. In 1977, four years later, they qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, since 1975, the Broncos have become one of the NFLs more successful teams, having suffered only six losing seasons. However, the Broncos have the NFL record for most Super Bowl losses and they have five players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, John Elway, Floyd Little, Gary Zimmerman, Shannon Sharpe, and the most recently elected member, Terrell Davis. The Denver Broncos were founded on August 14,1959, when Minor League Baseball owner Bob Howsam was awarded an American Football League charter franchise, the Broncos won the first-ever AFL game over the Boston Patriots 13–10, on September 9,1960. On August 5,1967, they became the first-ever AFL team to defeat an NFL team, however, the Broncos were not successful in the 1960s, compiling a record of 39–97–4 in the league. Denver came close to losing its franchise in 1965, until an ownership group took control. The teams first superstar, Franchise Floyd Little, was instrumental in keeping the team in Denver, due to his signing in 1967 as well as his Pro Bowl efforts on, in 1972, the Broncos hired former Stanford University coach John Ralston as their head coach. In 1973, he was the UPIs AFC Coach of the Year, in five seasons with the Broncos, Ralston guided the team to winning seasons three times. Though Ralston finished the 1976 season with a 9–5 record, the team, as was the case in Ralstons previous winning seasons, following the season, several prominent players publicly voiced their discontent with Ralston, which soon led to his resignation. Dan Reeves became the youngest head coach in the NFL when he joined the Broncos in 1981 as vice president, quarterback John Elway, who played college football at Stanford, arrived in 1983 via a trade. Prior to Elway, the Broncos had over 24 different starting quarterbacks in its 23 seasons to that point, Reeves and Elway guided the Broncos to six post-season appearances, five AFC West divisional titles, three AFC championships and three Super Bowl appearances during their 12-year span together. Reeves was fired after the 1992 season and replaced by his protégé and friend Wade Phillips, Phillips was fired after a mediocre 1994 season, in which management felt he lost control of the team. In 1995, Mike Shanahan, who had served under Reeves as the Broncos offensive coordinator. Shanahan drafted rookie running back Terrell Davis, in 1996, the Broncos were the top seed in the AFC with a 13–3 record, dominating most of the teams that year
3.
2013 NFL season
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The 2013 NFL season was the 94th season in the history of the National Football League. The Super Bowl was played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday and it was the first Super Bowl hosted by New Jersey and the first to be held outdoors in a cold weather environment. The Seahawks scored 12 seconds into the game and held the lead the rest of the way, Manning also was named the Offensive Player of the Year for the second time in his career. Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly earned Defensive Player of the Year honors, scoring reached historic levels throughout the league in 2013. As a whole the league set records for points scored, points scored per game. The Broncos set a new standard for scoring in the regular season with 606 points. In addition to the Broncos, ten teams each scored over 400 points. The regular season got underway on Thursday, September 5,2013, the regular season wrapped up on Sunday night, December 29. The playoffs began with the wild card round which took place the first weekend of January 2014, both home teams prevailed to set up just the second Super Bowl matchup of #1 seeds in the past 20 seasons. The 2013 league year began at 4 pm EST on March 12, the per-team salary cap was set at US$123,000,000. This period, which was referred to by some as the legal tampering period, a total of 524 players were eligible for some form of free agency. Eight players were assigned the franchise tag by their teams. These players were Brandon Albert, Jairus Byrd, Ryan Clady, Michael Johnson, Pat McAfee, Henry Melton, Anthony Spencer, none of these players changed teams. Smith had been the first overall selection of the 2005 NFL Draft, March 11 – Wide receiver Percy Harvin was traded by the Vikings to the Seahawks for the Seahawks 2013 first-round and seventh-round selections as well as the Seahawks third-round pick in 2014. The Seahawks subsequently signed Harvin to a 6-year, $67 million contract extension which includes $25.5 million in guaranteed money, March 11 – The 49ers acquired wide receiver Anquan Boldin from the Ravens for a sixth-round selection in the 2013 draft. Boldin, a three-time Pro Bowler and former Offensive Rookie of the Year, had refused to accept a pay cut that the Ravens had requested, April 21 – Cornerback Darrelle Revis was traded by the Jets to the Buccaneers. The Jets received the Bucs first round pick in 2013, the 13th overall selection and a conditional pick which would become the Bucs fourth-round selection in 2014. The Bucs signed Revis to a 6-year, $96 million contract, in-season September 18 – In a bit of a shocking mid-season move the Browns traded running back Trent Richardson to the Colts in exchange for the Colts first-round pick in the 2014 draft
4.
New Orleans Saints
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The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints currently compete in the National Football League as a member of the leagues National Football Conference South division, the team was founded by John W. Mecom Jr. David Dixon and the city of New Orleans. The Saints began play in Tulane Stadium in 1967, the franchise was founded on November 1,1966. The teams primary colors are old gold and black, their logo is a simplified fleur-de-lis and they played their home games in Tulane Stadium through the 1974 NFL season. The following year, they moved to the new Louisiana Superdome, for most of their first 20 years, the Saints were barely competitive, only getting to.500 twice. In 1987, they finished 12–3—their first-ever winning season—and qualified for the NFL playoffs for the first time in franchise history, the next season of 1988 ended with a 10–6 record. In the year 2000, the Saints defeated the St. Louis Rams 31–28 to notch their first-ever playoff win, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast region. The Superdome was used as a temporary shelter for displaced residents. The stadium suffered damage from the hurricane, and from lack of available facilities, ultimately, however, the Superdome was repaired and renovated in time for the 2006 season at an estimated cost of US$185 million. The New Orleans Saints first post-Katrina home game was an emotionally charged Monday Night Football game versus their division rival, the Atlanta Falcons. The Saints, under head coach Sean Payton and new quarterback Drew Brees, defeated the Falcons 23–3. The 2009 season was a one for the Saints. Winning a franchise-record 13 games, they qualified for Super Bowl XLIV, over the course of 49 seasons, the Saints have compiled an overall record of 331–418–5, with a regular-season record of 324–409–5 and a playoff record of 7–9. First the brainchild of local sports entrepreneur Dave Dixon, who founded the Louisiana Superdome and the USFL. Senator Russell Long, and then–NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, the NFL needed congressional approval of the proposed AFL–NFL merger. Dixon and a civic group had been seeking an NFL franchise for over five years and had hosted record crowds for NFL exhibition games. To seal the merger, Rozelle arrived in New Orleans within a week, and announced on November 1,1966, when the deal was reached a week earlier, Dixon strongly suggested to Rozelle that the announcement be delayed until then. Dixon told an interviewer that he cleared the name with New Orleans Archbishop Philip M. Hannan
5.
2014 NFL season
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The 2014 NFL season was the 95th season in the history of the National Football League. The 2014 league year began at 4 pm EST on March 11, the per-team salary cap was set at US$133 million, a $10 million increase from the previous year. A total of 471 players were eligible for some form of free agency at the beginning of the free agency period, in addition, a number of highly paid players were released after the start of the league year to allow their teams to regain space under the salary cap. These players were defensive end Greg Hardy, tight end Jimmy Graham, placekicker Nick Folk, players given the transition tag were Jason Worilds and Alex Mack. Mack signed a five-year, $42 million offer sheet with the Jacksonville Jaguars which included $26 million in guaranteed money, the Browns matched the offer and retained Mack who became the leagues highest paid center. One restricted free agent switched teams in 2014, wide receiver Andrew Hawkins of the Bengals was signed by the Browns, restricted free agents are players with three or fewer seasons in the league whose contracts have expired. Teams may tender contract offers which allow them to match offers from other teams, Hawkins was tendered at the minimum level, which means the Bengals would not receive any draft compensation. The Browns signed him to a $13.6 million, four-year offer, Saints safety Rafael Bush signed an offer from the Falcons, but the Saints retained Bush by matching the offer. The 2014 NFL Draft was held May 8–10,2014, in New York City, the draft process began with the NFL Scouting Combine, where draft-eligible players were evaluated by team personnel, which was held in Indianapolis on February 19–25. The draft included a number of 98 non-seniors. In the draft the Houston Texans made University of South Carolina defensive end, there was discussion leading up to the draft as to the future of the event in New York City, where it had been held since 1965. Given the increased interest in the draft over the past decade, there was a belief that the event may have outgrown Radio City Music Hall, the possibility of extending the draft to four days was also being discussed. On October 2,2014, Auditorium Theatre in Chicago was announced as the site for the following years draft. Training camps for the 2014 season were held in late July through August, teams may start training camp no earlier than 15 days before the teams first scheduled preseason game. Prior to the start of the season, each team played four preseason exhibition games. The preseason schedule got underway with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on Sunday evening, the Hall of Fame game is a traditional part of the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame induction weekend celebrating new Hall of Fame members. It was played at Fawcett Stadium which is located adjacent to the Hall of Fame building in Canton, the game, which was televised in the U. S. on NBC, featured the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills, with the Giants winning 17–13. The others who were inducted into the Hall of Fame are linebacker Derrick Brooks, punter Ray Guy, defensive end Claude Humphrey, offensive tackle Walter Jones, the 65-game preseason schedule wrapped up on Thursday, August 28, a week before the start of the regular season
6.
Pro Bowl
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The Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League. Between 2014 and 2016, the NFL experimented with an unconferenced format, the players were picked in a televised schoolyard pick prior to the game. Unlike most major leagues, which hold their all-star games roughly midway through their respective regular seasons. Between 1970 and 2009, it was held the weekend after the Super Bowl. Since 2010, the Pro Bowl has been played the weekend before the Super Bowl, Players from the two teams competing in the Super Bowl do not participate. Observers and commentators expressed their disfavor with the Pro Bowl in its current state and it draws lower TV ratings than its regular-season games, although the game draws similar ratings to other major all-star games, such as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. However, the biggest concern of teams is to avoid injuries to the star players, the Associated Press wrote that players in the 2012 game were hitting each other as though they were having a pillow fight. Between 1980 and 2016, the game was played at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii, on June 1,2016, the NFL announced that they reached a multi-year deal to move the game to Orlando, Florida as part of the leagues ongoing efforts to make the game more relevant. For years, the game has suffered from lack of interest due to perceived low quality, the 2017 Pro Bowl will also mark a return to the AFC–NFC format. The first Pro All-Star Game, featuring the all-stars of the 1938 season, was played on January 15,1939 at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. The NFL All-Star Game was played again in Los Angeles in 1940 and then in New York, although originally planned as an annual contest, the all-star game was discontinued after 1942 because of travel restrictions put in place during World War II. During the first five games, an all-star team would face that years league champion. The league champion won the first four games before the all-stars were victorious in the game of this early series. The concept of a game was not revived until June 1950. The game was sponsored by the Los Angeles Publishers Association and it was decided that the game would feature all-star teams from each of the leagues two conferences rather than the league champion versus all-star format which had been used previously. This was done to avoid confusion with the Chicago College All-Star Game, the teams would be led by the coach of each of the conference champions. The first 21 games of the series were played in Los Angeles, the site of the game was changed annually for each of the next seven years before the game was moved to Aloha Stadium in Halawa, Hawaii for 30 straight seasons from 1980 through 2009. With the new rule being that the teams do not include players from the teams that will be playing in the Super Bowl
7.
Tackle (football move)
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Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary and important purposes of tackling are to dispossess an opponent of the ball, the word is used in some contact variations of football to describe the act of physically holding or wrestling a player to the ground. In others, it simply one or more methods of contesting for possession of the ball. It can therefore be used as both a defensive or attacking move, in Middle Dutch, the verb tacken meant to grab or to handle. By the 18th century, a use was applied to harnesses or equipment used with horses. Modern use in football comes from the sport of rugby. In any such case, the ball becomes dead, the down is over, a tackle is known as a quarterback sack when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage while attempting to throw a pass. A tackle for loss indicates a tackle that causes a loss of yardage for the running back or wide receiver. When a player who does not have the ball is taken down it is referred to as a block. Tackles can also be made by grabbing the ball carriers jersey, as mentioned above, the referee can declare that a play is dead if the ball carriers forward progress has been stopped, even if he has not actually been taken to the ground. To protect players from potentially catastrophic injury, there are restrictions on tackles. At no time may a defensive player tackle a player by grabbing the facemask of their helmet, doing so incurs a 15-yard penalty. A similar penalty is assessed to any player attempting to contact with his helmet against another opponents helmet. Grabbing a ball carrier by the pads behind his neck and pulling him down is known as a horse collar, a method which has been made illegal at all levels of American football. However, in the NFL a player can continue forward for one step, place kickers and punters are afforded an even greater protection from being tackled. Once the play is ruled complete, no contact is permitted, a player who makes contact with an opponent after the play is charged with unnecessary roughness and his team is assessed a 15-yard penalty. However, a player who plays on the line can block below the knees as long the block is five yards of the line. In the National Football League, tackles are tracked as a statistic by a scorekeeper hired by the home team
8.
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
9.
Super Bowl XLVIII
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The Seahawks defeated the Broncos 43–8, the largest margin of victory for an underdog and tied for the third largest point differential overall in Super Bowl history with Super Bowl XXVII. It was the first time the team scored over 40 points. This became the first Super Bowl victory for the Seahawks and the fifth Super Bowl loss for the Broncos, for the first time since Super Bowl XLIV, and just the second time since Super Bowl XXVIII, the number one seed from each conference met in the league championship. The Seahawks posted a 13–3 record and were making their second Super Bowl appearance in 8 years, the Broncos were making their seventh Super Bowl appearance after also posting a 13–3 record. The game also featured the top offense against the leagues top defense. Seattle built a 22–0 halftime lead, and then a 36–0 advantage before allowing Denvers first, the Seahawks defense scored a safety on the first play from scrimmage, the quickest score in Super Bowl history. They also became the first team in a Super Bowl to score on a safety, a return for a touchdown. The Broncos were held to almost 30 points below their scoring average, Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, a five-time NFL Most Valuable Player award winner, threw two interceptions in the first half. Seahawks linebacker Malcolm Smith, who returned one of those interceptions 69-yards for a touchdown, recovered a fumble, the games inaugural Spanish-language telecast on Fox Deportes was also the highest rated Spanish-language cable telecast outside of soccer. South Florida / Miami has hosted ten Super Bowls, the game was awarded on May 26,2010 at the NFL owners meetings in Irving, Texas. Super Bowl XLVIII was the first Super Bowl held at a stadium in a cold-weather city. However, the temperature at kickoff was a mild 49 °F, ironically enough, a major snow storm hit the area the very next day. According to Weather. com, the high and low temperatures for East Rutherford on February 2 were 39 °F and 20 °F. The coldest outdoor Super Bowl of the first 47 games was Super Bowl VI, held at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans on January 16,1972, with a kickoff temperature of 39 °F. Since Super Bowl X in 1976, all but one outdoor Super Bowl has been played in either California or Florida, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell indicated that if Super Bowl XLVIII was successful, additional cold-weather Super Bowls would be considered. Since then, two other major pro football leagues have held title games in the area,1968 AFL Championship Game at Shea Stadium, December 29,1968, New York Jets 27, Oakland Raiders 23. The Jets went on to Super Bowl III, where they upset the Baltimore Colts,1985 USFL Championship Game at Giants Stadium, July 14,1985, Baltimore Stars 28, Oakland Invaders 24. This game would turn out to be the final contest in the leagues three-year history, New York City was scheduled to host Super Bowl XLIV upon the completion of the proposed West Side Stadium
10.
University of Georgia
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Its primary location is a 762-acre campus adjacent to the college town of Athens, Georgia, approximately an hours drive from the global city of Atlanta. The university has been labeled one of the Public Ivies, a publicly funded university considered to provide a quality of education comparable to those of the Ivy League. The university was founded in 1785 as the United States first state-chartered university and its historic North Campus is on the U. S. National Register of Historic Places as a designated historic district. The contiguous campus areas include rolling hills, gardens, and extensive green space including nature walks, fields, shrubbery, and large and varied arboreta. Close to the campus is the universitys 58-acre Health Sciences Campus that also has an extensive landscaped green space, more than 400 trees. The university offers over 140 degree programs in an array of disciplines. Consisting of thirteen separate libraries, the UGA Libraries rank among the nation’s largest and best research libraries containing 5.7 million volumes, the University of Georgia is one of 126 member institutions that comprise the Association of Research Libraries. The university is organized into seventeen schools and colleges, the university has three primary campuses. The largest one is the campus in Athens that has 460 buildings. The university has two campuses located in Atlanta and Lawrenceville, Georgia. The university operates several service and outreach stations spread across the state, the total acreage of the university in 30 Georgia counties is 41,539 acres. Varsity and intramural student athletics are a part of student life. UGA served as a member of the SEC in 1932. In their 121-year history, the varsity sports teams have won 39 national championships and 130 conference championships. The Georgia Redcoat Marching Band, the marching band of the university, plays at sports. The Senatus Academicus was composed of the Board of Visitors and the Board of Trustees with the Georgia Senate presiding over those two boards, the first meeting of the universitys board of trustees was held in Augusta, Georgia on February 13,1786. The meeting installed its first president, Abraham Baldwin, a native of Connecticut, Baldwin was a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, and one of two Georgia delegates to sign the final document. Many features on the University of Georgia campus resemble the campus of Yale, on July 2,1799, the Senatus Academicus met again in Louisville, Georgia and decided that the time was right to open the university
