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106-688: The official title of Bert Bell Benefit Bowl came from the former NFL commissioner , Bert Bell . Bell, who co-founded the Eagles and co-owned the Steelers, was commissioner of the NFL from 1946 until his death during an NFL game in October 1959 . The game raised money for the players' pension fund, and reportedly raised a million dollars over the decade of the 1960s. All ten games in the Playoff Bowl series were contested at

212-477: A charter member of the league, never played in it, and became the first team to be rejected as a member. Hay chose his own running back , Jim Thorpe , as the league's inaugural President; Hay believed Thorpe's status and fame as an athlete would bring instant credibility to the league. Thorpe was nominally the APFA's first president; however, he spent most of the year playing for Canton. Thorpe nominally oversaw what

318-424: A crime for an athlete not to report a bribe attempt. In addition to all these duties, he also single-handedly plotted out league schedules each season on his dining-room table by using a giant checkerboard. He created the revenue-sharing system that enables the small-market teams to make larger profits and remain competitive. He also embraced the idea of television blackouts for home teams, especially after watching

424-757: A few teams temporarily merged due to lack of manpower, most notably the Pittsburgh Steelers , who merged with the Philadelphia Eagles and earned the nickname the Phil-Pitt Steagles (unlike the Keystoners idea, which was intended to be permanent, the Steagles lasted only one year) in 1943 and then merged with the Chicago Cardinals to form Card-Pitt in 1944. The Cleveland Rams ceased operations for

530-588: A franchise can have to a maximum of 24, and bans any publicly owned companies from owning teams, the Packers are exempt from these rules under a grandfather clause . When Red Grange , a star player at the University of Illinois , turned pro by joining the Chicago Bears immediately after his final college football game, college officials everywhere criticized the league. Ernie Nevers , another All-American player, did

636-517: A game between the team he co-founded, the Eagles , and the Steelers . The Eagles actually scored the game-winning touchdown the moment Bell died, as fans were paying more attention to Bell than the game. He had been under a doctor's care for two years and had recovered from a heart attack the previous February. Few knew that at the time, Bell was planning to retire as commissioner in order to regain ownership of

742-523: A hastily arranged game with the Chicago Cardinals . As a result, the Badgers were fined $ 500 and given 90 days to dispose of its assets and retire from the league. Though finding no evidence to suggest the Cardinals management was aware of the status of the four youths before the game, Carr nonetheless fined the club $ 1000 for participating in the game. Art Foltz , the Cardinals player who confessed to having made

848-466: A major league baseball team. By placing teams in big cities the NFL gained the stability it needed and established a game plan for a bright future. Upon Carr's death, former Dayton Triangles owner Carl Storck , the league's secretary-treasurer since 1921, was named to succeed him. His most notable act was the refusal to allow the creation of the Pennsylvania Keystoners , a proposed merger of

954-417: A meeting of NFL owners, he was the early frontrunner to retain the commissioner's job, but Los Angeles Rams general manager Pete Rozelle was ultimately elected to the post on January 26 after 23 ballots. After Bert Bell 's death in 1959, Rozelle was the surprise choice for his replacement as NFL commissioner. The owners first met on January 20, 1960, and took eight ballots without any candidate receiving

1060-413: A plan. Rozelle is erroneously credited with forging the merger. In October 1966, he did testify to Congress to convince them to allow the merger, promising that if they permitted it, "Professional football operations will be preserved in the 23 cities and 25 stadiums where such operations are presently being conducted." ; and "Every franchise of both leagues will remain in its present location." The merger

1166-457: A record 63-yard field goal as time expired to win 19–17 over the visiting Detroit Lions . It bettered the previous record by seven yards (set seventeen years earlier by Bert Rechichar ), and stood for 43 years (tied in 1998 , 2011 , and 2012 ) until it was broken in 2013 by Denver Broncos ' Matt Prater . His record 64-yard field goal was at elevation in Denver on December 8, at the end of

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1272-578: A result, the Bears' first home game of the season against the Philadelphia Eagles was played at Northwestern University 's Dyche Stadium ; Chicago also treated this game as a trial run for possibly moving their home games to Evanston . Dyche Stadium (since renamed Ryan Field), did not have lights (nor does it have permanent standards today), was planned as the Bears' new home, but a deal fell through due to strong opposition from several athletic directors in

1378-598: A staple of American television viewing, and the Super Bowl became the single most watched televised event of the year. During this decade, the upstart World Football League organized, pushing player salaries higher even as it ended up in bankruptcy. Towards the end of the decade, labor unrest and litigation over issues such as the NFL Players Association and team movement to new markets foreshadowed Rozelle's decline as commissioner. In February 1974, Rozelle agreed to

1484-455: A subordinate to Rozelle. After Davis resigned as AFL Commissioner, Milt Woodard (who had served as assistant commissioner under Foss and Davis) was appointed AFL President. Woodard would serve in that role for the rest of the AFL's existence. The 1970s saw Rozelle at the peak of his powers as a sports league commissioner. He presided over a decade of league expansion. Monday Night Football became

1590-598: A ten-year contract at $ 200,000 per year, effective January 1973 through December 1982. It was replaced and updated in 1977. 1970 NFL season The 1970 NFL season was the 51st regular season of the National Football League , and the first after the consummation of the AFL–NFL merger . The merged league realigned into two conferences: all ten of the American Football League (AFL) teams joined

1696-548: A vehicle through which to showcase more of its supposedly superior NFL professional football product on television, then carried through the CBS Television Network . At the time, unlike the AFL, which had a contract with the ABC Television Network for their nationally televised games, often double-headers, few NFL games were televised nationally during the season and there was only one scheduled post-season game,

1802-483: A yearly rotation, with the network of the designated visiting conference (NBC for odd-numbered games, CBS for even-numbered game) televising each game through Super Bowl XVIII . From 1970–73, whichever network did not televise the Super Bowl televised the Pro Bowl the next week. Meanwhile, with the debut of Monday Night Football on ABC on September 21, 1970, the league became the first professional sports league in

1908-612: The 1970 merger with the AFL , the loser of the NFL's third place game ended up with a peculiar record of 0-2 for that post-season. In its final season in 1969 , the AFL also expanded to a four-team post-season, adding two more playoff games. The highest attendance was over 65,500 in January 1966 for the Baltimore Colts ' rout of the Dallas Cowboys ; the 1965 season was the last one prior to

2014-558: The AFC and NFC Championship Games playing each other during the idle week before the Super Bowl . There were now seven post-season games in the NFL (three for each conference, plus the Super Bowl), and the Pro Bowl all-star game. A "losers' game" was not necessarily attractive for the league, and the Playoff Bowl came to an end. The ten Playoff Bowls were official third place playoff games at

2120-702: The Baltimore Colts , Cleveland Browns , and Pittsburgh Steelers to form the American Football Conference (AFC); the other thirteen NFL clubs formed the National Football Conference (NFC). The season concluded in 1971 with Super Bowl V on January 17, as the Baltimore Colts beat the Dallas Cowboys 16–13 at the Orange Bowl in Miami , Florida . The Pro Bowl was the following Sunday;

2226-614: The Big Ten Conference and residents of Evanston. After negotiations with the Cubs' ownership for continued use of Wrigley Field collapsed, the Bears moved to Soldier Field in 1971 where they remain to the present day, save for a temporary relocation in 2002 to the University of Illinois ' Memorial Stadium while Soldier Field was completely renovated. The Boston Patriots played in their fourth facility in eleven seasons, leaving Alumni Stadium at Boston College for Harvard Stadium ,

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2332-440: The Chicago Bears find a new home field: Wrigley Field was too small, as it did not meet the new stadium requirement to seat at least 50,000, and it did not have lights (installed in 1988), meaning it was unavailable for late afternoon and night games. The Chicago Cubs baseball team, which shared the stadium with the Bears, did not want to convert it to a football configuration while the Cubs were still in playoff contention. As

2438-638: The Chicago Tigers and Buffalo All-Americans , ever actually joined the league at all. His greatest personal achievement as league president was bringing his Bulldogs to New York City for a game against the All-Americans; this game, in which the All-Americans won 7–3, was played in front of approximately 20,000 fans at the Polo Grounds , a rousing success for the nascent league. By the April 1921 league meetings,

2544-595: The Cleveland Tigers , potential owners such as F.J. Griffiths and Cupid Black either balked at or ignored overtures to run the Tigers in 1920. With no credible owner stepping forward, Hay claimed the Massillon Tigers as his own, immediately announced it would not play in 1920, and prohibited all teams in the league from playing "any other Massillon Tigers team" such as Maginnis's. The Tigers, while technically listed as

2650-960: The Dayton Triangles to become the Brooklyn Tigers in 1930, establishing the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles in 1933, moving the Portsmouth Spartans to become the Detroit Lions , establishing the Cleveland Rams in 1937, and the Washington Redskins in 1937 after that franchise moved from Boston . By 1937 the National Football League and Major League Baseball were almost identical, with 9 out of 10 NFL franchises in MLB cities. Only Green Bay, Wisconsin , did not have

2756-467: The Green Bay Packers , who had joined the APFA that year, admitted to having used college players under assumed names. Carr immediately issued the Packers an indefinite suspension from the league, declaring that the Packers had breached both APFA rules and the public trust. However, a few months later, a group headed by Packers coach and future Hall of Famer Curly Lambeau applied for, and was granted,

2862-672: The Los Angeles Rams lose money after they televised all of their 1950 season games. However, he was seen as being a little too strict when he refused to lift a blackout for Detroit viewers to watch the sold out 1957 NFL Championship between the Lions and the Cleveland Browns , claiming it would be considered "dishonest" to the paying customers. Bell died of a heart attack on October 11, 1959, at Philadelphia's Franklin Field , while watching

2968-497: The Orange Bowl in Miami . The games were played in January, the week following the NFL championship game (and the collegiate Orange Bowl game on New Year's Day), except for the final year, when it was played the day before the NFL title game. The NFL's Pro Bowl ( all-star game) was played the week after the Playoff Bowl. After the 1959 season, NFL owners faced competition from the newly-formed American Football League and wanted

3074-405: The Philadelphia Eagles and what would become the Pittsburgh Steelers . Storck remained president after the position of Commissioner was created. He was upset by the owners' decision to replace him, as he had served in the league office for 20 years (fifteen without pay) and had not received any criticism from the owners during his tenure as president. He stated that he would stay on as president if

3180-535: The Tonawanda Kardex , lasted only one game) and 11 teams lasted two years. Carr envisioned the day the NFL could compete with Major League Baseball as America's favorite spectator sport. While few really took him seriously ( Leo Lyons , the owner of the Rochester Jeffersons, was one of the few who had the same belief), he thought in time it could happen and devised a plan to make it happen. Carr knew that

3286-502: The visiting team was from the NFC and NBC would carry them when the visitors were from the AFC. At the time, all NFL games were blacked out in the home team's market, so this arrangement meant that fans in each team's home market would see all of their team's televised Sunday afternoon games on the same network (CBS for NFC teams and NBC for AFC teams). The two networks also divided up the Super Bowl on

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3392-584: The 1941 model of professional football governance. AFL owners agreed to recognize Rozelle as the overall chief executive of the sport and appoint a league President to serve under the NFL Commissioner. Although Rozelle was never formally invested with a title such as Commissioner of Football or Football Commissioner , he was often referred to as such by the media for the rest of the AFL's existence. AFL owners had intended for Davis to continue serving as AFL President, but he flatly refused to consider serving as

3498-406: The 1943 season. Layden's tenure as NFL commissioner came to an end in January 1946. After Brooklyn owner Dan Topping withdrew his team from the league to join the new All-America Football Conference , some owners opposed renewing Layden's contract, as they felt that he was too much of a gentleman and not forceful enough to deal with the competing league. Layden resigned on January 11, 1946. On

3604-489: The 1964 game (January 1965) to the St. Louis Cardinals . After that loss, he fumed about "a hinky-dink football game, held in a hinky-dink town, played by hinky-dink players. That's all second place is – hinky dink." Using the Playoff Bowl (and loss) as motivation in 1965 , the Packers won the first of three consecutive NFL championships from 1965 to 1967 . The Packers remain the sole NFL team to win three consecutive titles in

3710-430: The AFC. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Baltimore were placed in the AFC in order to balance the conferences, while the NFC equalized the competitive strength of its East and West divisions rather than sorting out teams purely geographically. Division alignment in 1970 largely kept traditional rivals in the same division. Plans were also made to add two expansion teams, but this would not take place until 1976, seven years after

3816-587: The Baltimore Colts and George Preston Marshall of the Washington Redskins — to agree to share revenues between teams, as the American Football League (AFL) had done since its inception. His business model, which emulated that of the AFL, was essentially a cartel that benefited all teams equally, from revenue sharing to the player draft. On November 24, 1963, the NFL played its full schedule of seven games (untelevised due to uninterrupted coverage of

3922-507: The Dolphins starting play, the AFL–NFL merger agreement, and the creation of the Super Bowl. In January 1968 and 1969, the Super Bowl was played in the Orange Bowl the following week, which further contributed to the declining attendance for the NFL's consolation game. When the merger was completed for the 1970 season, there was discussion about continuing the Playoff Bowl, with the losers of

4028-416: The Eagles before the next season. In 1952, Gunsel was hired by the NFL to head the league's investigative department, a move made in response to commissioner Bert Bell 's fear of a scandal damaging the league's image. Gunsel became league treasurer in 1956, holding the post until his retirement ten years later. He served as acting president of the NFL after Bell's death in October 1959. In January 1960 at

4134-580: The Eastern conference, and the Central and Coastal divisions in the Western conference. The four division winners advanced to the post-season, competing for their conference titles in the first round of the NFL playoffs. The winners (conference champions) advanced to the NFL championship game, the losers (conference runners-up) appeared in the Playoff Bowl to vie for third place. For the three seasons ( 1967 – 69 ) preceding

4240-526: The Green Bay franchise. Prior to the 1923 season, Lambeau made an initial public offering selling shares of stock in the franchise; the Green Bay Packers Board of Directors has since become the only publicly held corporation to own a franchise in the league. While the league has since imposed rules that require a controlling owner to hold a minimum 30% stake in the team, limit the number of owners

4346-545: The NFC beat the AFC 27–6 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum . The merger forced a realignment between the combined league's clubs. During the previous 1969 season, there were sixteen NFL teams and ten AFL teams: Because there were more NFL teams than AFL teams, three teams needed to be transferred to balance the two new conferences at thirteen teams each. In May 1969, the Baltimore Colts , Cleveland Browns , and Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to join

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4452-603: The NFL Championship Game. The Playoff Bowl was devised to match the second-place teams from the NFL's two conferences (Eastern and Western). This doubled from two to four the number of top NFL teams appearing in post-season play on national television. The 1966 season required another game following the American Football League Championship Game and the NFL Championship Game, the first of four AFL–NFL World Championship Games between

4558-409: The NFL playing a twelve-game schedule to frequently half-empty stadiums, and only a few teams had television contracts. The NFL in 1960 was following a business model that had evolved from the 1930s. NFL sources credit Rozelle with originating gate and television profit-sharing. However, it was the rival American Football League which initiated both concepts at its formation in 1959. The revenue-sharing

4664-416: The NFL rules in 1994. Starting in 1970, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by intra-conference records and finally a coin flip . This became problematic during

4770-566: The NFL's chief executive was the league president. On January 17, 1941, the NFL franchise owners amended the league's constitution to change the chief executive's title from "president" to "commissioner". In 1920, the Canton Bulldogs were one of 14 teams to form the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which would become the National Football League (NFL) two years later. Bulldogs owner Ralph Hay

4876-424: The NFL's success rested on franchise stability. He also believed that franchises had to be located in the biggest cities, just like those in major league baseball. This resulted in the NFL shaking off its "town team" roots. His own Panhandles, for instance, disappeared by 1929 (after playing as the Tigers from 1923 onward). Carr went out of his way to recruit financially capable owners. Beginning with New York City ,

4982-802: The NFL, however, led to his receiving Sports Illustrated magazine's 1963 " Sportsman of the Year " award. The award was ironic, since it was the existence of the AFL that expanded the sport and forced the NFL to grant franchises to Dallas and Minnesota. By 1965, the rival American Football League was firmly established, with a new NBC-TV contract, and a new superstar in New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath . After an NFL team (the Giants) had signed an AFL player (the Buffalo Bills ' Pete Gogolak ) in early 1966, American Football League commissioner Al Davis had shaken

5088-479: The NFL. Davis had immediately started signing NFL stars such as Roman Gabriel, John Brodie and Mike Ditka to contracts with AFL teams. Fearful of their league's collapse , NFL owners, without the knowledge of Rozelle, approached AFL owners (without the knowledge of Davis) and requested merger talks. AFL and NFL executives including Lamar Hunt , founder of the AFL and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs , completed

5194-549: The Playoff Bowl remained through the 2008 season in that the head coaches of the losing teams from the conference championship games were the head coaches of their conferences' Pro Bowl teams. From 1980 to 2009, this all-star game was played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu the Sunday following the Super Bowl . However, in 2010 , the Pro Bowl moved to Miami Gardens, Florida, and was played

5300-579: The United States to have a regular series of nationally televised games in prime-time, and the only league ever to have its games televised on all of the then-three major broadcast networks at the same time. Both teams that advanced to the Super Bowl, the Baltimore Colts (44-24 to the Chiefs ) and the Dallas Cowboys (38-0 to the Cardinals ), had suffered humiliating defeats at home on Monday Night Football during

5406-491: The University of San Francisco years before, and Rozelle had consulted with him. Salinger urged Rozelle to play the games. Rozelle felt that way, saying that "it has been traditional in sports for athletes to perform in times of great personal tragedy." He also said that football was Kennedy's game and the late president thrived on competition. Rozelle's "aptitude for conciliation" with the league's owners and his work in expanding

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5512-444: The assassination, but well-attended), only two days after the assassination of President Kennedy , while the rival American Football League (AFL) postponed its four games out of respect for the fallen president. Rozelle soon came to regret his decision to have the NFL play, and frequently stated publicly that it had been his worst mistake. However, Rozelle and White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger had been classmates at

5618-507: The champions of the two major Professional Football leagues for the undisputed championship. The establishment of the AFL–;NFL World Championship Game (the Super Bowl name was not made official until Super Bowl III ) was the first phase of the AFL–;NFL merger of June 1966. This new mega-game between the rival leagues was played in mid-January at a warm weather location, two weeks after

5724-544: The championship games for each league. The NFL's Playoff Bowl was played during the idle week, and because of AFL's equally major league status, interest in the game was waning. In addition, the arrival of the Miami Dolphins in 1966 as an expansion franchise in the AFL reduced local interest in the game. In the 1967 season, the NFL expanded to 16 teams and four scheduled post-season contests. The NFL sub-divided its two conferences (now eight teams each) into two divisions of four teams each: The Capitol and Century divisions in

5830-418: The day of Layden's resignation, Pittsburgh Steelers co-owner Bert Bell was elected commissioner and given a three-year contract at $ 20,000 per year. He subsequently sold his stake in the Steelers to co-owner Art Rooney . A year later, the contract was changed to a five-year pact at the same salary, a move that was followed in 1949 by a ten-year agreement that boosted his annual pay to $ 30,000. Bell's salary

5936-416: The debut of the "slingshot" or "tuning fork" goalpost, with one curved support, in American football. This style of goalpost was first used by the Canadian Football League for the 54th Grey Cup the previous November. The NFL adopted the single-support post for the 1967 season , and it continues to be used by the NFL and CFL, as well as most colleges and many high schools in both countries. One vestige of

6042-419: The divisional round of the playoffs in each conference. All ten games were played at the Orange Bowl in Miami , Florida . Most were played the week following the NFL Championship game, with two exceptions: the first was played two weeks after and the last the day before. The first two games and the last one were played on Saturday, with the rest being played on Sunday. The Western Conference team won eight of

6148-411: The early days of professional football, the game was shunned by many in the college ranks. Fearing that the pro game tainted the college game, many college administrators barred players from having anything to do with the pros. Carr would try to attack this problem and bring a peace between the pros and amateur ranks. The first major challenge to Carr's authority came at the end of the 1921 season , when

6254-625: The final week of the regular season when potential victories by the Cowboys, Lions and Giants (all of whom were playing at home and favored to win) would have resulted in all three teams having similar records, New York winning the NFC East championship and a coin toss between Dallas and Detroit to decide the wild card. That possibility was averted when the Giants were upset by the Los Angeles Rams. Because of this close call regarding possible use of coin toss, future tie-breakers would be expanded to have more competitive aspects. On November 8, New Orleans Saints placekicker Tom Dempsey kicked

6360-403: The first half. That record would stand until September 26, 2021, when Baltimore Ravens ' Justin Tucker kicked a 66 yard field goal as time expired to win 19-17 over the Detroit Lions The Denver Broncos , Detroit Lions, and Los Angeles Rams all started 3–0 but lost in Week Four. Only the Lions advanced to the postseason after the 3–0 start. Before the season, the league had demanded that

6466-434: The first of 11 Super Bowls held in Miami area, and is credited by NFL Films for the creation of the expansion Miami Dolphins . The 1966 season Playoff Bowl game was used by NFL Films to put a microphone on Philadelphia Eagles' head coach Joe Kuharich , which is credited by the league as part of the signature of NFL Films' videos featuring microphones on coaches and players. That same Eagles-Colts Playoff Bowl marked

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6572-546: The first pick, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected quarterback Terry Bradshaw from Louisiana Tech University . The NFL rules became the standardized rules for the merged league, with two exceptions that were both carried over from the AFL: After experimenting with compromise rules regarding the two-point conversion (then exclusive to the AFL) during the late 1960s preseasons, the NFL decided not to use that feature and use its previous rule only allowing one point for any conversion. The two-point conversion would later be added to

6678-469: The franchises, and issued formal standings for the first time, so that the APFA would have a clear champion. The Association's membership increased to 22 teams. Carr first set a deadline for the season to be completed and a minimum number of league games to be played in order to win the league championship. This led to standardized schedules and prevented teams from scheduling non-league teams to pad their win columns. After taking office, Carr began cleaning up

6784-432: The game, Carr reportedly warned the Pottsville management not to play the game, "under all penalties that the league could inflict”. Ignoring Carr's warnings, the game was played as scheduled. However, the Maroons stated that Carr knew of the game and had allowed it to take place. For this act, the Pottsville Maroons were fined $ 500 and had their franchise forfeited; as a result, the team was stripped of their NFL title, and it

6890-484: The homes of the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers , respectively. This was also the last season in which Franklin Field was the home of the Philadelphia Eagles ; they moved to Veterans Stadium , another multi-purpose stadium, in 1971 . Seven teams played their home games on artificial turf in 1970. This was up from 2 teams in both the NFL and AFL in 1969. The teams were: Cincinnati, Dallas, Miami, Pittsburgh and St. Louis, who joined Houston and Philadelphia,

6996-426: The largest city in the country and a market the NFL had tried to enter since the first season (see, for instance, the ill-fated first incarnation of the New York Giants ), Carr convinced successful bookmaker Tim Mara to start a club. The club became known as the New York Giants and it is still partly owned by Mara's family. He continued to recruit stable owners and eventually placed teams in larger cities by moving

7102-403: The league to survive, franchises needed to have a sense of stability. In his early years as president, NFL franchises constantly were setting up and then folding. From 1920 through 1932 more than 40 NFL franchises went through the league. The only two charter members to stay with the league by 1932 were the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Cardinals. In those first years, 19 teams lasted one year (one,

7208-432: The league with the All-America Football Conference , and did battle with the Canadian Football League over scheduling and player rights. He also coined the phrase, "On any given Sunday, any team can beat any other team." One of his first major acts dealt with a gambling scandal that marred the 1946 NFL Championship game. In response, he successfully lobbied legislators in virtually every state to enact laws that made it

7314-433: The losers $ 400 (equivalent to $ 4,078 in 2023); and the fifth year game paid $ 800 (equivalent to $ 7,735 in 2023) and $ 600 (equivalent to $ 5,801 in 2023). In its final years, the winners received $ 1,200 each (equivalent to $ 9,415 in 2023), and the losers $ 500 (equivalent to $ 3,923 in 2023). The Playoff Bowl was typically held in the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami. It led to Super Bowl II being held in Miami,

7420-420: The merger and Monday Night Football . Rozelle is also often erroneously credited with introducing the concept of shared television revenues to professional football. He did advocate it for the merged NFL, but he was simply embracing the concept which had been implemented by the AFL ten years before the merger. Following the two leagues' agreement to merge , owners of both leagues agreed in principle to follow

7526-399: The merger, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks joined the league. The 26-team league also began to use an eight-team playoff format, four from each conference, that included the three division winners and a wild card team, the second-place team with the best record. The 1970 NFL draft was held from January 27 to 28, 1970 at New York City 's Belmont Plaza Hotel. With

7632-794: The only facility in Massachusetts at that time which met the NFL's 50,000-seat minimum. The struggles to find a home led the Patriots to hastily construct Schaeffer Stadium in Foxborough , which opened in 1971 . Renamed from "Boston" to "New England" when they moved, the Patriots continue to play in Foxborough in Gillette Stadium , which opened in 2002 . Two multi-purpose stadiums made their debut this season: Riverfront Stadium and Three Rivers Stadium , replacing Nippert Stadium and Pitt Stadium as

7738-399: The other four divisions had four teams each. The realignment discussions for the NFC were so contentious that one final plan, out of five of them, was selected from an envelope in a vase by Commissioner Pete Rozelle's secretary, Thelma Elkjer on January 16, 1970. The format agreed on was as follows: This arrangement would keep most of the pre-merger NFL teams in the NFC and the AFL teams in

7844-479: The owners also narrowed the list of candidates to eight people. They pledged not to reveal who the finalists were, although it was reported that former United States Postmaster General and Democratic National Committee Chairman James Farley was considered for the job. National reports also linked baseball executive Branch Rickey , at the time working for the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League , with

7950-412: The owners defined his duties in a contract. However, on April 4, 1941, he suddenly announced that he was resigning "for the best interests of the game". After Storck's resignation, the owners chose to make Layden president as well as Commissioner. On January 17, 1941, the NFL franchise owners amended the league's constitution to change the chief executive's title from "president" to "commissioner." This

8056-460: The owners; former Congressman and NFL deputy commissioner Samuel A. Weiss , Sportsman's Park general manager and former Chicago Cardinals executive Ray Bennigsen , former Cleveland Rams general manager Chile Walsh , Philadelphia attorney Frank Sullivan , former Kentucky Governor and Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler , Detroit Pistons general manager W. Nicholas Kerbawy , and attorney Don Miller . None of these candidates were able to end

8162-542: The post-season era, which began in 1933 . During this successful run, the Packers also won the first two Super Bowls in convincing fashion. Lombardi's final game (and victory) as head coach of the Packers was Super Bowl II , played in the Orange Bowl in January 1968. All-Pro defensive tackle Roger Brown appeared in five Playoff Bowls, the most by any player, and was on the winning side each time ( Detroit Lions in 1960, 1961, 1962; Los Angeles Rams in 1967, 1969). He said playing in those seemingly meaningless contests

8268-537: The post. Chicago Tribune journalist Arch Ward was offered the position of commissioner, but he turned it down and suggested Elmer Layden for the position. Layden, famous from his playing days as a member of the Four Horsemen , resigned as head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team on February 3, 1941, to accept the position of Commissioner of Professional Football. His appointment

8374-422: The problems surrounding professional football. By 1925, he introduced a standard player's contract, fashioned after the ones being used in pro baseball, so players could not jump from one team to another. Carr also declared that players under contract from the previous season could not be approached by another team unless first declared a free agent, thus introducing the reserve clause to professional football. In

8480-478: The question of who had actually won the league championship (and thus the rights to the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup ) was still unresolved, as three teams (possibly four) laid claim to the title; there were even questions as to whether the league would survive beyond its first season, as the meeting had been postponed three months. Thorpe was missing from that meeting, never to return to his post, as

8586-504: The same thing a few days later. To help ease tensions and promote the professional game in the college circles, Carr established a rule prohibiting college players to sign with professional teams until after their class had graduated. These decisions gave the NFL credibility and much needed support from the colleges and universities from across the country. In 1925 it was revealed that the Milwaukee Badgers used four high school boys in

8692-445: The season. All three networks initially signed four-year television contracts through the 1973 season. The first MNF team consisted of veteran play-by-play announcer Keith Jackson , sportscaster Howard Cosell , and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith . Ray Scott remained as lead play-by-play announcer for CBS, but Pat Summerall replaced Paul Christman as that network's lead color commentator after Christman died from

8798-444: The stalemate and for the third day in a row the owners were unable to elect a commissioner. On the fourth day of the owners meetings, the issue of electing a commissioner was not brought as the owners chose to address other league business. Two more ballots were held on day five, both ending with seven for Leahy and four for Kellett. On the sixth day, the anti-Leahy group switched their support from Kellett back to Gunsell. However,

8904-437: The team he had led in 1919 was not a success and Hay did not believe that a traveling team was deserving of the Massillon Tigers name. Hay sought another investor for the Tigers, but because the Tigers of the 1910s had been operating at major financial losses (Hay's primary reason for seeking a credible Tigers team was that Tigers games were major financial successes—for their opponents) and most of its players had defected to start

9010-533: The ten AFL teams to form the American Football Conference (AFC); the remaining NFL teams formed the National Football Conference (NFC). Replacing the old Eastern and Western conferences (although divisions from those conferences still existed but were renamed to suit the realignment), the new conferences, AFC and NFC, function similar to Major League Baseball 's American and National leagues, and each of those two were divided into three divisions: East, Central, and West. The two Eastern divisions had five teams;

9116-489: The ten games. 25°46′41″N 80°13′12″W  /  25.778°N 80.220°W  / 25.778; -80.220 History of the NFL Commissioner The commissioner of the National Football League is the chief executive officer of the National Football League (NFL). The position was created in 1941. The current commissioner is Roger Goodell , who assumed office on September 1, 2006. Until 1941,

9222-412: The time they were played; today, the NFL consider the games as exhibitions. Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi detested the Playoff Bowl, coaching in the games following the 1963 and 1964 seasons, after winning NFL titles in 1961 and 1962 . To his players, he called it "the 'Shit Bowl', ...a losers' bowl for losers." This lack of motivation may explain his Packers' rare postseason defeat in

9328-522: The two teams which played on turf in 1969. Super Bowl V was held at the Orange Bowl in Miami , and was the first Super Bowl played on artificial turf (specifically, Poly-Turf ). To televise their games, the combined league retained the services of CBS and NBC , who were previously the primary broadcasters of the NFL and the AFL, respectively. It was then decided that CBS would televise all NFC teams (including playoff games) while NBC all AFC teams. For interconference games, CBS would broadcast them if

9434-651: The two thirds vote needed to be elected. On the first ballot San Francisco 49ers attorney Marshall Leahy defeated interim commissioner Austin Gunsel 7 to 5. Gunsel was soon dropped from consideration in favor of Baltimore Colts general manager Don Kellett . On the final ballot of the day, Leahy defeated Kellett 7 to 4, but once again did not receive enough votes to be elected. Los Angeles Times special events director Paul J. Schissler and Detroit Lions President Edwin J. Anderson were proposed as compromise candidates but neither received enough support. Anderson's candidacy

9540-456: The voting still ended 7–4–1. By the seventh day, 23 ballots had been taken without electing a commissioner. By day eight, Leahy supporters Wellington Mara and Paul Brown realized that their candidate would not be able to win and they offered Los Angeles Rams general manager Pete Rozelle, who had been able to keep peace among his team's feuding partners, as a compromise candidate. He received eight votes to Leahy's one and three abstentions and

9646-409: The week before Super Bowl XLIV (as the Playoff Bowl was in the Super Bowl era). For the 2009 season, a new rule for determining the Pro Bowl coaches resulted in the disappearance of one Playoff Bowl legacy. The coaching staffs for the 2010 Pro Bowl did not come from the losers of the conference championship games, but instead from the teams with the best regular-season records among those that lost in

9752-593: The “introductions", was banned from play in the NFL for life. As in 1925, the Pottsville Maroons , a first year NFL team, played an exhibition game against a team of former Notre Dame stars including the famous " Four Horsemen ”. The game was played at Philadelphia's Shibe Park which was within the protected territory of the Frankford Yellow Jackets , who were playing a league game just a few miles away at Frankford Stadium . On three occasions prior to

9858-446: Was a major factor in stabilizing the AFL and guaranteeing the success of its small-market teams. Rozelle recognized the value of such an arrangement, and following the lead of the rival AFL, Rozelle negotiated large television contracts to broadcast every NFL game played each season. In doing so, he not only deftly played one television network against the other, but also persuaded NFL team owners — most notably Carroll Rosenbloom of

9964-403: Was allowed, but despite Rozelle's promises, numerous NFL teams have since moved, or used the threat of moving to have cities build or improve stadiums. Following the urging of American Football League commissioner Al Davis , Rozelle also agreed to the creation of the Super Bowl and later supported the concept of Monday Night Football . NFL sources have since aggrandized Rozelle's part in both

10070-473: Was elected Commissioner. Rozelle gained the support of the four anti-Leahy owners by pledging to move the league office from Philadelphia to New York City instead of the West Coast. Rozelle's original contract in 1960 was $ 50,000 annually for three years. In May 1962, he was granted a $ 10,000 bonus for 1961 and a new five-year contract at $ 60,000 per year. When Rozelle took office there were twelve teams in

10176-535: Was given to the Chicago Cardinals. However, Carr's decision and handling of the situation are still being protested by many sports historians, as well as by the people of Pottsville, Pennsylvania , and controversy still surrounds who actually won the 1925 NFL Championship, since the Maroons had earlier beaten Chicago and were actually awarded the league championship before they were suspended. Carr also knew that for

10282-476: Was in its first year a haphazard and somewhat informal league, not unlike the loose coalitions of squads such as the Ohio League , Western Pennsylvania League and New York League that had played prior to the APFA's formation. League teams regularly played those outside the league, and Thorpe allowed those games to be counted in the standings. As a result, there is some dispute whether a handful of teams, including

10388-461: Was legal because it had been agreed upon by a majority of owners. Layden was signed to a five-year contract with an annual salary of $ 20,000. In five years as Commissioner, Layden saw the NFL through the World War II years, in which teams had to use many men of inferior abilities as replacements while most of the regulars were fighting in the war (as did Major League Baseball ). During this period

10494-435: Was like having "the worst inferiority complex ." He added, "I was in five of them, and to have played in it five in the ten years it was in existence is pitiful." The Lions also hold the dubious distinction of having the most victories in the Playoff Bowl, three, along with tying for the best winning percentage , 1.000. In its second year, the players on the winning team received $ 600 each (equivalent to $ 6,118 in 2023),

10600-458: Was named the first head of the league (the title was officially "Temporary Secretary" until a permanent president could be chosen). Hay did make one notable contribution in his short tenure as Temporary Secretary. Vernon Maginnis, who operated one of Akron's professional teams in 1919, wanted to field a team under the name of the Massillon Tigers in 1920. Hay was unimpressed with Maginnis, as

10706-421: Was not voted on by the entire league, which upset owners Alexis Thompson , Bert Bell , and Dan Topping . Bell stated that Layden had been "railroaded" into office over other finalists (Philadelphia political leader John B. Kelly Sr. and University of Minnesota athletic director Frank G. McCormick , the latter of whom had yet to be interviewed). Chicago Bears owner George Halas contended that Layden's hiring

10812-595: Was part of an attempt to bring all professional football leagues under the authority of a single commissioner with powers similar to those of Commissioner of Baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis . The owners had already reached working agreements with the American Football Association and the Dixie League and invited all other leagues, including the American Football League to join. At their January 17 meeting

10918-485: Was raised to $ 40,000 in 1951, which was extended for a dozen years in 1954. Before his appointment, Bell had been active in the NFL since its beginning, first occasionally playing against them as a member of the Union Quakers of Philadelphia , then a decade later as co-founder, owner, general manager and head coach of the Eagles, then as part-owner of the Steelers. Among his accomplishments as commissioner, Bell merged

11024-410: Was the best man for the job. George Halas chose to abstain from voting, as he was afraid that if he took sides he would lose support for his expansion plan. The second owners meeting resulted in six more ballots taken without electing a commissioner. On the final ballot, Leahy once again led Kellett seven to four. In an attempt to end the stalemate, Rooney suggested seven compromise candidates to

11130-499: Was thwarted by his own team, as Detroit's representative at the owners' meeting, treasurer D. Lyle Fife, believed Anderson had mismanaged the Lions. Leahy received strong opposition from four owners, Carroll Rosenbloom , Art Rooney , George Preston Marshall , and Frank McNamee , who objected to his plan to move the league office to San Francisco if he was elected. Conversely, seven other owners remained supportive of Leahy as they felt he

11236-600: Was vice-president Stan Cofall , leaving secretary Art Ranney to preside over the meeting (And future league president Carl Storck as secretary). At the same meeting where this dispute was resolved in favor of Ranney's own Akron Pros , Joseph Carr , owner of the Columbus Panhandles , was named league president. Carr moved the Association's headquarters to Columbus, drafted a league constitution and by-laws, gave teams territorial rights, developed membership criteria for

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