Sports

National Football League The National Football League, a professional American soccer league, is comprised of 32 teams. They are divided equally between American Football Conference (AFC), and National Football Conference. The NFL is a major North American professional league. It also represents the highest level professional American football. The NFL season begins in August with a three-week prep season. The regular season lasts 18 weeks and each team plays 17 games. Seven teams from each conference (four division champions and three wildcard teams) progress to the playoffs. The playoffs is a single-elimination tournament which culminates at the Super Bowl in February. New York City houses the league’s headquarters. The American Professional Football Association (APFA), which was created in 1920, became the NFL. In 1922, it changed its name to National Football League. After determining the champions in the first season through standings at the end of each season, a playoff system was introduced in 1933. It culminated with a championship game that lasted until 1966. In 1967, the NFL and rival American Football League (AFL) reached an agreement to merge. The Super Bowl was the first game of each NFL season. The NFL is the most beloved sports league in the United States and has the highest average attendance (67.591) of any professional league. The Super Bowl has been ranked among the top club sporting events worldwide. The individual games are responsible for many of the most watched television programs ever. In fact, they occupy the Nielsen Top 5 list. The NFL is by revenue the richest professional league and has the highest value teams. The Green Bay Packers own the record for the most combined NFL championships. They have won 13 titles (including nine titles in the Super Bowl era) and four Super Bowls thereafter. New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, and they have six Super Bowl victories each since the Super Bowl was created. Los Angeles Rams have been named league champions after they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals by 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI. This was to mark 2021’s end. Histories Representatives of the Akron Pros. Canton Bulldogs. Cleveland Indians and Dayton Triangles met on August 20, 1920 at the Jordan-Hupmobile auto showroom, Canton, Ohio. This meeting was the catalyst for the American Professional Football Conference. According to the Canton Evening Repository this

group was created to “raise professionalism in professional football”, eliminate bidding and ensure cooperation in the creation of schedules. Another meeting was held September 17, 1920. It included representatives from four different states: Akron Pros and Muncie Flyers, Ohio; Rochester Jeffersons, New York; Rochester Jeffersons, New York; and Rock Island Independents, Decatur Staleys (Chicago). American Professional Football Association (APFA), was established. Jim Thorpe was elected as the league’s first president. There were 14 teams in the league at that time (the Buffalo All-Americans and Chicago Tigers joined the league the following year). The Massillon Tigers were also present at the September 17 meeting from Massillon in Ohio, but they did not field any teams in 1920. Only two of these teams are still in the NFL: the Decatur Staleys, now the Chicago Bears, and the Chicago Cardinals. Check Famous Sports Players Biography list:     Ab De Villiers Biograph Abhinav Bindra Biograph Anjali Bhagwat Biograph Anju Bobby George Biograph The 1920 inaugural season saw the league not keep official standings and teams played schedules which included non-league competitors. The APFA awarded Akron Pros the title because of their 8-3-3 record. The Rock Island Independents beat the non-league St. Paul Ideals by 48 points at Douglas Park on September 26, 1920. The league’s first full week of play took place on October 3, 1920. The Chicago Staleys were controversially awarded the title, beating the Buffalo All-Americans. On June 24, 1922 the APFA changed its title to the National Football League. In 1932, the Chicago Bears (6-1-6), and the Portsmouth Spartans (7-1-4) were tied for first in league standings. In those days, each team was ranked on a single tableau. The winning percentage of the season (not counting ties) was determined by the league standings. The only tiebreaker was that two teams could play twice in a season and the results of the second game were the ones that decided the title. (This was the source for the 1921 controversy). Although this was a standard procedure since 1920 when the league was founded, there had never been a situation where two teams tied for first. The league decided quickly that a playoff between Portsmouth and Chicago was required to determine the league’s champion. The playoff game was originally set to take place at Wrigley Field in Chicago. But heavy snowfall and extreme cold made it impossible to move the game indoors to Chicago Stadium. This stadium does not have a regulation-size field. The Bears won with modified rules to take advantage of the smaller playing field and won the championship. The championship game was popularized by the

fans and the NFL began in 1933 with two divisions. There would be a championship between the division champions. The 1934 season was also the first of 12 seasons without African Americans in the league. In 1946, after public pressure and in conjunction with the removal of a similar ban at Major League Baseball, the defacto ban was lifted. Although the NFL was the biggest professional football league in the United States, it faced many other professional leagues over the 1930s to 1940s. Rival leagues include at least three American Football Leagues as well the All-America Football Conference, along with various regional leagues. These rival leagues have three NFL teams: the Los Angeles Rams (who are from a 1936 iteration the American Football League), San Francisco 49ers, and the Cleveland Browns (both of which were from the AAFC). The NFL had a strong monopoly in American professional football by the 1950s. In North America, its only rival was the Canadian Football League, which was officially established in 1958. Canadian football has a different code than American football. The CFL was able to establish a niche market in Canada, and it still exists as an independent league. In 1960, the fourth American Football League (AFL), was founded as a professional football league. The AFL’s upstart began to challenge the NFL in popularity. AFL gained television contracts and entered into a bidding process with the NFL for free draft picks and agents. The merger between the two leagues was announced June 8, 1966. It is expected to be fully in effect by 1970. The two leagues were to have a common draft, and a championship game. The Super Bowl, also known as the Super Bowl, was played four times before its merger. It featured the NFL winning Super Bowl I & Super Bowl II, along with the AFL winning Super Bowl III & IV. It was reorganized as two conferences, the National Football Conference(NFC), which included the majority of pre-merger NFL and AFL teams, and the American Football Conference(AFC). The NFL is North America’s most beloved sports league. This is largely due to Pete Rozelle who was the former Commissioner. He led the league from 1960 until 1989. Annual attendance grew from just 3 million in the beginning to 17 millions by the end of his tenure. Super Bowl XXIII was viewed by over 400 million worldwide viewers. In 1963, NFL Properties were established. The league’s licensing wing NFL Properties makes the league billions each year. Rozelle’s tenure also saw creation of NFL Charities, and a national partnership of United Way. Paul Tagliabue, Rozelle’s successor, was elected as the commissioner. His 17-year tenure saw significant increases in television contracts and four expansion teams. There were also league initiatives that increased the representation of minorities in managerial roles. Roger Goodell, currently the commissioner of the league, has focused on making the sport safer by reducing the number illegal hits and suspending players who violate rules. These are only a few actions the NFL is taking to decrease concussions. In the $1 billion settlement of concussions claims, the NFL had previously used race-based modifications of dementia claims. This was widely criticized before the NFL resolved to stop “race-norming”.

Sports

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