1.
American Football League
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The American Football League was a major professional American football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when it merged with the National Football League. The upstart AFL operated in competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence. The AFL was created by a number of owners who had been refused NFL expansion franchises or had shares of NFL franchises. The league first gained attention by signing 75% of the NFLs first-round draft choices in 1960, the transformation of the struggling Titans into the New York Jets under new ownership further solidified the leagues reputation among the major media. As fierce competition made player salaries skyrocket in both leagues, especially after a series of raids, the agreed to a merger in 1966. Among the conditions were a common draft and a game played between the two league champions, which would eventually become known as the Super Bowl. The AFL and NFL operated as separate leagues until 1970, with regular season. During this time the AFL added the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals, in 1970, the AFL was absorbed into the NFL, and the ten AFL franchises along with the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers became the American Football Conference. During the 1950s, the National Football League had grown to rival Major League Baseball as one of the most popular sports leagues in the United States. One franchise that did not share in this success of the league was the Chicago Cardinals, owned by the Bidwill family. The Bidwills hoped to relocate their franchise, preferably to St. Louis, needing cash, the Bidwills began entertaining offers from would-be investors, and one of the men who approached the Bidwills was Lamar Hunt, son and heir of millionaire oilman H. L. Hunt. Hunt offered to buy the Cardinals and move them to Dallas, while Hunt negotiated with the Bidwills, similar offers were made by Bud Adams, Bob Howsam, and Max Winter. When Hunt, Adams, and Howsam were unable to secure a controlling interest in the Cardinals, they approached NFL commissioner Bert Bell, Bell, wary of expanding the 12-team league and risking its newfound success, rejected the offer. On his return flight to Dallas, Hunt conceived the idea of a new league. He contacted Adams, Howsam, and Winter to gauge their interest in starting a new league, hunts first meeting with Adams was held in March 1959. Hunt, who felt a regional rivalry would be critical for the success of the new league, convinced Adams to join, Hunt next secured an agreement from Howsam to bring a team to Denver. After Winter and Boyer agreed to start a team in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Hunt then approached Willard Rhodes, who hoped to bring pro football to Seattle. With no place for his team to play, Rhodes effort came to nothing, Hunt also sought franchises in Los Angeles, Buffalo and New York City
2.
National Football League
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The National Football League is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The NFL is one of the four professional sports leagues in North America. The NFLs 17-week regular season runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing 16 games, the NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season, the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. S. The NFLs executive officer is the commissioner, who has authority in governing the league. The team with the most NFL championships is the Green Bay Packers with thirteen, the current NFL champions are the New England Patriots, who defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34–28 in Super Bowl LI. Another meeting held on September 17,1920 resulted in the renaming of the league to the American Professional Football Association, the league hired Jim Thorpe as its first president, and consisted of 14 teams. Only two of these teams, the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Cardinals, remain, the first event occurred on September 26,1920 when the Rock Island Independents defeated the non-league St. Paul Ideals 48–0 at Douglas Park. On October 3,1920, the first full week of league play occurred, the following season resulted in the Chicago Staleys controversially winning the title over the Buffalo All-Americans. In 1922, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League, in 1932, the season ended with the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans tied for first in the league standings. This method had used since the leagues creation in 1920. The league quickly determined that a game between Chicago and Portsmouth was needed to decide the leagues champion. Playing with altered rules to accommodate the playing field, the Bears won the game 9–0. Fan interest in the de facto championship game led the NFL, beginning in 1933, the 1934 season also marked the first of 12 seasons in which African Americans were absent from the league. The de facto ban was rescinded in 1946, following public pressure, the NFL was always the foremost professional football league in the United States, it nevertheless faced a large number of rival professional leagues through the 1930s and 1940s. Rival leagues included at least three separate American Football Leagues and the All-America Football Conference, on top of regional leagues of varying caliber. Three NFL teams trace their histories to these leagues, including the Los Angeles Rams
3.
Miami Orange Bowl
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The Miami Orange Bowl was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, west of downtown in Little Havana. Considered a landmark, it was the stadium for the Miami Hurricanes college football team. It also hosted the professional Miami Dolphins for their first 21 seasons, the stadium was the temporary home of the FIU Golden Panthers while its FIU Stadium underwent expansion during the 2007 season. From 1966 to 1968, and again in the 1970s, a dolphin was situated in a water tank in the open end of the Orange Bowl. He would jump in the tank to celebrate touchdowns and field goals, the tank that was set up in the 1970s was manufactured by Evan Bush and maintained during the games by Evan Bush and Dene Whitaker. Flipper was removed from the Orange Bowl after 1968 to save costs, the event was moved to Pro Player Stadium beginning on December 31,1996. In 1999, the game was hosted at the Orange Bowl for one final time due to a scheduling conflict. The minor league Miami Marlins baseball team played games in the Orange Bowl from 1956 to 1960. The stadium was on a block bounded by Northwest 3rd Street, Northwest 16th Avenue, Northwest 6th Street. The Orange Bowl was demolished in 2008 and the site is now occupied by Marlins Park, the stadium was built by the City of Miami Public Works Department. Construction began in 1936 and was completed in December 1937 and featured stadium lights, the stadium opened for Miami Hurricanes football on December 10,1937. From 1926 to 1937 the University of Miami played in a stadium near Tamiami Park, the Orange Bowl was originally named Burdine Stadium after Roddy Burdine, one of Miamis pioneers and the owner of the Burdines department store chain. It originally seated 23,739 people along the corresponding to the lower level of the sideline seats in the stadiums final configuration. Attendance for its first Orange Bowl in January 1938 was under 19,000, seating was added in the end zones in the 1940s, and by the end of the 1950s the stadium was double-decked on the sidelines. In 1966, the AFL expansion Miami Dolphins played their regular season game in the stadium on September 2. The west end zone upper deck section was added in the 1960s. On January 1,1965, the Orange Bowl Game was the first college game to be televised in prime time. In 1977, the permanent seats in the east end zone were removed, the city skyline was visible to the east through the open end, over the modern scoreboard and palm trees
4.
Miami
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Miami is a seaport city at the southeastern corner of the U. S. state of Florida and its Atlantic coast. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, Miamis metro area is the eighth-most populous, Miami is a major center, and a leader in finance, commerce, culture, media, entertainment, the arts, and international trade. In 2012, Miami was classified as an Alpha−World City in the World Cities Study Groups inventory, in 2010, Miami ranked seventh in the United States in terms of finance, commerce, culture, entertainment, fashion, education, and other sectors. It ranked 33rd among global cities, in 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Miami Americas Cleanest City, for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets, and citywide recycling programs. According to a 2009 UBS study of 73 world cities, Miami was ranked as the richest city in the United States, Miami is nicknamed the Capital of Latin America and is the largest city with a Cuban-American plurality. Miami has the third tallest skyline in the U. S. with over 300 high-rises, Downtown Miami is home to the largest concentration of international banks in the United States, and many large national and international companies. The Civic Center is a center for hospitals, research institutes, medical centers. For more than two decades, the Port of Miami, known as the Cruise Capital of the World, has been the number one cruise port in the world. It accommodates some of the worlds largest cruise ships and operations, Metropolitan Miami is the major tourism hub in the American South, number two in the U. S. after New York City and number 13 in the world, including the popular destination of Miami Beach. The Miami area was inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous Native American tribes, the Tequestas occupied the area for a thousand years before encountering Europeans. An Indian village of hundreds of people dating to 500–600 B. C. was located at the mouth of the Miami River, in 1566 the explorer, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, claimed it for Spain. A Spanish mission was constructed one year later in 1567, Spain and Great Britain successively controlled Florida, and Spain ceded it to the United States in 1821. In 1836, the US built Fort Dallas as part of its development of the Florida Territory and attempt to suppress, the Miami area subsequently became a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. Miami is noted as the major city in the United States conceived by a woman, Julia Tuttle, a local citrus grower. The Miami area was known as Biscayne Bay Country in the early years of its growth. In the late 19th century, reports described the area as a promising wilderness, the area was also characterized as one of the finest building sites in Florida. The Great Freeze of 1894–95 hastened Miamis growth, as the crops of the Miami area were the ones in Florida that survived. Julia Tuttle subsequently convinced Henry Flagler, a tycoon, to expand his Florida East Coast Railway to the region
5.
Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award
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The Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award, or Super Bowl MVP, is presented annually to the most valuable player of the Super Bowl, the National Football Leagues championship game. The winner is chosen by a fan vote during the game, the media panels ballots count for 80 percent of the vote tally, while the viewers ballots make up the other 20 percent. The games viewing audience can vote on the Internet or by using cellular phones, Super Bowl XXXV, the Super Bowl MVP has been awarded annually since the games inception in 1967. Through 1989, the award was presented by SPORT magazine, bart Starr was the MVP of the first two Super Bowls. Since 1990, the award has been presented by the NFL, at Super Bowl XXV, the league first awarded the Pete Rozelle Trophy, named after the former NFL commissioner, to the Super Bowl MVP. Ottis Anderson was the first to win the trophy, Most award winners have received cars from various sponsors. The most recent Super Bowl MVP was New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Brady is the only player to have won four Super Bowl MVP awards, Joe Montana has won three and three others—Starr, Terry Bradshaw, and Eli Manning—have won the award twice. Starr and Bradshaw are the ones to have won it in back-to-back years. The MVP has come from the team every year except 1971. Harvey Martin and Randy White were named co-MVPs of Super Bowl XII, including the Super Bowl XII co-MVPs, seven Cowboys players have won Super Bowl MVP awards, the most of any NFL team. Quarterbacks have earned the honor 28 times in 51 games, mark Rypien and Hines Ward are the only players born outside the United States to earn the Super Bowl MVP, having been born in Canada and South Korea, respectively
6.
Joe Namath
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Joseph William Namath, nicknamed Broadway Joe and Joe Willie, is a former American football quarterback and actor. Namath was an AFL icon and played for that leagues New York Jets for most of his football career. He finished his career with the Los Angeles Rams and he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. Statistics belie Namaths enduring influence on the game of professional football and he retired after playing 143 games over 13 years in the AFL and NFL, including playoffs. Due mainly to chronic injuries that undermined his career at its peak, his record is 68 wins,71 losses, and four ties, 64–64–4 in 132 starts. He completed 1,886 passes for 27,663 yards, threw 173 touchdowns and he played for three division champions, earned one league championship, and one Super Bowl victory. In 1999, he was ranked number 96 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, in his 1975 autobiography, Alabama head coach Bryant called Namath the most natural athlete he had ever coached. Namath is known for boldly guaranteeing a Jets victory over Don Shulas NFL Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, already a celebrity, he was now established as a sports icon. He remained a recognizable figure in the media and sports worlds nearly half a century after his brashness cemented his identity in the public mind. Namath was born and raised in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania,30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh and he is the son of Rose and János John Andrew Namath, a steelworker. While growing up, Namath was close to both of his parents, who eventually divorced, following his parents divorce, he lived with his mother. He was the youngest of four sons, with an adopted sister. Namath excelled in all sports at Beaver Falls High School and was a quarterback in football, guard in basketball. In an age when dunks were uncommon in high school basketball, coached by Larry Bruno at Beaver Falls, Namaths football team won the WPIAL Class AA championship with a 9–0 record in 1960. Coach Bruno later was his presenter to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, upon graduation from high school in 1961, he received offers from several Major League Baseball teams, including the Yankees, Indians, Reds, Pirates, and Phillies, but football prevailed. Namath graduated from college at age 64 in 2007, after he returned to the University of Alabama about forty years after leaving early to pursue a professional football. He successfully finished a 30-hour external program bachelor of degree in interdisciplinary studies. He was rejected by Maryland because his college-board scores were just below the schools requirements, after ample recruiting by Bryant, Namath accepted a full scholarship to attend Alabama
7.
Quarterback
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A quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the team and line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is considered the leader of the offensive team. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually the leader of the offense, the quarterback touches the ball on almost every offensive play, and his successes and failures can have a significant impact on the fortunes of his team. Accordingly, the quarterback is among the most glorified and scrutinized positions in team sports, prior to each play, the quarterback will usually tell the rest of his team which play the team will run. After the team is lined up, the center will pass the ball back to the quarterback, usually on a running play, the quarterback will then hand or pitch the ball backwards to a half back or full back. On a passing play, the quarterback is almost always the responsible for trying to throw the ball downfield to an eligible receiver downfield. Depending on the scheme by his team, the quarterbacks role can vary. While quarterbacks in Canadian football need to be able to throw the ball often, in the NFL, quarterbacks are required to wear a uniform number between 1 and 19. In the CFL, the quarterback can wear any number from 0 to 49 and 70 to 99. Because of their numbering, quarterbacks are eligible receivers in the NCAA, NFHS, after a Super Bowl victory, the starting quarterback is the first player to be presented with the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The starting quarterback of the victorious Super Bowl team is chosen for the Im going to Disney World. Campaign, whether they are the Super Bowl MVP or not, examples include Joe Montana, Trent Dilfer, Dilfer was chosen even though teammate Ray Lewis was the MVP of Super Bowl XXXV, due to the bad publicity from Lewis murder trial the prior year. In addition to their role, quarterbacks are occasionally used in other roles. Most teams utilize a backup quarterback as their holder on placekicks, in the Wildcat, a formation where a halfback lines up behind the center and the quarterback lines up out wide, the quarterback can be used as a receiving target or a blocker. A more rare use for a quarterback is to punt the ball himself, Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway was known to perform quick kicks occasionally, typically when the Broncos were facing a third-and-long situation. As Roger Staubachs back-up, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Danny White was also the teams punter, ascending the starting role upon Staubachs retirement, White held his position as the teams punter for several seasons—a double duty he performed to All-American standard at Arizona State University. White also had two touchdown receptions as a Dallas Cowboy, both from the halfback option, if quarterbacks are uncomfortable with the formation the defense is using, they may call an audible change to their play
8.
Pro Football Hall of Fame
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The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football. As of 2017, there are a total of 310 members of the Hall of Fame, groundbreaking for the building was held on August 11,1962. The original building contained just two rooms, and 19,000 square feet of interior space, in April 1970, ground was broken for the first of many expansions. This first expansion cost $620,000, and was completed in May 1971, the size was increased to 34,000 square feet by adding another room. The pro shop opened with this expansion and this was also an important milestone for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as yearly attendance passed the 200,000 mark for the first time. In November 1977, work began on another project, costing US$1,200,000. It was completed in November 1978, enlarging the shop and research library. The total size of the hall was now 50,500 square feet, the building remained largely unchanged until July 1993. The Hall then announced yet another expansion, costing US$9,200,000 and this expansion was completed in October 1995. The buildings size was increased to 82,307 square feet, the most notable addition was the GameDay Stadium, which shows an NFL Films production on a 20-foot by 42-foot Cinemascope screen. Through 2017, all inductees except one, played part of their professional career in the NFL. For CFL stars, there is a parallel Canadian Football Hall of Fame, only one player, the Chicago Bears have the most Hall of Famers among the leagues franchises with 32 enshrinees. Enshrinees are selected by a 46-person committee, largely made up of media members, each city that has a current NFL team sends one representative from the local media to the committee. A city with more than one franchise sends a representative for each franchise, there are also 13 at-large delegates, and one representative from the Pro Football Writers Association. Except for the PFWA representative, who is appointed to a term, all other appointments are open-ended and terminated only by death, incapacitation, retirement. To be eligible for the process, a player or coach must have been retired for at least five years. Any other contributor such as an owner or executive can be voted in at any time. Fans may nominate any player, coach or contributor by simply writing to the Pro Football Hall of Fame via letter or email
9.
Weeb Ewbank
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Wilbur Charles Weeb Ewbank was an American professional football coach. He led the Baltimore Colts to NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 and he is the only coach to win a championship in both the National Football League and American Football League. Ewbank grew up in Indiana and attended Miami University in Ohio and he immediately began a coaching career after graduating, working at Ohio high schools between 1928 and 1943, when he entered the U. S. Navy during World War II. While in the military, Ewbank was an assistant to Paul Brown on a football team at Naval Station Great Lakes outside of Chicago. The Browns won the AAFC championship in 1949 and the NFL championship when they joined that league the following year, Ewbank left the Browns in 1954 to become head coach of the Colts, a young NFL team that had struggled in its first season. The Colts repeated as champions in 1959, but the teams performance slipped and he was soon picked up by the Jets, another struggling team in the AFL. While his first few years were unsuccessful, Ewbank helped build the Jets into a contender after signing quarterback Joe Namath in 1965, the Jets won the AFL championship in 1968 and went on to win Super Bowl III. Ewbank, who was known as a coach who favored simple but well-executed strategies, retired after the 1973 season and settled in Oxford. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978 and he died in Oxford on November 17,1998, the 30th anniversary of the Heidi Game. Ewbank was born in Richmond, Indiana, the son of a grocer who owned two stores in the small city. He attended the local Morton High School, where he played quarterback on the team, was an outfielder in baseball and was a member of the basketball team. He captained the football and basketball teams when he was a senior, as a teenager, Ewbank and his father drove to Dayton, Ohio see early football star Jim Thorpe and the Canton Bulldogs play. One of his brothers could not pronounce his name correctly and called him Weeb. After graduating from school in 1924, Ewbank attended Miami University in Oxford. He played on the football team as a quarterback under head coach Chester Pittser. He was also the center fielder on the team and a forward on the basketball team. While Ewbank was small in stature – he was only 5 feet 7 inches and he shared quarterback duties with Eddie Wohlwender on a squad that finished with an 8–1 win–loss record and won the Ohio Athletic Conference championship in 1927, his senior year. Miamis baseball team won the Ohio Conference when he was a sophomore
10.
Don Shula
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He was previously the head coach of the Baltimore Colts, with whom he won the 1968 NFL Championship. Shula was drafted out of John Carroll University in the 1951 NFL Draft, and he played professionally as a back for the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Colts. Shula was named 1993 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated and he had only two losing seasons in his 36-year career of coaching in the NFL. Shula led his teams to six Super Bowls, a record broken by Bill Belichick. In his first Super Bowl, the Colts set the record for the longest period to be shut out, at his next Super Bowl, the Dolphins set the Super Bowl record for the lowest points scored by any team, with one field goal. The following year, he coached a season and broke the record of longest shutout. The Dolphins repeated as Super Bowl champions the following season, as they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 24–7 and he currently holds the NFL record for most career wins as a head coach, with 347. Shula was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997, Shula was born in Grand River, Ohio, a small town along the Lake Erie shore in the northeastern part of the state. His parents, Dan and Mary, were of Hungarian origin, Shulas father Dan worked for $9 a week at a rose nursery and saved up to buy the small house where Shula spent his early childhood. The house was next door to a store in Grand River owned by Marys parents. Shula played football in his neighborhood as a child, but his parents forbade it after he got a gash on his face when he was 11. Shula attended elementary school at St. Marys, a private Catholic school in Painesville, his mother was a devout Catholic and he later attended Thomas W. Harvey in Painesville and played on its football team starting in 1945. Shula forged his parents signatures to sign up, within weeks of joining Harveys football team, Shula was a starting left halfback in the schools single-wing offense. He handled a portion of the teams rushing and passing duties. It was the first time in 18 years that Harvey had a seven-win season, the team would have won a league title had it not lost an early game to Willoughby. Shula also ran track at Harvey and was an 11-time letterman in his three years there, as Shula prepared to graduate from high school in 1947, many men whose football careers were delayed by service in World War II were returning and competing for athletic scholarships. As a result, Shula was unable to get a scholarship and that summer, however, he had a chance meeting at a gas station with former Painesville football coach Howard Bauchman, who suggested he ask about a scholarship at John Carroll University. Shula got a scholarship at the private Jesuit school in University Heights
11.
John Mackey (American football)
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John Mackey was an American football tight end who played for the Baltimore Colts and the San Diego Chargers. He was born in Roosevelt, New York and attended Syracuse University and he was the first president of the National Football League Players Association following the AFL-NFL merger, serving from 1970 to 1973. Mackey was also a big reason for the NFLPA to create the 88 Plan which would financially support ex-players who required living assistance in later years, a five-time Pro Bowler, Mackey was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992, the 2nd pure tight end elected. Mackey was drafted from Syracuse University by the Baltimore Colts in the 1963 NFL Draft and he went on to play a total of 10 NFL seasons as tight end, and became known for his size and speed. Mackey played his first nine seasons with the Colts before leaving the team in 1971 and he played his final season with the San Diego Chargers, retiring at the end of the 1972 season. Although a knee injury forced him into retirement, Mackey only missed one game in his whole career. During his 10 seasons in the NFL, Mackey scored 38 touchdowns, in his final season as a Colt, Mackey played in Super Bowl V on January 17,1971. Baltimore won the game 16–13, following a 32-yard field goal by Jim OBrien with five seconds left, during his playing career, Mackey played in five Pro Bowls, including in his rookie season. He was also named All-NFL three times, in 1992, Mackey was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, becoming only the second pure tight end to be awarded this honor. Mackey has been included in lists of great NFL players. In 1999, The Sporting News ranked Mackey at 48 on their list of The 100 Greatest Football Players and he also placed at number 42 on the NFL Networks list of the Top 100 Football Players in 2010. In 2001, the John Mackey Award was established by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given yearly to the top college tight end. On September 15,2007, Mackeys alma mater, Syracuse University, in 1970, Mackey became the first president of the National Football League Players Association following the merger of the National Football League and the American Football League. Although the NFL and AFL each had a candidate for president in mind, Mackey held the position of president until September 1973. The strike resulted in increased benefits for NFL players totalling more than $12 million. According to former teammate Ordell Braase, Mackey had a vision for that job and you dont get anything unless you really rattle the cage. In 1972, Mackey became the plaintiff in a court action which led to the overturning of the so-called Rozelle Rule. In 1976, the Rozelle Rule was ruled to violate antitrust laws in Mackey v. NFL, several years after retiring from the NFL, Mackey began to suffer from symptoms of dementia
12.
Johnny Unitas
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John Constantine Unitas, nicknamed Johnny U and The Golden Arm, was an American football player in the National Football League. He spent the majority of his playing for the Baltimore Colts. He was a quarterback, and the NFLs most valuable player in 1957,1959,1964. For 52 years he held the record for most consecutive games with a touchdown pass, Unitas was the prototype of the modern era marquee quarterback with a strong passing game, media fanfare, and widespread popularity. He has been listed as one of the greatest NFL players of all time. John Constantine Unitas was born in Pittsburgh in 1933 to Francis J. Unitas and Helen Superfisky, who both were of Lithuanian descent, he grew up in the Mount Washington neighborhood. When Johnny was five years old, his father died of renal disease complicated by pneumonia, leaving the young boy to be raised by his mother. His surname was a result of a transliteration of a common Lithuanian last name Jonaitis. Attending St. Justins High School in Pittsburgh, Unitas played halfback and quarterback, after high school, Unitas looked for an opportunity to play college football. The University of Louisville came through and Unitas left home to play for the Cardinals, in his four-year career as a Louisville Cardinal, Unitas completed 245 passes for 3,139 yards and 27 touchdowns. Reportedly, the 6-foot-1 Unitas weighed 145 pounds on his first day of practice at Louisville, unitass first start was in the fifth game of the 1951 season against St. Bonaventure. That game, the freshman threw 11 consecutive passes and three touchdowns to give the Cardinals a 21–19 lead, though Louisville lost the game 22–21 on a disputed field goal, the team had found a talented quarterback. Unitas completed 12 of 19 passes for 240 yards and four touchdowns in a 35–28 victory over Houston, the team finished the season 5–5 overall and 4–1 with Unitas as the starting quarterback. As a freshman, Unitas completed 46 of 99 passes for 602 yards, by the 1952 season, the university decided to de-emphasize sports. The new president at Louisville, Dr. Philip Grant Davidson, reduced the amount of athletic aid, as a result,15 returning players could not meet the new standards and lost their scholarships. But Unitas maintained his scholarship by taking on a new elective, in 1952 Coach Camp switched the team to two-way football. Unitas not only played safety or linebacker on defense and quarterback on offense but returned kicks, the Cards won their first game against Wayne State, and then Florida State in the second game. Unitas completed 16 of 21 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns and it was said that Unitas put on such a show at the Florida State game that he threw a pass under his legs for 15 yards
13.
National Symphony Orchestra
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The National Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1931, is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D. C. Its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, for the first period of its history, the NSO performed in Constitution Hall. During the tenure of the first music director, Hans Kindler, the first female member of the NSO was a harpist, Sylvia Meyer, who joined in 1933. Years later, Howard Mitchell made a series of recordings with the orchestra for RCA. Antal Doráti recorded with the orchestra for Decca Records, mstislav Rostropovich made recordings for Teldec, Sony Records, and Erato. The orchestra returned to RCA Victor under Leonard Slatkin, until RCA abandoned new classical recordings, in 1986, the NSO became the artistic affiliate of the Kennedy Center, where it has presented a concert season annually since the Center opened in 1971. The NSO regularly participates in events of national and international importance, including performances for ceremonial state affairs, presidential inaugurations, the NSO itself numbers 100 musicians, presenting a 52-week season of approximately 175 concerts each year. These include classical subscription series, pops concerts, and one of the country’s most extensive educational programs, in addition to these activities, small groups of NSO members develop education programs designed at age levels from pre-kindergarten through high school. Collectively, these ensembles present as many as 100 additional performances a year during the American Residencies, through the John and June Hechinger Commissioning Fund for New Orchestral Works, the NSO has commissioned more than 50 works, including cycles of fanfares and encores. During his tenure, Slatkin founded the National Conducting Institute in 2000, also of note is the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute. Another important project is the National Symphony Orchestra American Residencies for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, established in 1992, the project has taken the NSO to fifteen states. In November 2004, the announced the conclusion of Slatkins NSO directorship in 2008. One report spoke of tensions between the conductor and the orchestra, and mentioned criticisms of Slatkins programming and rehearsal styles, with the 2006–2007 season, Iván Fischer became the principal guest conductor of the orchestra. On 13 April 2007, the announced the appointment of Fischer as the orchestras principal conductor as of the 2008–2009 season. In September 2011, the orchestra extended Eschenbachs contract through the 2014–2015 season, in 2011, Gianandrea Noseda first guest-conducted the NSO, and returned in November 2015 for an additional guest engagement. In January 2016, the NSO announced the appointment Noseda as its music director. He is to serve as music director-designate in the 2016-2017 season, and his initial contract as music director is for 4 seasons
14.
NFL on NBC
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NFL on NBC is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League games that are produced by NBC Sports, and televised on the NBC television network in the United States. The name was used until 1998, when the network lost the rights to the American Football Conference to CBS. NFL coverage returned to NBC on August 6,2006, under the title NBC Sunday Night Football, NBC also packages a limited number of Thursday night games each year. Since NBC acquired the Sunday Night Football package from ESPN, game coverage is usually preceded by the pre-game show Football Night in America. By 1955, NBC became the home to the NFL Championship Game. The 1958 NFL Championship Game, played at Yankee Stadium, between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants went into sudden death overtime, NBC televised the NFL Championship Game until 1963. The contract for the game was separate than the regular season contract held by CBS. Prior to 1962, each team had its own television contract. NBC also held the rights to home games involving the Pittsburgh Steelers. While the games were blacked out in Pittsburgh and Baltimore, they were broadcast on other NBC stations, in some cases, the game broadcast was seen on CBS in the visiting teams home region. NBC covered eleven games in 1960 and 13 games in 1961 in a Game of the Week format, NBC would take one week off due to its coverage of the World Series. During this era, NBC broadcast pre-recorded and edited hour-long broadcasts of NFL games in the off-season under the title Best of Pro Football, during this period, NBC also held the rights to the Pro Bowl via the Los Angeles newspapers charities. NBC televised the Pro Bowl following the 1951 and 1952 seasons, on April 5,1961, NBC was awarded a two-year contract for the radio and television rights to the NFL Championship Game, paying US$615,000 annually for the rights. On May 23,1963, NBC was awarded exclusive network broadcast rights for the 1963 NFL Championship Game for $926,000, NBC resumed football telecasts on a regular basis in 1965. On December 13,1966, the rights to the Super Bowl for four years were sold to CBS, the first ever AFL-NFL World Championship Game was played on January 15,1967. Because CBS held the rights to nationally televise NFL games and NBC had the rights to broadcast AFL games, NBC did have some problems with the dual telecast, the network did not return in time from a halftime commercial break for the start of the second half. Therefore, the first kickoff was stopped by the officials and was redone once NBC returned to the broadcast. The next three AFL-NFL World Championship Games, later renamed the Super Bowl, were divided by the two networks, CBS broadcast Super Bowls II and IV while NBC covered III
15.
Al DeRogatis
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Albert John Al DeRogatis was an American football player and television and radio sportscaster. DeRogatis was born in Newark, New Jersey, and attended the citys Central High School, at Duke University, after a knee injury shortened his junior season, he made the 1948 All-America team as a tackle. He was drafted the year by the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was an NFL All-Pro in both 1950 and 1951, a recurrence of the knee injury he suffered at Duke ended his playing career after four seasons of professional football. For thirty-three years beginning in 1953, he served as a president with Prudential Insurance. He also was paired with Jim Simpson to call a few Orange Bowls, prior to joining NBC, DeRogatis had begun his broadcasting career working with Marty Glickman on New York football Giants radio broadcasts on WNEW-AM from 1960 through 1965. DeRogatis can be heard with Gowdy calling a game in the 1978 film Heaven Can Wait. DeRogatis was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986, a resident of Spring Lake, New Jersey, he died of cancer at Jersey Shore Medical Center on December 26,1995. Sports Illustrated magazines Dr. Z has rated DeRogatis as his #1 football analyst of all time. Upon his death in 1995, DeRogatis was eulogized in the Boston Globe as a prototype for what it means to be a gentleman, in the sense of displaying a gracious, polite, kind and generous nature. The Globe also published a picture of DeRogatis in the NBC booth together with Curt Gowdy and Don Meredith in the 2006, The year in photos series, after Curt Gowdys death in 2006. List of NFL on NBC commentator pairings Al DeRogatis,68, Sports Broadcaster, The New York Times, Wednesday, December 27,1995
16.
Super Bowl II
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The second AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional football, known retrospectively as Super Bowl II, was played on January 14,1968, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. The National Football League s defending champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American Football League champion Oakland Raiders by the score of 33–14. Coming into this game, like during the first Super Bowl, many sports writers, the Packers, the defending champions, posted a 9–4–1 record during the 1967 NFL season before defeating the Dallas Cowboys, 21–17, in the 1967 NFL Championship Game. The Raiders finished the 1967 AFL season at 13–1, and defeated the Houston Oilers, 40–7, as expected, Green Bay dominated Oakland throughout most of Super Bowl II. The Raiders could only score two touchdown passes from quarterback Daryle Lamonica, meanwhile, Packers kicker Don Chandler made four field goals, including three in the first half, while defensive back Herb Adderley had a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown. Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr was named the MVP for the time for his 13 of 24 passes for 202 yards. The game was awarded to Miami on May 25,1967, at the owners, the Packers advanced to their second straight AFL-NFL World Championship Game, but had a much more difficult time than in the previous season. Both of their running backs from the previous year, future Pro Football Hall of Famers Paul Hornung. Fullbacks Chuck Mercein and Ben Wilson, who were signed as free agents after being discarded by other teams, were also used to help compensate for the loss of Hornung. The Packers still had the superb blocking of linemen Jerry Kramer, Fred Thurston, on special teams, Williams returned 18 kickoffs for 749 yards and an NFL record 4 touchdowns, giving him a whopping 41.1 yards per return average. But overall the team ranked just 9th out of 16 NFL teams in scoring with 332 points, the Packers defense, however, allowed only 209 points, the 3rd best in the NFL. Even this figure was misleading, since Green Bay had yielded only 131 points in the first 11 games, the lowest total in professional football. Three members of Green Bays secondary, the strongest aspect of their defense, were named to the Pro Bowl, defensive backs Willie Wood, Herb Adderley, the Packers also had a superb defensive line led by Henry Jordan and Willie Davis. Behind them, the Packers linebacking core was led by Ray Nitschke, the Packers won the NFLs Central Division with a 9–4–1 regular season record, clinching the division in the 11th week of the season. During the last three weeks, the Packers gave up an total of 78 points, after having yielded only about a dozen points per game in their first 11 contests. In the playoffs, Green Bay returned to its dominant form, blowing away their first playoff opponent, the Los Angeles Rams, in the Western Conference Championship Game, 28–7. Green Bay would then come from behind to defeat the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL championship game for the year in a row, in one of the most famous games in NFL lore. The Raiders, led by head coach John Rauch, had stormed to the top of the AFL with a 13–1 regular season record and they had led all AFL and NFL teams in scoring with 468 points
17.
Super Bowl
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The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League. The game is the culmination to a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. Normally, Roman numerals are used to each game, rather than the year in which it is held. For example, Super Bowl I was played on January 15,1967, the single exception to this rule is Super Bowl 50, which was played on February 7,2016, following the 2015 regular season. The next game, Super Bowl LII, scheduled for February 4,2018, the game was created as part of a merger agreement between the NFL and its then-rival league, the American Football League. It was agreed that the two champion teams would play in the AFL–NFL World Championship Game until the merger was to officially begin in 1970. After the merger, each league was redesignated as a conference, currently, the National Football Conference leads the league with 26 wins to 25 wins for the American Football Conference. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most Super Bowl championship titles, with six, the New England Patriots have the most Super Bowl appearances, with nine. The day on which the Super Bowl is played, now considered by some as an unofficial American national holiday, is called Super Bowl Sunday and it is the second-largest day for U. S. food consumption, after Thanksgiving Day. In addition, the Super Bowl has frequently been the most-watched American television broadcast of the year, in 2015, Super Bowl XLIX became the most-watched American television program in history with an average audience of 114. The NFL restricts the use of its Super Bowl trademark, it is called the Big Game or other generic terms by non-sponsoring corporations. As a result, watching and discussing the broadcasts commercials has become a significant aspect of the event, for four decades after its 1920 inception, the NFL successfully fended off several rival leagues. However, in 1960, it encountered its most serious competitor when the American Football League was formed. The AFL vied heavily with the NFL for both players and fans, but by the middle of the decade the strain of competition led to merger talks between the two leagues. Prior to the 1966 season, the NFL and AFL reached an agreement that was to take effect for the 1970 season. As part of the merger, the champions of the two agreed to meet in a world championship game for professional American football until the merger was effected. A bowl game is a college football game. Exploiting the Rose Bowl Games popularity, post-season college football contests were created for Miami, New Orleans, and El Paso, Texas in 1935, by the time the first Super Bowl was played, the term bowl for any major American football game was well established
18.
Super Bowl IV
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Super Bowl IV, the fourth AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, was played on January 11,1970, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. The American Football League champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football League champion Minnesota Vikings by the score of 23–7 and this victory by the AFL squared the Super Bowl series with the NFL at two games apiece. This was also the final AFL-NFL World Championship Game before the two merged into one after the season.5 to 13-point favorites. Minnesota posted a 12–2 record during the 1969 NFL season before defeating the Cleveland Browns, 27–7, in the 1969 NFL Championship Game. The Chiefs, who appeared in the first Super Bowl, finished the 1969 AFL season at 11–3. Under wet conditions, the Chiefs defense dominated Super Bowl IV by limiting the Minnesota offense to only 67 rushing yards, Kansas Citys Len Dawson became the fourth consecutive winning quarterback to be named Super Bowl MVP. He completed 12 of 17 passes for 142 yards and one touchdown, Dawson also recorded three rushing attempts for 11 yards. Super Bowl IV is also notable for NFL Films miking up the Chiefs Hank Stram during the game, the game was awarded to New Orleans on March 19,1969 at the owners meetings held in Palm Springs, California. The Minnesota Vikings, led by head coach Bud Grant, entered the game with an NFL best 12–2 regular season record, leading the league in total points scored. They had scored 50 or greater points in three different games and they lost their first and last games of the season, but in between had 12 straight victories, the longest single-season winning streak in 35 years. The secondary was led by defensive backs Bobby Bryant, Earsell Mackbee, on offense, quarterback Joe Kapp was known for his superb leadership and his running ability, both throwing on the run and running for extra yards. And when Kapp did take off and run, instead of sliding when he was about to be tackled like most quarterbacks, he lowered his shoulder and this style of play earned him the nickname Indestructible. In the NFL Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns, he collided with linebacker Jim Houston while running for a first down, and Houston had to be helped off the field after the play ended. Also, Kapp was known for being an extremely unselfish leader, running back Dave Osborn was the teams top rusher with 643 yards and seven touchdowns. He also caught 22 passes for 236 yards and another touchdown, in the passing game, Pro Bowl wide receiver Gene Washington averaged 21.1 yards per catch by recording 821 yards and nine touchdowns from 39 receptions. Wide receiver John Henderson caught 34 passes for 553 yards and 5 touchdowns, the Vikings offensive line was anchored by Pro Bowlers Grady Alderman and Mick Tingelhoff. By winning the 1969 NFL Championship, the Vikings became the last possessors of the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy, meanwhile, it seemed that the Chiefs, led by head coach Hank Stram, and especially quarterback Len Dawson, were jinxed throughout the year. In the second game of the season, Dawson suffered a knee injury that kept him from playing the next six games
19.
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
20.
Earl Morrall
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Earl Edwin Morrall was an American football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League for twenty-one seasons. Morrall, who also occasionally punted, played 21 seasons in the National Football League as both a starter and reserve, in the latter capacity, he became known as one of the greatest backup quarterbacks in NFL history. Morrall made Pro Bowl appearances following the 1957 and 1968 seasons, Morrall led Muskegon High School in Muskegon, Michigan to a state football championship in 1951. Morrall attended Michigan State University, where he played three seasons for the Michigan State Spartans football team, leading them to a 9–1 record in the 1955 season and he capped his senior year with a victory over the UCLA Bruins in the 1956 Rose Bowl. Morrall also played baseball at Michigan State and played in the College World Series as a shortstop and he was offered the opportunity to play professional baseball but chose instead to play football. In his more than two decades on the gridiron, Morrall played for six different teams, starting with his rookie year in 1956 as a first-round selection by the San Francisco 49ers. On September 16,1957, he was traded along with guard Mike Sandusky to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for linebacker Marv Matuszak and two first-round draft picks. Despite the high cost of the transaction, the Steelers traded Morrall just over a year later to the Detroit Lions in order to obtain future Hall of Famer Bobby Layne. Morrall was with the Lions for the six years, having his best season in 1963 by throwing for 24 touchdowns. The following year, he suffered a shoulder injury in an October 18 contest against the Chicago Bears. After spending the off-season rehabilitating from his injury, Morrall was dealt to the New York Giants as part of a transaction on August 30,1965. Enduring his role during the Giants rebuilding phase, Morrall threw for 2,446 yards and 22 touchdowns that season, on August 25,1968, he was traded to the Baltimore Colts for an undisclosed draft choice. When regular Colts signal caller Johnny Unitas was injured in the exhibition game. Morrall proceeded to lead the Colts to a 13-1 record, then added two victories en route to winning the NFLs Most Valuable Player award, leading the Colts into Super Bowl III. However, in one of sports greatest upsets, the Colts lost 16-7 to the New York Jets, wide receiver Jimmy Orr was wide open near the end zone, but Morrall inexplicably didnt see Orr. His throw down the middle was short and picked off by Jim Hudson to blunt the Colts momentum, on April 25,1972, Morrall was claimed on waivers for $100 by the Miami Dolphins, reuniting him with his former Colt head coach, Don Shula. Shula described Morrall as an intelligent quarterback whos won a lot of games for me. Morrall replaced the injured Bob Griese for the Dolphins during the teams October 15 win over the San Diego Chargers
21.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
22.
Alabama Crimson Tide football
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The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the team is currently coached by Nick Saban. The Crimson Tide is among the most storied and decorated football programs in NCAA history, since beginning play in 1892, the program claims 16 national championships, including 11 wire-service national titles in the poll-era, and five other titles before the poll-era. From 1958 to 1982, the team was led by Hall of Fame coach Paul Bear Bryant, despite numerous national and conference championships, it was not until 2009 that an Alabama player received a Heisman Trophy, when running back Mark Ingram became the universitys first winner. In 2015, Derrick Henry became the universitys second Heisman winner, Alabama has 878 official victories in NCAA Division I, has won 30 conference championships and has made an NCAA-record 64 postseason bowl appearances. Other NCAA records include 23 winning streaks of 10 games or more and 19 seasons with a 10–0 start, the program has 34 seasons with 10 wins or more, and has 37 bowl victories, both NCAA records. Alabama has completed 10 undefeated seasons,9 of which were perfect seasons, the Crimson Tide leads the SEC West Division with 12 division titles and 11 appearances in the SEC Championship Game. Alabama holds a record against every current and former SEC school. The Associated Press ranks Alabama 4th in all-time final AP Poll appearances, Alabama plays its home games at Bryant–Denny Stadium, located on the campus in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. With a capacity of 101,821, Bryant-Denny is the 8th largest non-racing stadium in the world, Alabama has had 28 head coaches since organized football began in 1892. Adopting the nickname Crimson Tide after the 1907 season, the team has played more than 1,100 games in their 114 seasons, in that time,12 coaches have led the Crimson Tide in postseason bowl games, Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Harold D. Red Drew, Bear Bryant, Ray Perkins, Bill Curry, Gene Stallings, Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione, Mike Shula, Joe Kines, and Nick Saban. Eight of those coaches also won championships, Wade, Thomas, Drew, Bryant, Curry, Stallings, DuBose. During their tenures, Wade, Thomas, Bryant, Stallings, of the 27 different head coaches who have led the Crimson Tide, Wade, Thomas, Bryant, and Stallings have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The current head coach is Nick Saban, who was hired in January 2007, National championships in NCAA FBS college football are debated as the NCAA does not officially award the championship. Despite not naming an official National Champion, the NCAA provides lists of championships awarded by organizations it recognizes, beginning in 1936, the Associated Press began the best-known and most widely circulated poll of sportswriters and broadcasters. Before 1936, national champions were determined by research and retroactive ratings. The criteria for being included in this historical list of poll selectors is that the poll be national in scope, either through distribution in newspaper, television, since World War II, Alabama only claims national championships awarded by the final AP Poll or the final Coaches Poll
23.
Pete Rozelle
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Alvin Ray Pete Rozelle was the commissioner of the National Football League for nearly thirty years, from January 1960 to November 1989, when he retired from office. He is credited with making the NFL into one of the most successful leagues in the world. Born in South Gate, California, Rozelle grew up in neighboring Lynwood during the Great Depression and he graduated from Compton High School in 1944, with Duke Snider, lettering in baseball and basketball. He was drafted into the U. S. Navy in 1944, Rozelle entered Compton Community College in 1946. While there he worked as the student athletic news director and also worked part-time for the Los Angeles Rams as a public relations assistant, Pete Newell, head coach for the University of San Francisco Dons basketball team, came to Compton in 1948 for a recruiting visit. Impressed by Rozelle, Newell helped arrange for him to get a scholarship to work in a similar capacity at USF. Rozelle enrolled at USF that year and worked as a student publicist for the USF Dons athletic department, in addition to promoting the schools football team he was able to draw national attention to the Dons 1949 National Invitation Tournament championship basketball team. After graduating from USF in 1950 he was hired by the school as the full-time athletic news director, in 1952, he re-joined the Rams as a PR specialist. Leaving after three years, he held a series of public jobs in southern California, including marketing the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. In 1957, he returned to Rams, a disorganized, unprofitable team, lost in the growing L. A. market, as their general manager. In spite of continued struggles on the field, including a league-worst 2–10 record in 1959, after Bert Bells death in October 1959, the 33-year-old Rozelle was the surprise choice for his replacement as NFL commissioner. According to Howard Cosell in his book I Never Played the Game, when he took office following the 1959 season, there were twelve teams in the NFL playing a twelve-game schedule to frequently half-empty stadiums, and only a few teams had television contracts. The NFL in 1960 was following a model that had evolved from the 1930s. One of Rozelles early accomplishments was helping the league adopt profit-sharing of gate, the revenue-sharing was a major factor in stabilizing the NFL and guaranteeing the success of its small-market teams. Another important contribution was Rozelles success in negotiating large television contracts to broadcast every NFL game played each season, in doing so he deftly played one television network against the other. In 1962, Rozelle was re-elected to a contract to remain as commissioner. When President Kennedy was assassinated on Friday, November 22,1963, Rozelle and White House press secretary Pierre Salinger had been classmates at the University of San Francisco, so Rozelle consulted with him. Salinger urged Rozelle to play the games, so he agreed for the schedule to proceed, Rozelle felt that way, saying, It has been traditional in sports for athletes to perform in times of great personal tragedy
24.
Cleveland Browns
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The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns compete in the National Football League as a club of the American Football Conference North division. The Browns play their games at FirstEnergy Stadium, which opened in 1999, with administrative offices and training facilities in Berea. The Browns official colors are brown, orange and white and they are unique among the 32 member franchises of the NFL in that they do not have a logo on their helmets and are the only team named after a specific person, original coach Paul Brown. The franchise was founded in 1945 by businessman Arthur B, McBride and coach Paul Brown as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference. The Browns dominated the AAFC, compiling a 47–4–3 record in the four active seasons. When the AAFC folded after the 1949 season, the Browns joined the National Football League along with the San Francisco 49ers, from 1965 to 1995, they made the playoffs 14 times, but did not win another championship or appear in the Super Bowl in that period. In 1995, owner Art Modell, who had purchased the Browns in 1961, announced plans to move the team to Baltimore, Maryland. The Browns intellectual property, including name, logos, training facility, and history, were kept in trust. A new team would be established by 1999 either by expansion or relocation, the Browns were announced as an expansion team in 1998 and resumed play in 1999. Since resuming operations in 1999, the Browns have struggled to find success and they have had only two winning seasons, one playoff appearance, and no playoff wins. The franchise has also noted for a lack of stability with quarterbacks. To date, the Browns overall win-loss record since 1999 is 88–200, the Browns origins date to 1944, when taxicab magnate Arthur B. Mickey McBride secured the rights to a Cleveland franchise in the newly formed All-America Football Conference. S, early in 1945, McBride named 36-year-old Ohio State Buckeyes coach Paul Brown as the teams head coach and general manager and gave him a share in its profits. The move surprised and upset Buckeye fans, who had hoped he would resume his successful run at the school after the war, the name of the team was at first left up to Paul Brown, who rejected calls for it to be christened the Browns. The franchise and the Cleveland Plain Dealer then held a naming contest to publicize the team, in June 1945, a committee selected Panthers as the new teams name, named after a failed American Football League franchise in Cleveland which only lasted a single season in 1926. It is unclear whether Panthers was the highest vote-getter, or if it was second-highest behind Browns, however, the owner of the failed AFL Panthers franchise, General C. X. Zimmerman, indicated that he owned the name Cleveland Panthers, at this point, Paul Brown bowed to popular sentiment and agreed to the Browns name
25.
Pittsburgh Steelers
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The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers compete in the National Football League, as a club of the leagues American Football Conference North division. Founded in 1933, the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC, Pittsburgh has won more Super Bowl titles and hosted more conference championship games than any other NFL team. The Steelers have won 8 AFC championships, tied with the Denver Broncos and they share the record for most conference championship games played in with the San Francisco 49ers. The Steelers share the record for second most Super Bowl appearances with the Broncos, and Dallas Cowboys, the Steelers lost their most recent championship appearance, Super Bowl XLV, on February 6,2011. The Steelers were founded as the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 8,1933, by Art Rooney, taking its name from the baseball team of the same name. The ownership of the Steelers has remained within the Rooney family since its founding, the current owner is Arts son, Dan Rooney, who has given much control of the franchise to his son Art Rooney II. The Steelers enjoy a large, widespread fanbase nicknamed Steeler Nation, the Steelers currently play their home games at Heinz Field on Pittsburghs North Side in the North Shore neighborhood, which also hosts the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. Built in 2001, the stadium replaced Three Rivers Stadium which hosted the Steelers for 31 seasons, prior to Three Rivers, the Steelers had played their games in Pitt Stadium and Forbes Field. The Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL first took to the field as the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 20,1933, through the 1930s, the Pirates never finished higher than second place in their division, or with a record better than.500. Prior to the 1940 season, the Pirates renamed themselves the Steelers, during World War II, the Steelers experienced player shortages. They twice merged with other NFL franchises to field a team, during the 1943 season, they merged with the Philadelphia Eagles forming the Phil-Pitt Eagles and were known as the Steagles. In 1944, they merged with the Chicago Cardinals and were known as Card-Pitt and this team finished 0–10, marking the only winless team in franchise history. The Steelers made the playoffs for the first time in 1947 and this forced a tie-breaking playoff game at Forbes Field, which the Steelers lost 21–0. The Steelers also received a $3 million relocation fee, which was a windfall for them, the Steelers history of bad luck changed with the hiring of coach Chuck Noll for the 1969 season. The Pittsburgh Steelers 1974 draft was their best ever, no team has ever drafted four future Hall of Famers in one year. They also enjoyed a regular season streak of 49 consecutive wins against teams that would finish with a record that year. The Steelers suffered a rash of injuries in the 1980 season, the 1981 season was no better, with an 8–8 showing
26.
American Football Conference
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The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League, the highest professional level of American football in the United States. This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference, currently contain 16 teams each, a series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making the current total 16 clubs per each conference. Since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, the New England Patriots have won nine AFC titles, the most of any team in the conference, since 2002, the AFC has 16 teams, organized into four divisions each with four teams, East, North, South and West. Two of these games are assigned on the basis of a teams final divisional standing from the previous season. The remaining 8 games are split between the roster of two other NFL divisions and this assignment shifts each year and will follow a standard cycle. Using the 2012 regular season schedule as an example, each team in the AFC West plays against every team in the AFC North and NFC South. In this way, non-divisional competition will be mostly among common opponents – the exception being the two games assigned based on the teams prior-season divisional standing, at the end of each season, the top six teams in the conference proceeds into the playoff. These teams consist of the four winners and the top two wild card teams. The AFC playoffs culminate in the AFC Championship Game with the receiving the Lamar Hunt Trophy. The AFC Champion then plays the NFC Champion in the Super Bowl, both the AFC and the NFC were created after the NFL merged with the American Football League in 1970. The AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams, and added two expansion clubs before the merger. In order to equalize the number of teams in each conference, since the merger, five expansion teams have joined the AFC and two have left, thus making the current total 16. When the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976 and this arrangement lasted for one season only before the two teams switched conferences. The Seahawks eventually returned to the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment, the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars joined the AFC in 1995. There have been five teams that have relocated at least once, in 1984, the Baltimore Colts relocated to Indianapolis in 1984. In California, the Oakland Raiders relocated to Los Angeles in 1982, the Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee in 1997, where they were renamed the Tennessee Oilers. The team would change its name again, two later, to the Tennessee Titans. The NFL would again expand in 2002, adding the Houston Texans to the AFC, by contrast, the NFC has sent 12 different teams during that same time frame
27.
Super Bowl I
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The National Football League champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American Football League champion Kansas City Chiefs by the score of 35–10. Coming into this game, considerable animosity remained between the AFL and NFL, thus the teams representing the two rival leagues felt pressure to win. The Chiefs posted an 11–2–1 record during the 1966 AFL season, the Packers finished the 1966 NFL season at 12–2, and defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 34–27, in the 1966 NFL Championship Game. Still, many writers and fans believed any team in the older NFL was vastly superior to any club in the upstart AFL. The first half of Super Bowl I was competitive, as the Chiefs out-gained the Packers in total yards, 181–164, early in the third quarter, Green Bay safety Willie Wood intercepted a pass and returned it 50 yards to the five-yard line. The turnover sparked the Packers to score 21 unanswered points in the second half, Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr, who completed 16 of 23 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns, with 1 interception, was named MVP. When the NFL began its 40th season in 1960, it had a new and unwanted rival, but unlike the NFLs prior rivals, the AFL survived and prospered, in part by signing NFL rejects who turned out to be highly talented players the older league had badly misjudged. Soon the NFL and AFL found themselves locked in a bidding war for the top free agents and prospects coming out of college. Originally, there was an agreement between the two not to raid each other by signing players who were already under contract with a team from an opposing league. This policy broke down in early 1966 when the NFLs New York Giants signed Pete Gogolak, the AFL owners considered this an act of war and immediately struck back, signing several contracted NFL players, including eight of their top quarterbacks. Eventually the NFL had enough and started negotiations with the AFL in an attempt to resolve the issue, as a result of the negotiations, the leagues signed a merger agreement on June 9,1966. Among the details, both agreed to share a common draft in order to end the bidding war for the top college players. Los Angeles was not awarded the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game until December 1,1966 six weeks prior to the kickoff, likewise, the Green Bay Packers played the Kansas City Chiefs, with the Packers winning 35–10. The Chiefs entered the game after recording an 11–2–1 mark during the regular season, in the AFL Championship Game, they beat the Buffalo Bills, 31–7. Kansas Citys high-powered offense led the AFL in points scored and total rushing yards and their trio of running backs, Mike Garrett, Bert Coan, and Curtis McClinton all ranked among the top-ten rushers in the AFL. Quarterback Len Dawson was the passer in the AFL, completing 159 of 284 of his passes for 2,527 yards and 26 touchdowns. Wide receiver Otis Taylor provided the team with a deep threat by recording 58 receptions for 1,297 yards. The Chiefs also had a defense, with All-AFL players Jerry Mays
28.
Green Bay Packers
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The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues National Football Conference North division. They are also the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, organized and it is the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team based in the United States. Home games are played at Lambeau Field, the Packers are the last vestige of small town teams common in the NFL during the 1920s and 1930s. Founded in 1919 by Earl Curly Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun, between 1919 and 1920, the Packers competed against other semi-pro clubs from around Wisconsin and the Midwest. They joined the American Professional Football Association, the forerunner of todays NFL, the Packers have won 13 league championships, the most in NFL history, with nine NFL titles before the Super Bowl era and four Super Bowl victories. They won the first two Super Bowls in 1967 and 1968 and were the only NFL team to defeat the American Football League prior to the AFL–NFL merger. The Vince Lombardi Trophy is named after the Packers head coach of the same name and their two further Super Bowl wins came in 1997 and 2011. The Packers are long-standing adversaries of the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions, the Bears–Packers rivalry is one of the oldest in NFL history, dating back to 1921. The Green Bay Packers were founded on August 11,1919 by former high-school football rivals Earl Curly Lambeau, Lambeau solicited funds for uniforms from his employer, the Indian Packing Company. He was given $500 for uniforms and equipment, on the condition that the team be named for its sponsor, the Green Bay Packers have played in their original city longer than any other team in the NFL. On August 27,1921, the Packers were granted a franchise in the new pro football league that had been formed the previous year. Financial troubles plagued the team and the franchise was forfeited within the year, before Lambeau found new financial backers and these backers, known as the Hungry Five, formed the Green Bay Football Corporation. After a near-miss in 1927, Lambeaus squad claimed the Packers first NFL title in 1929 with an undefeated 12–0–1 campaign, among the many impressive accomplishments of these years was the Packers streak of 29 consecutive home games without defeat, an NFL record which still stands. The arrival of end Don Hutson from Alabama in 1935 gave Lambeau, credited with inventing pass patterns, Hutson would lead the league in receptions eight seasons and spur the Packers to NFL championships in 1936,1939 and 1944. An iron man, Hutson played both ways, leading the league in interceptions as a safety in 1940, Hutson claimed 18 NFL records when he retired in 1945, many of which still stand. In 1951, his number 14 was the first to be retired by the Packers, after Hutsons retirement, Lambeau could not stop the Packers slide. He purchased a large lodge near Green Bay for team members, rockwood Lodge was the home of the 1946-1949 Packers, though the 1947 and 1948 seasons produced a record of 12-10-1, and 1949 was even worse at 3-9
29.
Vince Lombardi
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Vincent Thomas Vince Lombardi was an American football player, coach, and executive in the National Football League. The NFLs Super Bowl trophy is named in his honor and he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, the year after his death. Lombardi, while considered by many to be the greatest coach in history, is more significantly recognized as one of the greatest coaches. Lombardi began his career as an assistant and later as a head coach at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood. Lombardi was born on June 11,1913 in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn to Enrico Harry Lombardi, Harrys mother and father, Vincenzo and Michelina, emigrated from Salerno, Italy. Matties father and mother, Anthony and Loretta, emigrated from Vietri di Potenza, Harry had three siblings and Matilda had twelve. Vince would be the oldest of five children, Madeleine, Harold, Claire, the entire Lombardi and Izzo clan settled in Sheepshead Bay. Matildas father, Anthony, opened up a shop in Sheepshead Bay before the turn of the century. At about the time of Lombardis birth, Harry, and his brother, Eddie, throughout the Great Depression, Harrys shop did well and his family prospered. Lombardi grew up in a diverse, middle-class neighborhood. Church attendance was mandatory for the Lombardis on Sundays, Mass would be followed with an equally compulsory few hours of dinner with friends, extended family members, and local clergy. He was a boy at St. Outside of their neighborhood, the Lombardi children were subject to the rampant discrimination that existed at the time against Italian immigrants. As a child, Lombardi helped his father at his meat cutting business, at the age of 12 he started playing in an uncoached but organized football league in Sheepshead Bay. Lombardi graduated from the grade at P. S. He then matriculated with the Cathedral Preparatory Seminary a part of Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in Brooklyn, at Cathedral, he played on the schools baseball and basketball teams, but his performance was hindered by his poor athleticism and eyesight. Against school rules, he continued to play football off-campus throughout his studies at Cathedral, after completing four years at Cathedral he decided not to pursue the priesthood. He enrolled at St. Francis Preparatory high school for the fall of 1932, there he became a Charter Member of Omega Gamma Delta fraternity
30.
Kansas City Chiefs
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The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues American Football Conference West division. The team was founded in 1960 as the Dallas Texans by businessman Lamar Hunt and was a member of the American Football League. In 1963, the relocated to Kansas City and assumed their current name. The Chiefs joined the NFL as a result of the merger in 1970, the team is valued at just under $1 billion. The Chiefs were also the team, after the Green Bay Packers, to appear in more than one Super Bowl. The Chiefs Wild-Card playoff victory ended what was at the time the third-longest drought in the NFL, in 1959, Lamar Hunt began discussions with other businessmen to establish a professional football league that would rival the National Football League. Hunts desire to secure a team was heightened after watching the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the New York Giants and Baltimore Colts. After unsuccessful attempts to purchase and relocate the NFLs Chicago Cardinals to his hometown of Dallas, Texas, Hunt went to the NFL and asked to create an expansion franchise in Dallas. The NFL turned him down, so Hunt then established the American Football League and started his own team, the Dallas Texans, to begin play in 1960. Hunt hired an assistant coach from the University of Miami football team, Hank Stram, to be the teams head coach after the job offer was declined by Bud Wilkinson. The Texans shared the Cotton Bowl with the NFLs cross-town competition Dallas Cowboys for three seasons, the Texans were to have exclusive access to the stadium until the NFL put an expansion team, the Dallas Cowboys, there. While the team averaged a league-best 24,500 at the Cotton Bowl, in the franchises first two seasons, the team managed only a 14–14 record. In their third season, the Texans strolled to an 11–3 record, the game was broadcast nationally on ABC and the Texans defeated the Oilers 20–17 in double overtime. The game lasted 77 minutes and 54 seconds, which stands as the longest championship game in professional football history. It turned out to be the last game the team would play as the Dallas Texans and he considered moving the Texans to either Atlanta or Miami for the 1963 season. However, he was swayed by an offer from Kansas City Mayor Harold Roe Bartle. Bartle promised to triple the franchises season ticket sales and expand the capacity of Municipal Stadium to accommodate the team
31.
Oakland Raiders
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The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football franchise based in Oakland, California. The Raiders currently compete in the NFL as a club of the leagues American Football Conference West division. At the end of the NFLs 2015 season, the Raiders boasted a lifetime record of 444 wins,397 losses. The Raiders plan to remain in Oakland through 2018 – and possibly 2019 –, the Raiders off-field fortunes have varied considerably over the years. The teams first three years of operation were marred by poor performance, financial difficulties, and spotty attendance. In 1963, however, the Raiders fortunes improved dramatically with the introduction of head coach Al Davis, in 1967, after several years of improvement, the Raiders reached the postseason for the first time. The team would go on to win its first AFL Championship that year, in doing so, the Raiders advanced to Super Bowl II, the Raiders run of success intensified during the 1970s. From 1970 to 1977, the team won six division titles, in 1976, the team captured its first NFL Championship with a convincing victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI. In 1982, amidst much controversy, the Raiders relocated to Los Angeles, the team finished with the NFLs best regular season record that year, one year later, the Raiders beat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII to capture their third Super Bowl championship. The Raiders fortunes declined following the 1985 season, they would win just one division title. In 1995, the Raiders returned to Oakland, after several years of continued mediocrity, the team entered a brief period of pronounced success in the early 2000s. From 2000 to 2002, the Raiders won three division titles and four playoff games, their renaissance culminated with a lopsided 2002 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII. The Super Bowl loss marked the beginning of a period of futility for the Raiders, from 2003 through 2015. In 2016, the Raiders finally ended their postseason drought with a victory over the division rival San Diego Chargers. At the end of the 2016 NFL season, the finished with a 12–4 record. The Raiders are known for their fan base and distinctive team culture. Since 1963, the team has won 15 division titles, four AFC Championships, one AFL Championship, fourteen former members of the team have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Having enjoyed a successful coaching career at Navy during the 1950s
32.
National Football Conference
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The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League, the highest professional level of American football in the United States. This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference, currently contain 16 teams each, a series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making the current total 16 clubs per each conference. Since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, the Dallas Cowboys lead the NFC with the most conference titles, the current NFC title holders are the Atlanta Falcons. Since 2002, the NFC has 16 teams that organized into four divisions each with four teams, East, North, South, two of these games are assigned on the basis of a particular teams final divisional standing from the previous season. The remaining 8 games are split between the roster of two other NFL divisions and this assignment shifts each year and will follow a standard cycle. Using the 2012 regular season schedule as an example, each team in the NFC West plays against every team in the AFC East and NFC North. In this way, non-divisional competition will be mostly among common opponents – the exception being the two games assigned based on the teams prior-season divisional standing, at the end of each season, the top six teams in the conference proceeds into the playoff. These teams consist of the four winners and the top two wild card teams. The NFC playoffs culminate in the NFC Championship Game with the receiving the George Halas Trophy. The NFC Champion then plays the AFC Champion in the Super Bowl, both the AFC and NFC were created after the NFL merged with the American Football League in 1970. When the AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams, the NFL consisted of 13 clubs, by 1969, the AFL had expanded to ten teams and NFL to 16 clubs. However, team owners could not agree to a plan on how to align the clubs in the NFC. When the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976, they were placed in the NFC and AFC, respectively. The Seahawks returned to the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment, the Carolina Panthers joined the NFC in 1995. Parity is generally greater among NFC teams than AFC teams, the only NFC team that has never made a Super Bowl appearance is the Detroit Lions. Since the 2002 realignment, the time that an NFC team made back-to-back Super Bowl appearances was the Seattle Seahawks in 2013 and 2014. Since 1970, only two teams have relocated, in 1988, the St. Louis Cardinals moved to Phoenix, Arizona, while the Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995, and back to Los Angeles again in 2016. The original NFC logo, in use from 1970–2009, depicted a blue N with three stars across it, the three stars represented the three divisions that were used from 1970–2001
33.
Roman numerals
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The numeric system represented by Roman numerals originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers in this system are represented by combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, Roman numerals, as used today, are based on seven symbols, The use of Roman numerals continued long after the decline of the Roman Empire. The numbers 1 to 10 are usually expressed in Roman numerals as follows, I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, Numbers are formed by combining symbols and adding the values, so II is two and XIII is thirteen. Symbols are placed left to right in order of value. Named after the year of its release,2014 as MMXIV, the year of the games of the XXII Olympic Winter Games The standard forms described above reflect typical modern usage rather than a universally accepted convention. Usage in ancient Rome varied greatly and remained inconsistent in medieval, Roman inscriptions, especially in official contexts, seem to show a preference for additive forms such as IIII and VIIII instead of subtractive forms such as IV and IX. Both methods appear in documents from the Roman era, even within the same document, double subtractives also occur, such as XIIX or even IIXX instead of XVIII. Sometimes V and L are not used, with such as IIIIII. Such variation and inconsistency continued through the period and into modern times. Clock faces that use Roman numerals normally show IIII for four o’clock but IX for nine o’clock, however, this is far from universal, for example, the clock on the Palace of Westminster in London uses IV. Similarly, at the beginning of the 20th century, different representations of 900 appeared in several inscribed dates. For instance,1910 is shown on Admiralty Arch, London, as MDCCCCX rather than MCMX, although Roman numerals came to be written with letters of the Roman alphabet, they were originally independent symbols. The Etruscans, for example, used
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