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.
Tampa Stadium
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Tampa Stadium was a large open-air stadium located in Tampa, Florida. It opened in 1967, was expanded in 1974–75, and was demolished in 1999. The facility is most closely associated with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League and it also hosted two Super Bowls, in 1984 and 1991. To meet the demands of the Buccaneers new owners, Raymond James Stadium was built at public expense in Tampa Stadiums parking lot in 1998. The older stadium was demolished in early 1999, the land on which Tampa Stadium was situated had been the perimeter of Drew Field, a World War II-era airfield which was the precursor to Tampa International Airport. In 1949, the city of Tampa bought a 720-acre grassy parcel between the airport and West Tampa from the government with the idea of eventually building a community sports complex. Al Lopez Field was the first phase of the project, opening in 1955, by the early 1960s, Tampas civic leaders were interested in attracting a National Football League team to the area. Several well-attended NFL exhibition games were held at Phillips Field near downtown, when it opened in 1967, Tampa Stadium consisted of a matching pair of large arch-shaped concrete grandstands with open endzones. The seating consisted of long, backless aluminum benches that were accessed via tunnels which connected the seating area to wide. The benches were arranged in two large tiers divided by a walkway about halfway up the grandstands. The slope of the grandstands was relatively steep, giving every seat a direct, the official capacity was 46,481, though temporary bleachers could be placed in one or both endzones if needed. Over the lifetime of Tampa Stadium, the grass turf consisted of several varieties of Bermuda grass. The playing surface was one of the best in the NFL. Tampa Stadium was built almost exclusively of concrete, throughout its existence, exterior walls were painted light tan or white or left as bare concrete, as were the flooring surfaces. Seating consisted of long aluminum benches, and there was no roof or overhang of any kind over the field or seating areas, while the stadiums minimalist design allowed for very good sight lines, it also exposed both spectators and players to the full brunt of Tampas subtropical climate. This was especially true after the stadium was enclosed for the Bucs 1976 inaugural season. While fans could retreat under the grandstands to the shade of the wide concourses where concessions and restrooms were located, players, cooling equipment was usually placed near the sideline benches. The Buccaneers were also allowed to wear their white jerseys at home, during the summer and early autumn, events in the stadium were often scheduled in the evening hours to avoid the often oppressive afternoon heat and humidity
4.
Tampa, Florida
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Tampa is a major city in, and the county seat of, Hillsborough County, Florida. It is located on the west coast of Florida on Tampa Bay, near the Gulf of Mexico, the city had a population of 346,037 in 2011. The current location of Tampa was once inhabited by peoples of the Safety Harbor culture. The area was explored by Spanish explorers in the 16th century, resulting in violent conflicts and the introduction of European diseases, which wiped out the original native cultures. In 1824, the United States Army established a frontier outpost called Fort Brooke at the mouth of the Hillsborough River, near the site of todays Tampa Convention Center. The first civilian residents were pioneers who settled near the fort for protection from the nearby Seminole population, today, Tampa is part of the metropolitan area most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area. For U. S. Census purposes, Tampa is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, the Greater Tampa Bay area has over 4 million residents and generally includes the Tampa and Sarasota metro areas. The Tampa Bay Partnership and U. S. Census data showed an annual growth of 2.47 percent. A2012 estimate shows the Tampa Bay area population to have 4,310,524 people, Tampa was ranked as the 5th best outdoor city by Forbes in 2008. Tampa also ranks as the fifth most popular American city, based on where people want to live, a 2004 survey by the NYU newspaper Washington Square News ranked Tampa as a top city for twenty-somethings. Tampa is ranked as a Gamma+ world city by Loughborough University, ranked alongside other world cities such as Phoenix, Charlotte, Rotterdam, and Santo Domingo. The word Tampa may mean sticks of fire in the language of the Calusa and this might be a reference to the many lightning strikes that the area receives during the summer months. Other historians claim the name means the place to gather sticks, toponymist George R. Stewart writes that the name was the result of a miscommunication between the Spanish and the Indians, the Indian word being itimpi, meaning simply near it. The name first appears in the Memoir of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda and he calls it Tanpa and describes it as an important Calusa town. While Tanpa may be the basis for the modern name Tampa, archaeologist Jerald Milanich places the Calusa village of Tanpa at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor, the original Bay of Tanpa. A later Spanish expedition did not notice Charlotte Harbor while sailing north along the west coast of Florida, the name was accidentally transferred north. Map makers were using the term Bay or Bahia Tampa as early as 1695, people from Tampa are known as Tampans or Tampanians. Latin Americans from Tampa are known as tampeños, or tampeñas for females and these terms of Spanish origin emerged after 1900 for the immigrant communities in West Tampa and Ybor City
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.
Marcus Allen
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Marcus LeMarr Allen is a former American football running back and football analyst for CBS. As a professional, Allen ran for 12,243 yards and he scored 145 touchdowns, including a then league record 123 rushing touchdowns, and was elected to six Pro Bowls over the course of his career. He was also a good passer for a running back, completing 12 of 27 passes for 285 yards and six touchdowns. Allen was the first player ever to gain more than 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards during his career, Allen is considered one of the greatest goal line and short-yard runners in National Football League history. His younger brother, Damon Allen, played quarterback for 23 seasons in the Canadian Football League and was professional footballs all-time leader in passing yards. Allen has the distinction of being the player in the history of football to have won a Heisman Trophy, an NCAA National Championship, a Super Bowl. He has also inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Allen played football at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Diego, California, Allen played running back at the University of Southern California from 1978 to 1981. He was recruited as a back, but head coach John Robinson switched him to tailback. As a freshman in 1978, Allen was a member of the Trojans National Championship team, in 1979, he was moved to fullback. Eventually, in 1980, Allen became the starter at tailback and rushed for 1,563 yards, the third-most in the nation that year. In 1981, Allen rushed for 2,342 yards, becoming the player in NCAA history to rush for over 2,000 yards in one season. He also gained a total of 2,683 offensive yards, led the nation in scoring, and won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award and he was also the Pac-10 Player of the Year. Allen shares the NCAA record for most 200-yard rushing games with Ricky Williams and Ron Dayne, Allen finished his four college seasons with 4,664 rushing yards,5,232 total yards, and 46 touchdowns, while averaging 5.2 yards per carry. USC has retired his jersey #33, Allen was drafted with the 10th overall selection of the 1982 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Raiders. In a recent ad on NFL Network, Allen recalls shortly before being drafted that the Raiders asked him his weight at the time and then drafted him soon after. Though his rookie season was shortened by a strike, Allen rushed for 697 yards. He was voted the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, the Raiders would lose to the New York Jets in the AFC Divisional Playoffs
7.
Running back
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A running back is an American and Canadian football position, a member of the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a play, to catch passes from out of the backfield. There are usually one or two running backs on the field for a play, depending on the offensive formation. A running back may be a halfback or a fullback, a running back will sometimes be called a feature back if he is the teams starting running back. The halfback or tailback position is responsible for carrying the ball on the majority of running plays, in the modern game, an effective halfback must have a blend of both quickness and agility as a runner, as well as sure hands and good vision up-field as a receiver. Quarterbacks depend on halfbacks as a safety valve receiver when primary targets downfield are covered or when they are under pressure, occasionally, halfbacks line up as additional wide receivers. As a trick play, running backs are used to pass the ball on a halfback option play or halfback pass. The difference between halfback and tailback is the position of the player in the offensive formation. In historical formations, the lined up approximately halfway between the line of scrimmage and the fullback. Because the halfback is usually the main ball carrier, modern offensive formations have positioned the halfback behind the fullback. As a result, some systems or playbooks will call for a tailback as opposed to a halfback, in most modern college and professional football schemes, fullbacks carry the ball infrequently, instead using their stronger physiques as primary lead blockers. On most running plays, the leads the halfback, attempting to block potential tacklers before they reach the ball carrier. When fullbacks are called upon to carry the ball, the situation calls for gaining a short amount of yardage. Fullbacks are technically running backs, but today the term running back is used in referring to the halfback or tailback. Although modern fullbacks are rarely used as carriers, in previous offensive schemes fullbacks would be the designated ball carriers. In high school football, where player sizes vary greatly, fullbacks are still used as ball carriers. In high school and college offenses, the triple option uses the fullback as a primary ball carrier. The fullback plays a role by establishing an inside running threat on every play
8.
Gene Barth
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Gene Barth was an American football official in the National Football League, who wore uniform number 14, which was later worn by Ron Winter. He is most notable for being the referee in Super Bowl XVIII, in addition to officiating in the NFL, Barth was the president of an oil company. Barth was born February 1,1930 in St. Louis, and died October 11,1991 in St. Charles, Missouri. He graduated from Saint Louis University and he was president of Bonified Gas Company, a family owned business. He participated in the St. Louis Senior Olympics, in 1989 and 1990, Barth began his career in the NFL as a line judge in 1971, then became a referee five years later, and lasted until after the 1990 season. He was selected to officiate Super Bowl XVIII as well as being chosen as an alternate for Super Bowl XXIII
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.
Joe Gibbs
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Joe Jackson Gibbs is a former American football coach, current NASCAR Championship team owner, and former NHRA team owner. He was the 20th and 26th head coach in the history of the Washington Redskins, during his first stint in the National Football League, he coached the Redskins for 12 seasons and led them to eight playoff appearances, four NFC Championship titles, and three Super Bowl titles. After retiring at the end of the 1992 season, he switched focus to his NASCAR team, Joe Gibbs Racing, which has won four Sprint Cup championships under his ownership. On January 7,2004, Gibbs came out of retirement to rejoin the Redskins as head coach and team president, signing a five-year and he remains with the organization as Special Advisor to the team owner Daniel Snyder. Born in Mocksville, North Carolina, Gibbs is the son of Jackson Ceufud, Joe graduated from Santa Fe High School, Santa Fe Springs, California, in 1959 where he was the star quarterback. Gibbs attended Cerritos Junior College and then San Diego State University, Gibbs graduated from SDSU in 1964 and earned a masters degree in 1966. Gibbs began his career with a stint as offensive line coach at San Diego State under Coryell and he held the same position under Bill Peterson at Florida State before serving under John McKay at Southern California and Frank Broyles at Arkansas. Gibbs then rose up to the National Football League, hired as the backfield coach for the St. Louis Cardinals by head coach Don Coryell. After a season as offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under McKay, as the offensive coordinator for San Diego, Gibbs spearheaded the highly successful Air Coryell offense. Using a sophisticated passing attack, the Chargers and quarterback Dan Fouts set multiple records during Gibbs two seasons there. Remarkably, the Chargers averaged more than 400 yards of offense per game during their 1980 season, after 17 years of coaching as an assistant, in 1981 Gibbs was offered a job as the head coach of the Washington Redskins by Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke. After firing then-head coach Jack Pardee, Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke was on the lookout for candidates, Gibbs first season with the Redskins started inauspiciously when the team lost their first five games. Cooke famously expressed confidence in Gibbs, declaring that the team would finish 8-8, the losses and Cookes confidence served as a catalyst, and the newly motivated team improved and reached an even 8-8 record in 1981. Gibbs second season with the Redskins realized the dreams of the entire Redskins fanbase, an NFC Championship Game and a Super Bowl victory. The following season, Gibbs surprising success continued with a 14–2 regular season record, the Redskins then once again won an NFC Championship, defeating the San Francisco 49ers 24–21 on a last-second field goal, advancing to Super Bowl XVIII. The Redskins were installed as a 2-point favorite by Nevada books going into the game, some call this Redskins team one of the better teams to not win the Super Bowl. The 1984 Redskins won the NFC East with an 11–5 record and hosted a playoff game against the Chicago Bears. Gibbs coached the 1985 Redskins to a 10–6 regular season record, during the season Joe Theismann broke his leg during a Monday Night Football game against the New York Giants, but the Redskins still won the game with Jay Schroeder at quarterback
11.
Darrell Green
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Darrell Ray Green is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League who played for the Washington Redskins from 1983 to 2002. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest cornerbacks to play in the NFL. Green was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008, Green was also known for his speed and was one of the fastest players in the history of the NFL. Green was born in Houston, Texas and attended Jesse H. Jones High School, while there, he was an All-State selection in track and an All-City pick in football. Green made the varsity football team his junior year. Green attended and played football and ran track at Texas A&I University. He finished his Bachelor of Science degree in studies at St. Pauls College in Lawrenceville. In 1982, Green was selected by his teammates as captain, was named a first team All-American, during his senior year, Green had 56 tackles, four interceptions and two punt returns for touchdowns. He was selected to the Lone Star Conference Team of the Decade for the 1980s, in track and field, Green set numerous national and conference records and earned ten All-America certificates. His first meet was in 1982 in San Angelo, Texas, the mark still stands as the all-time best in the Lone Star Conference. At the 1982 NCAA championships Green finished 6th in the 100 meter dash, greens all-time collegiate best in the 100 was 10.08,20.50 in the 200 meters and 45.90 in the 400 meters. He was named the most valuable track performer at the 1982 and 1983 Lone Star Conference Championships and he won gold medals at the LSC meet in the 100 meters in 1981 and in the 100 meters and 200 meters in 1982 and in 1983. Green was named to the NCAA Division I All-America roster in 1981 and 1982 and he was NAIA All-America in 1981 and 1982 in four events. Green was the last player selected in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins, the first time he touched the ball, during a pre-season game against the Atlanta Falcons, he returned a punt 61 yards for a touchdown. During his first regular-season game, he made his first big play when he ran down running back Tony Dorsett of the Dallas Cowboys to prevent a touchdown. Green started all 16 regular season games during his season and finished fourth on the team in tackles with 109. He was runner-up for the Associated Press NFL Rookie of the Year Award, during the strike-shortened 1987 season, the Redskins went 11–4 and Green had a very successful year. He registered a career-high three interceptions in a game against the Detroit Lions on November 15,1987, two of his more notable performances occurred in that post season
12.
Russ Grimm
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Russell Scott Grimm is a former American football guard for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. In college, he was an All-American center at the University of Pittsburgh, as a professional, Grimm had multiple selections to both the All-Pro and Pro Bowl teams, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. Grimm played 11 seasons for the Redskins and was a selection to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team. He was drafted in the round by the Redskins in the 1981 NFL Draft. During his 11 seasons as the Redskins starting guard, Russ Grimm helped lead his team to four Super Bowl appearances, along the way, Grimm was selected to 4 consecutive Pro Bowl appearances. He was named an All-Pro in each of years as well. According to Mark May, a teammate both at Pittsburgh and on the Redskins, no one lived up to the Hog persona more than Grimm, He was a blue collar stiff and proud of it. In his 2005 memoir, May recalled a Christmas party at his house in 1982, I iced down a keg of beer, Russ turned the landing into his headquarters for the evening. He grabbed a chair and a Hog shot glass and parked his butt on the next to the keg. Except for a trip to the bathroom, we didnt see Russ on the first level all night. Grimm was a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004, and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2010. The bust of Grimm, sculpted by Scott Myers, was unveiled at the Enshrinement Ceremony on August 8,2010, after his coaching stint with the Redskins, Grimm joined the Pittsburgh Steelers as offensive line coach in September 2000. In 2004 he was promoted to assistant head coach, in 2004, after the Chicago Bears fired Dick Jauron, Bears management considered Grimm as a top candidate for the job. The job eventually went to then St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, in 2005, Grimm added another Super Bowl ring to his résumé as part of the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff. In 2006 the Steelers offensive line helped pave the way for running back Willie Parker to gain 1,494 yards and 13 touchdowns on 337 carries with 4.4 yard avg. and earn his first Pro Bowl selection. Pittsburgh offense finished the 2006 season with the 10th-best rushing attack in the NFL, Parker finished the season with the second and third top rushing performances of the year in the NFL with 223 rushing yards 32 att. TD against Cleveland Browns and 213 yards with 22 att,2 TD vs, on January 5,2007, Bill Cowher resigned as head coach of the Steelers. In the press conference followed, Steelers president Art Rooney II announced Grimm as one of the candidates for the job
13.
Art Monk
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James Arthur Art Monk is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, New York Jets, and the Philadelphia Eagles. Monk was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and he is a relative of jazz pioneer Thelonious Monk. Monk attended and played football at Syracuse University, where he was a four-year Orangemen letter winner. While there, Monk was a graduate of the College of Visual, Monk was drafted in the first round of the 1980 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. During his rookie year, he was a unanimous All-Rookie selection and had 58 receptions, in 1984, Monk caught a then-NFL record 106 receptions for a career-best 1,372 yards. He caught eight or more passes in six games, had five games of 100 yards or more and that season, he earned team MVP honors and his first Pro Bowl selection. Monk went over the 1, 000-yard mark in each of the two seasons, becoming the first Redskins receiver to produce three consecutive 1,000 yard seasons. He also became the first Redskins player to catch 70 or more passes in three consecutive seasons. In 1989, he was part of a wide receiver trio nicknamed The Posse. During Monks 14 seasons with the Redskins, the team won three Super Bowls and had three losing seasons. He was an All-Pro and All-NFC choice in 1984 and 1985 and was named second-team All-NFC in 1986 and he was also selected to play in the Pro Bowl following the 1984,1985 and 1986 seasons. Nine times during his 15-season career with the Redskins, New York Jets, in 1992, with his 820th career catch, Monk became the NFLs then-all-time leader in receptions. Monk finished his career with 940 receptions for 12,721 yards and 68 touchdowns and he was the first player in NFL history to record over 102 receptions in a season and over 900 receptions in a career. His most noteworthy NFL accomplishment was his record for career receptions, Monk became the leagues all-time leading receiver in a Monday Night game against Denver on October 12,1992, with his 820th reception. However, later that year Monk lost his all-time single season record to Sterling Sharpe. He was the first to eclipse 900 receptions and retired with the most consecutive games with a catch and he was named to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team. Monk also became the first player in the league to record a reception in 15 consecutive seasons as well was the first player ever to record at least 35 receptions in 15 consecutive seasons. Through the course of his 14 years with the Redskins, Monk converted nearly two-thirds of his 888 catches into first downs, on August 2,2008, Monk, along with fellow Washington Redskins teammate Darrell Green, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
14.
John Riggins
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Robert John Riggins, nicknamed The Diesel and Riggo, is a former American football running back who played professionally in the National Football League for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins. Although he had only one Pro Bowl appearance in his career, Riggins had his greatest success in the postseason, Riggins was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992. Riggins was born in Seneca, Kansas and attended Centralia High School in Centralia, while there, he was a three-sport athlete, earning high school All-American recognition in football, all-state honors in basketball and twice winning the Class B 100-yard dash state title. Riggins high school is now located on John Riggins Avenue, which runs through a part of Centralia. The Pro Football Hall of Fame dedicated a plaque and NFL Films was there to film the event, the Riggins brothers took center field for the opening coin toss and the Centralia High School Panthers went on to beat the Troy High School Trojans with a final score of 55–0. Riggins attended and played football at the University of Kansas for the Jayhawks. Riggins led the Jayhawks to a Big Eight Conference championship win in 1968, the team then went to the 1969 Orange Bowl, which they lost to Penn State, 15–14. During his senior season in 1970, Riggins rushed for 1,131 yards, while at Kansas, Riggins majored in journalism. Riggins was drafted in the first round of the 1971 NFL Draft by the New York Jets, on October 15,1972, the Jets set a team-record of 333 rushing yards against the New England Patriots, beating them 41–13. Riggins, who had 168 yards, and Emerson Boozer, who had 150 yards, although he missed the final two games in 1972 because of knee surgery, Riggins rushed for 944 yards, four yards less than Matt Snells franchise record. Riggins was among the top ten rushers in the American Football Conference in 1974 despite missing four games with a shoulder injury, after only four years with the Jets, he was already the fourth leading rusher in team history with 2,875 yards. In 1975, Riggins became the first player in history to rush for 1,000 or more yards in a season. On December 21,1975, he ran for 121 yards against the Dallas Cowboys which gave him 1,005 for the season, in what turned out to be his last season with the Jets, Riggins made his only appearance in the Pro Bowl. Riggins was named the Jets MVP in 1972 and 1975. In 1976, Riggins signed as an agent with the Washington Redskins. He was used mostly in situations in his first season with Washington. However, he gained more than 1,000 yards each of the two seasons and was a major part of the Redskins offense. During training camp in July 1980, Riggins requested to renegotiate his $300, 000-per-year contract and he then chose to leave camp and the Redskins placed him on the left camp-retired list, a move that made him ineligible to play for any other team in the league
15.
Al Davis
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Allen Al Davis was an American football coach and executive. He was the owner and general manager of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League for 39 years. He also served as the commissioner of the AFL in 1966, known for his motto Just win, baby, the Raiders became one of the NFLs most successful and popular teams under Davis management. Although the franchise would enter a period of decline in his years, the Raiders would enjoy many successes during the 1970s and 1980s. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992, Davis was active in civil rights, refusing to allow the Raiders to play in any city where black and white players had to stay in separate hotels. He was the first NFL owner to hire an African American head coach and he was also the second NFL owner to hire a Latino head coach. He remains the only executive in NFL history to be an assistant coach, head coach, general manager, commissioner, childhood friends depicted him as more of a talker than a fighter, though very good with his mouth. Young Als sport of choice was basketball, and he gained a reputation of a hard player, as a boy, he was determined to play for Coach Al Badain at Erasmus Hall High School, passing up the opportunity to attend school closer to his house. His lack of playing experience made him one of the few to be a head coach in the NFL or AFL despite never having played even for the high-school varsity. Davis graduated from school in January 1947, immediately enrolling at Wittenberg College in Springfield. The school had recruited Davis, though it did not extend him a scholarship and he spent a semester there, occupying himself with baseball and plans to transfer to a higher-profile school. In mid-1947, he transferred to Syracuse University, although Davis repeatedly tried out for the various varsity teams, the height of his athletic career at Syracuse was warming the bench for the junior varsity baseball team. Frustrated by this, he transferred to Hartwick College, also in New York State, in 1948. Despite Daviss lack of success, he commonly mingled with varsity athletes, many of whom assumed he was also one. Davis also took the courses in football strategy given by the assistant coaches. In job hunting, he would introduce himself as Davis from Syracuse, likely intentionally from confusion with George Davis, turned down at Hofstra University and by Bill Altenberg, athletic director at Adelphi University, he approached Adelphis president. In 1952, with his student deferral ended upon receipt of his masters degree and he quickly secured a place attached to a public relations unit near Syracuse, and set about obtaining a place on one of the coaching staff for the militarys football teams. General Stanley Scott of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, obtained Daviss services in 1953 as football coach for his posts football squad, at the time, military football was taken very seriously, the teams were well-stocked with drafted college stars, and often scrimmaged National Football League teams
16.
Ted Hendricks
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He was a member of four Super Bowl-winning teams, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990. He is distinguished as being the first Guatemalan to play in the National Football League, Hendricks was born to a Guatemalan woman named Angela Bonatti Lazzari in Guatemala City where his father was employed, and was raised in Miami Springs, Florida. He attended Hialeah High School and was a player for the T-breds. Ted was raised bilingual and speaks fluent Spanish, Hendricks played college football at the University of Miami. He played stand-up defensive end for the University of Miami during the 1966 through 1968 seasons and he was a two-time All-American and finished fifth in the 1968 Heisman Trophy voting. He was also a second-team All-America selection in 1966, while in college, Hendricks became a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. While playing for Miami, Hendricks made 327 total tackles and he also led the team in solo tackles by a defensive lineman with 139. Hendricks also recovered 12 fumbles during his playing career and he recorded a career-high of 4 quarterback sacks against the University of Florida in 1968. In his junior year of 1967 he caused nine turnovers and it was at Miami that the tall, thin Hendricks gained the nickname “The Mad Stork. ”It was a nickname that would follow him until his NFL days when he was simply called The Stork. Hendricks Miami jersey was retired in 1997 and he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. Hendricks was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 1980, Hendricks began his pro football career as a second-round pick of the Baltimore Colts in the 1969 AFL-NFL Draft. He was initially listed as an end, which is why he had the unusual number of 83. After coach Don Shula converted him to linebacker, he entered the starting lineup halfway through his rookie 1969 season and he made 32 tackles and 2 sacks on the quarterback and knocked down 2 passes and blocked a field goal. He played a key role in the Colts 1970 Super Bowl V-winning season and he was the starting strong-side linebacker and recorded 67 tackles and 1-1/2 sacks while intercepting a pass. He also recorded 2 blocked kicks and knocked down 5 passes and they allowed only 234 points, 7th in the NFL. He was chosen to the first of four All-Pro selections in 1971 and he had 63 tackles and picked off 5 passes while batting away 7 passes. He also recorded 5 sacks and blocked 2 more kicks, the Colts defense was ranked #1 in the NFL in fewest rushing yards allowed and lowest rushing attempt. The Colts made the playoffs but did not advance to the Super Bowl, in 1972 Hendricks recorded 99 tackles,6 sacks, knocked down 7 passes, intercepted two passes and blocked 2 field goals
17.
Howie Long
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Howard Matthew Moses Howie Long is an American former National Football League defensive end, actor and sports analyst. He played in the NFL for 13 seasons and spent the entirety of his career with the Oakland Raiders franchise, during his tenure as a player, Long was named to eight Pro Bowls and helped the Raiders win a Super Bowl title in XVIII. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000, after retiring, Long pursued a career in acting and broadcasting. He currently serves as a studio analyst for Fox Sports Networks NFL coverage and he attended Milford High School in Milford, Massachusetts, and is a member of the Milford Hall of Fame. Long was an athlete, playing football, basketball. Long also set records in the shot put and discus. Long played college football and earned a degree in communications at Villanova University and he was a four-year letterman at Villanova and was selected to play in the Blue–Gray Football Classic and was named the MVP in 1980. As a freshman, Long started every game and had 99 tackles, as a sophomore, Long led Villanova in sacks with five and recorded 78 tackles. The next season,1979, Long sustained a thigh injury, as a senior, Long again led the Wildcats in sacks with four and had 84 tackles. He began as an end but was moved to the defensive line playing mostly noseguard his first two seasons. After moving to defensive end, he earned All-East honors and honorable mention All-American by his senior year, Long also boxed at Villanova and was the Northern Collegiate Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Drafted in the round of the 1981 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders, Long would play 13 seasons for the club. His combination of size, strength, and quickness made him a force on the Raiders defensive line. Long had high aspirations early in his career and he told Football Digest in 1986 that he wanted Financial security, and I want to be in the Hall of Fame. And Id like to win a few more Super Bowls, along the way, he was also named first team All-Pro three times and second team All-Pro twice. He was selected by John Madden to the All-Madden teams in 1984 and 1985 and was named to the 10th Anniversary All-Madden team in 1994, Long was voted the NFL Alumni Defensive Lineman of the Year and the NFLPA AFC Defensive Lineman of the Year in 1985. He capped off a stellar 1985 season earning the George S. Halas Trophy for having voted the NEAs co-NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He was also named the Seagrams Seven Crown NFL Defensive Player of the year, the following year, Long was voted the Miller Lite NFL Defensive Lineman of the Year
18.
Barry Manilow
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Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, musician, and producer with a career that has spanned over 50 years. He is best known for a string of hit recordings such as Mandy, Cant Smile Without You. He has recorded and released 47 Top 40 singles, including 12 that hit number one and 27 of which appeared within the top ten, and has released many multi-platinum albums. He is ranked as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time, according to R&R and Billboard magazines, Manilow has been praised by several well-known entertainers, including Sinatra, who was quoted in the 1970s saying, Hes next. In 1988, Bob Dylan stopped Manilow at a party, hugged him and said, Dont stop what youre doing, as well as producing and arranging albums for other artists, including Bette Midler and Dionne Warwick, Manilow has written songs for musicals, films, and commercials. From February 2005 to December 2009, he was the headliner at the Las Vegas Hilton, since March 2010, he has headlined at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas. He has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the worlds best-selling artists of all time, Manilow was born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17,1943, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Edna Manilow and Harold Pincus. His father was born to a Jewish father and an Irish-American Catholic mother, Barry adopted his mothers maiden name, Manilow, at the time of his bar mitzvah. Manilow grew up in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn and attended Eastern District High School and that same year, he enrolled in the City College of New York where he briefly studied before entering the New York College of Music. He also worked at CBS while he was a student in order to pay his expenses, according to one source, he married Susan Deixler that year, with the marriage lasting only one year. Another source says Manilow got an annulment from Deixler in 1966 after two years of marriage and he later studied Musical Theater at the Juilliard performing arts school. In 1964, Manilow met Bro Herrod, a CBS director, instead, Manilow wrote an entire original score. Herrod used Manilows composition in the Off Broadway musical, which enjoyed a run at New Yorks 13th Street Theatre. Manilow then earned money by working as a pianist, producer and arranger, during this time, he began to work as a commercial jingle writer, continuing well into the 1970s. Many of the jingles he wrote and/or composed he would perform, including State Farm Insurance. A1965 Polaroid Swinger commercial featuring Manilows Meet The Swinger jingle starred a young Ali MacGraw and his singing-only credits include commercials for Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pepsi, Dr Pepper, and the famed McDonalds You Deserve a Break Today campaign. Manilow won two Clio Awards in 1976 for his work for Tab and Band-Aid, by 1967, Manilow was the musical director for the WCBS-TV series Callback, which premiered on January 27,1968. He next conducted and arranged for Ed Sullivans production company, arranging a new theme for The Late Show, while writing, producing, and singing his radio and television jingles
19.
Bronko Nagurski
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Bronislau Bronko Nagurski was a Canadian-born American football player in the National Football League, renowned for his strength and size. His parents were from Western Ukraine, Nagurski was also a successful professional wrestler, recognized as a multiple-time World Heavyweight Champion. His professional career with the Chicago Bears also made him an inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Nagurski was born in Rainy River, Ontario, Canada, of Polish-Ukrainian descent, and his moved to International Falls, Minnesota. His parents, Mike and Michelina Nagurski, were immigrants, from Western Ukraine, Nagurski was discovered and signed by University of Minnesota head coach Clarence Spears, who drove to International Falls and arriving watched Nagurski out plowing a field. According to legend, Spears asked directions to the nearest town and he was signed on the spot to play for the Golden Gophers. Spears admitted he concocted the story on his drive back to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Legends aside, on his first day of practice Spears decided to test Nagurski in the Nutcracker drill, on the first drill two All-Big Ten linemen and Herb Joesting charged at Bronko, who promptly split the blockers and drove the big fullback into a blocking dummy. Spears sent in three players, blew his whistle and watched Bronko produce the same explosive results and after a third try with the same conclusion realized what a super player he had recruited. Nagurski became a standout playing both tackle on defense and fullback on offense at Minnesota from 1927 to 1929. In 1929, after posting 737 rushing yards, he was a consensus All-American at fullback, the pre-eminent sportswriter of the day, Grantland Rice, listed him at the two positions in picking his 1929 All-America team. Rice later wrote, Who would you pick to win a football game -11 Jim Thorpes -11 Glen Davises -11 Red Granges - or 11 Bronko Nagurskis, the 11 Nagurskis would be a mop-up. It would be something close to murder and massacre, for the Bronk could star at any position on the field, with 216 pounds of authority to back him up. His greatest collegiate game was against the University of Wisconsin in 1928, wearing a corset to protect cracked vertebrae, he recovered a Badger fumble deep in their territory, then ran the ball six straight times to score the go-ahead touchdown. Later in the game, he intercepted a pass to seal the victory. During his time with the Gophers, the team went 18-4-2, Nagurski was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951. Nagurski turned professional to play for the Chicago Bears from 1930 to 1937, at 6-feet-2 inches and 235 pounds, he was a formidable presence, and in his day he was a dominant force, helping the Bears win several division titles and two NFL championships. Nagurski has the largest recorded NFL Championship ring size at 19½ and he was probably the largest running back of his time, bigger than most linemen of the day, often dragging multiple tacklers with him
20.
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
21.
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
22.
John Madden
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John Earl Madden is a former American football coach and broadcaster for the National Football League. He won a Super Bowl as head coach of the Oakland Raiders in the American Football Conference of the NFL, in 2006, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his coaching career. He is also known for the long-running Madden NFL video game series he has endorsed and fronted since 1988. Madden worked as a color analyst for all four networks, CBS, Fox, ABC. Madden has also several books and has served as a commercial pitchman for various products. He retired from broadcasting on April 16,2009 to spend time with his family. John Madden was born in Austin, Minnesota to Earl Russell Madden and his father, an auto mechanic, moved the Madden family to Daly City, California, a suburb of San Francisco, when he was young. He attended middle school at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and then Jefferson High School, Madden married Virginia Fields on December 26,1959. They live in Pleasanton, California, and have two sons, Joseph and Michael, Joe played football at Brown University and Mike attended Harvard University where he started as receiver on the football team. He won all-conference honors at offensive tackle, and was a catcher on Cal Polys baseball team, Madden recounted how he became involved with coaching, I got hurt in my rookie year with the Philadelphia Eagles - a knee injury - and I couldnt play. While I was rehabbing, Norm Van Brocklin would be watching films, I ended up with a degree in teaching, and my love for football meshed with teaching. In 1960, he became an assistant coach at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, following the 1963 season, he was hired as a defensive assistant coach at San Diego State, where he served through 1966. During that final campaign, the Aztecs were ranked among the top colleges in the country. While at SDSU, Madden coached under Don Coryell, whom Madden credits as being an influence on his coaching, building on that success, Madden was hired by Al Davis as linebackers coach for the AFLs Oakland Raiders in 1967, putting him in the Sid Gillman coaching tree. He helped the team reach Super Bowl II that season, according to former Raiders coach Dennis Allen, John Madden was arguably the best Oakland Raiders coach in the history of the team. Maddens Raiders reached and lost five AFC Title games in seven years, despite a 12–1–1 mark in 1969, the team lost 17–7 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the final American Football League championship game. Three years later, what appeared to be a victory over the Steelers instead became a part of football lore when Franco Harris Immaculate Reception gave Pittsburgh a 13–7 win. Then, in 1974, after defeating the two-time, and defending Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins in dramatic fashion, in 1975 NFL season, the Raiders went 11–3 and lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game by a score of 16–10
23.
Super Bowl XVII
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The Redskins defeated the Dolphins by the score of 27–17 to win their first Super Bowl championship. The game was played on January 30,1983 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and this Super Bowl came at the end of a season that was significantly shortened by a players strike. Teams ended up only playing nine regular games, and the league conducted a special 16-team. The Redskins had an NFC-best 8–1 regular season record, while the Dolphins finished at 7–2, both teams advanced through the first three postseason rounds to Super Bowl XVII. This was also the second Super Bowl to rematch teams, the first being Super Bowl XIII, nevertheless, Miami built a 17–10 halftime lead with Jimmy Cefalos 76-yard touchdown catch and Fulton Walkers 98-yard kickoff return. Wide receiver Charlie Brown then added a touchdown with his 6-yard scoring reception. Riggins was named Super Bowl MVP, finishing the game with 2 Super Bowl records, the most rushing yards in a Super Bowl game, and he was the first player from an NFC team to rush for 100 yards in a Super Bowl. Riggins also recorded a reception for 15 yards, giving him more total yards than the entire Miami team, the NFL awarded Super Bowl XVII to Pasadena on March 13,1979 at the owners meetings in Honolulu. A 57-day-long players strike reduced the 1982 regular season from a 16-game schedule to 9, because of the shortened season, the NFL adopted a special 16-team playoff tournament. Eight teams from each conference were seeded 1–8 based on their season records. The modified schedule forced the league to extend the season into January for the first time. After the 57-day strike, the NFL extended the season one weekend, moving back the start of the playoffs. The strike-shortened season impacted 4 teams that made the playoffs during the 1981 regular season, the San Francisco 49ers, winners of Super Bowl XVI, suffered a 3–6 record. The Buffalo Bills, the New York Giants, and the Philadelphia Eagles did not qualify for the playoffs either, the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions qualified for the playoffs despite 4–5 records, the only sub-. The Dolphins finished the regular season with a 7–2 record. The clubs main strength was their defense, nicknamed the Killer Bees because 6 of their 11 starters had last names began with the letter B. The Killer Bees, anchored by Pro Bowl defensive tackle Bob Baumhower, led the league in fewest total yards allowed, linebacker A. J. Duhe was extremely effective at blitzing and in pass coverage. And the Dolphins secondary, consisting of defensive backs Don McNeal, Gerald Small and brothers Lyle and Glenn Blackwood, combined for 11 interceptions
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 XIX
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The 49ers defeated the Dolphins by the score of 38–16, to win their second Super Bowl. The game was played on January 20,1985, at Stanford Stadium, on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, the game was hyped as the battle between two great quarterbacks, Miamis Dan Marino and San Franciscos Joe Montana. The Dolphins entered their fifth Super Bowl in team history after posting a 14–2 regular season record, the 49ers were making their second Super Bowl appearance after becoming the first team ever to win 15 regular season games since the league expanded to a 16-game schedule in 1978. With Marino and Montana, the became the first Super Bowl in which the starting quarterbacks of each team both threw for over 300 yards. In addition, the two combined for 851 total offensive yards, which at that time was a Super Bowl record. Montana, who was named the Super Bowl MVP, completed 24 of 35 passes for a Super Bowl-record 331 yards and he also broke the Super Bowl record for most rushing yards gained by a quarterback with his 5 rushes for 59 yards and 1 rushing touchdown. This was the first Super Bowl to be televised in the United States by ABC, joining the annual broadcasting rotation of the game with CBS and NBC. It was also the first time that the sitting U. S. president participated in the coin toss ceremony, Ronald Reagan appeared live via satellite from the White House and tossed the coin. Super Bowl XVIII, the previous Super Bowl, and Super Bowl XIX became the time the winning teams have scored the same number of points on consecutive Super Bowls. NFL owners voted to award Super Bowl XIX to Stanford University Stadium in Stanford and it became the fourth primarily college stadium to host a Super Bowl, following Tulane Stadium, then the home of the New Orleans Saints, Rice Stadium and the Rose Bowl. As the Dolphins advanced to the Super Bowl for the time in franchise history, much of the media focus was on Miamis young quarterback. In just his second year in the league, he broke nearly every NFL single-season passing record, Marino set a record for the most completions in a season and became the first quarterback ever to throw for over 5,000 yards, reaching a total of 5,084. He set the record for the most games throwing for at least 300 passing yards, marinos 48 touchdown passes broke the previous record of 36, which was held by both George Blanda for the Houston Oilers in 1961 and Y. A. Tittle for the New York Giants in 1963, and he had the most games with at least 4 or more touchdown passes and the most consecutive games with at least 4 touchdown passes. Thus going into Super Bowl XIX, many sports writers predicted that it would be the first of many Super Bowls that Marino would play in during his career. Marino had an ability to read the defenses quickly before setting up to throw. In addition, he had given to him by an offensive line led by All-Pro center Dwight Stephenson. Coming into Super Bowl XIX, Marino had only been sacked 13 times in the regular season, the Dolphins had a number of offensive threats for Marino to use
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.
History of the Los Angeles 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
28.
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
29.
Super Bowl XXXII
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The Broncos defeated the Packers by the score of 31–24. The game was played on January 25,1998 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, Super Bowl XXXII also made Qualcomm Stadium the only stadium in history to have the Super Bowl and the World Series in the same year. This was Denvers first league championship after suffering four previous Super Bowl losses, and snapped a 13-game losing streak for AFC teams in the Super Bowl. The Broncos, who entered the game after posting a 12–4 regular season record in 1997, became just the second wild card team to win a Super Bowl and the first since the Raiders in Super Bowl XV. But years later, Brett Favre said the Broncos were far underrated, the game was close throughout much of the contest. The Broncos converted two turnovers to take a 17–7 lead in the quarter before the Packers cut the score to 17–14 at halftime. Green Bay kept pace with Denver in the half, before tying the game with 13,32 remaining. Both defenses stiffened until Broncos running back Terrell Davis scored the touchdown with 1,45 left. Despite suffering a headache that caused him to miss most of the second quarter. He ran for 157 yards, caught two passes for 8 yards, and scored a Super Bowl record three rushing touchdowns, NFL owners awarded Super Bowl XXXII to San Diego during their October 26,1993 meeting in Chicago. This was the second time San Diego hosted the game, the city previously hosted Super Bowl XXII ten years earlier on January 31,1988, the Broncos played in both San Diego Super Bowls and became the first franchise to play two different Super Bowls in two stadiums twice. They also played twice at the Louisiana Superdome, the Packers entered the 1997 season coming off of their win in Super Bowl XXXI. They then repeated as NFC Central division champions, earning a 13–3 regular season record, quarterback Brett Favre had another Pro Bowl season and became the first player ever to win the NFL MVP award three times, winning it for the third consecutive year. Wide receiver Antonio Freeman led the team in receptions with 81 catches for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns, wide receiver Robert Brooks was also a major deep threat, catching 60 passes for 1,010 yards and 7 touchdowns. Pro Bowl tight end Mark Chmura recorded 38 receptions for 417 yards and 6 touchdowns, Pro Bowl running back Dorsey Levens led the team in rushing with 1,435 yards and 7 touchdowns, while also catching 53 passes for 373 yards and 5 touchdowns. Fullback William Henderson rushed for 113 yards and caught 41 passes for 367 yards, on the Packers defense, the line was led by veteran Pro Bowl selection Reggie White, who led the team with 11 sacks. Behind him, Santana Dotson recorded 37 tackles and 5.5 sacks, in the secondary, Pro Bowl defensive back LeRoy Butler led the team with 5 interceptions, while also adding 70 tackles. Safety Eugene Robinson led the team with 74 tackles while also recording 2.5 sacks,2 fumble recoveries, cornerback Mike Prior recorded 4 interceptions, while rookie Darren Sharper recorded 2 of them, both of which he returned for touchdowns
30.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
31.
Oakland, California
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Oakland /ˈoʊklənd/ is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. The city was incorporated in 1852, Oaklands territory covers what was once a mosaic of California coastal terrace prairie, oak woodland, and north coastal scrub. Its land served as a resource when its hillside oak and redwood timber were logged to build San Francisco. In the late 1860s, Oakland was selected as the terminal of the Transcontinental Railroad. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many San Francisco citizens moved to Oakland, enlarging the citys population, increasing its housing stock and it continued to grow in the 20th century with its busy port, shipyards, and a thriving automobile manufacturing industry. Oakland is known for its sustainability practices, including a top-ranking for usage of electricity from renewable resources, in addition, due to a steady influx of immigrants during the 20th century, along with thousands of African-American war-industry workers who relocated from the Deep South during the 1940s. Oakland is the most ethnically diverse city in the country. The earliest known inhabitants were the Huchiun Indians, who lived there for thousands of years, the Huchiun belonged to a linguistic grouping later called the Ohlone. In Oakland, they were concentrated around Lake Merritt and Temescal Creek, in 1772, the area that later became Oakland was claimed, with the rest of California, by Spanish settlers for the King of Spain. In the early 19th century, the Spanish crown granted the East Bay area to Luis María Peralta for his Rancho San Antonio, the grant was confirmed by the successor Mexican republic upon its independence from Spain. Upon his death in 1842, Peralta divided his land among his four sons, Most of Oakland fell within the shares given to Antonio Maria and Vicente. The portion of the parcel that is now Oakland was called encinal—Spanish for oak grove—due to the oak forest that covered the area. In 1851, three men—Horace Carpentier, Edson Adams, and Andrew Moon—began developing what is now downtown Oakland, on May 4,1852, the Town of Oakland incorporated. Two years later, on March 25,1854, Oakland re-incorporated as the City of Oakland, with Horace Carpentier elected the first mayor, the city and its environs quickly grew with the railroads, becoming a major rail terminal in the late 1860s and 1870s. In 1868, the Central Pacific constructed the Oakland Long Wharf at Oakland Point, a number of horsecar and cable car lines were constructed in Oakland during the latter half of the 19th century. The first electric streetcar set out from Oakland to Berkeley in 1891, at the time of incorporation, Oakland consisted of the territory that lay south of todays major intersection of San Pablo Avenue, Broadway, and Fourteenth Street. The city gradually annexed farmlands and settlements to the east and the north, Oaklands rise to industrial prominence, and its subsequent need for a seaport, led to the digging of a shipping and tidal channel in 1902. This resulted in the town of Alameda being made an island
32.
Heisman Trophy
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The Heisman Memorial Trophy, is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football in the United States whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work and it is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust in early December before the postseason bowl games. The award was created by the Downtown Athletic Club in 1935 to recognize the most valuable football player east of the Mississippi. After the death in October 1936 of the Clubs athletic director, John Heisman, Heisman had been active in college athletics as a football player, a head football, basketball, and baseball coach, and an athletic director. It is the oldest of several awards in college football, including the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award. The most recent winner of the Heisman Trophy is University of Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, the trophy itself, designed by sculptor Frank Eliscu, is modeled after Ed Smith, a leading player in 1934 for the now-defunct New York University football team. The trophy is made out of cast bronze, is 13.5 inches tall, Eliscu had asked Smith, his former George Washington High School classmate, to pose for a commissioned sculpture of a football player. Smith did not realize until 1982 that the sculpture had become the Heisman Trophy, the Downtown Athletic Club presented Smith with a Heisman Trophy of his own in 1985. From its inception in 1935, the statue was cast by Dieges & Clust in New York until 1980, for a time until at least 2008, the statues were cast by Roman Bronze Works in New York. There are 870 media voters,145 voters from each of six regions, according to Heisman. com there are currently 57 prior winners eligible to vote and, thus,57 potential votes. Fans, As the Premier Partner of the Heisman Trophy, Nissan has a vote, fan voting done through a survey collected by ESPN on NissanHeismanHouse. com. Each voter identifies three selections, ranking them in order, each first-place selection is awarded three points. Each second-place selection is awarded two points, each third-place selection is awarded one point. Voters must make three selections and cannot duplicate a selection, else the ballot is invalid and none of the selections count, the accounting firm Deloitte is responsible for the tabulation of votes, which has moved almost exclusively to online voting since 2007. Larry Kelley and Clint Frank of Yale were the first teammates to win the Heisman Trophy, nile Kinnick of Iowa was the only Heisman Trophy winner to have a stadium named after him. In 1972, the University of Iowa renamed its football complex Kinnick Stadium, Kinnick is also the only winner to die in military service of the United States, he went down piloting an F4F Wildcat from the deck of USS Lexington. His death in 1943 made him the first Heisman Trophy winner to die, Doc Blanchard was the first junior to win the Heisman Trophy when he led Army to the national title in 1945. Paul Hornung was the player to win the Heisman Trophy as a player for a losing team
33.
CBS
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CBS is an American commercial broadcast television network that is a flagship property of CBS Corporation. The company is headquartered at the CBS Building in New York City with major facilities and operations in New York City. CBS is sometimes referred to as the Eye Network, in reference to the iconic logo. It has also called the Tiffany Network, alluding to the perceived high quality of CBS programming during the tenure of William S. Paley. It can also refer to some of CBSs first demonstrations of color television, the network has its origins in United Independent Broadcasters Inc. a collection of 16 radio stations that was purchased by Paley in 1928 and renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System. Under Paleys guidance, CBS would first become one of the largest radio networks in the United States, in 1974, CBS dropped its former full name and became known simply as CBS, Inc. In 2000, CBS came under the control of Viacom, which was formed as a spin-off of CBS in 1971, CBS Corporation is controlled by Sumner Redstone through National Amusements, which also controls the current Viacom. The television network has more than 240 owned-and-operated and affiliated stations throughout the United States. The origins of CBS date back to January 27,1927, Columbia Phonographic went on the air on September 18,1927, with a presentation by the Howard Barlow Orchestra from flagship station WOR in Newark, New Jersey, and fifteen affiliates. Operational costs were steep, particularly the payments to AT&T for use of its land lines, in early 1928 Judson sold the network to brothers Isaac and Leon Levy, owners of the networks Philadelphia affiliate WCAU, and their partner Jerome Louchenheim. With the record out of the picture, Paley quickly streamlined the corporate name to Columbia Broadcasting System. He believed in the power of advertising since his familys La Palina cigars had doubled their sales after young William convinced his elders to advertise on radio. By September 1928, Paley bought out the Louchenheim share of CBS, during Louchenheims brief regime, Columbia paid $410,000 to A. H. Grebes Atlantic Broadcasting Company for a small Brooklyn station, WABC, which would become the networks flagship station. WABC was quickly upgraded, and the relocated to 860 kHz. The physical plant was relocated also – to Steinway Hall on West 57th Street in Manhattan, by the turn of 1929, the network could boast to sponsors of having 47 affiliates. Paley moved right away to put his network on a financial footing. In the fall of 1928, he entered talks with Adolph Zukor of Paramount Pictures. The deal came to fruition in September 1929, Paramount acquired 49% of CBS in return for a block of its stock worth $3.8 million at the time
34.
1984 (advertisement)
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1984 is an American television commercial that introduced the Apple Macintosh personal computer. It was conceived by Steve Hayden, Brent Thomas and Lee Clow at Chiat\Day, produced by New York production company Fairbanks Films, english athlete Anya Major performed as the unnamed heroine and David Graham as Big Brother. Its second televised airing, and only national airing, was on January 22,1984, in one interpretation of the commercial,1984 used the unnamed heroine to represent the coming of the Macintosh as a means of saving humanity from conformity. These images were an allusion to George Orwells noted novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, originally a subject of contention within Apple, it has subsequently been called a watershed event and a masterpiece in advertising. In 1995, The Clio Awards added it to its Hall of Fame, the commercial opens with a dystopic, industrial setting in blue and grayish tones, showing a line of people marching in unison through a long tunnel monitored by a string of telescreens. This is in sharp contrast to the shots of the nameless runner. She looks like a track and field athlete, wearing an athletic uniform. Rows of marching minions evoke the opening scenes of Metropolis and we have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology—where each worker may bloom, secure from the pests purveying contradictory truths. Our Unification of Thoughts is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on earth and we are one people, with one will, one resolve, one cause. Our enemies shall talk themselves to death, and we will bury them with their own confusion. The runner, now close to the screen, hurls the hammer towards it, right at the moment Big Brother announces, “we shall prevail. ”In a flurry of light and smoke, the screen is destroyed, shocking the people watching the screen. The commercial concludes with a voiceover, accompanied by scrolling black text. It reads, On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh, and youll see why 1984 wont be like “1984. ”The screen fades to black as the voiceover ends, and the rainbow Apple logo appears. The commercial was created by the advertising agency Chiat/Day, of Venice, California, with copy by Steve Hayden, art direction by Brent Thomas, but at Apple were trying to balance the scales by giving individuals the kind of computer power once reserved for corporations. Ridley Scott was hired by agency producer Richard ONeill to direct it, the actors who appeared in the commercial were paid $25 per day. In December 1983 they screened the commercial for the Apple Board of Directors, to Jobs and Sculleys surprise, the entire board hated the commercial. However, Sculley himself got cold feet and asked Chiat/Day to sell off the two commercial spots. Despite the board’s dislike of the film, Steve Wozniak and others at Apple showed copies to friends and this turned out to be unnecessary
35.
Macintosh
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The Macintosh (/ˈmækᵻntɒʃ/ MAK-in-tosh, is a series of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. Steve Jobs introduced the original Macintosh computer on January 24,1984 and this was the companys first mass-market personal computer featuring an integral graphical user interface and mouse. This first model was renamed to Macintosh 128k for uniqueness amongst a populous family of subsequently updated models which are also based on Apples same proprietary architecture. Since 1998, Apple has largely phased out the Macintosh name in favor of Mac, Macintosh systems still found success in education and desktop publishing and kept Apple as the second-largest PC manufacturer for the next decade. In the 1990s, improvements in the rival Wintel platform, notably with the introduction of Windows 3.0, then Windows 95, gradually took market share from the more expensive Macintosh systems. The performance advantage of 68000-based Macintosh systems was eroded by Intels Pentium, even after a transition to the superior PowerPC-based Power Macintosh line in 1994, the falling prices of commodity PC components and the release of Windows 95 saw the Macintosh user base decline. In 1998, after the return of Steve Jobs, Apple consolidated its multiple consumer-level desktop models into the all-in-one iMac G3, since their transition to Intel processors in 2006, the complete lineup is entirely based on said processors and associated systems. Its current lineup comprises three desktops, and three laptops and its Xserve server was discontinued in 2011 in favor of the Mac Mini and Mac Pro. Apple also develops the operating system for the Mac, currently macOS version 10.12 Sierra, Macs are currently capable of running non-Apple operating systems such as Linux, OpenBSD, and Microsoft Windows with the aid of Boot Camp or third-party software. Apple does not license macOS for use on computers, though it did license previous versions of the classic Mac OS through their Macintosh clone program from 1995 to 1997. The Macintosh project was begun in 1979 by Jef Raskin, an Apple employee who envisioned an easy-to-use, in 1978 Apple began to organize the Apple Lisa project, aiming to build a next-generation machine similar to an advanced Apple III or the yet-to-be-introduced IBM PC. In 1979, Steve Jobs learned of the work on graphical user interfaces taking place at Xerox PARC. He arranged a deal in which Xerox received Apple stock options in return for which Apple would license their designs, the basic layout of the Lisa was largely complete by 1982, at which point Jobs continual suggestions for improvements led to him being kicked off the project. At the same time that the Lisa was becoming a GUI machine in 1979, the design at that time was for a low-cost, easy-to-use machine for the average consumer. Raskin was authorized to start hiring for the project in September 1979 and his initial team would eventually consist of himself, Howard, Joanna Hoffman, Burrell Smith, and Bud Tribble. Smiths design used fewer RAM chips than the Lisa, which production of the board significantly more cost-efficient. Though there were no memory slots, its RAM was expandable to 512 kB by means of soldering sixteen IC sockets to accept 256 kb RAM chips in place of the factory-installed chips. The final products screen was a 9-inch, 512x342 pixel monochrome display, burrels innovative design, combining the low production cost of an Apple II with the computing power of Lisas Motorola 68000 CPU, began to receive Jobs attentions
36.
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
37.
Miami Dolphins
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The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football franchise based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues American Football Conference East division. The Dolphins play their games at Hard Rock Stadium in the northern suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida. The Dolphins and the Atlanta Falcons are the oldest NFL franchises in the Deep South, however, of the four AFC East teams, they are the only team in the division that was not a charter member of the American Football League. The Dolphins team was founded by attorney-politician Joe Robbie and actor-comedian Danny Thomas and they began play in the AFL in 1966. For the first few years the Dolphins full-time training camp and practice facilities were at Saint Andrews School, in 1970 the Dolphins joined the NFL when the AFL–NFL merger occurred. The team made its first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl VI, Miami also appeared in Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX, losing both games. For most of their history, the Dolphins were coached by Don Shula. Under Shula, the Dolphins posted losing records in two of his 26 seasons as the head coach. During the period spanning 1983 to the end of 1999, quarterback Dan Marino became one of the most prolific passers in NFL history, Marino led the Dolphins to five division titles,10 playoff appearances, and Super Bowl XIX before retiring following the 1999 season. During the summer of 1966, the Dolphins training camp was in St. Pete Beach with practices in August at Boca Ciega High School in Gulfport. The Dolphins had a combined 15–39–2 record in their first four seasons under head coach George Wilson, before Don Shula was hired as head coach. Shula was a Paul Brown disciple who had been lured from the Baltimore Colts after losing Super Bowl III two seasons earlier to the AFLs New York Jets and finishing 8–5–1 the following season. Interestingly, Shula got his first NFL coaching job from then-Detroit Head Coach George Wilson, when Shula replaced Wilson at Miami the Colts charged the Dolphins with tampering in their hiring of Shula, costing the Dolphins their first round draft pick in 1971. Shula introduced himself to the Miami press by saying that he didnt have any magic formulas, Shulas early training camps with the Dolphins, with four workouts a day, would soon be the stuff of sweltering, painful legend. But Shulas hard work paid dividends, as Miami improved to a 10–4 record and their first-ever playoff appearance. The Dolphins were successful in the early 1970s, becoming the first team to advance to the AFC Championship for three consecutive seasons and they captured the AFC championship in 1971 behind quarterback Bob Griese, running backs Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick, and wide receiver Paul Warfield. The AFC Divisional Playoff Game, in which the Dolphins defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, was the longest contest in NFL history, in Super Bowl VI, however, Miami lost to the Dallas Cowboys 24–3
38.
1998 Minnesota Vikings season
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The 1998 Minnesota Vikings season was the 38th for the Minnesota Vikings and the 79th regular season of the National Football League. The Vikings became only the team in NFL history to win 15 games during the regular season. That year, the Vikings, known for an offense, scored a then-NFL record 556 points. The team cruised to the NFC Central title and held home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, the Vikings thus became the first team to win at least 15 games in the regular season and not win the Super Bowl. The Pittsburgh Steelers became the second in 2004, the New England Patriots became the 3rd in 2007, the Green Bay Packers became the 4th in 2011, and the Carolina Panthers became the 5th in 2015. Said Pro Football Prospectus, he pairing of the strong armed Randall Cunningham and Randy Moss was perfect—they connected 69 times for 1,313 yards, the defense held its own, ranking sixth in points allowed. All that stood between the Vikings and a Super Bowl appearance, Pro Football Prospectus continued, were the upstart Atlanta Falcons, the Falcons stayed close while the Vikings offense sputtered. With two minutes left, Gary Anderson, who had missed no kicks all season, missed a 38-yarder that would have given the Vikings an insurmountable 10-point lead, the Falcons scored a game-tying touchdown and won in overtime. The next season, though they would return to the playoffs, the Vikings joined the Buffalo Bills first Super Bowl team, one of Don Coryells San Diego Chargers teams, the Cincinnati Bengals second Super Bowl team, and the Vikings first Super Bowl team. The NFL Network named the 1998 Minnesota Vikings as the 4th greatest team in NFL history to not win the Super Bowl, prior to the start of the 1998 season, the Vikings were sold to Red McCombs. The NFL had not been happy with the Vikings ownership arrangement of ten owners with none owning 30%, the ownership decided to sell the club. At first it appeared that Tom Clancy would become the new owner, however, his attempt to buy the team fell through. So in July 1998, the team was sold to McCombs who was from San Antonio,1998 was a year to remember for the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings finished the season 15–1, their loss by three points to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week nine. 12 of their 15 wins came by a margin of at least 10 points, according to Football Outsiders, The Vikings led the league with 52 plays of 25+ yards. They had 22 offensive plays of 40+ yards, no team had more than 16 plays of that length. In the playoffs, the Vikings rolled past the Arizona Cardinals 41–21, and came into the Metrodome heavily favored for their NFC title showdown with the Atlanta Falcons, shortly thereafter, the Falcons scored to cut the lead to 20–14. The Vikings were again leading 27–20 with two left in the 4th quarter and had a chance to potentially put the game out of reach with a field goal
39.
2007 New England Patriots season
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The 2007 New England Patriots season was the 38th season for the team in the National Football League and franchises 48th season overall. The Patriots were looking to improve on their 12–4 record from 2006, the Patriots finished the 2007 regular season by winning all sixteen of their games. They became only the team in NFL history to finish a regular season undefeated. The Patriots were also the first team with a regular season since the NFL expanded its schedule to sixteen games in 1978. The Patriots were not able to join the 1984 49ers and 1985 Bears as Super Bowl champions, failing to go 19–0 and they would have become just the fourth team to win at least four Super Bowls. In Super Bowl XLII, the New York Giants upset the Patriots 17–14 in one of the biggest upsets in NFL history, the loss moved New Englands all-time Super Bowl record to 3–3, having previously lost Super Bowl XX and Super Bowl XXXI. They would also lose Super Bowl XLVI, again to the Giants, the Patriots wouldnt get their fourth Super Bowl title until 2014. The Patriots entered the following a stunning loss to the rival Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship after blowing a 21–3 first half lead. Welker would tie for the NFL lead in receptions with T. J. Houshmandzadeh in 2007 while Moss would set an NFL regular season record with 23 touchdown catches and this came to be referred to in the media as Spygate. Early in the season, the Patriots won their first two games by scores of 38–14, and followed up the next game with a score of 38–7. The Patriots set the record for most points in a season with 589, the Patriots won 12 games in which they surpassed the 30-point mark, four games in which they surpassed the 40-point mark and two in which they surpassed the 50-point mark. The Patriots clinched the AFC East after their game, the fourth time since the NFL introduced the 16-game schedule in 1978 that a team had clinched a division title by their eleventh game. In the season finale, the Patriots sought to finish the season with the first 16–0 record in NFL history. It was the first undefeated season in the NFL since the 1972 Miami Dolphins finished 14–0. Facing the prospect of a perfect 19–0 season with a victory over the underdog New York Giants, analysts saw the 2007 Patriots as being the greatest team in NFL history. Despite being the favorites to win the game, the Patriots failed to protect a four-point lead on a Giants drive late in the fourth quarter. The Patriots could not score again and came out on the end of what is considered one of the greatest upsets in sports history. The Patriots ended the season at 18–1, becoming one of three teams in NFL history to finish their season 18–1
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2012 New England Patriots season
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The 2012 New England Patriots season was the franchises 43rd season in the National Football League and 53rd overall. This season marks head coach Bill Belichicks 13th season as Patriots head coach, additionally, this was the third consecutive season that the Patriots exceeded 500 points scored, which tied the record set by the 1999–2001 St. Louis Rams. The Patriots also ranked first in the league with a margin of +25. The Patriots 12-win season marked their tenth consecutive 10-win season, a feat exceeded only by the San Francisco 49ers streak of 16, from 1983 to 1998, and their twelfth consecutive winning season. However, on January 20,2013, they were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game, on May 15, Wes Welker signed his franchise tender of 1 year for $9.5 million. He was still permitted to negotiate a long term deal until July 15, which passed, looking for a replacement of Chad Ochocinco who struggled, The Patriots signed Brandon Lloyd. Looking to replace BenJarvus Green-Ellis, the Patriots signed Joseph Addai, when Joseph Addai was released, Shane Vereen moved up to the 3 runningback split. The Patriots traded their selection and a 2013 sixth-round selection to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for wide receiver Chad Johnson. ProFootballWeekly. com summary ^ Third, sixth and seventh round picks from the Packers, note, Intra-division opponents are in bold text. The Titans received the kickoff, marching 70 yards to the Patriots 10, converting a 4th-and-1. Two possessions later, the Patriots raced 67 yards in only 5 plays, the Titans drove to the Patriots 48 on their next drive, but Jake Locker was intercepted by Tavon Wilson at the Patriots 3-yard line. After Zoltan Mesko pinned the Titans at their own 10, Locker was strip-sacked by rookie Chandler Jones with fellow rookie Donta Hightower recovering for a touchdown, the Titans moved the ball well on their next drive, but their drive fell apart and they punted. Brady took a knee and the Patriots kept their 21-3 lead at halftime, the Patriots reached as far as midfield on their next drive, but punted. The Titans zoomed 80 yards on their drive, scoring with Lockers 29-yard touchdown pass to Nate Washington. Two possessions later, the Patriots raced 48 yards in 6 plays, the Titans drove all the way to the Patriots 6 on their next drive, settling for a 24-yard field goal and trimming the deficit to 28-13. The Patriots countered on their next drive, reaching the Titans 7. Four straight incompletions ended any hope of a Titans comeback and Gostkowski kicked a 31-yard field goal, the Titans ran one final play and the Patriots won the game. With the win, the Patriots not only started the season at 1–0, Tom Brady threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns, and the defending AFC champion Patriots routed the Tennessee Titans at LP Field by a score of 34–13
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