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    An Historical Perspective on the National Football League
    An Historical Perspective on the National Football League
    An Historical Perspective on the National Football League
    Ebook819 pages12 hours

    An Historical Perspective on the National Football League

    By Thomas J. Strang

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    About this ebook

    The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of American football in the world. The NFL's 17-week regular season runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing sixteen games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, six teams from each conference (four division winners and two wild card teams) advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, played between the champions of the NFC and AFC.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas J. Strang
    Release dateAug 17, 2015
    ISBN9781310403668
    An Historical Perspective on the National Football League
    Author

    Thomas J. Strang

    Tom is semi-retired from the accounting profession where he worked for 30 years as a bookkooper, auditor, accounting manager and assistant controller. He currently operates his own accounting, bookkeeping and tax service. He is currently married to Jennifer. He has 2 children Michael and Gracie. Michael is a computer technician and Gracie is a dental assistant. He has always loved books and collecting quotes for many, many years. He tries to live by them since they provide motivation and inspiration.

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      Book preview

      An Historical Perspective on the National Football League - Thomas J. Strang

      Introduction:

      An Historical Perspective on the National Football League

      Thomas J. Strang

      Published by Thomas J. Strang at Smashwords

      Copyright 2015 Thomas J. Strang

      Smashword Edition, License Notes

      Thank you for downloading this eBook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

      Return to Table of Contents

      Biography:

      In this edition, I thought it would be appropriate to include a biography. I have always loved quotations and have tried to live by them. This, of course, includes The Bible as well. We live in a world where so many bad things happen, I would prefer to uplift people rather than tear them down Anyway, I am a veteran of the accounting and computer professions. My father told me to enter it many years ago and you will never be out of work. He was right! He also said, the U.S. economy is rapidly becoming a service economy where products will be made somewhere else. This was a man with a 6th grade education who worked for United States Steel Corporation for 42 years. He was an auto mechanic, plumber and carpenter. He could handle just about anything mechanical. Well, after 30 years in the professions I decided to open my own practice. Sounds easy! Just remember, you have to be willing to work 80 hours a week for yourself so you won’t have to work 40 hours a week for someone else. I have been married for 15 years to Jennifer. We have 2 children, Michael and Gracie. Michael is a computer technician and Gracie is a dentist assistant. All proceeds from the sale of this book will go to help the poor. This will help people get back on their feet again. More to Follow.

      Enjoy and God Bless.

      Tom

      Return to Table of Contents

      Forward:

      Please visit www.smashwords.com to purchase any of the following books. Please show the author you appreciate his work!

      439769-999 Quotes For Everyday Living Part 1 [1 to 999]

      528999-999 Quotes For Everyday Living Part 3 [1999 to 2998]

      526774-499 Funny and Serious Life Quotes Part 1 [001 to 499]

      528999-499 Funny and Serious Life Quotes Part 2 [500 to 998]

      543699-499 Funny and Serious Life Quotes Part 7 [001 to 499]

      451919-999 Quotes For Everyday Living Part 3 [1999 to 2998]

      455421-Celebrity Quotes

      456140-Quotations from Successful Men and Women

      457115-Famous Political Quotations

      457976-A Collection of Historical Quotations

      500509-Musicians and their Thoughts (A Collection of Thoughts from Some of Most Famous Musicians)

      477459-600 Motivational and Inspirational Quotations

      1,000-Quotations about the Power of Love and Hate

      487038-Humorous Quotes about Birthdays and Aging

      487548-A Collection of Quotes about Husband, Wife, Man and Woman

      488347-Famous Quotes about Baseball, Basketball, Football and Soccer

      488919-A Collection of Quotes (275) That Make You Think

      489181-A Collection of Quotes about Life, Living, Kindness and Integrity

      490282-An Assortment of Funny Quotes, Funny Life Quotes and Funny Sex Quotes

      A Collection of Quotations about Heaven and Hell

      An Invaluable Collection of Quotations on Aging and the Aging Process

      An Assortment of Quotations for Mothers, Fathers, Parents and Marriage and Relationships

      Quotations about Trust and Truth

      493464-138 Quotations from 114 Authors on Faith and Religion

      496100-Why Do People Tell Lies? (A Compendium of Quotations)

      Power and Politics in Government (A List of Quotations)

      498087-Motivational Quotations by Napoleon Hill, Tony Robbins and Zig Ziglar (includes 200+ Bonus Quotes)

      498407-100 Quotations by Dr. Albert Einstein

      499805-A Collection of Humorous Quotations

      Famous People Share Their Thoughts about iPad, iPhone & iPad

      500509-466108-Musicians and Non-Musicians Share Their Thoughts on Music

      502163-Biographies on Famous Comedians: Past and Present

      Youth and Age: A Collection of Quotations

      Dogs and Cats: Youth got to Love Them

      504551-War and Peace: A Collection of Quotations

      504730-Are all Lawyers Crooks? A Collection of Quotations

      Patriotism: A Collection of Quotations

      A Study Guide on the Environment

      Nature: A Collection of Quotations

      506871-America and Canada (Love of Country)

      508133-A Collection of Birthday Quotations

      509004-Failures That Lead To Success and Victory

      510099-Why Do You Like Horror Movies?

      Politicians and Comedians Poke Fun at Politics

      519685-A Collection of Theological Quotations

      521066-A Collection of Quotations from Famous Saints

      Experience is the Best Teacher

      Life’s Certainties and Uncertainties Part 1: A Collection of Quotations

      Life’s Certainties and Uncertainties Part 2: A Collection of Quotations

      Life’s Certainties and Uncertainties Part 3: A Collection of Quotations

      552936-Life’s Certainties and Uncertainties Part 4: A Collection of Quotations

      Life’s Certainties and Uncertainties Part 5: A Collection of Quotations

      526774-499 Funny and Serious Life Quotes (Part 1) 001 to 499

      499 Funny and Serious Life Quotes (Part 2) 001 to 499

      499 Funny and Serious Life Quotes (Part 3) 001 to 499

      499 Funny and Serious Life Quotes (Part 4) 001 to 499

      499 Funny and Serious Life Quotes (Part 5) 001 to 499

      499 Funny and Serious Life Quotes (Part 6) 001 to 499

      499 Funny and Serious Life Quotes (Part 7) 001 to 499

      499 Funny and Serious Life Quotes (Part 8) 001 to 499

      499 Funny and Serious Life Quotes (Part 9) 001 to 499

      499 Funny and Serious Life Quotes (Part 10) 001 to 499

      554542-A Comprehensive Listing of 175 Miscellaneous Quotations

      A Book of Miscellaneous Quotations to Enlighten and Inspire

      A Book of Quotations from Political and Military Monsters

      555074-A Comprehensive Collection of Quotations by Category Part 1

      A Comprehensive Collection of Quotations by Category Part 2

      558468-A Comprehensive Collection of Quotations by Category Part 3

      A Comprehensive Collection of Quotations by Category Part 4

      A Comprehensive Collection of Quotations by Category Part 5

      A Comprehensive Collection of Quotations by Category Part 6

      A Book of Quotations from Political and Evil Monsters

      A Comprehensive Collection of Quotations by Category Part 7

      A Comprehensive Collection of Comedic Quotations (Part 1)

      A Comprehensive Collection of Comedic Quotations (Part 2)

      A Retrospect on Rock Music Legends

      Return to Table of Contents

      National Football League:

      Official website: nfl.com

      The headquarters of the National Football League at 345 Park Avenue, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, U.S.

      The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of American football in the world. The NFL's 17-week regular season runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing sixteen games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, six teams from each conference (four division winners and two wild card teams) advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, played between the champions of the NFC and AFC.

      The NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1923 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League (AFL) 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 (67,591) of any professional sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. The Super Bowl is among the biggest club sporting events in the world and individual Super Bowl games account for many of the most watched television programs in American history, all occupying the Nielsen's Top 5 tally of the all-time most watched U.S. television broadcasts by 2015. The NFL's executive officer is the commissioner, who has broad authority in governing the league.

      The team with the most NFL championships is the Green Bay Packers with thirteen; the team with the most Super Bowl championships is the Pittsburgh Steelers with six. The current NFL champions are the New England Patriots, who defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28–24 in Super Bowl XLIX.

      History:

      Founding and history:

      On August 20, 1920, a meeting was held by representatives of the Akron Pros, Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Indians, and Dayton Triangles at the Jordan and Hupmobile auto showroom in Canton Ohio. This meeting resulted in the formation of the American Professional Football Conference (APFC), a group who, according to the Canton Evening Repository, intended to raise the standard of professional football in every way possible, to eliminate bidding for players between rival clubs and to secure cooperation in the formation of schedules. Another meeting held on September 17, 1920 resulted in the renaming of the league to the American Professional Football Association (APFA). The league hired Jim Thorpe as its first president, and consisted of 14 teams. Only two of these teams, the Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears) and the Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals), remain.

      The Akron Pros won the first APFA (NFL) Championship.

      Although the league did not maintain official standings for its 1920 inaugural season and teams played schedules that included non-league opponents, the APFA awarded the Akron Pros the championship by virtue of their 8–0–3 (8 wins, 0 losses, and 3 ties) record. The following season resulted in the Chicago Staley’s controversially winning the title over the Buffalo All-Americans. In 1922, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League (NFL).

      In 1932, the season ended with the Chicago Bears (6-1-6) and the Portsmouth Spartans (6-1-4) tied for first in the league standings. At the time, teams were ranked on a single table and the team with the highest winning percentage (not including ties, which were not counted towards the standings) at the end of the season was declared the champion. This method had been used since the league's creation in 1920, but no situation had been encountered where two teams were tied for first. The league quickly determined that a playoff game between Chicago and Portsmouth was needed to decide the league's champion. The teams were originally scheduled to play the playoff game, officially a regular season game that would count towards the regular season standings, at Wrigley Field in Chicago, but a combination of heavy snow and extreme cold forced the game to be moved indoors to Chicago Stadium, which did not have a regulation-size football field. Playing with altered rules to accommodate the smaller playing field, the Bears won the game 9-0 and thus won the championship. Fan interest in the de facto championship game led the NFL, beginning in 1933, to split into two divisions with a championship game to be played between the division champions. 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 and coinciding with the removal of a similar ban in Major League Baseball.

      Up until the 1960s, the NFL was the dominant professional football league and faced little competition. Rival leagues included three separate American Football Leagues and the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), none of which lasted for more than four seasons, although several teams from the AAFC joined the NFL after the league dissolved in 1949.

      A new professional league, the fourth American Football League (AFL), began play in 1960. The upstart AFL began to challenge the established NFL in popularity, gaining lucrative television contracts and engaging in a bidding war with the NFL for free agents and draft picks. The two leagues announced a merger on June 8, 1966, to take full effect in 1970. In the meantime, the leagues would hold a common draft and championship game. The game, the Super Bowl, was held four times before the merger, with the NFL winning Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II, and the AFL winning Super Bowl III and Super Bowl IV. After the league merged, it was reorganized into two conferences: the National Football Conference (NFC), consisting of most of the pre-merger NFL teams, and the American Football Conference (AFC), consisting of all of the AFL teams as well as three pre-merger NFL teams.

      Today, the NFL is considered the most popular sports league in North America; much of its growth is attributed to former Commissioner Pete Rozelle, who led the league from 1960 to 1989. Overall annual attendance increased from three million at the beginning of his tenure to seventeen million by the end of his tenure, and 400 million viewers watched 1989's Super Bowl XXIII. The NFL established NFL Properties in 1963. The league's licensing wing, NFL Properties earns the league billions of dollars annually; Rozelle's tenure also marked the creation of NFL Charities and a national partnership with United Way. Paul Tagliabue was elected as commissioner to succeed Rozelle; his seventeen-year tenure, which ended in 2006, was marked by large increases in television contracts and the addition of four expansion teams, as well as the introduction of league initiatives to increase the number of minorities in league and team management roles. The league's current Commissioner, Roger Goodell, has focused on reducing the number of illegal hits and making the sport safer, mainly through fining or suspending players who break rules. These actions are among many the NFL is taking to reduce concussions and improve player safety.

      Season and playoff development:

      From 1920 to 1934, the NFL did not have a set number of games for teams to play, instead setting a minimum. The league mandated a 12-game regular season for each team beginning in 1935, later shortening this to 11 games in 1937 and 10 games in 1943, mainly due to World War II. After the war ended, the number of games returned to 11 games in 1946 and to 12 in 1947. The NFL went to a 14-game schedule in 1961, which it retained until switching to the current 16-game schedule in 1978. Proposals to increase the regular season to 18 games have been made, but have been rejected in labor negotiations with the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA).

      The NFL operated in a two-conference system from 1933 to 1966, where the champions of each conference would meet in the NFL Championship Game. If two teams tied for the conference lead, they would meet in a one-game playoff to determine the conference champion. In 1967, the NFL expanded from 15 teams to 16 teams. Instead of just evening out the conferences by adding the expansion New Orleans Saints to the seven-member Western Conference, the NFL realigned the conferences and split each into two four-team divisions. The four conference champions would meet in the NFL playoffs, a two-round playoff. The NFL also operated the Playoff Bowl (officially the Bert Bell Benefit Bowl) from 1960 to 1969. Effectively a third-place game, pitting the two conference runners-up against each other, the league considers Playoff Bowls to have been exhibitions rather than playoff games. The league discontinued the Playoff Bowl in 1970 due to its perception as a game for losers.

      Following the addition of the former AFL teams into the NFL in 1970, the NFL split into two conferences with three divisions each. The expanded league, now with twenty-six teams, would also feature an expanded eight-team eight playoff, the participants being the three division champions from each conference as well as one 'wild card' team (the team with the best win percentage) from each conference. In 1978, the league added a second wild card team from each conference, bringing the total number of playoff teams to ten, and a further two wild card teams were added in 1990 to bring the total to twelve. When the NFL expanded to 32 teams in 2002, the league realigned, changing the division structure from three divisions in each conference to four divisions in each conference. As each division champion gets a playoff bid, the number of wild card teams from each conference dropped from three to two.

      Corporate structure:

      NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

      At the corporate level, the National Football League considers itself a trade association made up of and financed by its 32 member teams. Up until 2015, the league was an unincorporated nonprofit 501(c)(6) association. Section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code provides an exemption from federal income taxation for Business leagues, chambers of commerce, real-estate boards, boards of trade, or professional football leagues (whether or not administering a pension fund for football players), not organized for profit and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.. In contrast, each individual team (except the non-profit Green Bay Packers) is subject to tax because they make a profit. The NFL gave up the tax exempt status in 2015 following public criticism; in a letter to the club owners, Commissioner Roger Goodell labeled it a distraction, saying the effects of the tax exempt status of the league office have been mischaracterized repeatedly in recent years... Every dollar of income generated through television rights fees, licensing agreements, sponsorships, ticket sales, and other means is earned by the 32 clubs and is taxable there. This will remain the case even when the league office and Management Council file returns as taxable entities, and the change in filing status will make no material difference to our business. As a result, the league office might owe around US$10 million, but is no longer required to disclose the salaries of its executive officers.

      The league has three defined officers: the commissioner, secretary, and treasurer. Each conference has one officer, the president. The commissioner is elected by affirmative vote of two-thirds or 18 (whichever is greater) of the members of the league, while the president of each conference is elected by an affirmative vote of three-fourths or ten of the conference members. The commissioner appoints the secretary and treasurer and has broad authority in disputes between clubs, players, coaches, and employees. He is the principal executive officer of the NFL and also has authority in hiring league employees, negotiating television contracts, disciplining individuals that own part or all of an NFL team, clubs, or employed individuals of an NFL club if they have violated league bylaws or committed conduct detrimental to the welfare of the League or professional football. The commissioner can, in the event of misconduct by a party associated with the league, suspend individuals, hand down a fine of up to US$500,000, cancel contracts with the league, and award or strip teams of draft picks.

      In extremely egregious cases, the commissioner can offer recommendations to the NFL's Executive Committee up to and including the cancellation or forfeiture of a club's franchise or any other action he deems necessary. The commissioner can also issue sanctions up to and including a lifetime ban from the league if an individual connected to the NFL has bet on games or failed to notify the league of conspiracies or plans to bet on or fix games. The current Commissioner of the National Football League is Roger Goodell, who was elected in 2006 after Paul Tagliabue, the previous commissioner, retired.

      Season format:

      The NFL season format consists of a four-week preseason, a seventeen-week regular season (each team plays 16 games), and a twelve-team single-elimination playoff culminating in the Super Bowl, the league's championship game.

      Preseason:

      The NFL preseason begins with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, played at Fawcett Stadium in Canton. Each NFL team is required to schedule four preseason games, two of which must be at its home stadium, but the teams involved in the Hall of Fame game, as well as any teams playing in an American Bowl game, play five preseason games. Preseason games are exhibition matches and do not count towards regular-season totals. Because the preseason does not count towards standings, teams do not focus on winning games; instead, they are used by coaches to evaluate their teams and by players to show their performance, both to their current team and to other teams if they get cut. The quality of preseason games has been criticized by some fans, who dislike having to pay full price for exhibition games, as well as by some players and coaches, who dislike the risk of injury the games have, while others have felt the preseason is a necessary part of the NFL season.

      Regular season:

      One home and one away game against each of their fellow AFC East teams (blue)

      One game against each team in the AFC South (yellow), on a three-year rotation

      One game against each team in the NFC East (orange), on a four-year rotation

      The Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers (red) once each, due to their first-place finishes in their respective divisions.

      The National Football League runs a seventeen-week, 256-game regular season. Since 2001, the season has begun the week after Labor Day and concluded the week after Christmas. The opening game of the season is normally a primetime home game for the league's defending champion.

      Most NFL games are played on Sundays, with a Monday night game typically held at least once a week and Thursday night games occurring on most weeks as well. NFL games are not normally played on Fridays or Saturdays until late in the regular season, as federal law prohibits professional football leagues from competing with college or high school football. Because high school and college teams typically play games on Friday and Saturday, respectively, the NFL cannot hold games on those days until the third Friday in December. NFL games are rarely scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday, and those days have only been used twice since 1948: in 2010, when a Sunday game was rescheduled to Tuesday due to a blizzard, and in 2012, when the Kickoff game was moved from Thursday to Wednesday to avoid conflict with the Democratic National Convention.

      NFL regular season matchups are determined according to a scheduling formula. Within a division, all four teams play fourteen out of their sixteen games against common opponents - two games (home and away) are played against the other three teams in the division, while one game is held against all the members of a division from the NFC and a division from the AFC division as determined by a rotating cycle (three years for the conference the team is in, and four years in the conference they are not in). The other two games are intra-conference games, determined by the standings of the previous year - for example, if a team finishes first in its division, it will play two other first-place teams in its conference, while a team that finishes last would play two other last-place teams in the conference. In total, each team plays sixteen games and has one bye week, where they do not play any games.

      Although the teams any given club will play are known by the end of the previous year's regular season, the exact dates, times, and home/away status for NFL games are not determined until much later because the league has to account for, among other things, the Major League Baseball postseason and local events that could pose a scheduling conflict with NFL games. During the 2010 season, over 500,000 potential schedules were created by computers, 5,000 of which were considered playable schedules and were reviewed by the NFL's scheduling team. After arriving at what they felt was the best schedule out of the group, nearly 50 more potential schedules were developed to try and ensure that the chosen schedule would be the best possible one.

      Postseason:

      Following the conclusion of the regular season, a twelve-team single elimination tournament, the NFL Playoffs, is held. Six teams are selected from each conference: the winners of each of the four divisions as well as two wild card teams (the two remaining teams with the best overall record). These teams are seeded according to overall record, with the division champions always ranking higher than either of the wild card teams. The top two teams (seeded one and two) from each conference are awarded a bye week, while the remaining four teams (seeded 3-6) from each conference compete in the first round of the playoffs, the Wild Card round, with the third seed competing against the sixth seed and the fourth seed competing against the fifth seed. The winners of the Wild Card round advance to the Divisional Round, which matches the lower seeded team against the first seed and the higher seeded team against the second seed. The winners of those games then compete in the Conference Championships, with the higher remaining seed hosting the lower remaining seed. The AFC and NFC champions then compete in the Super Bowl to determine the league champion.

      The only other postseason event hosted by the NFL is the Pro Bowl, the league's all-star game. The Pro Bowl is held the week before the Super Bowl.

      Trophies and awards:

      Team trophies:

      The National Football League has used three different trophies to honor its champion over its existence. The first trophy, the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup, was donated to the NFL (then APFA) in 1920 by the Brunswick-Balke Collender Corporation. The trophy, the appearance of which is only known by its description as a silver loving cup, was intended to be a traveling trophy and not to become permanent until a team had won at least three titles. The league awarded it to the Akron Pros, champions of the inaugural 1920 season; however, the trophy was discontinued and its current whereabouts are unknown.

      A second trophy, the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy, was issued by the NFL from 1934 to 1969. The trophy's namesake, Ed Thorp, was a referee in the league and a friend to many early league owners; upon his death in 1934, the league created the trophy to honor him. In addition to the main trophy, which would be in the possession of the current league champion, the league issued a smaller replica trophy to each champion, who would maintain permanent control over it. The current location of the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy, like that of its predecessor, is unknown. The predominant theory is that the Minnesota Vikings, the last team to be awarded the trophy, somehow misplaced it after the 1969 season.

      The current trophy of the NFL is the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The Super Bowl trophy was officially renamed in 1970 after Vince Lombardi, who as head coach led the Green Bay Packers to victories in the first two Super Bowls. Unlike the previous trophies, a new Vince Lombardi Trophy is issued to each year's champion, who maintains permanent control of it. Lombardi Trophies are made by Tiffany & Co. out of sterling silver and are worth anywhere from $25,000 to $300,000. Additionally, each player on the winning team as well as coaches and personnel are awarded Super Bowl rings to commemorate their victory. The winning team chooses the company that makes the rings; each ring design varies, with the NFL mandating certain ring specifications (which have a degree of room for deviation), in addition to requiring the Super Bowl logo be on at least one side of the ring. The losing team are also awarded rings, which must be no more than half as valuable as the winners' rings, but those are almost never worn.

      The conference champions receive trophies for their achievement. The champions of the NFC receive the George Halas Trophy, named after Chicago Bears founder George Halas, who is also considered as one of the co-founders of the NFL. The AFC champions receive the Lamar Hunt Trophy, named after Lamar Hunt, the founder of the Kansas City Chiefs and the principal founder of the American Football League. Players on the winning team also receive a conference championship ring.

      Player and coach awards:

      The NFL recognizes a number of awards for its players and coaches at its annual NFL Honors presentation. The most prestigious award is the AP Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Other major awards include the AP Offensive Player of the Year, AP Defensive Player of the Year, AP Comeback Player of the Year, and the AP Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year awards. Another prestigious award is the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which recognizes a player's off-field work in addition to his on-field performance. The NFL Coach of the Year award is the highest coaching award. The NFL also gives out weekly awards such as the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week and the Pepsi MAX NFL Rookie of the Week awards.

      Media coverage:

      In the United States, the National Football League has television contracts with four networks: CBS, ESPN, Fox, and NBC. CBS televises Sunday afternoon AFC intra-conference games, while Fox does likewise for the NFC. If a game is inter-conference, the conference affiliation of the visiting team determines which network will host the game. Since 2011, the league has reserved the right to give games that, under the contract, would normally air on one network to the other network. CBS also carries a package of eight games on Thursday nights during the 2014 season. NBC carries the primetime Sunday Night Football package, the NFL Kickoff game, and a primetime Thanksgiving Day game. ESPN carries all Monday Night Football games. The NFL's own network, NFL Network, carries all Thursday Night Football games, including those on CBS but not the ones on NBC.

      The Super Bowl television rights are rotated on a three-year basis between CBS, Fox, and NBC. In 2011, all four stations signed new nine-year contracts with the NFL, each running until 2022; CBS, Fox, and NBC are estimated by Forbes to pay a combined total of $3 billion a year, while ESPN will pay $1.9 billion a year. The league also has deals with Spanish-language broadcasters Telemundo and ESPN Deportes, which air Sunday and Monday Night Football, respectively.

      Through the 2014 season, the NFL had a blackout policy in which games were 'blacked out' on local television in the home team's area if the home stadium was not sold out. Clubs could elect to set this requirement at only 85%, but they would have to give more ticket revenue to the visiting team; teams could also request a specific exemption from the NFL for the game. The vast majority of NFL games were not blacked out; only 6% of games were blacked out during the 2011 season, and only two games were blacked out in 2013 and none in 2014. The NFL announced in March 2015 that it would suspend its blackout policy for at least the 2015 season. According to Nielsen, the NFL regular season since 2012 was watched by at least 200 million individuals, accounting for 80% of all television households in the United States and 69% of all potential viewers in the United States. NFL regular season games accounted for 31 out of the top 32 most-watched programs in the fall season and an NFL game ranked as the most-watched television show in all 17 weeks of the regular season. At the local level, NFL games were the highest-ranked shows in NFL markets 92% of the time. Super Bowls account for the 22 most-watched programs (based on total audience) in US history, including a record 167 million people that watched Super Bowl XLVIII, the conclusion to the 2013 season.

      In addition to radio networks run by each NFL team, select NFL games are broadcast nationally by Westwood One (known as Dial Global for the 2012 season). These games are broadcast on over 500 networks, giving all NFL markets access to each primetime game. The NFL's deal with Westwood One was extended in 2012 and will run through 2017.

      On March 23, 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported that the NFL would distribute the 2015 International Series game from Wembley Stadium in London between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars exclusively via Internet streaming, except for over-the-air broadcasts in the Buffalo and Jacksonville local markets.

      In 2015, the NFL began sponsoring a series of public service announcements to bring attention to domestic abuse and sexual assault in response to what was seen as poor handling of incidents of violence by players.

      The NFL consists of thirty-two clubs divided into two conferences of sixteen teams each. Each conference is divided into four divisions of four clubs each. During the regular season, each team is allowed a maximum of fifty-three players on its roster; only forty-six of these may be active (eligible to play) on game days. Each team can also have an eight-player practice squad separate from its main roster, but the practice squad may only be composed of players who were not active for at least nine games in any of their seasons in the league. A player can only be on a practice squad for a maximum of three seasons.

      Each NFL club is granted a franchise, the league's authorization for the team to operate in its home city. This franchise covers 'Home Territory' (the 75 miles surrounding the city limits, or, if the team is within 100 miles of another league city, half the distance between the two cities) and 'Home Marketing Area' (Home Territory plus the rest of the state the club operates in, as well as the area the team operates its training camp in for the duration of the camp). Each NFL member has the exclusive right to host professional football games inside its Home Territory and the exclusive right to advertise, promote, and host events in its Home Marketing Area. There are several exceptions to this rule, mostly relating to teams with close proximity to each other: the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders only have exclusive rights in their cities and share rights outside of it; and teams that operate in the same city (e.g. New York Giants and New York Jets) or the same state (e.g. California, Florida, and Texas) share the rights to the city's Home Territory and the state's Home Marketing Area, respectively. The Los Angeles home territory has no team, but is owned and controlled by the league.

      Every NFL team is based in the contiguous United States. Although no team is based in a foreign country, the Buffalo Bills played one home game every season at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada as part of the Bills Toronto Series from 2008 until 2013, and the Jacksonville Jaguars will play one home game a year from 2013 to 2016 at Wembley Stadium in London, England as part of the NFL International Series. Mexico also has hosted an NFL regular-season game, a 2005 game between San Francisco 49ers and Arizona dubbed Fútbol Americano, and 39 international pre-season games were played from 1986 to 2005 as part of the American Bowl series.

      The Dallas Cowboys, at approximately $3.2 billion, are the most valuable NFL franchise according to Forbes. Three other franchises are worth $2 billion or greater, the New England Patriots ($2.6 billion), the Washington Redskins ($2.4 billion), and the New York Giants ($2.1 billion). The Cowboys are the most valuable sports team in the United States, and tied with soccer club FC Barcelona for the second-most in the world; only Real Madrid ($3.4b) is valued higher than the Cowboys. All 32 NFL teams rank among the top 50 most valuable sports teams in the world. Fourteen of the NFL's owners are listed on the Forbes 400, the most of any sports league or organization.

      Return to Table of Contents

      NFL Teams:

      National Football Conference:

      NFC East:

      Dallas Cowboys

      New York Giants

      Philadelphia Eagles

      Washington Redskins

      NFC South:

      Atlanta Falcons

      Carolina Panthers

      New Orleans Saints

      Tampa Bay Buccaneers

      NFC North:

      Chicago Bears

      Detroit Lions

      Green Bay Packers

      Minnesota Vikings

      NFC West:

      Arizona Cardinals

      San Francisco 49ers

      Seattle Seahawks

      St. Louis Rams

      American Football Conference:

      AFC East:

      Buffalo Bills

      Miami Dolphins

      New England Patriots

      New York Jets

      AFC South:

      Houston Texans

      Indianapolis Colts

      Jacksonville Jaguars

      Tennessee Titans

      AFC North:

      Baltimore Ravens

      Cincinnati Bengals

      Cleveland Browns

      Pittsburgh Steelers

      AFC West:

      Denver Broncos

      Kansas City Chiefs

      Oakland Raiders

      San Diego Chargers

      NFL Super Bowl Wins & Losses by Team:

      Arizona Cardinals, 0-1, Atlanta Falcons, 0-1, Baltimore Colts, 1-1, Baltimore Ravens, 2-0, Buffalo Bills, 0-4,

      Carolina Panthers, 0-1, Chicago Bears, 1-1, Cincinnati Bengals, 0-2, Cleveland Browns, 0-0, Dallas Cowboys, 5-3

      Denver Broncos, 2-5, Detroit Lions, 0-0, Green Bay Packers, 4-1, Houston Oilers, 0-0, Houston Texans, 0-0

      Indianapolis Colts, 1-1, Kansas City Chiefs, 1-1, Los Angeles Raiders, 1-0, Los Angeles Rams, 0-1

      Miami Dolphins, 2-2, Minnesota Vikings, 0-4, New England Patriot, 4-4, New Orleans Saints, 1-0, New York Giants, 4-1, New York Jets, 1-0, Oakland Raiders, 2-3, Philadelphia Eagles, 0-2, Phoenix Cardinals, 0-0, Pittsburgh Steelers, 6-2, San Diego Chargers, 0-1, San Francisco 49ers, 5-1, Seattle Seahawks, 1-2, St. Louis Rams, 1-1, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1-0, Tennessee Titans, 0-1, Washington Redskins, 3-2, Super Bowls to date (49 winners, 49 losers)

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Biography

      Forward

      National Football League

      NFL Teams

      National Football Conference

      American Football Conference

      NFL Super Bowl Wins and Losses by Team

      Arizona Cardinals Atlanta Falcons Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills Carolina Panthers Chicago Bears

      Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns Dallas Cowboys Denver Broncos Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers

      Houston Texans Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs Midpoint Miami Dolphins

      Minnesota Vikings New England Patriots New Orleans Saints New York Giants New York Jets Oakland Raiders

      Philadelphia Eagles Pittsburgh Steelers San Diego Chargers San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks St. Louis Rams

      Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tennessee Titans Washington Redskins

      NFC West

      Arizona Cardinals:

      Logo

      Website: arizonacardinals.com

      The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They are currently members of the West division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Cardinals were founded in 1898, and are the oldest continuously run professional football team in the United States.

      Chicago Bears, the club is one of two NFL charter member franchises still in operation since the league's founding. (The Green Bay Packers were an independent team until they joined the NFL in 1921). The club then moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1960 and played in that city through 1987 (sometimes referred to as the Football Cardinals or the Big Red to avoid confusion with the Major League Baseball St. Louis Cardinals). Other less commonly used nicknames were the Gridbirds (used only by a local newspaper columnist) or Cardiac Cards (used only to refer to the 1975 team). Before the 1988 NFL season, the team moved to Tempe, Arizona, a college suburb east of Phoenix, and played their home games for the next 18 years at Arizona State University's Sun Devil Stadium. In 2006, the club began playing all home games at the newly constructed University of Phoenix Stadium in the northwestern suburb of Glendale, although the team's training facility is in Tempe.

      The franchise has two NFL championships, both while it was based in Chicago. The first occurred in 1925, but is the subject of controversy, with supporters of the Pottsville Maroons believing that Pottsville should have gotten the title. Their second title, and the first to be received through a championship game, came in 1947, two decades before the first Super Bowl game was played.

      In the six-plus decades since winning the championship in 1947, the team suffered many losing seasons, and currently hold the league's longest active championship drought. In 2012 the Cardinals became the first NFL franchise to lose 700 games since its inception. The franchise's all-time mark at the conclusion of the 2014 season is 522–721–39. They have been to the playoffs nine times and have won six playoff games, three of which were victories during their run in the 2008–09 NFL Playoffs. During that season, they won their only NFC Championship Game since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, and reached Super Bowl XLIII. The team has also won four division titles (1974, 1975, 2008, and 2009) since their 1947–1948 NFL championship game appearances. The Cardinals, however, are one of two NFL teams (the other being the Houston Texans, the league's youngest franchise) who have never lost a playoff game at home, with a 5-0 record: the 1947 NFL Championship Game, the three postseason victories during the aforementioned 2008–09 NFL Playoffs, and one during the 2009-10 postseason.

      From 1988 through 2012 (except 2005, when they trained in Prescott), the Cardinals conducted their annual summer training camp at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. The Cardinals moved their training camp to University of Phoenix Stadium in 2013. In 2015, the Cardinals home field, (University of Phoenix Stadium), was the site of the 2015 Pro Bowl, unlike in past years, where it was held in Aloha Stadium in Hawaii. It also played host to Super Bowls 42 and 49.

      Franchise history:

      The franchise's inception dates back to 1898, when a neighborhood group gathered to play in the Chicago South Side, calling themselves Morgan Athletic Club. Chicago painting and building contractor Chris O'Brien acquired the team, which he relocated to Normal Field in Racine Avenue.

      The team was known as Racine Normals until 1901, when O'Brien bought used jerseys from the University of Chicago. He described the faded maroon clothing as Cardinal red and the team became the Racine Street Cardinals. The team eventually became in 1920 a charter member of the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which two years later was rechristened to National Football League (NFL).

      By then the franchise was already known as Chicago Cardinals. Except for 1925, when they edged out the Pottsville Maroons for their first NFL championship, the Cardinals experienced only minimal success on the playing field during their first 26 seasons in the league. During the post-World War II years, the team reached two straight NFL finals against the Philadelphia Eagles, winning in 1947 - shortly after the death of owner Charles Bidwill - and losing the following year.

      After years of bad seasons and losing fans to the cross-town rivals Chicago Bears, by the late 1950s the Cardinals were almost bankrupt, and owner Violet Bidwill Wolfner became interested in a relocation. Due to the formation of the rival American Football League, the NFL allowed Bidwill to relocate the team to St. Louis, Missouri, where they became the St. Louis Cardinals (nicknamed Football Cardinals due to sharing a name with the city's baseball team). During the Cardinals' 28-year stay in St. Louis, they advanced to the playoffs just three times (1974, 1975 & 1982), never hosting or winning in any appearance.

      The overall mediocrity of the Cardinals, combined with an old stadium, caused game attendance to dwindle, and owner Bill Bidwill decided to move the team. Not long after the 1987 NFL season, Bidwill agreed to move to the Phoenix metropolitan area on a handshake deal with state and local officials, and the team became the Phoenix Cardinals. On 1994, the franchise changed to its current name of Arizona Cardinals due to fan preference. The 1998 NFL season made the Cardinals break two long droughts, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in 16 years, and by winning the Wild Card Playoffs, getting their first postseason win since the 1947 NFL Championship Game. Ten years later, the Cardinals would win the NFC Championship Game to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. They lost Super Bowl XLIII 27-23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final seconds.

      The team has worn cardinal red jerseys since Chris O'Brien bought them for the club in 1898. For most of their history, the Cardinals have used the same basic uniform design of white helmets, white pants with red stripes on the sides, and either red or white jerseys.

      Starting in 1947, the team had a logo of a cardinal bird perched on the stitches of a football. However, the club did not attach a logo to their helmets until they debuted a cardinal-head logo in 1960, the year the franchise moved from Chicago to St. Louis.

      During their 28 years in St. Louis, the Cardinals frequently wore white at home, especially for games vs. the Dallas Cowboys, hoping to bring out the blue jersey jinx which supposedly follows the Cowboys. The Cardinals wore white at home at least twice in every season since 1964 and for every home game in 1964, 1965 and 1978. They wore white for their 1982 and 1983 home games vs. Dallas, but not at all from 1984 through 1987.

      The Cardinals moved to Arizona in 1988, and the flag of Arizona was added to the sleeves the following year. In 1990, the team began wearing red pants with their white jerseys, as new coach Joe Bugel wanted to emulate his former employer, the Washington Redskins, who at the time wore burgundy pants with their white jerseys (the team has since changed to wearing gold pants with all their jerseys).

      In 1994, the Cardinals participated in the NFL's 75th anniversary throwback uniform program. The jerseys were similar to those of the 1920s Chicago Cardinals, with an interlocking CC logo and three stripes on each sleeve. The uniform numbers were relocated to the right chest. The pants were khaki to simulate the color and material used in that era. The Cardinals also stripped the logos from their helmets for the two games, at Cleveland (Sept. 18) and home vs. Pittsburgh (Oct. 30).

      The Cardinal head on the helmet was repeated on the white jersey from 1988 to 1995. In 1996, the state flag of Arizona was moved higher on the sleeve after the Cardinal head was eliminated, and black was removed as an accent color, instead replaced with a blue to match the predominant color of the state flag.. In 2002, the Cardinals began to wear all-red and all-white combinations, and continued to do so through 2004, prior to the team's makeover.

      In 2005, the team unveiled its first major changes in a century. The cardinal-head logo was updated to look sleeker and meaner than its predecessor. Numerous fans had called the previous version a parakeet. Black again became an accent color after an eight-year absence, while trim lines were added to the outside shoulders, sleeves, and sides of the jerseys and pants. Both the red and white jerseys have the option of red or white pants.

      Hoping to break a six-game losing streak, the Cardinals wore the red pants for the first time on October 29, 2006, in a game at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers. The Packers won 31–14, and the Cards headed into their bye week with a 1–7 mark. Following the bye week, the Cardinals came out in an all-red combination at home against the Dallas Cowboys and lost, 27–10. Arizona did not wear the red pants for the remainder of the season and won four of their last seven games. However, the following season, in 2007, the Cardinals again wore their red pants for their final 3 home games. They wore red pants with white jerseys in games on the road at the Cincinnati Bengals and Seattle Seahawks. They paired red pants with red jerseys, the all-red combination, for home games against the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, and St. Louis Rams. The red pants were not worn at all in 2008, but they were used in home games vs. Seattle, Minnesota, and St. Louis in 2009. The red pants were paired with the white road jersey for the first time in three years during a 2010 game at Carolina, but the white jersey/red pants combination was not used in 2011.

      The Cardinals' first home game in Arizona, in 1988, saw them play in red jerseys. Thereafter, for the next 18 years in Arizona, the Cardinals, like a few other NFL teams in warm climates, wore their white jerseys at home during the first half of the season—forcing opponents to suffer in their darker jerseys during Arizona autumns that frequently see temperatures over 100 °F (38 °C). However, this tradition did not continue when the Cardinals moved from Sun Devil Stadium to University of Phoenix Stadium in 2006, as early-season games (and some home games late in the season) were played with the roof closed. With the temperature inside at a comfortable 70 °F (21 °C), the team opted to wear red jerseys at home full-time. The Cardinals wore white jerseys at home for the first time in University of Phoenix Stadium on August 29, 2008, in a preseason game against the Denver Broncos.

      The Cardinals wore white at home for the first time in a regular season game at University of Phoenix Stadium against the Houston Texans on October 11, 2009. In October 2009, the NFL recognized Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and players wore pink-accented items, including gloves, wristbands, and shoes. The team thought the pink accents looked better with white uniforms than with red.

      On many occasions, when hosting the Dallas Cowboys, the Cardinals would wear white in order to force the Cowboys to don their jinxed blue jerseys. They have not done this since moving into University of Phoenix Stadium, however.

      The 2010 season saw the Cardinals debut a new, alternate black jersey. Prior to its introduction, the Cardinals were the only NFL team without an alternate jersey or throwback kit, save for the NFL's 75th anniversary program in 1994.

      On July 27, 2015, the Cardinals hired Jennifer Welter as an assistant coaching intern for training camp and the preseason; as such, she is believed to be the first female coach in the NFL.

      Return to Table of Contents

      NFC South

      Atlanta Falcons:

      Logo

      Website: atlantafalcons.com

      The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL).

      The Falcons joined the NFL in 1965 as an expansion team, after the NFL offered then-owner Rankin Smith a franchise to keep him from joining the rival American Football League (AFL). The AFL instead granted a franchise to Miami, Florida (the Miami Dolphins). The Falcons are tied with the Dolphins (who also began play in 1966) for being the oldest NFL franchise in the Deep South, and are the oldest NFC team in that region.

      In their 49 years of existence, the Falcons have compiled a record of 316–414–6 with division championships in 1980, 1998, 2004, 2010, and 2012. Their only Super Bowl appearance was during the 1998 season in Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami.

      The Falcons play their home games at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta, but construction began on New Atlanta Stadium in May 2014, with play beginning in the 2017 season. Their headquarters and practice facilities are located at a 50-acre site in Flowery Branch, Georgia.

      Franchise history:

      Professional football first came to Atlanta in 1962, when the American Football League staged two preseason contests, with one featuring the Denver Broncos vs. the Houston Oilers and the second pitting the Dallas Texans against the Oakland Raiders. Two years later, the AFL held another exhibition, this time with the New York Jets taking on the San Diego Chargers.

      In 1965, after a stadium the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was built, the city of Atlanta felt the time was right to start pursuing professional football. One independent group which had been active in NFL exhibition promotions in Atlanta applied for franchises in both the American Football League and the National Football League, acting entirely on its own with no guarantee of stadium rights. Another group reported it had deposited earnest money for a team in the AFL.

      With everyone running in different directions, some local businessmen worked out a deal and were awarded an AFL franchise on June 7, 1965, contingent upon acquiring exclusive stadium rights from city officials. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, who had been moving slowly in Atlanta matters, was spurred by the AFL interest and headed on the next plane down to Atlanta to block the rival league's claim on the city of Atlanta. He forced the city to make a choice between the two leagues. By June 30, the city picked Rankin Smith and the NFL.

      The Atlanta Falcons franchise began on June 30, 1965 when NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle granted ownership to 41 year-old Rankin Smith, Sr. Smith an Executive Vice President of Life Insurance Company of Georgia at the time, paid $8.5 million the highest price in NFL history at the time 1965 for an NFL franchise. Former commissioner Pete Rozelle and Smith made the deal in about five minutes and the Atlanta Falcons brought the largest and most popular sport to the city of Atlanta. The Atlanta expansion franchise became the 15th NFL franchise, and they were awarded the first pick in the 1966 NFL Draft as well as the final pick in each of the first five rounds. The Falcons drafted All-American Linebacker Tommy Nobis from the University of Texas with the first pick of the draft, making him the first-ever Falcon. The league also held the 1966 NFL Expansion Draft six weeks later in which the Falcons selected unprotected players from existing franchises. Although the Falcons selected many good players in those drafts, they still were not able to win right away.

      The Atlanta Falcons Football Club received its nickname on August 29, 1965. Miss Julia Elliott, a school teacher from Griffin, Georgia was singled out from many people who suggested Falcons as the Nickname for the new Georgia NFL franchise. She wrote: the Falcon is proud and dignified, with great courage and fight. It never drops its prey. It is deadly and has a great sporting tradition.

      In February 2015, the team was investigated by the NFL for alleged use of artificial crowd noise in the Georgia Dome.

      Notable seasons:

      1966–1977

      The Falcons had their first season in 1966, and their first preseason game on August 1, 1966, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles. Under Head Coach Norb Hecker they lost their first nine regular-season games in 1966 and secured their first victory on the road against the New York Giants. The team finished the 1960s with only 12 wins. The Falcons had their first Monday Night Football game in Atlanta during the 1970 season. The 1971 season was their first with a winning record.

      1978–1980:

      In the 1978 season, the Falcons qualified for the playoffs for the first time and won the Wild Card game against the Philadelphia Eagles 14–13. The following week, they lost to the Dallas Cowboys 27–20 in the Divisional Playoffs.

      In 1980, after a nine-game winning streak, the Falcons posted a franchise then-best record of 12–4 and captured their first NFC West division title. The next week, their dream season ended at home with a loss to the Cowboys 30–27 in the divisional playoffs. In the strike-shortened 1982 season, the Falcons made the playoffs but lost to the Minnesota Vikings, 30–24. Falcons coach Leeman Bennett was fired after the loss.

      1989:

      In 1989, the Falcons drafted CB Deion Sanders in the first round, who helped them for the next four years, setting many records for the franchise. Neon Deion (a.k.a. Prime Time) had a flashy appeal and helped bring media attention to one of the league's most anonymous franchises. Sanders was also famous for playing on major league baseball teams (the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves) while simultaneously playing in the NFL.

      1991–1992:

      The Falcons' 1991 season ended in a divisional playoff loss to the Washington Redskins. In 1991, the Falcons drafted Brett Favre as the thirty-third overall pick. During his rookie season, he played in two games where he amassed a record of 4 passing attempts with 0 receptions and 2 interceptions. The following February, Favre was traded to the Green Bay Packers.

      In 1992, the Atlanta Falcons opened a new chapter in their history moving into the newly constructed Georgia Dome, where the team has defeated all 31 other NFL teams at least once since its opening.

      1997–2000: The Dan Reeves era

      In 1998, under recently acquired head coach Dan Reeves, quarterback Chris Chandler and running back Jamal Anderson the Dirty Bird Falcons had their greatest season to date. On November 8, they beat the New England Patriots 41–10, ending a streak of 22 losses at cold-weather sites. The team finished with a franchise-best 14–2 regular season record and the NFC West division championship. On January 17, 1999, the Falcons upset the top-seeded Vikings at Minnesota in the NFC Championship Game 30–27, in an exciting overtime victory. However, in their first-ever Super Bowl appearance, they lost 34–19 to the defending champion Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII.

      In the second game of the Falcons 1999 season, running back Jamal Anderson, who had been a key player in the Falcons' 1998 success, suffered a season-ending knee injury. The Falcons finished the season with a very disappointing 5–11 regular season record. In 2000, the Falcons suffered through another horrendous season finishing 4–12 and once again missing the playoffs.

      2001–2006: The Michael Vick era:

      In the 2001 NFL Draft, the Falcons orchestrated a trade with the San Diego Chargers, acquiring the first overall pick (which was used on quarterback Michael Vick) in exchange for wide receiver / return specialist Tim Dwight and the fifth overall pick (used on running back LaDainian Tomlinson).

      The Falcons finished the 2001 season with a record of 7–9 and missed the playoffs. Jessie Tuggle retired following 14 seasons in Atlanta. On December 6, 2001, Arthur M. Blank reached a preliminary agreement with the Falcons' Taylor Smith to purchase the team. In a special meeting prior to Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans on February 2, 2002, NFL owners voted unanimously to approve the purchase.

      The 2002 season saw the Falcons return to the playoffs with a regular season record of 9-6-1, tying the Pittsburgh Steelers in a heated contest. It was Michael Vick's first year as the starter, and the team, with newly acquired running back Warrick Dunn, delivered the Green Bay Packers their first home playoff loss ever.

      On March 19, 2003, the Falcons presented their new logo. During the 2003 preseason Michael Vick broke his leg and missed the first twelve games of the season. After losing 7 straight games, the decision was made to release head coach Dan Reeves. Wade Phillips acted as interim coach for the final 3 games. Although the Falcons won 3 of their last 4 games after the return of Michael Vick, they ended up with a dismal 5–11 record that year. In 2004, a new head coach, Jim L. Mora, was hired and Michael Vick returned for the full season. The Falcons went 11–5, winning their third division title and earning a first-round bye into the playoffs. In the divisional playoffs, the Falcons defeated the St. Louis Rams 47–17 in the Georgia Dome, advancing to the NFC Championship, which they lost to the Eagles 27–10.

      The Falcons again fell short of achieving back-to-back winning seasons in 2005, going 8–8. In 2006, Michael Vick became the first quarterback in league history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season, with 1,039. After finishing the season 7–9, however, coach Jim Mora was dismissed and Bobby Petrino, the University of Louisville's football coach, replaced him. Before the 2007 season began, Vick was suspended indefinitely by the NFL after pleading guilty to charges involving dog fighting in the state of Virginia. On December 10, 2007, Vick received a 23-month prison sentence and was officially cut from the Atlanta roster.

      2007:

      For the 2007 season, the Falcons were forced to start Joey Harrington at quarterback. On December 11, 13 games into his first NFL season as head coach, Bobby Petrino resigned without notice to coach at the University of Arkansas, leaving the beleaguered players only a note in the locker room. Secondary Coach Emmitt Thomas was named interim coach for the final three games of the season on

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