NFL Season

The season consists of 4 Pre-Season games, 2 home games and two away games, and 16 Regular Season games, 8 homes games and 8 away games. Each team has a scheduled week off during the season referred to as a “BYE” week. See Sports-at-a-Glance for the season timeline.

NFL Post-Season (Playoffs and Super Bowl Championship)

The playoffs are made up of six teams from both the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Qualification for the playoffs is:

- The four division champions from each division in the two Conferences (the team in each division with the best division record) are “seeded” (rank in the playoff structure) 1 through 4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record during the season. There is a tie-breaking procedure for teams who end the season with the same record.

- Two wild card qualifiers (the non-division winners with the Conference’s best winning percentages) are seeded 5 and 6.

- The first round of the playoffs is called the Wild Card Playoffs (or Wild Card Weekend). In this round, the third-seeded division winner hosts the sixth-seed wild card, and the fourth-seeded division winner seed hosts the fifth-seed wild card. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference receive a BYE in the first round, which entitles these teams to automatic advancement to the second round.

- The second round is called the Divisional Playoffs. The top remaining seed in each Conference hosts the lowest surviving seed, while the other two remaining teams in each Conference pair off on the home field of the highest seed between the two.

- The third round of the playoffs are the AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, which are played by the two surviving teams from each Conference’s Divisional Playoff game, with the winners of the two games going on to face one another in the Super Bowl.

- The Super Bowl is the championship game. It is played in a neutral city that has been awarded the game as the result of a competitive bidding process and is televised around the world.

NFL Pro Bowl

The National Football League’s “all-star” game. Historically, it has been played the Sunday following the Super Bowl; recently, it has been played the Sunday between the Conference Championship Games and the Super Bowl. Pro Bowl players are voted by coaches, players, and fans, each accounting for a third of the vote. The Pro Bowl had been played in Honolulu for many years, but moved back to the continental U.S. in 2010.

NFL Combine

The National Invitational Camp (or NFL Scouting Combine, or The Combine) is a week-long showcase, occurring every February in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Football League coaches, general managers, and scouts. Athletes attend by invitation only. Implications of one’s performance during The Combine can affect perception, draft status, salary, and ultimately the career of a prospective NFL player.

NFL Football Draft

The NFL Draft is an annual event that takes place in the spring in New York City, during which the 32 National Football League teams select new eligible college football players.
It is the NFL’s most common source of player recruitment. The team with the previous season’s worst record makes the first selection (unless the selection was traded to another team).

NFL Hall of Fame

The NFL Hall of Fame is located in Canton, Ohio. Its purpose is to honor individuals who have made outstanding contributions to professional football (on and off the field), to preserve professional football’s historic documents and artifacts, to educate the public regarding the origin, development, and growth of professional football as an important part of American culture, and to promote the positive values of the sport. Hall of Fame enshrinees are selected by a 44-person committee, largely made up of sportswriters, officially known as the Board of Selectors. Players are eligible for nomination to the Hall of Fame five years after retirement. The induction ceremony is usually held the first full weekend in August.

NFL Major Annual Awards

Currently awarded by the NFL and by designated media organizations. Some awards are made in both Conferences:

NFL Players Association

The NFL Players Association, or NFLPA, is the labor union of players in the National Football League. DeMaurice Smith is the Executive Director, and his office is in
Washington, DC.

NFL Commissioner

The current NFL Commissioner is Roger Goodell, and his office is in New York City.

Other Professional Football Leagues

The Arena Football League (AFL) evolved from the former Arena Football 1 League and the former American Indoor Football Association. The new AFL has its headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma and will play its games from April through August. The fifteen current teams are: Alabama Vipers, Jacksonville Sharks, Orlando Predators, Tampa Bay Storm, Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings, Dallas Vigilantes, Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz, Tulsa Talons, Chicago Rush, Cleveland Gladiators, Iowa Barnstormers, Milwaukee Iron, Arizona Rattlers, Spokane Shock, and Utah Blaze. The following teams are scheduled to join the AFL in 2011: Kansas City Brigade, Philadelphia Soul, and San Jose SaberCats. Arena football is played indoors, and has its own official rules. The field is 50 yards long and 28.3 yards wide. Each club has a 24-man roster; 20 players suit up for each game, four are inactive. Each team fields eight players on the field, whether on offense or defense. Many players play both offense and defense. Touchdowns are worth six points and standard point-after-touchdown kicks are worth one point. Teams can get four points for a field goal by drop kick. Regular field goals are worth three points. There are four 15-minute quarters with a 12-minute halftime.

The United Football League (UFL) is an independent professional football league that began play in October 2009. The UFL is headquartered in Jacksonville, FL. The league currently has five franchises playing in markets where the NFL has no current presence. The five current teams are: Florida Tuskers, Hartford Colonials, Las Vegas Locomotives, Omaha Nighthawks, and Sacramento Mountain Lions. A team located in Norfolk, VA is scheduled to join the UFL in 2011, and other cities are being considered for expansion. The UFL primarily consists of players that have at one time or another played for a National Football League team. While the league has no connection with the NFL, there is speculation that it could become a minor or “developmental” league for the NFL

The Lingerie Football League (LFL), described as “weird and wonderful,” is a women’s 7-on-7 tackle American football league, with games played in the fall and winter at NFL, NHL and MLS arenas and stadiums. The league was founded in 2009 by Mitchell S. “Mitch” Mortaza. The LFL is currently comprised of twelve teams: Baltimore Charm, Chicago Bliss, Dallas Desire, Denver Dream, Los Angeles Temptation, Miami Caliente, New York Majesty, Orlando Fantasy, Philadelphia Passion, San Diego Seduction, Seattle Mist, and Tampa Breeze. The concept originated from the Super Bowl halftime alternative television special called the Lingerie Bowl, which draws millions of viewers as a pay-per-view event broadcast annually directly opposite the Super Bowl halftime show. The LFL playing style is full-contact and similar to other indoor football leagues. Uniforms consist of shoulder pads, elbow pads, knee pads, garters, bras, panties, and ice hockey-style helmets with clear plastic visors in lieu of face masks. The LFL offices are located in West Hollywood, California.

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