1.
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
2.
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
3.
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
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The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, often referred to simply as the Superdome, is a domed sports and exhibition venue located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It primarily serves as the venue for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. Plans were drawn up in 1967 by the New Orleans modernist architectural firm of Curtis and Davis and the building opened as the Louisiana Superdome in 1975. Its steel frame covers a 13-acre expanse and the 273-foot dome is made of a lamellar multi-ringed frame and has a diameter of 680 feet and it is adjacent to the Smoothie King Center. The Superdome gained international attention of a different type in 2005 when it housed thousands of people seeking shelter from Hurricane Katrina, the building suffered extensive damage as a result of the storm, and was closed for many months afterward. It was eventually decided the building would be refurbished and reopened in time for the Saints 2006 home opener on September 25. On October 3,2011, it was announced that German automaker Mercedes-Benz purchased naming rights to the stadium, the new name took effect on October 23,2011. Atlantas Mercedes-Benz Stadium, set to open in 2017, will become the fifth stadium to bear the name of the German automaker, the Superdome is located on 70 acres of land, including the former Girod Street Cemetery. The dome has a space of 125,000,000 cubic feet, a height of 253 feet, a dome diameter of 680 feet. The Superdome has a listed seating capacity of 76,468 or 73,208. However, published figures from events such as the Sugar Bowl football game have exceeded 79,000. The basketball capacity does not reflect the NCAAs new policy on arranging the basketball court on the 50-yard line on the football field, in 2011,3,500 seats were added, increasing the Superdomes capacity to 76,468. The Superdomes capacity was 75,167 for WWE WrestleMania XXX, the actual capacity is 73,208 people. The team regularly draws capacity crowds, the NFL has hosted seven Super Bowls at the Superdome, most recently Super Bowl XLVII in 2013. The 1976 Pro Bowl was held at the Superdome on Monday and it was the NFLs 26th annual all-star game. Tulane University played their games at the stadium from 1975 to 2013 before moving to on-campus Yulman Stadium. The BCS National Championship Game was played at the Superdome four times, the College Football Playoff semifinal game is played every three years in the stadium. Two other bowl games are played there annually, the Sugar Bowl
4.
New Orleans
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New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The population of the city was 343,829 as of the 2010 U. S. Census, the New Orleans metropolitan area had a population of 1,167,764 in 2010 and was the 46th largest in the United States. The New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa Combined Statistical Area, a trading area, had a 2010 population of 1,452,502. The city is named after the Duke of Orleans, who reigned as Regent for Louis XV from 1715 to 1723, as it was established by French colonists and it is well known for its distinct French and Spanish Creole architecture, as well as its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine, music, and its celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras. The city is referred to as the most unique in the United States. New Orleans is located in southeastern Louisiana, straddling the Mississippi River, the city and Orleans Parish are coterminous. The city and parish are bounded by the parishes of St. Tammany to the north, St. Bernard to the east, Plaquemines to the south, and Jefferson to the south and west. Lake Pontchartrain, part of which is included in the city limits, lies to the north, before Hurricane Katrina, Orleans Parish was the most populous parish in Louisiana. As of 2015, it ranks third in population, trailing neighboring Jefferson Parish, La Nouvelle-Orléans was founded May 7,1718, by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, on land inhabited by the Chitimacha. It was named for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who was Regent of the Kingdom of France at the time and his title came from the French city of Orléans. The French colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire in the Treaty of Paris, during the American Revolutionary War, New Orleans was an important port for smuggling aid to the rebels, transporting military equipment and supplies up the Mississippi River. Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez successfully launched a campaign against the British from the city in 1779. New Orleans remained under Spanish control until 1803, when it reverted briefly to French oversight, nearly all of the surviving 18th-century architecture of the Vieux Carré dates from the Spanish period, the most notable exception being the Old Ursuline Convent. Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, thereafter, the city grew rapidly with influxes of Americans, French, Creoles, and Africans. Later immigrants were Irish, Germans, and Italians, Major commodity crops of sugar and cotton were cultivated with slave labor on large plantations outside the city. The Haitian Revolution ended in 1804 and established the republic in the Western Hemisphere. It had occurred several years in what was then the French colony of Saint-Domingue
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.
Randy White (American football)
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Randall Lee White is a former American football defensive tackle. He attended the University of Maryland from 1971 to 1974, and he is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame. White was recruited by the University of Maryland and played as a fullback during his freshman year, while Maryland finished the year with only 2 wins, White did little worth noting during that year. During his sophomore season, new head coach Jerry Claiborne moved Randy to defensive end, the move was a natural fit, as by his senior year, he was, as Claiborne put it, as fast as some of the offensive backs I had coached. In that senior year, he won awards and honors, including the Outland Trophy, the Lombardi Award. Though Maryland lost in the Liberty Bowl that season to Tennessee, in 1994, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and in 2000 was named to ABC sports All-time All-America Team. Jordan retired following the 1976 season, and his slot was filled by Bob Breunig, during his third season, White was moved to right defensive tackle, the same position formerly occupied by Mr. In 1978, White was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Year and he would retire in 1988, having played 209 games in 14 seasons, only missing one game during that span. At the time of his retirement, he had played the second most of any Dallas Cowboy in history, during those 14 years, he played in three Super Bowls, six NFC Championship Games, and accumulated 1,104 tackles and 111 sacks. His highest single season total was 16 in 1978. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994, harvey Martin had died in 2001. Gradually, the accumulation of injuries began to limit Whites effectiveness and he was credited with only 64 tackles in the 1987 season, this followed shoulder surgery the previous year and a bulging disc in his neck that worsened. In 1988 he played in a role, not assuming a three point stance because of the disability. White openly and honestly acknowledged his frustration that he could no longer play at the level at which he was accustomed and he studied Thai Boxing under Chai Sirisute, the founder of the Thai Boxing Association of the USA. Whites round kick reportedly registered 400 psi on a gauge after two months of training, Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor bio
7.
Defensive tackle
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A defensive tackle is typically the largest and strongest of the defensive players in American football. The defensive tackle lines up opposite one of the offensive guards. Depending on a teams defensive scheme, a defensive tackle may be called upon to fill several different roles. These roles may include holding the point of attack by refusing to be moved or penetrating a certain gap between offensive linemen to break up a play in the opponents backfield. If a defensive tackle reads a play, his primary responsibility is to pursue the quarterback. Other responsibilities of the tackle may be to pursue the screen pass or drop into coverage in a zone blitz scheme. In a traditional 4–3 defensive set, there is no nose tackle, instead there is a left and right defensive tackle. Some teams especially in the NFL do have a nose tackle in this scheme, nose tackle is a defensive alignment position for a defensive lineman. In the 3–4 defensive scheme the sole defensive tackle is referred to as the nose tackle, the nose tackle aligns across the line of scrimmage from the offenses center before the play begins in the 0-technique position. In this position, frequently taking on the center and at least one if not both of the guards, the tackle is considered to be the most physically demanding position in football. In five-linemen situations, such as a formation, the nose guard is the innermost lineman. Typical 3–4 nose tackles are big wide bodies who can hold the point of attack and force double teams by the guard and they are usually the heaviest players on the roster, with weights ranging from 325 to 375 pounds. Also, height is critical, as they are supposed to get under the offensive line, recent examples of such nose tackles include Ron Simmons, Casey Hampton, Jamal Williams, Gilbert Brown, Dontari Poe, and Vince Wilfork. Rather uncommon are taller nose tackles, such as Ted Washington and Maake Kemoeatu, in some 4–3 defensive set, the nose tackle is one of two defensive tackles. Some teams especially in the NFL do have a nose tackle in the 4–3 defensive set, in a 4–3 defensive set, nose tackles are rather quick and supposed to shoot the A gap and beat the center and very likely the weak-side or pulling guard into the backfield. Height is not as important, and their weight is closer to 300 pounds, the terms nose guard or middle guard were more commonly used with the five-man defensive line of the older 5-2 defense. Effective against most plays of the day, but with a weakness to the short pass. In the 4-3 defense, the middle linebacker replaced the middle guard
8.
Defensive end
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Defensive end is a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, early formations, with six- and seven-man lines, used the end as a containment player, whose job was first to prevent an end run around his position, then secondarily to force plays inside. Some teams would use both styles of end play, depending on game situations, some defensive ends play the position due to their size, they close down their gap so the running back has no hole to run through. Other ends play the position due to their speed and agility and these ends can time the snap of the ball in order to get a jump on the rush, and stop the play. Most of the time it is the job of the end to keep outside or contain. The defensive ends are fast for players of their size, often the fastest and smallest players on the defensive line and they must be able to shed blockers to get to the ball. Defensive ends are often used to cover the outside area of the line of scrimmage, to tackle ball carriers running to the far right or left side. Since the creation of zone blitz defenses in the late 1990s, defensive ends have sometimes used in pass coverages. In the 3–4 defense, defensive ends are used primarily as run stoppers and are much larger, often, the position is played by a more agile or slightly undersized defensive tackle. Because of the popularity of the 3–4 defense, the value of a defensive tackle prospect that can possibly be used in this manner has increased. They are used to distract the offensive lineman on pass rushing plays to let the outside linebackers get a sack and they block screen passes and are put outside of the offensive tackles to get a sack. Some say you might as well convert a nose tackle into a 3–4 end
9.
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
10.
Tex Schramm
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Texas Earnest Tex Schramm, Jr. was the original president and general manager of the National Football Leagues Dallas Cowboys franchise. Schramm became the head of the Cowboys when the expansion team started operations in 1960. Despite his name, Schramm was not born in Texas, but in San Gabriel, Texas was his fathers name and where his parents met. Schramm attended Alhambra High School and went to the University of Texas, at UT he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, as was his father. Schramm interrupted his education to serve as an officer in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, before joining the Cowboys, Schramm was part of the Los Angeles Rams from 1947 to 1956. During his tenure, he hired Pete Rozelle as the Rams public relations director and they remained close friends after Rozelle became NFL commissioner and Schramm became general manager of the Cowboys. In late 1959, when it became apparent that the NFL was intent on expanding to Dallas, chicago Bears owner George Halas introduced Schramm to Clint Murchison, Jr. who had tried to bring the NFL to Dallas several times in the past. Murchison hired Schramm as the manager for a potential Dallas team. In 1960, Schramm hired head coach Tom Landry and chief scout Gil Brandt, by the mid-1960s, the three men had built the Cowboys into an elite team. They appeared in five Super Bowls that decade, winning Super Bowls VI and XII, and losing Super Bowls V, X, the Cowboys became a marquee NFL franchise, their popularity inspiring the nickname Americas Team. Schramm was known as the most powerful general manager in the NFL, the Cowboys owners during his tenure, Murchison and H. R. Bum Bright, largely left day-to-day operations in his hands. Schramm held the Cowboys voting right at league meetings, a right reserved for team owners. In 1966, Schramm met secretly with American Football League founder Lamar Hunt to begin the negotiations led to the 1970 merger of the NFL and AFL. Schramm was also known for innovations that helped redefine the modern NFL, schramms desire for a more comprehensive scouting combine led to the annual offseason NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Don Shula said of Schramm, I truly believe he had as much, or more, Schramm stayed on only briefly with the Cowboys after Jerry Jones purchased the team and fired Tom Landry. He left to become the president of the World League of American Football, Schramm was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991. Schramms entry into the Cowboys Ring of Honor took much longer due to strained relations with Jones, Schramm had created the Ring of Honor, and had been a one-man committee on inductions. Jones became that committee when he took over, finally in 2003, Jones announced that Schramm would be inducted into the ring during the next football season
11.
Tom Landry
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Thomas Wade Tom Landry was an American football player and coach. He is ranked as one of the greatest and most innovative coaches in National Football League history, creating many new formations and methods. He invented the now popular 4–3 defense, and the defense system made famous by the Doomsday Defense squads he created during his 29-year tenure with the Dallas Cowboys. His 29 consecutive years as the coach of one team are an NFL record, Landry won two Super Bowl titles, five NFC titles,13 Divisional titles, and compiled a 270–178–6 record, the third-most wins all-time for an NFL coach. His 20 career playoff victories are the second most of any coach in NFL history and he was named the NFL Coach of the Year in 1966 and the NFC Coach of the Year in 1975. His most impressive professional accomplishment is his 20 consecutive winning seasons, from 1966 to 1982 Dallas played in 12 NFL or NFC Championship games, a span of 17 years. More impressive is the Cowboys appearance in 10 NFC Championship games in the 13-year span from 1970 to 1982, born in Mission, Texas, to Ray and Ruth Landry, Tom was the second of four children. Landrys father had suffered from rheumatism, and relocated to the climate of Texas from Indiana or Illinois. Ray Landry himself was an athlete, making his mark locally as a pitcher, Tom played quarterback for Mission High School, where he led his team to a 12–0 record in his senior season. The Mission High School football stadium is named Tom Landry Stadium and is home to the Mission Eagles, Landry attended the University of Texas at Austin as an industrial engineering major. Landry had given thought to enrolling at Mississippi State University, where his friend John Tripson was an All-American, but he knew that he would be away from his friends and family. The main driving force in keeping him from enrolling at Mississippi State University was the notion that it would be too long a travel for his parents to see him play college football. He interrupted his education after a semester to serve in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II, Landry was inspired to join the armed forces in honor of his brother Robert. Robert Landry had enlisted in the Army Air Corps after the attack on Pearl Harbor, while ferrying a B-17 over to England, Robert Landrys plane had gone down over the North Atlantic, close to Iceland. Several weeks passed before the Army was able to officially declare Robert Landry dead, Tom Landry began his basic training at Sheppard Field near Wichita Falls, Texas, and his preflight training at Kelly Field, located near San Antonio, Texas. Landrys first experience as a bomber was a tough one, a few minutes after takeoff, Landry realized that the pilot seemed to be working furiously, and Landry had realized the planes engine had died. Despite this experience, Landry was committed to flying, at the age of 19, Landry was transferred to Sioux City, Iowa, where he trained as a copilot for flying a B-17. In 1944, Landry got his orders, and from Sioux City he went to Liverpool, England, from November 1944 to April 1945, he completed a combat tour of 30 missions, and survived a crash landing in Belgium after his bomber ran out of fuel
12.
Mike Ditka
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Michael Keller Ditka is a former American football player, coach, and television commentator. He was named to both the NFLs 50th and 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, as a coach for the Bears for 11 years he was twice both the AP and UPI NFL Coach of Year. He also coached the New Orleans Saints for three years, Ditka and Tom Flores are the only people to win an NFL title as a player, an assistant coach, and a head coach. Ditka, Flores and Gary Kubiak are also the people in modern NFL history to win a championship as head coach of a team he played for previously. Ditka is the person to participate in both of the last two Chicago Bears championships, as a player in 1963 and as head coach in 1985. He is known by the nickname Iron Mike, which he has said comes from his being born, Ditka was born as Michael Dyczko in the Pittsburgh-area town of Carnegie, Pennsylvania on October 18,1939. The oldest child of Charlotte and Mike Ditka, Sr. he grew up in nearby Aliquippa with siblings Ashton, David and his father, a welder, was one of three brothers of a Polish and Ukrainian family in the coal mining and steel manufacturing area in Western Pennsylvania. His ancestry on his mothers side is Irish and German, the Polish surname Dyczko was difficult to pronounce in his hometown, so the family name was changed to Ditka. Under head coach Press Maravich, Ditka was a star at Aliquippa High School. Ditka hoped to escape his hometowns manufacturing jobs by attending college with a football scholarship, planning to become a dentist, he was recruited by Notre Dame, Penn State, and University of Pittsburgh. Ditka played for the University of Pittsburgh from 1958 until 1960 and he was a three-sport athlete at Pitt, also playing baseball and basketball. He started all three seasons, leading the team in receiving in each, and also served as the teams punter, a first team selection on the College Football All-America Team in his senior year, he was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968. The Chicago Bears drafted Ditka fifth overall in the 1961 NFL Draft and he signed with the Bears and his presence was immediately felt. In his first season, Ditka had 58 receptions, introducing a new dimension to an end position that had previously been dedicated to blocking. He also scored 12 receiving touchdowns, which was the most by a Bears rookie and his success earned him Rookie of the Year honors. He continued to play for the Bears for the five years. He played on the 1963 NFL championship team, many of the players from that team, including Ditka, were drafted by assistant coach George Allen, a future Hall of Famer, who was then in charge of the Bears drafts. During the season, against the Los Angeles Rams, Ditka tied Harlon Hills franchise record for the most receiving touchdowns in a game with four, Ditka ranks first among tight ends and fourth in Bears history with 4,503 yards, fifth in both receptions and touchdown catches
13.
Tony Dorsett
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Anthony Drew Dorsett is a former American football running back who played professionally in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. From western Pennsylvania, Dorsett attended the nearby University of Pittsburgh and he was the first-round draft choice of the Cowboys in 1977, the second overall selection. Dorsett was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and played for the team for eleven seasons and he played for Denver the following year, then retired because of injuries. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the son of Wes and Myrtle, Dorsett grew up in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, northwest of Pittsburgh. He attended Hopewell High School, where he played football and basketball, Dorsett ended the year as an All-State selection after rushing for 1,034 yards and scoring 19 touchdowns, while leading the Vikings to a 9–1 season. He also remained a starting cornerback on the defensive side, in basketball Dorsett helped his team reach the WPIAL quarterfinals. Dorsett was also a key player on the side as one of the starting linebackers. For all the ability he had, Dorsett could never lead his team to the WPIAL Class AA playoffs, because in those days the teams had to have an undefeated record. The team′s only loss in 1971 came against Sharon after Dorsett suffered a concussion and played less than a quarter, at the end of his senior season he played at the Big 33 Football Classic. This was the first time that his future coach Johnny Majors saw him play live, as a tribute to him, the school retired his 33 jersey and in 2001, Hopewells Stadium was renamed Tony Dorsett Stadium. At the University of Pittsburgh, Dorsett became the first freshman in 29 years to be named All-American and he finished second in the nation in rushing with 1,586 yards in 11 games and led the Pittsburgh Panthers to its first winning season in 10 years. He was Pittsburghs first All-American selection since the 1963 season, when both Paul Martha and Ernie Borghetti were named to the first team. His 1,586 rushing yards at the time was the most ever recorded by a freshman, by coincidence, James, like Dorsett, hailed from Beaver County, Pennsylvania, specifically New Brighton. Although he was known as Anthony, the athletic department convinced him to go by Tony. At the beginning of Dorsetts freshman year at Pitt, his son Anthony Dorsett was born on September 14,1973. Dorsett believed that the best way to care for his son was to continue to pursue his football career, against Notre Dame in his junior year, Dorsett had 303 yards rushing to break his own school single game rushing record. As a senior in 1976, he had a total of 290 yards against Notre Dame and he darted 61 yards on his first run of the season and tacked on 120 more by the end of the 31–10 Pitt win. He was a three-time first-team All-American and a second-team All-American in 1974 by UPI, Dorsett finished his college career with 6,082 total rushing yards, then an NCAA record
14.
Roger Staubach
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Roger Thomas Staubach, nicknamed Captain America and Captain Comeback, is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. He attended the U. S. Naval Academy where he won the 1963 Heisman Trophy, Staubach joined the Dallas Cowboys in 1969 and played with the club during all 11 seasons of his career. He led the team to the Super Bowl five times, four as the starting quarterback and he led the Cowboys to victories in Super Bowl VI and Super Bowl XII. He was named to the Pro Bowl six times during his 11-year NFL career and he is currently executive chairman of Jones Lang LaSalle. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Staubach is of German descent and grew up in Silverton, roger was an only child and a Boy Scout as a youth. He attended St. John the Evangelist Catholic School, and graduated from a Catholic high school, after one year at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, Staubach entered the U. S. Naval Academy in 1961 and played quarterback for the Midshipmen. As a third-class midshipman in 1962, he got his first opportunity to play in the game of the season. He relieved starter Ron Klemick as the Minnesota defense, led by Bobby Bell, Staubach was 0–2 passing and was sacked twice for -24 yards. A week later, against Cornell, with the offense misfiring and he led Navy to six touchdowns, throwing for 99 yards and two touchdowns while running for 88 yards and another score as Navy won 41–0. He led the team to a 34–14 upset over Army, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another, on New Years Day, the Midshipmen lost the national championship to No.1 University of Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Earlier that season, Staubach led Navy to a 35–14 road victory in its rivalry with Notre Dame. Navy did not beat Notre Dame again until 2007,44 years later, in his three seasons at Navy, he completed 292 of 463 passes with 18 touchdowns and 19 interceptions, while gaining a school record 4,253 yards of total offense. Staubach is the last player from an academy to win the Heisman Trophy. As a senior in 1964, he injured his heel in the opening game victory over Penn State and missed the next four games. The Naval Academy retired Staubachs jersey number during his graduation ceremony after his senior season, in 1981 Staubach was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. In 2007 Staubach was ranked No.9 on ESPNs Top 25 Players In College Football History list and his collegiate football career completed, Staubach closed out his Academy sports career as captain of the Academys 1965 baseball team. During his junior year at the Naval Academy, Staubachs color-blindness was detected, after graduating from the Naval Academy in June 1965, Staubach could have requested an assignment in the States, but he chose to volunteer for a one-year tour of duty in Vietnam. He served as a Supply Corps officer for the Navy at the Chu Lai base/port until 1967 and he returned from Vietnam in September 1967, and spent the rest of his naval career in the United States
15.
Rayfield Wright
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Nicknamed the Big Cat for his nimble feet, Wright played on five NFC Championship teams that advanced to the Super Bowl, winning twice. He also participated in the Ice Bowl against the Green Bay Packers for the NFL championship in his season in 1967. Born and raised in Griffin, Georgia, Wright attended Fairmont High School and he was a letterman in basketball, but he was unable to make the high school football team. Wright went to nearby Fort Valley State College to play college basketball, the following summer, head coach Stan Lomax made him quit his summer job at a mill to get ready to join the Wildcats football team. Lomax tried Wright at free safety, then used him as a punter, defensive end, the coach also became a father figure to Wright. Wright was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the round of the 1967 NFL/AFL draft, 182nd overall. During his first three years with Dallas, the 6 ft 6 in,225 lb Big Cat was an end, defensive lineman. In his third season in 1969, Wright got his first chance as a starter after Ralph Neely was sidelined by injury and his opponent in his first start was Los Angeles Rams future Hall of Fame defensive end Deacon Jones, who was in his prime. Wrights performance was so strong that he won a role as right tackle before the first day of training camp in 1970. For thirteen seasons, Wright played more than 200 games, started at tackle in six NFC Championship games. He earned his first of four All-Pro honors in 1971 and was voted that year to the first of six straight Pro Bowls. Wright was named first- or second-team All-Pro each season from 1971 through 1976 and his blocking and leadership as the teams co-captain for seven years helped the Cowboys win 10 division titles and six conference crowns. Released by the Cowboys in March 1980, Wright signed in April with division rival Philadelphia, but retired early in training camp in July 1980. He anchored the line for an offense that finished in the top ten in scoring all ten seasons of the 1970s, while helping pave the way for the first five 1, 000-yard rushers in Cowboys history. Wright played at a time when the right tackle was the most important spot on the offensive line and he broke every time-honored mold previously held for men of his size. He was light on his feet and possessed an athleticism that had him miscast as a tight end, Rayfield could do it all, said former Cowboys running back Calvin Hill after Wrights election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He could run in the open field and he could finesse-block and power-block in the run game. And there was no one better in pass-blocking and he was absolutely the best, said Roger Staubach
16.
University of Louisiana at Monroe
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The University of Louisiana at Monroe is a coeducational public university in Monroe, Louisiana, United States and part of the University of Louisiana System. ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College, three years later it became the Northeast Center of Louisiana State University. In 1936 and 1937, its dean was Stephen A. Caldwell and its name changed again in 1949, to Northeast Junior College of Louisiana State University. A year later, it became an autonomous institution as Northeast Louisiana State College. In 1969, it granted doctoral degrees for the first time and was elevated to university status as Northeast Louisiana University, much growth occurred during the administration of president George T. Walker from 1958 to 1976. Under Walker, enrollment increased from 2,100 to 9,700, NLU became the largest university in North Louisiana in terms of enrollment and state appropriations. In 1999, NLU was renamed to its present name, a 2002 Reclaim Our Campus effort targeted recovery from financial and auditing difficulties. In 2010, James Erwin Cofer Sr. left the ULM presidency after eight years to head Missouri State University in Springfield and he was succeeded by Nick Bruno as the eighth president of ULM. Kitty DeGree, a Monroe real estate developer, was the largest single donor to ULM in the last decade of her life, the school of nursing is named in her honor. The College of Business and Social Sciences seeks to prepare students for productive careers, the college benefits students, businesses and the community through research and service. ULM offers AACSB accredited undergraduate and graduate MBA degree programs, U. S. News & World Report has ranked ULM’s Master of Business Administration degree as the number 57 program in the nation – up 30 spots from the 2014 ranking of 87. The English department publishes Turnrow, a journal of short fiction, poetry, visual art. A doctoral program in marriage and family therapy was approved by the Louisiana Board of Regents, established in 1956, the College of Pharmacy is accredited by the American Council on Pharmacy Education, including one of seven Toxicology programs in the U. S. In 2007, the College of Pharmacy moved from the campus to the off-campus building. There are satellite campuses in Shreveport and Baton Rouge, the College of Pharmacy at ULM is Louisianas only publicly supported comprehensive center for pharmaceutical education, research, and service. The College includes several modern specialized instructional and health facilities and numerous affiliated off-campus teaching hospitals. ULM is home to the Emy-Lou Biedenharn Recital Hall, named for the singer and daughter of the Coca-Cola entrepreneur Joseph A. Biedenharn. The universitys Natural History Museum is home to the 6-million-specimen Neil Douglas fish collection, U. S. ULM joined the Sun Belt Conference for all sports on July 1,2006 after playing in the Southland Conference in all sports except football
17.
Red Grange
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His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League. He was a member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame. In college, Grange was a three-time consensus All-American, leading his team to a championship in 1923. He was the only consensus All-American running back in 1924 who was not a member of the Four Horsemen, the same year, Grange became the first recipient of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football award denoting the Big Tens most valuable player. In 2008, he was named the best college player of all time by ESPN. Red Grange was born on June 13,1903, in Forksville, Pennsylvania and his father was the foreman of three lumber camps. His mother died when he was just five years old, for a number of years, the Grange family lived with relatives until they could finally afford a home of their own in Wheaton, Illinois. When they arrived in Wheaton, Grange’s father worked hard and became the chief of police, at Wheaton High School, Grange earned 16 varsity letters in four sports during the four years he attended, notably scoring 75 touchdowns and 532 points for the football team. As a high school junior, Grange scored 36 touchdowns and led Wheaton High School to an undefeated season, in his senior year, his team won every game but one in which they lost 39–0 to Scott High School in Toledo, Ohio. Knocked out in game, Grange remained unconscious for two days, having difficulty speaking when he awoke. In addition to his success in football, Grange was an all-state track, in 1920, Grange was a state champion in the high jump, while placing third and fourth in the 100-yard dash and the 220-yard dash, respectively. In 1921, he won the title in both the long jump and the 100-yard dash, and finally in 1922, he placed third in the 100-yard dash. To help the family money, he took a part-time job as an ice toter for $37.50 per week. After graduation, Grange enrolled at the University of Illinois, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity and he had initially planned to compete in only basketball and track, but changed his mind once he arrived and joined coach Bob Zuppkes Fighting Illini football team. Grange played for the team from 1923 to 1925, in his first collegiate football game, he scored three touchdowns against Nebraska. He once scored four touchdowns in twelve minutes, in seven games as a sophomore, he ran for 723 yards and scored 12 touchdowns, leading Illinois to an undefeated season and the Helms Athletic Foundation national championship. The Michigan Wolverines entered the game as favorites, having won a national title in 1923. Grange returned the kickoff for a 95-yard touchdown and scored three more touchdowns on runs of 67,56, and 44 yards in the first 12 minutes–the last three in less than seven minutes
18.
Tyler Junior College
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Tyler Junior College is a two-year community college in Tyler, Texas, United States. TJC is one of the largest community colleges in Texas, with an enrollment of more than 12,000 credit students each year with an additional 20,000 continuing education enrollments annually and its West Campus includes continuing education and workforce training programs. The College also operates centers in Jacksonville and Lindale. TJC offers Associate in Arts, Associate in Applied Science and Associate of Arts in Teaching degrees, as well as tech prep and certificate programs. The college operated as part of the Tyler public school system from its inception in 1926 until 1945, the junior college district now includes the Tyler, Chapel Hill, Grand Saline, Lindale, Van, and Winona school districts. During the 2016-2017 schoolyear, TJC offered a degree in dental hygiene. Students can choose from approximately fifty groups to join, including a band, drill team. The independently operated Tyler Museum of Art is located on the main campus. Additionally, Wagstaff Gymnasium is home to the TJC Apache volleyball and basketball teams, co-ed dorms include Louise H. & Joseph Z. Ornelas Residential Complex, Wesley House, and Bateman Hall. Vaughn Hall and Hudnall Hall house women, halls for men include Holley Hall, Lewis Hall, Sledge Hall, Claridge Hall, and West Hall. Claridge and Sledge Hall houses members of athletic teams, shea Whigham, actor, portrayed Elias Eli Thompson in the HBO drama series Boardwalk Empire. Derick Armstrong, Canadian football wide receiver who plays for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League John Harvey - award winning Canadian Football League player, bryan Hughes - Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from Wood County since 2003. Charles R. Moore - Methodist minister and civil rights advocate, allen R. Morris - Emmy Award winning producer/director/writer, formerly with KLTV, frequent actor at Tyler Civic Theatre from 1979 to 1990. Davide Somma, Soccer player for Leeds United & South Africa, craig Tiley, CEO of Tennis Australia and Director of the Australian Open Byron M. Tunnel, Texas politician. Mike Easterner, General Manager, Fueled By Ramen/Roadrunner Records, Atlantic Recording Corp, new York City, Jimmy Butler, NBA Player for the Chicago Bulls Dom Dwyer, Soccer Player for Sporting Kansas City Chris Tomlin, Christian Singer Robert Pack, Denver Nuggets Daniel E
19.
Pete Fountain
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Pierre Dewey LaFontaine, Jr. better known as Pete Fountain, was an American jazz clarinetist. He played in traditional and contemporary genres of jazz, such as Dixieland, pop jazz, honky-tonk jazz, as well as pop, and Creole music. Pierre Dewey Fountain, Jr. was born on White Street, in New Orleans, between Dumaine and St. Ann, in a small Creole cottage-style frame house, to Pierre, Sr. and Madeline. Petes father, a driver and a part-time musician, changed the family name to Fountain. He started playing clarinet as a child at the McDonogh 28 school located on Esplanade Avenue, as a child, young Pete was very sickly, frequently battling respiratory infections due to weakened lungs. He was given expensive medication but it proved to be not very effective, during a pharmacy visit, Petes father began a discussion with a neighborhood doctor who was also there shopping and talked with him about his sons condition. The doctor agreed to see the boy the following day, after a short exam, the doctor confirmed the weak lung condition and advised the father to try an unorthodox treatment, purchase the child a musical instrument, anything he has to blow into. The same day, they went to a music store and, given his choice of instruments. At first, Pete was unable to produce a sound from the instrument, but he continued to practice and eventually not only sounds and eventually music. He took private lessons but also learned to play jazz by playing along with records of first Benny Goodman. By the time he reached his teens, he was playing gigs in the nightclubs on Bourbon Street. According to Fountain, When I was a school senior. I answered that I was too busy playing clarinet every night, I guess I was a professional from that point on. One of Fountains early engagements were with the bands of Monk Hazel, Fountain founded the Basin Street Six in 1950 with his longtime friend, trumpeter George Girard. A talent scout for Lawrence Welk, who saw Fountain performing at the Pier 600, invited him to join Welks orchestra in Los Angeles, Fountain became well known for his many solos on Welks ABC television show, The Lawrence Welk Show. He was rumored to have quit when Welk refused to let him jazz up a Christmas carol on the 1958 Christmas show, in an interview, Fountain said he left The Lawrence Welk Show because champagne and bourbon dont mix. Fountain was hired by Decca Records A&R head Charles Bud Dant and went on to produce 42 hit albums with Dant, after Welks death, Fountain would occasionally join with the Welk musical family for reunion shows. Fountain returned to New Orleans, played with the Dukes of Dixieland and he owned his own club in the French Quarter in the 1960s and 1970s
20.
Al Hirt
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Alois Maxwell Al Hirt was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his recordings of Java and the accompanying album Honey in the Horn. His nicknames included Jumbo and The Round Mound of Sound, Hirt was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in November 2009. Hirt was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of a police officer, at the age of six, he was given his first trumpet, which had been purchased at a local pawnshop. He would play in the Junior Police Band with the children of Alcide Nunez, during this time, he was hired to play at the local horse racing track, beginning a six-decade connection to the sport. In 1940, Hirt went to Cincinnati, Ohio, to study at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music with Dr. Frank Simon. After a stint as a bugler in the United States Army during World War II, Hirt performed with various swing big bands, including those of Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, in 1950, Hirt became first trumpet and featured soloist with Horace Heidts Orchestra. After spending several years on the road with Heidt, Hirt returned to New Orleans working with various Dixieland groups, Hirts virtuoso dexterity and fine tone on his instrument soon attracted the attention of major record labels and he signed with RCA Victor. Hirt posted twenty-two albums on the Billboard charts in the 1950s and 1960s, both Honey in the Horn and Java sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs. Hirt was chosen to record the theme for the 1960s TV show The Green Hornet. Thematically reminiscent of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakovs Flight of the Bumblebee, it showcased Hirts technical prowess, the recording again gained public attention in 2003 when it was used in the film Kill Bill. From the mid-1950s to early 1960s, Hirt and his band played nightly at Dans Pier 600 at the corner of St. Louis, the club was owned by his business manager, Dan Levy, Sr. In 1962 Hirt opened his own club on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter and he also became a minority owner in the NFL expansion New Orleans Saints in 1967. Covering an eclectic variety of popular, standard and show tunes, it featured a big-band supplemented by timpani, French horns and he also appeared opposite Troy Donahue and Suzanne Pleshette in the 1962 motion picture, Rome Adventure. In 1965, he hosted the television variety series Fanfare, which aired on CBS as a summer replacement for Jackie Gleason. Hirt starred along with the University of Arizona marching band at the first Super Bowl halftime show in 1967, on February 8,1970, while performing in a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, Hirt was injured while riding on a float. It is popularly believed that he was struck in the mouth by a piece of concrete or brick. Factual documentation of the details of the incident is sparse, consisting primarily of claims made by Hirt after the incident, whatever the actual cause of his injuries, Hirt underwent surgery and made a return to the club scene
21.
NFL on CBS
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The NFL on CBS is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League games that are produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network in the United States. The network has aired NFL game telecasts since 1956, since 2014, CBS has also broadcast Thursday Night Football games during the first half of the NFL season, through a production partnership with the NFL Network. CBS coverage began on September 30,1956, before the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, prior to 1968, CBS had an assigned crew for each NFL team. As an result, CBS became the first network to broadcast some NFL regular season games to selected markets across the country. From 1970 until the end of the 1993 season, when Fox won the broadcast television contract to that particular conference, since 1975, game coverage has been preceded by pre-game show The NFL Today, which features game previews, extensive analysis and interviews. CBSs first attempts to broadcast the NFL on television were notable for there being no broadcasting contract with the league as a whole. Instead, CBS had to strike deals with individual teams to broadcast games into the teams own markets, often the games would be broadcast with split audio – that is, a game between two franchises would have the same picture in both teams networks. Each teams network had different announcers, chris Schenkel was their play-by-play announcer in that early era when each team was assigned its own network voice on its regional telecasts. At the time, there were few if any true national telecasts until the NFL championship game, Schenkel was joined by Jim McKay, later Johnny Lujack through the 1950s and the early 1960s. As Giants players retired to the broadcast booth in the early and 1960s, first Pat Summerall, as the 1970 merger of the NFL and AFL approached, CBS moved to a more generic announcer approach while Schenkel left to join ABC Sports. From 1956 to 1959, the Baltimore Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers, when these three played at home, there was no need for the usage of split audio. Instead, the teams telecasts were produced in a simple singular audio-video feed. In 1959,1960 and 1961, NBC had the rights to televise Colts, while the game broadcasts were blacked out in those cities, they were available to other NBC-affiliated stations. The Chicago Bears and Chicago Cardinals only produced home telecasts for their vast network. Because of this, if the Bears played the Colts in Baltimore or the Cardinals visited Forbes Field to play the Steelers during this period, meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns had their own network, part of Sports Network Incorporated and Carling Beer. In 1961, then-CBS affiliate WISN-TV in Milwaukee opted not to carry that years annual telecast of The Wizard of Oz, running a Green Bay Packers football game instead. In contrast to the infamous Heidi telecast in 1968, the popularity of The Wizard of Oz as a television event at that time was such that the station ran the movie locally at a later date. In 1962, the NFL followed the American Football Leagues suit with its own revenue sharing plan after CBS agreed to telecast all regular season games for a fee of US$4.65 million
22.
Pat Summerall
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George Allen Pat Summerall was an American football player and television sportscaster, having worked at CBS, Fox, and ESPN. In addition to football, he announced major golf and tennis events. In total, he announced 16 Super Bowls on network television,26 Masters Tournaments and he also contributed to 10 Super Bowl broadcasts on CBS Radio as a pregame host or analyst. Summerall played football for the Arkansas Razorbacks and then in the National Football League from 1952 through 1961 and he was drafted by the Detroit Lions and played with Bobby Layne. The best playing time in his career was with the New York Giants as a kicker, after retiring as a player, he joined CBS as a color commentator the next year. He worked with Tom Brookshier and then John Madden on NFL telecasts for CBS, although retired since 2002, he continued to announce games on occasion, especially those near his Texas home. He was named the National Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association in 1977 and that year, he also received the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame in 1999, at Columbia High School, Lake City, Florida, Summerall played football, tennis, baseball, and basketball. Although basketball was his favorite sport, he was recognized as an All-State selection in basketball and football and he was inducted into the FHSAA Hall of Fame and was later named to the FHSAAs All-Century Team. Summerall played college football from 1949 to 1951 at the University of Arkansas, where he played end, tight end. He graduated in 1953 majoring in Russian history, according to CBS News, Summerall spent ten years as a professional football player in the National Football League, primarily as a placekicker. The Detroit Lions drafted Summerall as a draft choice in the 1952 NFL Draft. Summerall played the pre-season with the Lions before breaking his arm and his best professional year statistically was 1959, when Summerall scored 90 points on 30-for-30 extra-point kicking and 20-for-29 field goal kicking. Summeralls most memorable moment may well have been at the very end of the December 14,1958 regular season finale between his Giants and the Cleveland Browns at Yankee Stadium. Going into the game, the Browns were in first place in the Eastern Conference, in that era, there was no overtime during regular season games, standings ties were broken by a playoff, and there were no wild-card teams. The Browns, on the hand, needed only a tie to clinch the Eastern championship. As time was running out, the Giants and Browns were tied, 10–10, the Giants got barely into Cleveland territory, then sent out Summerall to try for a tiebreaking 49-yard field goal. To add to the drama, there were swirling winds and snow, Summerall, a straight-ahead kicker, made the field goal with just two minutes to play, keeping the Giants alive for another week
23.
Super Bowl XI
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The Raiders defeated the Vikings by the score of 32–14 to win their first Super Bowl. The game was played on January 9,1977, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and this is, and remains, the earliest scheduled Super Bowl during the calendar year. This was the Raiders second Super Bowl appearance after losing Super Bowl II and they posted a 13–1 regular season record before defeating the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs. The Vikings were making their fourth Super Bowl appearance after posting an 11–2–1 regular season record and playoff victories over the Washington Redskins and the Los Angeles Rams. The Vikings became the first team to appear in four Super Bowls, Oakland gained a Super Bowl record 429 yards, including a Super Bowl record 288 yards in the first half, en route to winning Super Bowl XI. After a scoreless first quarter, Oakland scored on three possessions to take a 16–0 lead at halftime. The Raiders also had two fourth quarter interceptions, including cornerback Willie Browns 75-yard return for a touchdown, Oakland wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff, who had 4 catches for 79 yards that set up three Raider touchdowns, was named the games Most Valuable Player. Among the wide receivers who have won the Super Bowl MVP, Ken Stabler of the Raiders became the first left-handed quarterback to win the Super Bowl. He would be joined 18 years later by San Francisco quarterback Steve Young, the NFL awarded Super Bowl XI to Pasadena, California on March 19,1975 at the owners meetings held in Honolulu. This game marked the second Super Bowl appearance for the Oakland Raiders, two years after their Super Bowl loss, the Raiders hired John Madden as their head coach. Under Madden, the Raiders had posted in his 8 seasons an 83–22–7 record, but Super Bowl XI was the first time Madden led his team to a league championship game. They had been eliminated in all 6 of their previous playoff appearances, the Raiders offense was led by quarterback Ken Stabler, who finished as the top rated passer in the AFC, passing for 2,737 yards and 27 touchdowns. His 66.7 completion percentage was the second highest in the league, stablers main passing weapon was wide receiver Cliff Branch, who caught 46 passes for 1,111 yards and 12 touchdowns. Fred Biletnikoff was also a deep threat, with 43 receptions for 551 yards and 7 touchdowns. And tight end Dave Casper recorded 53 receptions for 691 yards and 10 touchdowns, in addition to their great passing attack the Raiders also had a powerful running game, led by fullback Mark van Eeghen and halfback Clarence Davis. Another reason for the Raiders success on offense was their line, led by left tackle Art Shell and left guard Gene Upshaw. Injuries early in the season forced the Raiders to switch from a 4–3 to a 3–4 defense, the switch benefited the team, as they won their last 10 games and finished the regular season with the best record in the league, 13–1. The Raiders defense was anchored by great linebackers, such as Phil Villapiano and Ted Hendricks and their defensive secondary was extremely hard-hitting and talented, led by safeties Jack Tatum and George Atkinson, and cornerbacks Skip Thomas and Willie Brown
24.
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
25.
Super Bowl XIII
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The Steelers defeated the Cowboys by the score of 35–31. The game was played on January 21,1979, at the Orange Bowl in Miami and this was the first Super Bowl that featured a rematch of a previous one, and both teams were attempting to be the first club to ever win a third Super Bowl. Dallas was also the defending Super Bowl XII champion, and finished the 1978 regular season with a 12–4 record, and posted victories over the Atlanta Falcons. Pittsburgh entered the game after posting a 14–2 regular season record and playoff wins over the Denver Broncos, Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who was named Super Bowl MVP, completed 17 out of 30 passes for Super Bowl records of 318 passing yards and 4 touchdown passes. Bradshaw eclipsed Bart Starrs Super Bowl record for passing yards in the first half with 253 yards in the air as the Steelers led 21–14 at intermission. His 75-yard touchdown pass in the quarter also tied Johnny Unitas in Super Bowl V for the longest pass in a Super Bowl. The Cowboys were able to close, only trailing 21–17 at the end of the third quarter. Dallas also could not overcome turnovers, drops, and a penalty during the second half. The game came to be known as Black Sunday in Las Vegas, the point spread opened at Pittsburgh -3.5 points. As the Steelers backers placed bets on them the sportsbooks adjusted the line and it eventually hit Pittsburgh -4.5 and then the Dallas money poured in on the Cowboys. It eventually settled at Pittsburgh at -4, the Steelers four-point margin of victory meant the Las Vegas sportsbooks lost the vast majority of wagers on the game. The NFL awarded Super Bowl XIII to Miami on June 14,1977 at the meetings held in New York. For the 1978–79 season, the NFL extended its schedule from 14 regular season games to 16 and he ranked as the second highest rated passer in the league, his 28 touchdown passes led the league, and he won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award. Wide receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth provided the team with a deep threat. Swann recorded 61 receptions for 880 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Stallworth had 41 receptions for 798 yards and 9 touchdowns. Tight end Randy Grossman, who replaced injured starter Bennie Cunningham for most of the season, also was a big factor, recording 37 receptions for 448 yards, halfback Rocky Bleier had 633 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns, while also catching 17 passes for 168 yards. The Steelers success on offense was due in large measure to their offensive line. Once again, defensive tackles Joe Greene and L. C. Greenwood anchored the line, while Pro Bowl linebackers Jack Ham and Jack Lambert combined for 7 interceptions
26.
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
27.
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
28.
Dome
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A dome is an architectural element that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. The precise definition has been a matter of controversy, there are also a wide variety of forms and specialized terms to describe them. A dome can rest upon a rotunda or drum, and can be supported by columns or piers that transition to the dome through squinches or pendentives, a lantern may cover an oculus and may itself have another dome. Domes have a long architectural lineage that extends back into prehistory and they have been constructed from mud, snow, stone, wood, brick, concrete, metal, glass, and plastic over the centuries. The symbolism associated with domes includes mortuary, celestial, and governmental traditions that have developed over time. Domes have been found from early Mesopotamia, which may explain the forms spread and they are found in Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, and Chinese architecture in the Ancient world, as well as among a number of contemporary indigenous building traditions. They were popular in Byzantine and medieval Islamic architecture, and there are examples from Western Europe in the Middle Ages. The Renaissance style spread from Italy in the Early modern period, advancements in mathematics, materials, and production techniques since that time resulted in new dome types. The domes of the world can be found over religious buildings, legislative chambers, sports stadiums. The English word dome ultimately derives from the Latin domus —which, up through the Renaissance, labeled a revered house, such as a Domus Dei, or House of God, the French word dosme came to acquire the meaning of a cupola vault, specifically, by 1660. A dome is a rounded vault made of either curved segments or a shell of revolution, sometimes called false domes, corbel domes achieve their shape by extending each horizontal layer of stones inward slightly farther than the lower one until they meet at the top. A false dome may also refer to a wooden dome, true domes are said to be those whose structure is in a state of compression, with constituent elements of wedge-shaped voussoirs, the joints of which align with a central point. The validity of this is unclear, as domes built underground with corbelled stone layers are also in compression from the surrounding earth, as with arches, the springing of a dome is the level from which the dome rises. The top of a dome is the crown, the inner side of a dome is called the intrados and the outer side is called the extrados. The haunch is the part of an arch that lies halfway between the base and the top. The word cupola is another word for dome, and is used for a small dome upon a roof or turret. Cupola has also used to describe the inner side of a dome. Drums, also called tholobates, are cylindrical or polygonal walls with or without windows that support a dome, a tambour or lantern is the equivalent structure over a domes oculus, supporting a cupola
29.
Prime time
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Prime time or peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television programming. The term prime time is defined in terms of a fixed time period – for example. In Chinese television, the 19, 00-to-22,00 time slot is known as Golden Time, the term also influenced a nickname of a strip of holidays in known as Golden Week. Prime time here usually takes place from 19,00 until 22,00, after that, programs classified as “PG” are allowed to be broadcast. Frontline dramas appear during this time slot in Cantonese, as well as movies in English, in India, prime time occurs between 20,00 and 22,30. Prime time usually takes place from 18,00 to 23,00 WIB, after prime time, programs classified as Adult, as well as cigarette commercials, are allowed to be broadcast. Like another Muslim-majority country, there is also a prime time during sahur time in a month of Ramadan. It takes place from 02,00 and ends at the Fajr prayer call, the time slot is usually filled with comedy and religious programming. In Iraq, prime time runs from 20,00 to 23,00, the main news programs are broadcast at 20,00 and the highest-rated television program airs at 21,00. In Japanese television, the 19, 00-to-22,00 time slot is known as Golden Time. The term also influenced a nickname of a strip of holidays in known as Golden Week, malaysian prime time starts with the main news from 20,00 to 20,30 and ends either at 23,00 or 0,30, or possibly late. Usually, programmes during prime time are domestic dramas, foreign series, movies. Programmes that classify as 18 are not allowed to be broadcast before 10,00 p. m. but on RTM, however, programmes broadcast after 23,00 are still considered prime time. As of December 2010, NTV7s prime time continues until 12,00 a. m, programmes during prime time may have longer commercial breaks due to number of viewers. Some domestic prime time productions may be affected because of major sporting events such as FIFA World Cup. However, only FIFA World Cup in the Americas did not affect the domestic prime time programmes, in the Philippines, prime time blocks begin at 18,00 and run until about 23,00 on weekdays, and 19,00 to 23,00 on weekends. The weekday prime time blocks usually consists of local teleseryes and foreign television series, the networks highest-rated programs are usually aired right after the evening newscast at 20,00, while a foreign series usually precedes the late night newscast. On weekends, non-scripted programming such as talent shows, reality shows, for the minor networks, prime time consists of American television series on weekdays, with encores of those shows on weekends
30.
1977 Chicago Bears season
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The 1977 Chicago Bears season was their 58th regular season completed in the National Football League. This was their first postseason appearance since winning the 1963 championship and they secured this by winning their last six games, including among others the last of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ record run of twenty-six losses. A week after the Dallas playoff loss, Coach Pardee stunned the team by resigning to take the coaching position of the Washington Redskins. Walter Payton 20 Rush,137 Yds,4 Rec,107 Yds Safety Charlie Waters led the Cowboys to a 37–7 victory by setting an NFL playoff record of 3 interceptions. Dallas built a 17–0 halftime lead, with the aid of running back Doug Dennison’s 2-yard touchdown run, in the second half, running back Tony Dorsett recorded two rushing touchdowns and Efren Herrera added two more field goals. The Bears were limited to 224 total yards and did not score until the quarter when the game was already out of reach
31.
Super Bowl IX
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The game was played on January 12,1975, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, the last pro game at that venue. The Steelers defeated the Vikings by the score of 16–6 to win their first Super Bowl and this game matched two of the NFLs best defenses and two future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs, the first half of Super Bowl IX was a defensive struggle, with the lone score being the first safety in Super Bowl history when Tarkenton was downed in his own end zone. The Steelers then recovered a fumble on the second half kickoff, in total, the Steelers limited the Vikings to Super Bowl record lows of nine first downs,119 total offensive yards,17 rushing yards, and no offensive scores. The Steelers accomplished this despite losing starting linebackers Andy Russell and Jack Lambert, on the other hand, Pittsburgh had 333 yards of total offense. Harris, who ran for a Super Bowl record 158 yards, the NFL awarded Super Bowl IX to New Orleans on April 3,1973 at the owners meetings held in Scottsdale, Arizona. Pittsburgh advanced to their first Super Bowl and were playing for a championship for the first time in team history. But in 1969, Rooney hired Chuck Noll to be the head coach. Noll rebuilt the Steelers through the NFL draft, selecting defensive tackle Joe Greene, in 1970, Noll drafted quarterback Terry Bradshaw and cornerback Mel Blount. In 1971, linebacker Jack Ham, defensive tackle Ernie Holmes, defensive end Dwight White, fullback Franco Harris was drafted in 1972. And in 1974, the Steelers picked linebacker Jack Lambert, center Mike Webster and wide receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, and signed safety Donnie Shell as a free agent. But en route to Super Bowl IX, the Steelers had started the season slowly, as Bradshaw. Gilliam had started for the first four games of the season, although Bradshaw ended up completing only 67 out of 148 passes for 785 yards,7 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions, he helped lead the team to a 10–3–1 regular season record. The Steelers main offensive weapon, however, was running the ball, Harris rushed for 1,006 yards and five touchdowns, while also catching 23 passes for 200 yards and another touchdown. Running backs Rocky Bleier, Preston Pearson, and Steve Davis also made important contributions, gaining a total of 936 yards. But the Steelers main strength during the season was their staunch Steel Curtain defense, which led the league with the fewest total yards allowed and the fewest passing yards allowed. Greene won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award for the time in the previous three seasons, and he and L. C. Greenwood were named to the Pro Bowl. Both of the teams outside linebackers, Ham and Andy Russell, had also selected to play in the Pro Bowl
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