Difference between revisions of "National Football League"
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== History == | == History == | ||
| − | + | The NFL was originally formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association and adopted its current name in 1922. Only two teams from the league's founding remain in operation today: the Chicago Cardinals (now the [[Arizona Cardinals]]) and the Decatur Staleys (now the [[Chicago Bears]]).<ref>The [[Green Bay Packers]], considered one of the NFL's historic franchises, played its first two seasons as an independent club before joining in 1921.</ref> Then Staleys coach (and owner) [[George Halas]] is credited with being the father of the league and is compared to [[George Washington]] by many enthusiasts of the game. | |
| + | |||
| + | During its existence it has merged with all or parts of two rival football leagues: | ||
| + | *In 1950 it absorbed three teams from the All-America Football Conference (the [[Cleveland Browns]], the [[San Francisco 49ers]], and a team called the Baltimore Colts which is not related to the current franchise called the [[Indianapolis Colts]]). | ||
| + | *In 1970 it merged with the American Football League, which began operations in 1960. As part of the merger agreement, beginning in 1967 it hosted a championship game between the leagues, which is now today's [[Super Bowl]]. Also, in order to equalize the number of teams between what would be the [[National Football Conference]] (comprised of NFL teams) and the [[American Football Conference]] (comprised of AFL teams), three NFL teams -- the Browns, the Colts and the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] -- were moved to the AFC. | ||
==Arrangement== | ==Arrangement== | ||
Revision as of 19:18, February 5, 2021
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional sports league, representing the top level of American football in the United States.
History
The NFL was originally formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association and adopted its current name in 1922. Only two teams from the league's founding remain in operation today: the Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals) and the Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears).[1] Then Staleys coach (and owner) George Halas is credited with being the father of the league and is compared to George Washington by many enthusiasts of the game.
During its existence it has merged with all or parts of two rival football leagues:
- In 1950 it absorbed three teams from the All-America Football Conference (the Cleveland Browns, the San Francisco 49ers, and a team called the Baltimore Colts which is not related to the current franchise called the Indianapolis Colts).
- In 1970 it merged with the American Football League, which began operations in 1960. As part of the merger agreement, beginning in 1967 it hosted a championship game between the leagues, which is now today's Super Bowl. Also, in order to equalize the number of teams between what would be the National Football Conference (comprised of NFL teams) and the American Football Conference (comprised of AFL teams), three NFL teams -- the Browns, the Colts and the Pittsburgh Steelers -- were moved to the AFC.
Arrangement
The league is composed of 32 professional football teams from the United States, divided into two conferences (the American and the National), each of which have four, four-team divisions. Although the divisions have "directional" names (East, North, South, and West) they have little meaning geographically (for example, the NFC East is comprised of the New York Giants, Philadelphia, Washington and Dallas, notwithstanding that Carolina is further east and geographically closer than Dallas to the other three teams) and much to do with rivalry and media (the aforementioned NFC East comprises four top-10 media markets, and all four teams have long-standing historic rivalries with each other; Dallas-Washington being the most well-known).
Teams play sixteen regular season games over seventeen weeks (each team receives a "bye" week in which it doesn't play), comprised of six games in a home-and-home against the other three teams in its division, six games against other conference opponents (two from each of the other conference divisions, over a six-year period every team will play every other conference opponent home-and-home), and four teams against all the opponents of a division from the other conference (over an eight-year period, every team will play every other team in the other conference home-and-home).
Fourteen teams qualify for the playoffs (the winners of each division and three "wild-card" teams which are the teams in each conference with the best record among non-division winners). The playoff consists of four rounds:
- The first round features the three wild card teams from each conference against the three division winners with the poorer records (the division winner with the best record is given a bye).
- The second round features the winners from the first round, the lowest-seeded winner goes up against the division winner that had the first-round bye, while the other two teams play each other with the higher seeded team hosting.
- The third round is the "conference championship", featuring each second round winner; the team with the highest seed hosts.
- The playoffs culminate in the NFL's championship game, the Super Bowl, featuring the winners from each conference. The Super Bowl is played at a pre-determined location: not until Super Bowl LV would a team play a Super Bowl game in its own stadium (the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Raymond James Stadium).
Controversy
- See also: Unplug the NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a politically correct sports league that is subsidized by taxpayers to the tune of $1 billion per year, and is so heavily influenced by the liberal media that Christian players are typically not even allowed to express their faith. The league relies heavily on emotional gambling and monetary gambling, as well as violence, for its popularity among television viewers. Due to its dependence on the pro-gay media, the NFL typically promotes the homosexual agenda. While fining its players for doing various acts of self-expression, including patriotic and pro-police acts, the NFL does not fine players for dishonoring the United States, our flag, and our anthem.[2]
The NFL is the only sports league that excludes a player for quoting frequently from the Bible, as the NFL apparently did in banishing Tim Tebow despite his success when allowed to play.
Poor cities are routinely looted by NFL owners under threat of moving the team to another location, which leaves the cities with huge bills to pay on empty stadiums. Minneapolis taxpayers had to pony up $500 million in 2012 to prevent the Vikings from moving to L.A., and $350 million in taxpayer funding was not enough for St. Louis to keep the Rams. Detroit has had to sue to seek repairs of safety and zoning violations at the abandoned Pontiac Stadium, which hosted the Super Bowl in 1982.
| NFL-related activity | Amount in Revenue |
|---|---|
| Fantasy football (gambling) | $11 billion per year |
| Televised games and team sales | $10 billion per year |
| Taxpayer subsidies | $1 billion per year |
| Charity | Very small |
No other sports league bilks the taxpayers as much as the NFL does, and 29 out of 31 current stadiums[3] were built using millions of dollars in taxpayer funding.[4] "Taxpayers have spent nearly $3 billion on the 16 stadiums that" hosted the NFL games that opened the 2015 season.[4] "Field of Schemes" is a website that exposes many of these ripoffs of the public by the NFL, such as how the Democrat governor of Missouri is "proposing to hand $400 million to [the] Rams owner," including $100 million to pay off the debt on the last stadium that was built for the team.[5]
As an NFL game ends and fans begin leaving the stadium, it is best to avoid the nearby roads. One study showed that the average fan at many NFL games has a blood-alcohol level higher than safe level for driving as recommended by the NTSB.[6] The NFL was recently listed as one of numerous leftist-controlled companies that have gone "woke" and now support the criminal rioters of Antifa and Black Lives Matter in the wake of the 2020 leftist riots.[7]
List of Teams
| AFC | NFC | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Division | North Division | South Division | West Division | East Division | North Division | South Division | West Division |
See also
References
- ↑ The Green Bay Packers, considered one of the NFL's historic franchises, played its first two seasons as an independent club before joining in 1921.
- ↑ Nolte, John (September 25, 2017). The NFL Hates America: 9 Pieces of Proof. Breitbart News. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
- ↑ The New York Giants and the New York Jets share a stadium. In 2020 the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers will also share a stadium.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/taxpayers-nfl-stadiums_55f08313e4b002d5c077b8ac One of the exceptions is MetLife Stadium, where taxpayers are still paying for the old stadium that was torn down.
- ↑ http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2015/10/07/9912/st-louiss-taxpayers-hidden-rams-stadium-costs-arent-quite-worth-215m-but-theyre-still-pretty-bad/
- ↑ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/14/national-transportation-safety-board-drunken-driving/2158107/
- ↑ Here Are The Companies That Support Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and Want You Dead at Gab.com