America’s most popular sport, the NFL (National Football League) has a long history.
Here in this post, we are sharing 20 amazing facts about the NFL that will blow your mind:
- An NFL game was first televised in the year 1939. The game was televised in New York on about 500 television sets.
- Until the year 1943, football players in the NFL were not required to wear a helmet. The old-school types, however, were allowed to continue playing with helmets.
- Except for Thanksgiving, it’s on a Super Bowl Sunday when the people in the United States consume the highest amount of food on any day in a year.
- The number of people, who get married on any day in a year in the United States, is lowest for Super Bowl Sunday.
- A 30 seconds long TV commercial played during the Super Bowl cost the advertising company a whopping $3 million in 2011.
- The NFL had its inaugural season in the year 1920. At that time, it was called the American Professional Football Association.
- All footballs used in the NFL games come from a Wilson manufacturing plant located in Ada, Ohio.
- Contrary to what many people believe, Baltimore Ravens are not named after a bird. The name ‘Baltimore Ravens’ was actually derived from a poem titled ‘The Raven’ by Edgar Allen Poe, a resident of Baltimore; the team mascots are named after Poe.
- The owner of the New England Patriots wanted the team name to be BS Patriots (Bay State Patriots) but the NFL didn’t quite like the initials. At first, the team was known as the Boston Patriots.
- The Pro Football Hall of Fame is in Canton, Ohio because the Canton Bulldogs registered 25 victors in the early 1920s.
- The Green Bay Packers is the only team to have won three straight NFL Championships during the 1960s. At that time, the team was coached by Vince Lombardi. He led the Green Bay Packers to three NFL championship victories in a row (before the Super Bowl era); the team won a total of five championships in seven years! The Super Bowl trophy is named after this legendary coach.
- The Chicago Bears is the team with the highest number (13) of ‘retired jersey numbers.’
- Gale Eugene Sayers, who was greatly admired both as a halfback and a return specialist, was the youngest player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He received the honor in the year 1977 at the age of 34.
- The oldest person to make it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame was Ed Sabol. He was the founder of the NFL films.
- Both the NFL and the Chicago Bears got their new names on the same day (June 24, 1922).
- Baltimore, Jacksonville, and Houston do not have any jersey numbers retired. This is due to a lack of history. Dallas and Oakland too have not retired any player numbers as they don’t ‘believe’ in it.
- Until the year 1990, college juniors in the US were not eligible for the NFL drafts.
- The only non-kickers to have played more than 300 games in total are Brett Favre and Jerry Rice.
- Offensive holding invited a 15-yard penalty until the year 1975.
- Legendary quarterback Brett Favre’s 1st pass completion was to himself! His first attempted pass, however, was a touchdown (for the opponents). He was the first NFL quarterback to have passed for a total of 500 touchdowns!