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Anniversary
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Celebration
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105th
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The National Football League was born in Canton, Ohio on August 20, 1920.
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100th
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Tim Mara and Billy Gibson were awarded a new NFL franchise, the New York Giants, for $500 (1925).
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100th
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All-America halfback Red Grange signed with the Chicago Bears. Team went on barnstorming tour of 19 games in 66 days (1925).
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90th
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The NFL adopted Bert Bell's proposal to hold an annual draft of college players, to begin in 1936, with teams selecting in an inverse order of finish, May 19 (1935).
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90th
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The New York Giants retired the uniform number of receiver Ray Flaherty (No. 1), thus becoming the first professional athlete to have his name and number retired (1935).
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85th
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Chicago defeated Washington 73-0 for the NFL championship in the most decisive victory in NFL history. The game popularized the Bears’ T-formation with a man-in-motion. It was the first NFL championship carried on network radio (1940).
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75th
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The Los Angeles Rams became the first NFL team to have all of its games – both home and away – televised (1950).
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70th
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The Baltimore Colts made an 80-cent phone call to Johnny Unitas and signed him as a free agent (1955).
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65th
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Pete Rozelle was elected NFL Commissioner as a compromise choice on the 23rd ballot, January 26. Rozelle moved the league offices to New York City (1960).
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60th
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The NFL added a sixth official, the line judge, February 19. The color of the officials’ penalty flags was changed from white to bright gold, April 5 (1965).
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60th
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Commissioner Rozelle negotiated an agreement on behalf of the NFL clubs to purchase Ed Sabol’s Blair Motion Pictures, which was renamed NFL Films, April (1965).
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60th
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Field Judge Burl Toler became the first black official in NFL history, September 19 (1965).
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60th
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According to a Harris survey, sports fans chose professional football (41 percent) as their favorite sport, overtaking baseball (38 percent) for the first time, October (1965).
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60th
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The Atlanta Falcons played their first season in the NFL (1966).
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60th
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The Miami Dolphins played their first season in the NFL (1966).
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55th
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The AFL and NFL merged into one league (1970).
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55th
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The Super Bowl trophy was renamed the Vince Lombardi Trophy, September 10 (1970).
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50th
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Referees were equipped with wireless microphones for all preseason, regular-season, and playoff games (1975).
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50th
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The Seattle Seahawks played their first season in the NFL (1976).
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50th
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers played their first season in the NFL (1976).
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45th
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Rule changes placed greater restrictions on contact in the area of the head, neck, and face. Under the heading of "personal foul," players were prohibited from directly striking, swinging, or clubbing on the head, neck, or face. Starting in 1980, a penalty could be called for such contact whether or not the initial contact was made below the neck area (1980).
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45th
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The NFL Draft was televised for the first time by ESPN, April 29 (1980).
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40th
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The 1985 Super Bowl XX champion Chicago Bears performed the Super Bowl Shuffle.
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40th
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The league-wide conversion to videotape from movie film for coaching study was approved (1985).
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40th
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Tom Benson acquired the New Orleans Saints (1985).
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35th
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The NFL revised its playoff format to include two additional Wild Card teams (one per conference), which raised the total to six Wild Card teams (1990).
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35th
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The bye week was introduced and the 16-game schedule was played over 17 weeks (1990).
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35th
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The Super Bowl Most Valuable Player trophy was renamed the Pete Rozelle trophy, October 8 (1990).
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30th
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The NFL became the first major sports league to establish a site on the Internet, April 10 (1995).
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30th
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The Glazer family acquired the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1995).
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30th
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The Baltimore Ravens played their first season in the NFL (1996).
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25th
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Woody Johnson acquired the New York Jets (2000).
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20th
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The NFL Network began televising regular-season NFL games (2005).
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20th
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Zygi Wilf acquired the Minnesota Vikings (2005).
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15th
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NFL owners voted to amend postseason overtime rules to a modified sudden death format, guaranteeing at least one possession for each club if the receiving team fails to score a touchdown on its first overtime possession, March 23 (2010).
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15th
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The NFL Draft debuted a new three-day format, with the first two days broadcast in primetime. A record combined total of 45.4 million viewers tuned in to watch the 75th NFL Draft on NFL Network, ESPN and ESPN2, April 22-24 (2010).
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15th
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Stan Kroenke acquired the St. Louis Rams (2010).
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10th
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The extra point was moved from the two-yard line to the 15-yard line, essentially making the PAT a 32-yard field goal. The new rule also gave the defense the ability to score two points on PAT or two-point conversion returns (2015).
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