RSSNFL & Football Milestones
Many NFL milestones will be celebrated in 2009.
Fifty seasons ago, the eight original American Football League teams kicked off under Commissioner JOE FOSS and President LAMAR HUNT and forever changed the landscape of professional football.
Since then, there have been a number of historic moments for the NFL ranging from on-field achievements such as DAN MARINO and ERIC DICKERSON's record-setting seasons 25 years ago, to technological accomplishments such as the first Monday Night Football telecast and the implementation of instant replay.
Some of the memorable NFL anniversaries in 2009:
| Celebration | Anniversary | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source: National Football League | ||||
| 140th | Rutgers and Princeton played first football game in history using modified rules (11/6/1869). | |||
| 90th | NFL marks its 90th season (1920). | |||
| 80th | Providence became the first NFL team to host a game at night under floodlights, against the Cardinals (11/6/1929).
Ernie Nevers of the Chicago Cardinals set NFL records with 40 points scored and six rushing touchdowns in win over Chicago Bears (11/28/1929). | |||
| 75th | The Thanksgiving Day game between the Bears and Lions became the first NFL game broadcast nationally, with Graham McNamee the announcer for NBC radio (1934). | |||
| 70th | In the first Pro Bowl, the New York Giants defeated the Pro All-Stars 13-10 at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles (1/15/1939).
The first televised NFL game took place when NBC broadcast the Brooklyn Dodgers - Philadelphia Eagles game from Ebbets Field (10/22/1939). NFL attendance exceeded one million for the first time, reaching 1,071,200. | |||
| 65th | Coaching from the bench was legalized (4/20/1944).
The Cardinals and Steelers merged for one year under the name Card-Pitt. The merger dissolved the last day of the season (12/3/44) | |||
| 50th | A new professional football league called the American Football League was formed in 1959 under AFL President Lamar Hunt and Commissioner Joe Foss to begin play in 1960. | |||
| 45th | Commissioner Pete Rozelle negotiated an agreement on behalf of the NFL clubs to purchase Ed Sabol's Blair Motion Pictures, which is re-named NFL Films (3/5/64). | |||
| 40th | The NFL reaches a three-year agreement with ABC to televise Monday Night Football. The new series makes the NFL the first league with a regular series of national telecasts in primetime (5/26/1969). | |||
| 35th | One sudden-death overtime period was added for preseason and regular-season games (4/25/1974). | |||
| 25th | Some of the NFL's most hallowed records are broken:
Dan Marino of Miami passes for 5,084 yards and 48 touchdowns; Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams rushes for 2,105 yards; Art Monk of Washington catches 106 passes; Walter Payton of Chicago breaks Jim Brown's career rushing mark, finishing the season with 13,309 career yards (1984). | |||
| 20th | Art Shell named head coach of the Los Angeles Raiders making him the NFL's first black head coach since Fritz Pollard coached the Akron Pros in 1921 (10/3/1989).
Paul Tagliabue named Commissioner of the NFL (10/26/1989). | |||
| 15th | The two-point conversion is adopted (3/22/1994). | |||
| 10th | By a vote of 28-3, NFL owners adopt instant replay (3/17/1999). | |||
| 5th | Former Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman is killed while on combat patrol with the U.S. Army Rangers in Afghanistan (4/22/2004). | |||
NFL 2009 Kickoff Weekend
Ben Roethlisberger
Steelers & Titans Kickoff NFL 2009
NFL 2009 Kickoff Weekend
The NFL kicks off its 2009 season when the Super Bowl XLIII champion PITTSBURGH STEELERS host the TENNESSEE TITANS on NBC at 8:30 PM ET. Continuing a tradition that started in 2004, the previous year's Super Bowl winner hosts the NFL Thursday night season Kickoff the following September. This year's Kickoff Weekend features ...
New Rules for NFL 2009 Season
NFL 2009 Kickoff Weekend
The primary focus of this season's playing-rules those changes was enhancing player safety. "We want to make the game safer both for the player getting hit and the player doing the hitting," says NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations RAY ANDERSON. Following the NFL 2009 changes ...
Notable NFL Players who Switched Teams this Offseason
NFL 2009 Kickoff Weekend
Although only about eight percent of the free agents available switched teams this year, it seemed that this offseason contained an unusual amount of big-name switches through free agency and trades.
Best NFL Records, Past 10 Years
NFL 2009 Kickoff Weekend
Over the past 10 years, five NFL teams have posted a winning percentage of .600 or better – led by the INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (114-46, .713).
NFL 2009: Teams Strength of Schedule
NFL 2009 Kickoff Weekend
NFL 2009: Best Quarterback Performances Past & Present
NFL 2009 Kickoff Weekend
Norm Van Brocklin's NFL-record 554 yards still stands today, some 58 years later, as the best single-game passing performance The Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback tossed five touchdowns and completed 27 of 41 passes in the Rams 54-14 rout over the Yanks at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
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