1.
2009 Pro Bowl
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The 2009 Pro Bowl was the National Football Leagues all-star game for the 2008 season. It was played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 8,2009 and this was the most recent year that the game was held after the Super Bowl. The NFC defeated the AFC, 30–21, the AFC was coached by Baltimores John Harbaugh, while the NFCs coach was Philadelphias Andy Reid. com –2009 Pro Bowl Gamebook Official Pro Bowl website at NFL. com
2.
Cornerback
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A cornerback, also referred to as a corner, is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles, other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position requires speed and agility, a cornerbacks skillset typically requires proficiency in anticipating the quarterback, back-pedalling, executing single and zone coverage, disrupting pass routes, block shedding, and tackling. Cornerbacks are among the fastest players on the field, the chief responsibility of the cornerback is to defend against the offenses pass. The rules of American professional football and American college football do not mandate starting position, movement, there are no illegal defense formations. Cornerbacks can be anywhere on the side of the line of scrimmage at the start of play, although their proximity, formations. Most modern National Football League defensive formations use four defensive backs, a cornerbacks responsibilities vary depending on how the defense assigns protection to its defensive secondary. In terms of defending the run, often corners may be assigned to blitz depending on the decisions in a game. In terms of defending passing plays, a corner will be assigned to either zone or man-to-man coverage. A shutdown corner is most often used to identify a cornerback that lines up on either side of the zone of the field of play. In American football, shutdown corner is used to refer to only an few elite players. In zone coverage, the cornerback defends an area of the field. Many schemes and variations were created to provide defensive coordinators great latitude, when a team is using zone coverage, some areas of the field require special attention when defending against specific pass plays. They include the flats, mid range zones including the void and these are basic terms for the basic zones and routes which vary system to system, league to league, and team to team. At this time the captain attempts to read the alignment of the offensive players in order to best predict. He will base his decision on past experience, game preparation, and a sound comprehension of his teammates strengths, abilities and these adjustments may change on a play by play basis, due to substitutions or even evolving weather or field conditions. The cover 1 defense has just one defender playing in a deep zone downfield, normally the one defender playing the deep zone downfield is the Safety. The corners primary responsibility is to play on or off the receiver, often defensive coordinators will not use Cover 1 unless the cornerbacks for that team are very good at man-to-man coverage
3.
Fayetteville, North Carolina
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Fayetteville is a city in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, Fayetteville has received the All-America City Award from the National Civic League three times. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 200,564 and it is the sixth-largest municipality in North Carolina. Fayetteville is in the Sandhills in the part of the Coastal Plain region, on the Cape Fear River. With an estimated population in 2013 of 210,533 people, the Fayetteville metropolitan area is the largest in southeastern North Carolina, suburban areas of metro Fayetteville include Fort Bragg, Hope Mills, Spring Lake, Raeford, Pope Field, Rockfish, Stedman, and Eastover. Fayettevilles mayor is Nat Robertson, who is serving his second term, the area of present-day Fayetteville was historically inhabited by various Siouan Native American peoples, such as the Eno, Shakori, Waccamaw, Keyauwee, and Cape Fear people. They followed successive cultures of indigenous peoples in the area for more than 12,000 years. Two inland settlements, Cross Creek and Campbellton, were established by Scots from Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute, merchants in Wilmington wanted a town on the Cape Fear River to secure trade with the frontier country. They were afraid people would use the Pee Dee River and transport their goods to Charleston, the merchants bought land from Newberry in Cross Creek. Campbellton became a place where poor whites and free blacks lived, Fayetteville was the first city to be named in his honor in the United States. Lafayette visited the city on March 4 and 5,1825, the local region was heavily settled by Scots in the mid/late 1700s, and most of these were Gaelic-speaking Highlanders. The vast majority of Highland Scots, recent immigrants, remained loyal to the British government, despite this, they were eventually defeated by a larger Revolutionary force at the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge. The area also included a number of active Revolutionaries, in late June 1775, residents drew up the Liberty Point Resolves, which preceded the Declaration of Independence by a little more than a year. Robert Rowan, who organized the group, signed first. Robert Rowan was one of the leading public figures of the 18th century. A merchant and entrepreneur, he settled in Cross Creek in the 1760s and he served as an officer in the French and Indian War, as sheriff, justice and legislator, and as a leader of the Patriot cause in the Revolutionary War. Rowan Street and Rowan Park in Fayetteville and a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution are named for him, though Rowan County was named for his uncle. Flora MacDonald, a Scots Highland woman known for aiding Bonnie Prince Charlie after his Highlander armys defeat at Culloden in 1746 and she was a staunch Loyalist and aided her husband to raise the local Scots to fight for the King against the Revolution
4.
Samford Bulldogs football
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The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision and are members of the Southern Conference. Samfords first football team was fielded in 1902, the team plays its home games at the 6,700 seat Seibert Stadium in Homewood, Alabama. The Bulldogs are coached by Chris Hatcher, bobby Bowden James Bradberry Cortland Finnegan Jimbo Fisher Jaquiski Tartt Fabian Truss Corey White Nick Williams Michael Pierce 2017 at Georgia Official website
5.
2006 NFL Draft
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The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30,2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with additional coverage offered by ESPNU and, for the first time, by the NFL Network. Having signed a contract with the Houston Texans on the evening before the draft, Mario Williams, the selection surprised many commentators, who predicted that the Texans would draft Southern California running back Reggie Bush or Texas quarterback Vince Young. Ohio State produced the most first round selections, while Southern California produced the most overall selections, twenty-seven compensatory and supplemental compensatory selections were distributed amongst seventeen teams, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and Tennessee each held three compensatory picks. The league also held a draft after the regular draft. The 255 players chosen in the draft were composed of, For each player selected in the Supplemental Draft, nelson later turned to professional basketball himself. He was then released the following season, NFL draft history,2006 full draft. Archived from the original on October 24,2008, pro Football Hall of Fame website. Archived from the original on December 20,2008
6.
Tennessee Titans
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The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League as a club of the American Football Conference South division. Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team play in 1960 in Houston. The Oilers won the first two AFL Championships, and joined the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger in 1970, the team relocated from Houston to Tennessee in 1997, and played at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis for one season. The club moved to Nashville in 1998 and played in Vanderbilt Stadium, for those two years, the team was known as the Tennessee Oilers, but changed its name to Titans in 1999. The team plays at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, which opened in 1999 as Adelphia Coliseum, the Titans training facility is at Saint Thomas Sports Park, a 31-acre site at the MetroCenter complex in Nashville. When the team debuted as the Houston Oilers in 1960, the logo was an oil rig derrick. Except for minor changes throughout the years, this logo remained the same until the team was renamed the Titans in 1999. The logo was originally called Ol Riggy, but this was dropped before the start of the 1974 season, the Oilers uniforms consisted of blue or white jerseys, red trim, and white pants. From 1966 through 1971, the pants with both the blue and white jerseys were silver, to match the color of the helmets, for selected games in 1973 and 1974, and again from 1981 through 1984, the Oilers wore their white jerseys at home. The light blue pants were discarded by coach Jeff Fisher in 1995, from 1960 to about 1965 and from 1972 to 1974, they wore blue helmets, from 1966 to 1971, the helmets were silver, and they were white from 1975 to 1998. During the 1997–98 period, when they were known as the Tennessee Oilers, the uniforms consist of white helmets, red trim, and either navy or white jerseys. White pants are worn with the navy jerseys, and navy pants are worn with the white jerseys. On both the navy and white jerseys, the shoulders and sleeves are light Titans blue. In a game against the Washington Redskins in 2006, the Titans wore their jerseys with navy pants for the first time. Since 2000, the Titans have generally worn their dark uniforms at home throughout the preseason and they have worn white at home during daytime contests on many occasions for September home games to gain an advantage with the heat except in the 2005,2006, and 2008 seasons. The Titans introduced an alternate jersey in 2003 that is light Titans blue, with navy outside shoulders and that jersey was usually worn with the road blue pants. When it was the jersey from 2003 to 2007, the Titans wore the jersey twice in each regular season game
7.
2006 NFL season
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The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League. Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31,2006, the NFL title was eventually won by the Indianapolis Colts, when they defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI at Dolphin Stadium at Miami Gardens, Florida on February 4. Under the flexible-scheduling system, all Sunday games in the affected weeks tentatively had the start times of 1 p. m. ET/10 a. m. PT, except played in the Pacific or Mountain time zones. On the Tuesday 12 days before the games, the league moved one game to the primetime slot and this was the first season that NBC held the rights to televise Sunday Night Football, becoming the beneficiaries by negotiating the new flexible-scheduling system. ESPN became the new home of Monday Night Football, replacing sister network American Broadcasting Company, meanwhile, CBS and Fox renewed their television contracts to the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference packages, respectively. Louis Rams – Scott Linehan, replaced interim head coach Joe Vitt who replaced Mike Martz who was not allowed to coach due to problems during the 2005 season. W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against Clinched playoff seeds are marked in parentheses, no tie games occurred this year. Tiebreakers Source,2007 NFL Record and Fact Book a Cincinnati finished ahead of Pittsburgh in the AFC North based on division record, B Tennessee finished ahead of Jacksonville in the AFC South based on division record. C Kansas City finished ahead of Denver in the AFC West based on division record, D Indianapolis clinched the AFC #3 seed based on their head-to-head victory over New England. E New Orleans clinched the NFC #2 seed based on their victory over Philadelphia. Giants clinched the NFC #6 seed based on strength of victory than Green Bay, while Carolina. Giants and Green Bay had better conference records, within each conference, the four division winners and the two wild card teams qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1 through 4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, the NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the division winner hosts the sixth seed wild card. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference then receive a bye in the first round, in the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the worst surviving seed from the first round, while the number 2 seed will play the other team. The two surviving teams from each divisional playoff games then meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games. Although the Super Bowl, the fourth and final round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, * Indicates overtime victory 2007 Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii, AFC31, NFC28 End zone celebrations became more restricted
8.
History of the St. Louis Rams
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The professional American football franchise now known as the Los Angeles Rams played in St. Louis, Missouri, as the St. Louis Rams from the 1995 through the 2015 seasons. The Rams franchise relocated from Los Angeles to St. Louis in 1995 and their last game played at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis was against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 17,2015, which they won, 31–23. The Rams last game as a St. Louis-based club was on January 3,2016, against the San Francisco 49ers at Levis Stadium, but the overall mediocrity of the Cardinals, combined with stadium issues, caused game attendance to dwindle. And once again the Bidwills, the family owned the Cardinals. The cities they looked at included Baltimore, Phoenix, New York City, nonetheless, Cardinals fans were unhappy at losing their team, and Bill Bidipll, fearing for his safety, stayed away from several of the 1987 home games. Their last home game was on December 13,1987, in which the Cardinals won 27–24 over the New York Giants in front of 29,623 fans on a late Sunday afternoon. Not long after the 1987 season, Bidipll agreed to move to the Phoenix area on a deal with state and local officials. They planned to play at Arizona State Universitys Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe on a basis while a new stadium was being built. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the savings and loan crisis derailed financing for the stadium, prior to the Rams 1979 Super Bowl season, owner Carroll Rosenbloom drowned in an accident. His widow, Georgia Frontiere, inherited 70% ownership of the team, Frontiere fired her step-son, Steve Rosenbloom, and assumed total control of the franchise. As had been planned prior to Carroll Rosenblooms death, the Rams moved from their home at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to Anaheim Stadium in nearby Orange County in 1980. Also, Southern Californias population patterns were changing, there was growth in L. A. s affluent suburbs. Anaheim Stadium was originally built in 1966 as the home of the California Angels Major League Baseball franchise, to accommodate the Rams move, the ballpark was reconfigured with luxury suites and enclosed to accommodate crowds of about 65,000 for football. In 1982 the Coliseum was occupied by the Los Angeles Raiders, the combined effect of these two factors was to force the Rams traditional fan base to be split between two teams. Making matters even worse, at time the Rams were unsuccessful on the field. Although it was not apparent at the time, the Rams loss in the 1989 NFC Championship Game marked the end of an era, the Rams would not have another winning season in Los Angeles for the remainder of the century, and beyond. The first half of the 1990s featured four straight 10-loss seasons, no playoff appearances, the return of Chuck Knox as head coach would not boost the Rams fortunes. Knoxs run-oriented offense brought about the end of offensive coordinator Ernie Zampeses tenure in 1993, general manager John Shaw was perceived by some to continually squander NFL Draft picks on sub-standard talent
9.
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
10.
Miami Dolphins
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The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football franchise based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues American Football Conference East division. The Dolphins play their games at Hard Rock Stadium in the northern suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida. The Dolphins and the Atlanta Falcons are the oldest NFL franchises in the Deep South, however, of the four AFC East teams, they are the only team in the division that was not a charter member of the American Football League. The Dolphins team was founded by attorney-politician Joe Robbie and actor-comedian Danny Thomas and they began play in the AFL in 1966. For the first few years the Dolphins full-time training camp and practice facilities were at Saint Andrews School, in 1970 the Dolphins joined the NFL when the AFL–NFL merger occurred. The team made its first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl VI, Miami also appeared in Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX, losing both games. For most of their history, the Dolphins were coached by Don Shula. Under Shula, the Dolphins posted losing records in two of his 26 seasons as the head coach. During the period spanning 1983 to the end of 1999, quarterback Dan Marino became one of the most prolific passers in NFL history, Marino led the Dolphins to five division titles,10 playoff appearances, and Super Bowl XIX before retiring following the 1999 season. During the summer of 1966, the Dolphins training camp was in St. Pete Beach with practices in August at Boca Ciega High School in Gulfport. The Dolphins had a combined 15–39–2 record in their first four seasons under head coach George Wilson, before Don Shula was hired as head coach. Shula was a Paul Brown disciple who had been lured from the Baltimore Colts after losing Super Bowl III two seasons earlier to the AFLs New York Jets and finishing 8–5–1 the following season. Interestingly, Shula got his first NFL coaching job from then-Detroit Head Coach George Wilson, when Shula replaced Wilson at Miami the Colts charged the Dolphins with tampering in their hiring of Shula, costing the Dolphins their first round draft pick in 1971. Shula introduced himself to the Miami press by saying that he didnt have any magic formulas, Shulas early training camps with the Dolphins, with four workouts a day, would soon be the stuff of sweltering, painful legend. But Shulas hard work paid dividends, as Miami improved to a 10–4 record and their first-ever playoff appearance. The Dolphins were successful in the early 1970s, becoming the first team to advance to the AFC Championship for three consecutive seasons and they captured the AFC championship in 1971 behind quarterback Bob Griese, running backs Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick, and wide receiver Paul Warfield. The AFC Divisional Playoff Game, in which the Dolphins defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, was the longest contest in NFL history, in Super Bowl VI, however, Miami lost to the Dallas Cowboys 24–3
11.
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
12.
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
13.
2015 NFL season
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The 2015 NFL season was the 96th season in the history of the National Football League, and the 50th of the Super Bowl era. The Panthers became the first team since the 2011 Green Bay Packers to win all but one of their regular season games and not win the Super Bowl. During the 2015 season, the Oakland Raiders, the St. Louis Rams, NFL owners eventually only approved the relocation of the Rams, by a vote of 30–2 on January 12,2016. Thus,2015 ended up being the Rams last season in St. Louis, the 2015 NFL League Year began on Tuesday, March 10,2015 at 4,00 p. m. ET. m. ET and trading period for 2015 began, a total of 453 players were eligible for some form of free agency at the beginning of the free agency period. Four players were assigned the franchise tag by their teams. These players were wide receivers Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas, linebacker Justin Houston, the player given the transition tag was Charles Clay. On March 19,2015, Clay signed a five-year, $38M contract with the Buffalo Bills, an unusually large number of big name players switched teams via trade prior to the 2015 season. Eagles coach Chip Kelly used his newly obtained GM powers to make many blockbuster trades, the Philadelphia Eagles traded 2-time All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso. The Eagles also traded Pro Bowl quarterback Nick Foles along with their selection in the round of the 2016 NFL Draft to the St. The Saints also traded away Pro Bowl guard Ben Grubbs and wide receiver Kenny Stills, the Detroit Lions acquired All-Pro defensive tackle Haloti Ngata from the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for draft picks to help make up for the loss of Ndamukong Suh in free agency. The 2015 NFL Draft was held April 30 – May 2,2015, 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 17–23. On October 2,2014, Auditorium Theatre in Chicago was announced as the site of the draft. The previous fifty NFL drafts had been held in New York, in the draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made Florida State University quarterback Jameis Winston the first overall selection. Training camps for the 2015 season began July 22 and continued through the end of preseason, the normal training camp window ran from late July to late August or early September. Most of the camps had rookies report first, then veterans, at that point, some teams practiced versus another organization, like the Bills practiced against the Browns this year. Teams started training camp no earlier than fifteen days before the teams first scheduled preseason game, at that point, the rosters for each team were open to 90 players. Those rosters were cut to 75 by Week 3 of preseason, prior to the start of the regular season, each team played at least four exhibition games
14.
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
15.
2016 NFL season
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For the first time since the 2003 NFL season, neither of the previous seasons Super Bowl participants made the playoffs. The 2016 season was also the last season for the San Diego Chargers before their return to their city of Los Angeles for 2017. The 2016 NFL league year began on March 9,2016 at 4,00 p. m. ET, all 2015 players contracts expired and trading period for 2016 begin. A total of 496 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. On March 9, the Philadelphia Eagles traded cornerback Byron Maxwell, linebacker Kiko Alonso, on March 9, the Philadelphia Eagles traded running back DeMarco Murray along with a 2016 fourth-round draft pick to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for a 2016 fourth-round draft pick. On March 11, the Philadelphia Eagles traded quarterback Mark Sanchez to the Denver Broncos in exchange for a conditional 2017 seventh-round draft pick. On March 15, the New England Patriots traded Pro Bowl defensive end Chandler Jones to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for guard Jonathan Cooper and a 2016 second-round draft pick. On March 16, the Chicago Bears traded tight end Martellus Bennett along with a 2016 sixth-round draft pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for a 2016 fourth-round draft pick. On April 9, the Denver Broncos traded offensive tackle Ryan Clady, on August 16, the Tennessee Titans traded wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for G/T Dennis Kelly. On September 3, the Philadelphia Eagles traded quarterback Sam Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2017 first-round draft pick, on October 31, the New England Patriots traded linebacker Jamie Collins to the Cleveland Browns for a conditional 2017 third-round draft pick. The 2016 NFL Draft was held between April 28 − April 30,2016 in Chicago, by way of a trade with the Tennessee Titans, the Los Angeles Rams held the first overall pick and selected QB Jared Goff. Oakland Raiders defensive back Charles Woodson announced he would retire from football at the end of the 2015 season on December 21,2015. He played eighteen seasons, starting with the Raiders for eight seasons and after spending seven with the Green Bay Packers, he returned to the Raiders for his final three seasons. He was the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year for the 2009 season and is tied with Rod Woodson, Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch announced his retirement from professional football on February 7,2016. Lynch played nine seasons, four with the Buffalo Bills and the five with the Seahawks. Lynch was a five-time Pro Bowler, led the league in rushing touchdowns two seasons, co-led in total touchdowns one season, and won a title with the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII. Carolina Panthers defensive end Jared Allen announced his retirement from football on February 18,2016. Allen played twelve seasons, his first four with the Kansas City Chiefs, then six with the Minnesota Vikings, a five-time Pro Bowl and four-time All-Pro selection, Allen tallied 136 quarterback sacks during his career
16.
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
17.
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
18.
Quarterback sack
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A quarterback that is pressured but avoids a sack can still be adversely affected by being forced to hurry. In the National Football League, it is possible to record a sack for zero yards, the QB must pass the statistical line of scrimmage to avoid the sack. A sack is also credited when a defender causes the quarterback to fumble the ball at or behind the line of scrimmage, to be considered a sack the quarterback must intend to throw a forward pass. If the play is designed for the quarterback to rush the ball, if the quarterbacks intent is not obvious, statisticians use certain criteria, such as the offensive line blocking scheme, to decide. Unique situations where a loss reduces a quarterbacks rushing total are kneel downs, a player will receive credit for half of a sack when multiple players contribute to the sacking of a quarterback, even if more than two players contributed. In the NFL yards lost on the play are added as negative yardage to the teams passing totals, however, NCAA continues to subtract sack yardage from individual rushing totals. The term sack was first popularized by Hall of Fame defensive end Deacon Jones in the 1960s, according to former NFL coach Marv Levy, it was Washington Redskins coach George Allen who actually coined the term when referring to Dallas Cowboys quarterback Craig Morton. Allen purportedly stated before a game, Before we play those Dallas Cowboys, we’re going to take that Morton salt, prior to sack, the term dump was often used, and the NFLs statistical office recorded all sacks under dumping the passer. The NFL only began to track of times passers lost yardage in 1961. Researcher John Turney of the Pro Football Researchers Association estimated that Jones recorded 173 1⁄2 sacks in his career, of all forms of defensive pressure against the oppositions passer, sacks provide the most immediate impact by ending the offensive play. However, quarterbacks sometimes avoid a sack by throwing a pass or risking an interception. According to Football Outsiders, a quarterback hurry is the most common form of pass pressure. In the 2009 NFL season, there were 1,106 sacks and 3,268 hurries,30,2007 NFL Game More Sacks Taken than Yards Passing, Five sacks and four yards passing by Colin Kaepernick on Dec.4,2016. NFL Super Bowl Most sacks, single game, 3*** Reggie White – Green Bay vs, new England, XXXI Darnell Dockett – Arizona vs. Pittsburgh, XLIII Kony Ealy – Carolina vs. Denver,50 Grady Jarrett – Atlanta vs. New England, LI NFL Super Bowl Most sacks, career,4, however, as sacks were not officially recorded by the NFL at that point, Michael Strahan is attributed the single season record. **Al Bubba Baker had 23 sacks in his rookie 1978 season, however, as sacks were not officially recorded by the NFL at that point, Jevon Kearse is attributed the single season rookie record. Since 1982, when the NFL first began keeping track of sacks, only 31 players have managed to reach the 100 sack milestone
19.
Interception
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In American or Canadian football, an interception occurs when a forward pass is caught by a player of the opposing team. This leads to a change of possession during the play. Following the stoppage of play, if the interceptor retained possession of the ball, interceptions are predominantly made by the secondary or the linebackers, who are usually closest to the quarterbacks intended targets, the wide receivers, running backs, and tight ends. Less frequently, a defensive lineman may get an interception from a ball, a near sack, a shovel pass, or a screen pass. For example, on December 4,2016, the Kansas City Chiefs strong safety Eric Berry scored the winning points via a pick two in a 29-28 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Berry also achieved an ordinary pick six earlier in the same game, if the intercepting team can run out the clock, the intercepting player may down the ball immediately and not attempt to gain any yardage. This eliminates the chance of a fumble that could be recovered by the other team, there are also player safety implications, when the ball is turned over, the play is now suddenly and unexpectedly moving in the opposite direction. All of the players on offense are instantly susceptible to unexpected blocks, even if not attempting to stop the ball carrier, additionally, offensive players, particularly the quarterback, are often inexperienced tacklers and are at risk of injuring themselves while tackling the ball carrier. Only the interception of a pass is recorded statistically as an interception. The interception of a pass is recorded as a fumble by the passer. Lester Hayes of the Oakland Raiders was one of the National Football Leagues leaders at interceptions in the late 1970s and he was known for covering his chest, shoulders and forearms with a copious amount of the adhesive Stickum to help him hold on to the ball. He continued to use the substance, which he called pick juice, paul Krause holds the record for most career interceptions, with 81, and is tied for third place for most interceptions by an NFL rookie in his first season, with 12. He played his first three years in the NFL from 1964 to 1967 with the Washington Redskins but was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, Krause played until 1979 and appeared in four Super Bowls with the Vikings. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998, Rod Woodson played 16 seasons with Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Baltimore, and Oakland, and holds the NFL record for most interception returns for touchdown in an NFL career with 12. Also, he holds the NFL record for most total defensive TD returns in a career with 13, Woodson, who is third on the NFL all-time career interception list with 71, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. Sharper holds the NFL record for return yardage in a single season with 376 yards in 2009. He is also tied with Rod Woodson for most total defensive TD returns career with 13, charles Woodson, formerly with the Green Bay Packers and Oakland Raiders has 65 career interceptions and tied Rod Woodson for most defensive touchdowns with 13. Woodson and Sharper are tied for all time in interceptions returned for touchdowns with 11
20.
Fumble
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A fumble in American and Canadian football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed or scoring. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, a fumble may be forced by a defensive player who either grabs or punches the ball or butts the ball with his helmet. A fumbled ball may be recovered and advanced by either team and it is one of three events that can cause a turnover, where possession of the ball can change during play. Under American rules a fumble may be confused with a muff, a muff occurs where a player drops a ball that he does not have possession of, such as while attempting to catch a lateral pass or improperly fielding a kicking play such as a punt. Ball security is the ability of a player to control over the football during play. If the ball is fumbled the defensive team may recover the ball, the same is true for the offense, but usually when the offense recovers the ball it simply tries to down it. In American football the offense cannot advance the ball if it recovers its own fumble on fourth down, in American football, there is no separate signal to indicate a fumble recovery. If the offense recovers its own fumble, the official will indicate the recovery by a signal showing the next down. If the defense recovers the fumble, the official will indicate with a first down signal in the direction the team is driving the ball. Some officials have used a first down signal when the offense recovers its own fumble. This is not the thing as when a forward pass is attempted and is not caught. In this latter case, it is simply an incomplete pass, however, if the receiver catches the ball, but then drops it after gaining control of the ball, that is considered a fumble. Any number of fumbles can be committed during a play, including fumbles by the team originally on defense, Most famously, Dallas Cowboys defender Leon Lett fumbled during Super Bowl XXVII while celebrating during his own fumble return. A sometimes controversial rule is referred to as the ground cannot cause a fumble. If a player is tackled and loses control of the ball at or after the time he makes contact with the ground, the player is treated as down and the ball is not in play. However, in the NFL and CFL, if a ball carrier falls without an opponent contacting him and this is because in those leagues the ball carrier is not down unless an opponent first makes contact, or the runner is out of bounds. If a player fumbles in most other leagues, as soon as the knee or elbow touches the ground and it is also possible for the ground to cause a fumble in college football if the ball hits the ground before any part of the ball carriers body touches the ground. An example was the fumble by Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner vs. Tennessee in 1998, the effects of fumbles vary when the ball goes out of bounds without being recovered, A fumble going out-of-bounds between the end zones is retained by the last team with possession
21.
Touchdown
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A touchdown is a means of scoring in both American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, to score a touchdown, one team must take the football into the opposite end zone. The touchdown is scored the instant the ball crosses the plane of the line while in possession of a player whose team is trying to score in that end zone. The play is dead and the scores the moment the ball crosses the goal line in possession of a player. The slightest part of the ball being over the line is sufficient for a touchdown to score. However, only the ball counts, not a players helmet, foot, touching one of the pylons at either end of the goal line with the ball constitutes breaking the plane as well. Touchdowns are usually scored by the offense by running or passing the ball, however, the defense can also score a touchdown if they have recovered a fumble or made an interception and return it to the opposing end zone. Special teams can score a touchdown on a kickoff or punt return, in short, any play in which a player legally carries the ball across the goal line scores a touchdown, and the manner in which he gained possession is inconsequential. A touchdown is worth six points, the scoring team is also awarded the opportunity for an extra point or a two-point conversion. Afterwards, the team scored the touchdown kicks off to the opposing team. This rule was changed to the iteration in 1889. If the teammate could fair catch the ball, he could follow with a try for goal from the spot of the catch, the governing rule at the time read, A match shall be decided by a majority of touchdowns. A goal shall be equal to four touchdowns, but in the case of a tie, in 1881, the rules were modified so that a goal kicked from a touchdown took precedence over a goal kicked from the field in breaking ties. In 1882, four touchdowns were determined to take precedence over a goal kicked from the field, two safeties were equivalent to a touchdown. In 1883, points were introduced to football, and a touchdown counted as four points, a goal after a touchdown also counted as four points. In 1889, the provision requiring the ball to actually be touched to the ground was removed, a touchdown was now scored by possessing the ball beyond the goal line. In 1897, the touchdown scored five points, and the goal after touchdown added another point, in 1900, the definition of touchdown was changed to include situations where the ball becomes dead on or above the goal line. In 1912, the value of a touchdown was increased to six points, the end zone was also added
22.
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
23.
College football
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It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. No minor league farm organizations exist in American football and it is in college football where a players performance directly impacts his chances of playing professional football. The best collegiate players will declare for the professional draft after 3 to 4 years of collegiate competition. Those not selected can still attempt to land an NFL roster spot as a free agent. Even after the emergence of the professional National Football League, college football remained extremely popular throughout the U. S, in many cases, college stadiums employ bench-style seating, as opposed to individual seats with backs and arm rests. This allows them to more fans in a given amount of space than the typical professional stadium. College athletes, unlike players in the NFL, are not permitted by the NCAA to be paid salaries, colleges are only allowed to provide non-monetary compensation such as athletic scholarships that provide for tuition, housing, and books. Modern North American football has its origins in various games, all known as football, by the 1840s, students at Rugby School were playing a game in which players were able to pick up the ball and run with it, a sport later known as Rugby football. The game was taken to Canada by British soldiers stationed there and was soon being played at Canadian colleges, the first documented gridiron football match was a game played at University College, a college of the University of Toronto, November 9,1861. One of the participants in the game involving University of Toronto students was William Mulock, a football club was formed at the university soon afterward, although its rules of play at this stage are unclear. In 1864, at Trinity College, also a college of the University of Toronto, F. Barlow Cumberland, modern Canadian football is widely regarded as having originated with a game played in Montreal, in 1865, when British Army officers played local civilians. The game gradually gained a following, and the Montreal Football Club was formed in 1868, early games appear to have had much in common with the traditional mob football played in England. The games remained largely unorganized until the 19th century, when games of football began to be played on college campuses. Each school played its own variety of football, Princeton University students played a game called ballown as early as 1820. A Harvard tradition known as Bloody Monday began in 1827, which consisted of a mass ballgame between the freshman and sophomore classes, in 1860, both the town police and the college authorities agreed the Bloody Monday had to go. The Harvard students responded by going into mourning for a figure called Football Fightum. The authorities held firm and it was a dozen years before football was again played at Harvard. Dartmouth played its own version called Old division football, the rules of which were first published in 1871, all of these games, and others, shared certain commonalities
24.
Milton, Florida
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Milton is a city in Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States. The city was incorporated in 1844 and is home to Naval Air Station Whiting Field, the population was 7,045 at the 2000 census. In 2004, the population recorded by the U. S. Census Bureau was 8,044, the population estimate for 2013 was 9,323. It is the county seat of Santa Rosa County, Milton was known by various names during its development. Most notable were Hell-Town Jernigans Landing, Scratch Ankle, Hard Scrabble, and later Milton and/or because of the lumber mill industry or Mill Town. Milton is part of the Pensacola–Ferry Pass–Brent Metropolitan Statistical Area, Milton is located at 30°37′49″N 87°02′47″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 4.6 square miles. At the 2000 census, there were 7,045 people,2,674 households and 1,831 families residing in the city, the population density was 1,611.1 per square mile. There were 3,151 housing units at a density of 720.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 67. 84% White,25. 95% African American,0. 71% Native American,1. 73% Asian,0. 17% Pacific Islander,1. 04% from other races, and 2. 56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3. 45% of the population,27. 2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12. 0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the family size was 3.04. 27. 3% of the population were under the age of 18,8. 9% from 18 to 24,28. 2% from 25 to 44,18. 8% from 45 to 64, the median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 86.2 males, for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.1 males. The median household income was $37,629, and the family income was $44,261. Males had an income of $35,000 versus $28,337 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,367, about 11% of families and 16. 7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20. 2% of those under age 18 and 11. 7% of those age 65 or over. Santa Rosa Medical Center is a 129-bed general hospital in Milton, SRMC is the primary provider of hospital-based healthcare services and emergency medicine in Santa Rosa County
25.
Halfback (American football)
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A halfback is an offensive position in American football, whose duties involve lining up in the backfield and carrying the ball on most rushing plays, i. e. a running back. The halfback position is one of the more glamorous positions on the field, sometimes the halfback can catch the ball from the backfield on short passing plays as he is an eligible receiver. Occasionally, they line up as wide receivers. When not running or catching the ball, the responsibility of a halfback is to aid the offensive linemen in blocking. Before the emergence of the T-formation in the 1940s, all members of the backfield were legitimate threats to run or pass the ball. Most teams used four offensive backs on every play, a quarterback, the quarterback began each play a quarter of the way back, the halfbacks began each play side by side and halfway back, and the fullback began each play the farthest back. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the position was both an offensive and defensive position. There has also been a shift in most offense’s dependence on halfbacks, however, the average output of the halfback has not changed. Older systems require the halfback be proficient at throwing the ball downfield as well, many of the “scat backs” in the modern era produce more total yards and touchdowns than their ancestor “power backs” by breaking off big plays on outside runs and receptions. The spread offense and the hurry-up offense change the halfback’s role, the spread, the hurry-up, and the pro-style offenses dominate American football but the “smash-mouth” style of play is far from extinct. A power-running scheme is often utilized to counter an effective Spread attack, as it allows a team to control the clock and this strategy is utilized in NFL, college, and all other forms of American football. The need for “power backs is very prevalent, alongside the need for “scat backs”, in the past few decades the role of the halfback has gone through a great shift as most offensive game plans are now fueled by creativity and finesse instead of raw force. Stamina and durability is more important than ever in the hurry-up offense, on the other hand, speed is often valued over strength, and pass-catching ability is sometimes valued over blocking proficiency. Power was once the most desired trait in a halfback, but has been taken by the need for a diverse skill set. In the last few decades the running back’s individual share of output has declined as quarterbacks are generally treated as the cornerstone of the offense. The demands of an up-tempo offense also favor a multiple running back system, from the dawn of American football through the 1880s most offensive schemes focused on the running game. In a running based game plan the halfback was typically the cornerstone of the offense and this system focused on a physical run attack concentrated in the inside of the field, and therefore depended on a skilled “power back”. There were no forward passes, and pure speed took a backseat to tackle-breaking and bucking ability, there was a focus on physicality over finesse, as this type of playing style earned the moniker of “smash mouth” football
26.
Ohio Valley Conference
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The Ohio Valley Conference is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA, the football programs compete in the Football Championship Subdivision. The OVC has 12 members,9 of which compete in football in the conference, the plan was put on hold due to World War II, but it was resurrected after the conclusion of the war. In 1948, the three schools joined with Louisville, Morehead State, and Evansville to form the Ohio Valley Conference, historically, the OVC was a pioneer in racial desegregation with Morehead State signing the conferences first black athlete, Marshall Banks, in 1958. The rest of the OVC soon followed in Morehead States wake, all other HBCUs in NCAA Division I are members of either the MEAC or SWAC, conferences made up entirely of HBCUs. The OVC has also been a leader in advancement of sports opportunities for women, since 2009, the OVC has been led by Commissioner Beth DeBauche, one of only six female commissioners for the thirty-two Division I conferences. When the national debate on the problem reached its apex in the mid-1990s, principles of fair play, ethical conduct and respect for ones opponent. Since then, the OVC has also introduced individual, team, founded by six schools, the expansions of 2007 and 2011 have brought the Ohio Valley Conference membership to twelve schools, the most in its history. In its first two years, the network provided well over 600,000 viewings of streamed live video of more than 1400 events. Note Morehead States football team competes in the Pioneer Football League, Notes Notes Columbus State dropped rifle after the 2014–15 school year. Austin Peays football team left the OVC after the 1996 season to compete as an NCAA D-I FCS Independent, after four seasons as an Independent, the team joined the Pioneer Football League in 2001, and remained there through the 2005 season. Austin Peay then returned to football, spending the 2006 season as an Independent before re-entering OVC football competition in 2007. Starting with the 2012–13 school year, the member schools divided into two divisions for those sports in which all schools compete. In the 2014–15 season, womens sports with twelve teams returned to a 12 team ranking, the Ohio Valley Conference currently offers championship competition in eighteen NCAA sanctioned sports, eight for men, nine for women, and rifle for mens, womens, and coed teams. All competing OVC schools have coed teams, and Tennessee-Martin has both a womens and a coed team, womens varsity sports not sponsored by the Ohio Valley Conference which are played by OVC schools ‡ = Rodeo is sanctioned by the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, not the NCAA. While UT-Martin considers rodeo to be a varsity sport, Murray State operates their rodeo teams a club sport within the Hutson School of Agriculture, ¶ = Eastern Illinois is one of only 14 schools playing NCAA-sanctioned rugby. The NCAA currently classifies rugby as a sport for women. The NCAA has never governed mens rugby and this is a list of the champions since 2000
27.
Samford University
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Samford University is a private, coeducational, Christian university located in Homewood, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College, Samford University is the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford University is Alabamas top-ranked private university, the university enrolls 5,471 students from 47 states and 29 countries. Samford University has been ranked for academic programs, value and affordability by Kiplingers Personal Finance. In 1841, Samford University was founded as Howard College in Marion, some of the land was donated by Reverend James H. DeVotie, who served on the Samford Board of Trustees for fifteen years and as its President for two years. The first financial gift, $4,000, was given by Julia Tarrant Barron, the university was established after the Alabama Baptist State Convention decided to build a school for men in Perry County, Alabama. The colleges first nine students began studies in January 1842 with a curriculum of language, literature. In October 1854, a fire destroyed all of the colleges property, one student and a slave owned by the Universitys president died in the fire. The slave, Harry, was buried in the city cemetery with a significant obelisk marking his grave. Harry was remembered as a faithful servant, while the college recovered from the fire, the Civil War began. Howard College was converted to a hospital by the Confederate government in 1863. During this time, the remaining faculty offered basic instruction to soldiers recovering at the hospital. For a short period after the war, federal troops occupied the college, Howard Colleges board of trustees accepted real estate and funding from the city of Birmingham, Alabama in 1887. In 1913, the college became fully and permanently coeducational, Howard College added its School of Music in 1914 and School of Education and Journalism the following year. The college introduced its Department of Pharmacy in 1927, at the time, it was the only program of its kind in the Southeastern United States. During World War II, Howard College hosted a V-12 Navy College Training Program, the number of veterans attending the college after the war boosted enrollment beyond capacity. In result, the college was moved to the Shades Valley in Homewood, the new campus opened in 1957. In 1961, the college acquired Cumberland School of Law, one of the nations oldest law schools, in addition to the law school, Howard College added a new school of business and reorganized to achieve university status in 1965
28.
NCAA Division I
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Division I is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States. This level was called the University Division of the NCAA, in contrast to the lower level College Division. For football only, Division I was further subdivided in 1978 into Division I-A, Division I-AA, in 2006, Division I-A and I-AA were renamed Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision, respectively. FCS teams are allowed to award scholarships, a practice technically allowed. FBS teams also have to meet attendance requirements, while FCS teams do not need to meet minimum attendance requirements. Another difference is post season play, starting with the 2014 postseason, a four-team playoff called the College Football Playoff, replaced the previous one game championship format. Even so, Division I FBS football is still the only NCAA sport in which a champion is not determined by an NCAA-sanctioned championship event. All D-I schools must field teams in at least seven sports for men and seven for women or six for men and eight for women, with at least two team sports for each gender. Division I schools must meet minimum financial aid awards for their athletics program, Several other NCAA sanctioned minimums and differences that distinguish Division I from Divisions II and III. Each playing season has to be represented by each gender as well, there are contest and participant minimums for each sport, as well as scheduling criteria. Mens and womens teams have to play all but two games against Division I teams, for men, they must play one-third of all their contests in the home arena. The NCAA has limits on the financial aid each Division I member may award in each sport that the school sponsors. Equivalency sports, in which the NCAA limits the total financial aid that a school can offer in a sport to the equivalent of a set number of full scholarships. Roster limitations may or may not apply, depending on the sport, the term counter is also key to this concept. The NCAA defines a counter as an individual who is receiving financial aid that is countable against the aid limitations in a sport. The number of scholarships that Division I members may award in sport is listed below. In this table, scholarship numbers for head-count sports are indicated without a point, for equivalency sports, they are listed with a decimal point. An exception exists for players at non-scholarship FCS programs who receive aid in another sport, participants in basketball are counted in that sport, unless they also play football
29.
Sports Illustrated
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Sports Illustrated is an American sports media franchise owned by Time Inc. Its self-titled magazine has over 3 million subscribers and is read by 23 million people each week and it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice. Its swimsuit issue, which has published since 1964, is now an annual publishing event that generates its own television shows, videos. There were two magazines named Sports Illustrated before the current magazine began on August 16,1954, in 1936, Stuart Scheftel created Sports Illustrated with a target market for the sportsman. He published the magazine from 1936 to 1938 on a monthly basis, the magazine was a life magazine size and focused on golf, tennis, and skiing with articles on the major sports. He then sold the name to Dell Publications, which released Sports Illustrated in 1949, dells version focused on major sports and competed on magazine racks against Sport and other monthly sports magazines. During the 1940s these magazines were monthly and they did not cover the current events because of the production schedules, there was no large-base, general, weekly sports magazine with a national following on actual active events. It was then that Time patriarch Henry Luce began considering whether his company should attempt to fill that gap, at the time, many believed sports was beneath the attention of serious journalism and did not think sports news could fill a weekly magazine, especially during the winter. A number of advisers to Luce, including Life magazines Ernest Havemann, tried to kill the idea, but Luce, the goal of the new magazine was to be basically a magazine, but with sports. Launched on August 16,1954, it was not profitable and not particularly well run at first, but Luces timing was good. The popularity of sports in the United States was about to explode. The early issues of the magazine seemed caught between two opposing views of its audience, after more than a decade of steady losses, the magazines fortunes finally turned around in the 1960s when Andre Laguerre became its managing editor. A European correspondent for Time, Inc, in May 1956, Luce brought Laguerre to New York to become assistant managing editor of the magazine. He was also one of the first to sense the rise of national interest in professional football, Laguerre also instituted the innovative concept of one long story at the end of every issue, which he called the bonus piece. His genius as an editor was that he made you want to please him, Laguerre is also credited with the conception and creation of the annual Swimsuit Issue, which quickly became, and remains, the most popular issue each year. Regular illustration features by artists like Robert Riger, high school football Player of the Month awards. In 2015 Sports Illustrated purchased a group of companies and combined them to create Sports Illustrated Play. The magazines photographers also made their mark with innovations like putting cameras in the goal at a hockey game, by 1967, the magazine was printing 200 pages of fast color a year, in 1983, SI became the first American full-color newsweekly
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Bench press
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The bench press is an upper body strength training exercise that consists of pressing a weight upwards from a supine position. A barbell is generally used to hold the weight, but a pair of dumbbells can also be used. The barbell bench press is one of three lifts in the sport of powerlifting and is used extensively in training, bodybuilding. The person performing the exercise lies on their back with a weight grasped in both hands and they push the weight upwards until their arms are extended, not allowing the elbows to lock. They then lower the weight to chest level, powerlifting, take posture with body weight resting on buttocks and upper traps whilst driving feet into the floor. Movement requires the weight to be taken at full length, lowered to upper torso, paused. The bench press has evolved over the years, from floor, bridge, at first the strict floor press was the most popular method. In 1899, using a barbell with 48 centimetres discs, George Hackenschmidt, inventor of the hack squat, rolled a barbell over his face. This stood as a record for 18 years until Joe Nordquest broke it by 1 kilogram in 1916, around this time, new methods started gaining ground. Lifters started figuring out that strong glutes could help them get the bar from the ground to overhead and they would lie on the floor and position the bar over their abdomen, then perform an explosive glute bridge movement, catapulting the bar upwards and catching it at lockout. Lifting techniques, training and drugs have improved over the years, a conventional bench press uses pectoralis major muscle, anterior deltoid, coracobrachialis to horizontally adduct the shoulder. It also uses predominantly triceps brachii and anconeous to extend the elbows, wider hand spacing places a greater emphasis on shoulder flexion and narrower hand spacing utilizes more elbow extension. Because of this, wider hand spacing is associated with training the pectorals, the term bench press on its own is assumed to refer to a flat bench press. An incline elevates the shoulders and lowers the pelvis as if reclining in a chair and this variation is called the incline bench press. A decline bench press elevates the pelvis and lowers the head, a reverse grip bench press utilizes an underhand grip on the bar. A supinated grip externally rotates the humerus, which puts the shoulders in a more favorable position for the lift. It emphasises the clavicular head of the pectoralis major more than a bench press. A bench press performed with the hands close together relies on the triceps to complete the pressing motion, called the close grip bench press, this variation is best performed with arms in a near-vertical position to reduce strain placed upon the wrists, elbows and shoulders
31.
David Garrard
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David Douglas Garrard is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League for twelve seasons. He played college football for the East Carolina University Pirates and he was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft, and served as the teams starting quarterback from 2007 to 2010. Garrard was born in East Orange, New Jersey and grew up in Durham, when he was fourteen his mother died of breast cancer, when he began his professional career he created The David Garrard Foundation to promote breast cancer awareness and research. Garrard attended Southern High School in Durham, where he was named an All-America choice by Prep Stars, veteran high school coaches in North Carolina said Garrard possessed one of the strongest arms they had ever seen and compared Garrard to former NFL quarterback Roman Gabriel. Garrard attended East Carolina University, where he played for the East Carolina Pirates football team, although physically larger than most quarterbacks at more than 240 pounds, Garrard displayed exceptional mobility. Former East Carolina head football coach Steve Logan compared the experience of tackling Garrard to getting hit by a beer truck, Garrard also proved durable, starting every game for the Pirates in the 1999,2000, and 2001 seasons. In Garrards sophomore season, he led the Pirates to a 9–3 record with victories over the West Virginia Mountaineers, South Carolina Gamecocks, Miami Hurricanes, and North Carolina State Wolfpack. In the fourth game of the season against Miami, East Carolina came back from a 20–3 deficit to defeat the 13th-ranked Miami Hurricanes, Garrard threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Keith Stokes for the go-ahead score in the final minutes of the game. ECU was unable to play the home game at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium on its campus in Greenville, NC. The hurricane also prevented the Pirates from returning to Greenville following a victory against South Carolina, leaving ECUs football team stranded in Columbia. East Carolina moved the game against Miami to Carter–Finley Stadium in Raleigh, the victory propelled ECU into the Associated Press college football polls top 25. The Pirates spent eleven weeks ranked in the AP poll, climbed to as high as 16th in the poll, and finished the regular season ranked 20th. East Carolina dropped out of the top 25 to 27th in the voting after losing 28–14 in the Mobile Alabama Bowl to Texas Christian University, ECU finished 8–4 in Garrards junior season. Garrard capped the season by throwing a touchdown and rushing for another acrobatic TD in a 40–27 victory against Texas Tech in the Galleryfurniture. com Bowl. Garrards senior season began with high expectations but ended in disappointment, although East Carolina averaged more than 35 points per game in 2001, the Pirates finished the season with a 6–6 record. Ironically, the game of Garrards college career pitted him against Marshall University and its starting quarterback, Byron Leftwich. Garrard and Leftwich would eventually be teammates with the Jacksonville Jaguars, in the highest-scoring bowl game in college football history, Leftwich brought Marshall back from a thirty-point deficit to defeat Garrards East Carolina Pirates 64–61 in double-overtime. Garrard went on to graduate from East Carolina University in 2001 with a degree in Construction Management, Garrard was drafted in the fourth round as the 108th overall pick in the 2002 draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars
32.
Jacksonville Jaguars
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The Jacksonville Jaguars are an American professional football franchise based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League as a club of the American Football Conference South division. The team plays its games at EverBank Field. The Jaguars and the Carolina Panthers joined the NFL as expansion teams for the 1995 season, since their inception, the Jaguars have won division championships in 1998 and 1999 and have qualified for the playoffs six times, most recently in 2007. From their inception until 2011, the Jacksonville Jaguars majority owner was Wayne Weaver, the team was then purchased by Pakistani-born businessman Shahid Khan for an estimated $770 million. In 2015, Forbes estimated the value at $1.48 billion. In 1989, the ownership group Touchdown Jacksonville. The group initially included future Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Jacksonville developer Tom Petway, in 1991, the NFL announced plans to add two expansion teams in 1994, its first expansion since the 1976 addition of the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Announced its bid for a team, and Jacksonville was ultimately chosen as one of five finalists, along with Charlotte, St. Louis, Baltimore, Jacksonville was considered the least likely expansion candidate for several reasons. The Jacksonville metropolitan area and television market were smaller than those of every team in the league. There were 635,000 people in Jacksonville proper according to the 1990 census, additionally, the Gator Bowl was outdated, and the ownership group struggled to negotiate a lease with the city. The troubled negotiations over the Gator Bowl lease led the group to withdraw from the NFL expansion bidding in July 1993. Charlotte was awarded the first franchise – the Carolina Panthers – in October 1993, surprisingly, the naming of the second expansion city was delayed a month. Most pundits speculated that the delay was made to allow St. Louis to shore up its bid, at the time, St. Louis was considered the favorite for the second franchise, with Baltimores three bids also considered strong. However, in a move, the NFL owners voted 26–2 in favor of awarding the 30th franchise to Jacksonville. After the Gator Bowl game on December 31,1993, the old stadium was demolished and replaced with a reinforced concrete superstructure. All that remained of the old stadium was the west upper concourse, in January 1994 Wayne Weaver chose Tom Coughlin as the first-ever head coach of the Jaguars. While he had previously had success with Boston College, many at the time believed his hiring was a risky move
33.
Nnamdi Asomugha
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Nnamdi Asomugha is a former American football cornerback. He played college football for the University of California, Berkeley and he also played for the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. For many years he was considered one of the best shutdown corners in the NFL, nnamdi Asomugha was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, to Nigerian Igbo parents. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, Asomugha attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he played for the California Golden Bears football team. Asomugha graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies focused on Corporate Finance, Asomugha was the second Cal player to be drafted in the first round of the 2003 NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders. He was moved to cornerback but played sparingly the first two seasons of his career and he became a starter in 2005 and set new highs in tackles with 60 tackles and passes broken up with 14. In 2006, he recorded his first two interceptions against the Cleveland Browns. He got his third interception four weeks later against the Pittsburgh Steelers, though the team suffered through a 2-14 season, Asomughas 2006 campaign was his finest yet as he finished the season with 50 tackles, eight interceptions, a sack, a forced fumble and one touchdown. His interception total tied him for second highest total in the National Football League along with four other players, after the season, Asomugha was invited to the Pro Bowl as an alternate but because of late notice he was not able to attend the annual all-star game. He also received the Oakland Raiders Commitment to Excellence Award and was named the teams Most Valuable Player, in addition, Asomugha was selected to Dr. Z Sports Illustrated 2006 All-Pro team as well as The Associated Press 2006 All-Pro Team. Asomugha was selected as the Raiders Team Captain for the 2007 season, opposing quarterbacks tested him only 31 times with a mere 10 completions the entire season. One NFL scout told Pro Football Weekly that Asomugha was thrown at less than any defender in the last ten years in 2007 and he finished the 2007 season with 34 tackles,1 interception and 7 breakups and was named a 2008 Pro Bowl alternate. A free agent in the 2008 offseason, the Raiders placed the franchise tag on Asomugha on February 20,2008. Asomugha was again selected a captain before the 2008 season. Opposing quarterbacks tested him only 27 times the entire season resulting in just 8 completions, only perennial all-pros Randy Moss and Tony Gonzalez would catch more than one ball on him during the year. New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said Asomugha is as complete a cornerback as he has all year. He finished the 2008 season with 40 tackles,1 interception,1 forced fumble and he received the Oakland Raiders Commitment to Excellence Award for the second time and was named the teams 2008 Co-Most Valuable Player along with running back Justin Fargas. Asomugha was selected as a starter for the 2009 Pro Bowl and he was selected onto The Sporting News 2008 All-Pro Team as well as the Pro Football Writers Association All-NFL Team for 2008
34.
National Football League Players Association
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The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is the labor organization representing the professional American football players in the National Football League. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D. C. is led by president Eric Winston, founded in 1956, the NFLPA was established to provide players with formal representation to negotiate compensation and the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. The NFLPA is a member of the AFL–CIO, the largest federation of unions in the United States, in the early years of the NFL, contractual negotiations took place between individual players and management, team owners were reluctant to engage in collective bargaining. A series of strikes and lockouts have occurred throughout the unions existence largely due to monetary, however, the organization was not recognized by the NFL as the official bargaining agent for the players until 1968, when a CBA was signed. The most recent CBA negotiations took place in 2011, the union also ensures that the terms of the collective bargaining agreement are adhered to by the league and the teams. It negotiates and monitors retirement and insurance benefits and enhances and defends the image of players, the establishment of the National Football League in 1920 featured early franchises haphazardly formed and often saddled with financial difficulties, poor player talent and attendance rates. As the league expanded through the years, players were provided with no formal representation and received few, if any, in 1943, Roy Zimmermans refusal to play an exhibition game without compensation resulted in his trade from the Washington Redskins to the Philadelphia Eagles. Subsequently, Radovich was blacklisted by the NFL and was denied a tryout with the NFL-affiliated San Francisco Seals baseball team of the Pacific Coast League, unable to attain a job in either league, Radovich filed a lawsuit against the NFL in 1957. In 1964, Green Bay Packers Pro Bowl and All-Pro center Jim Ringo approached head coach Vince Lombardi to negotiate a raise. Lombardi was angered by the presence of Ringos agent, and excused himself, the players grew tired of incidents such as these and complained to one another. One sore point was playing in training camp and preseason exhibition games without pay, Miller was initially reluctant but accepted in 1956. He contacted Don Shula, John Gordy of the Detroit Lions, Frank Gifford and Sam Huff of the New York Giants, the first meeting took place at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in November where players decided on demands to be submitted to league commissioner Bert Bell. The NFLPA hoped to meet with Bell during the meeting in January 1957 to discuss the demands, however. Miller continued to represent the NFLPA in their early days, unable to win the owners attention by forming the union, the NFLPA threatened to bring an antitrust lawsuit against the league. The antitrust laws are meant to free and fair competition in the marketplace. Jarett Bell of USA Today noted in 2011, the Radovich ruling set the foundation for a series of battles that have continued to present times largely over disagreements in compensation. Rather than face another lawsuit, the agreed to a league minimum salary of $5,000, $50 for each exhibition game played. From the inception of the NFLPA, its members were divided whether it should act as a professional association or a union
