National Football League

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The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that constitutes one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America. It is composed of 32 teams divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The highest professional level of the sport in the world, the NFL runs a 17-week regular season from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing sixteen games and having one bye week each season. Out of the league's 32 teams, six (four division winners and two wild-card teams) from each conference compete in the NFL playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, played between the champions of the NFC and AFC. The champions of the Super Bowl are awarded the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Various other awards exist to recognize individual players and coaches. Most games are played on Sunday afternoons; some games are also played on Mondays and Thursdays during the regular season. There are games on Saturdays during the first two playoff weekends. Sometimes, there are also Saturday games during the last few weeks of the regular season.

The NFL was formed on August 20, 1920, as the American Professional Football Conference; the league changed its name to the American Professional Football Association (APFA) on September 17, 1920, and changed its name to the National Football League on June 24, 1922, after spending the 1920 and 1921 seasons as the APFA. In 1966, the NFL agreed to merge with the rival American Football League (AFL), effective 1970; the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that same season in January 1967. 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. At the corporate level, the NFL is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) association. 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 inSuper Bowl XLIX.

[edit] History

Main article: History of the National Football League

[edit] Founding and history

[edit] Season and playoff development

Main article: List of National Football League seasons

[edit] Corporate structure

See also: History of the NFL Commissioner

[edit] Season format

[edit] Preseason

Main article: National Football League preseason

[edit] Regular season

Main article: National Football League regular season

[edit] Postseason

Main articles: National Football League playoffs and Pro Bowl

[edit] Trophy

[edit] Media coverage

Main article: NFL on television

[edit] Clubs

[edit] Draft

Main article: National Football League draft

[edit] Free agency

[edit] Player and coach awards

See also category: National Football League trophies and awards

[edit] See also

• National Football League All-Decade Teams
• National Football League franchise moves and mergers
• National Football League records
• National Football League 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
• NFL Europe
• NFL Films
• USA Football

[edit] References

[edit] External links