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The NFL consists of 31 teams that are divided into two
conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football
Conference (NFC), each of which has three divisions. The NFL season is played
during the late summer, through autumn, and into January. Professional teams
play 4 exhibition games, followed by 16 regular-season games. Teams play one
game each week, using the time between games to recover, practice, and prepare
for the next game. Each team receives one week without a game, known as a bye,
during the season.
At the end of the regular season, each conference holds separate playoff games
to determine the conference champion. The top team in each division
automatically qualifies for the conference playoffs and is ranked number one
through three based on its win-loss record. Three additional teams, called wild
cards, also qualify for playoff berths based on their win-loss record in the
conference. During the first round of the playoffs, the lowest-ranked wild-card
team plays the lowest-ranked division champion, while the other two wild-card
teams play each other. The losers are eliminated and the winner of each game
advances to play one of the remaining division champions in the semifinals.
Semifinal winners advance to the conference finals, and the winner of that game
is declared the conference champion.
The Vince Lombardi Trophy Members of the Dallas Cowboys football team hoist the
Vince Lombardi Trophy after their victory in Super Bowl XXX. Named in honor of
former Green Bay Packers coach, Vince Lombardi, the sterling silver trophy is
awarded annually to the winners of the National Football League's
championship. Joe Traver/Liaison Agency
The Super Bowl is the final contest of the NFL’s season. Held each January, it
pits the AFC and NFC champions against each other. The Super Bowl reaches
hundreds of millions of viewers around the world. The first Super Bowl took
place in 1967, when there were actually two separate football leagues, the NFL
and the American Football League (AFL). In this game, the Green Bay Packers of
the NFL defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the AFL in what was called the
AFL-NFL World Championship Game. The game was renamed the Super Bowl in 1969.
Every April the NFL conducts its amateur draft, in which each team obtains the
rights to the professional services of the best college players. Any player who
is three seasons out of high school qualifies for the NFL draft if that player
renounces college football eligibility by early January. To determine the draft
order the NFL goes by the win-loss records of the previous season, so that teams
with poorer records draft earlier than those with better records. The NFL draft
consists of seven rounds. Those players not selected in the draft can be invited
to try out for a team and are sometimes signed to contracts as free agents.
The NFL is a big business for players, owners, advertisers, and other industries
tied to the sport. NFL franchises generate huge revenues for host cities, in
addition to promoting civic pride and national exposure. Thus, cities often
compete for teams, offering prospective teams bigger and better stadiums,
guaranteed fan support, and various economic incentives. In the 1980s three NFL
teams relocated: the Oakland Raiders moved from Oakland, California, to Los
Angeles in 1982; the Colts moved from Baltimore, Maryland, to Indianapolis,
Indiana, and became the Indianapolis Colts in 1984; and the Cardinals moved from
St. Louis, Missouri, to Phoenix, Arizona, and became the Phoenix Cardinals in
1988 (later changed to Arizona Cardinals). Several other moves occurred in the
1990s. In 1995 the Los Angeles Rams became the St. Louis Rams when they moved
from Los Angeles to St. Louis, and the Raiders returned to Oakland. The
Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996; the team was renamed the
Baltimore Ravens. In 1997 the Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee and became the
Tennessee Titans. Other teams have agreed to stay in their home cities only with
the promise of new facilities.
New teams are periodically accepted into the NFL, and there is usually fierce
competition among cities to be selected as the home for a new team. In 1995 two
of these expansion teams began play: the Carolina Panthers, in Charlotte, North
Carolina; and the Jacksonville Jaguars, in Jacksonville, Florida. A new
Cleveland Browns franchise began play in 1999. The next expansion was scheduled
for 2002, when the Houston Texans will begin play.
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associated with the National Football League ("NFL") or any of the 32 member
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