Football is a fierce sport that inflicts a lot of stress on the body of players with severe injuries. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an organization to regulate some rules related to football. This is the reason why the National Football League is organized. The NFL is a professional organization in the United States. In this essay, we will explore when was the NFL founded?
Contents
What is NFL?
National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football organization, including the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). This is one of the four influential sports leagues in North American and on the top professional level of American football.
The National Football League is a major professional football organization in the United States
The National Football League is known as the wealthiest top-rated sports league. It consists of 32 teams and is rated as the sports league with the most valuable football teams. The NFL’s regular-season lasts for 17 weeks from early September to late December. Each team plays a total of 16 games in one season.
Following the conclusion of the regular season, seven teams with the highest score from each conference (4 division winners and 3 wild cards football teams) advance to the playoffs. This single-elimination tournament reaches a finale in the Super Bowl, which is usually organized on the first Sunday in February and is held between the champions of the NFC and AFC.
View more: Longest field goal in NFL history
When was the NFL founded?
National Football League is one of the major football leagues all around the world. However, not many people know exactly about the history of the NFL. When was the NFL founded? Being formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA), the NFL renamed itself after the 1922 season.
Surely not many know the answer to the question “when was the NFL founded”.
On August 20, 1920, a meeting was held to “raise the standard of professional football in all ways possible and to eliminate bidding for footballers between opposing teams and to secure cooperation”. The league elected Jim Thorpe, an outstanding athlete and a player in the league, as the first president and included 14 teams.
The National Football league was always the highest level of professional football organization. It nevertheless faced plenty of rival professional leagues between the 1930s and the 1940s. By the 1950s, the NFL became an effective monopoly on professional football organization in the United States.
Following an agreement between the NFL and the AFL (American Football League), the Super Bowl was first organized in 1967 to choose a champion between the best teams and remained as the final match of each regular season in the NFL. Today, the NFL has the highest audience of any professional sports league all around the world and is the most popular league in the United States. And the Super Bowl is among the largest club sporting events and the most-watched television programs.
View more: Why is American football called football
How old is the NFL?
If you are a big fan of football or have watched any football match this season, you are likely to see the #NFL100 hashtag in most social media or most broadcasts in 2020. When we have an answer to the question “When was the NFL founded?”, we all know that it was established in 1920 with its former name American Professional Football Association.
The National Football League is now celebrating its 101st season as of 2021. Over 100 years of NFL play, the league became a greatly expanded league and created the Super Bowl, which is the most-watched sporting event annually in the USA. NFL has implemented various new rules for American football.
How many teams in NFL?
Since 1920, the National Football League has continued to expand its size of 32 teams. This is the result of one century of expansions and contractions. The NFL is divided into 2 leagues: the (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC).
There is a total of 32 football teams in the NFL which is divided into 2 leagues.
There are 16 teams in the NFC and 16 in the AFC. Each of the organizations is broken up into 4 divisions: East, West, North, South and each division have 4 teams. Here is the list of football teams and the divisions they are in:
American Football Conference (AFC) includes:
- East division consists of 4 teams: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, and New England Patriots.
- West: includes Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers.
- North division consists of Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
- South: includes Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Titans team.
National Football Conference (NFC):
- East: includes 4 teams: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Redskins.
- West division consists of Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks.
- North division of NFC includes Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, and Minnesota Vikings.
- South: consists of Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team.
During the regular season of 17 weeks, each NFL team plays 16 football matches, with one bye week. Twelve teams with the highest score qualify for the playoffs. And the winner of the American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC) championship plays in the Super Bowl game to get the NFL title.
What is the oldest team in the NFL?
When we know the answer to the query “When was the NFL founded”, we should explore some fun facts about NFL teams. The oldest team in the NFL up to the year 2021 is the Arizona Cardinals, which is first known as the Morgan Athletic Club.
The Arizona Cardinals are the oldest team in the National Football League at 101 years old.
Established in 1920 which is in the same year as the foundation of the NFL, Arizona Cardinals have experienced the longest time in American professional leagues. The Cardinals were included in the initial football league along with 13 other teams (12 are no longer in the National Football League). This team won championships in 1925 and 1947.
What is the newest NFL team?
The most recent time that the National Football League has expanded its size is in 2002 when the Houston Texans began to play as a professional team. The Texans currently have eight winning seasons in the NFL, two 8-8 seasons. This team clinched their first playoff in the history of the NFL and the AFC title in the South division on December 11, 2021, by beating Cincinnati with a close winning 20-19.
View more: Washington football team new name
How long are NFL football games?
A typical professional football game lasts about 3 hours and 12 minutes. In fact, games do not necessarily last 60 minutes. Therefore how long does a football game really last? If you calculate the time when the ball is actually in play, the actions amount to approximately 11 minutes.
Unlike hockey or basketball, a 3-hour game clock in football can run even when the athlete does not play. This means a lot of game time is spent on dead balls, timeouts, and halftime breaks for example.
How many minutes in an NFL quarter?
NFL games can be extremely entertaining for audiences, however, they are not like other sports. It is very common to find NFL games last as long as three to four hours. However, some pointed out that the NFL games are divided into 4 quarters with a 15-minute game, separated by a 12-minute break during halftime.
NFL games with all the time stoppages can last from 3 to 4 hours.
Players also have 2-minute breaks at the end of the first and third quarters when the teams change ends of the field after playing every 15 minutes. At the end of the first and third quarters, the team keeping the ball retains possession heading into the next quarter. The second half starts with a kickoff as in the first quarter of the game.
Conclusion
Known as a competitive sport with the highest level of fierce match, football may cause some tragic and severe injuries for players. With the establishment of the NFL, it aims to protect athletes on the field by implementing plenty of rules and customs in football. Hope that with the above useful information, we all find the answer to the question “When was the NFL founded” and some fun facts about NFL teams.
Why trust Langley Rams?
Langley Rams has a team of professional consultants with many years of experience in football, including Scott Fujita. Being awarded an athletic scholarship, Fujita started every game as a linebacker. He played 3 seasons in the NFL with the Chiefs and led the team in tackles. Scott Fujita was selected as the best defensive team captain and “Man of the Year” with the Saints. Especially during Fujita’s four seasons, the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl. As a linebacker and leadership, Fujita has made plenty of achievements and become one of the best advisors, consultants in Langley Rams since 2003.
