The Jaguars received the second selection in the 1995 draft, April 24. injuries and adopted a joint proposal by the Long-Range Planning and Finance committees regarding player personnel rules, March 19-23. The game, played for the first time in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, drew a sellout crowd of 73,302. More than 200,000 fans on three continents attended the four games, August 4-11. Commissioner Tagliabue announced NFL teams will play their 16-game schedule over 17 weeks in 1990 and 1991 and 16 games over 18 weeks in 1992 and 1993, February 27. The Denver Broncos won their second consecutive Super Bowl title by defeating the NFC champion Atlanta Falcons 34-19 in Super Bowl XXXIII at Pro Player Stadium in Miami. (Bum) Bright purchased the Dallas Cowboys from Clint Murchison, Jr., March 20. The owners adopted a disaster plan for re-stocking a team should the club be involved in a fatal accident, March 20. The site of the New England Patriots at San Francisco 49ers game scheduled for Candlestick Park on October 22 was switched to Stanford Stadium in the aftermath of the Bay Area Earthquake of October 17. The NFL clubs also voted to realign into eight divisions of four teams each for the 2002 season, October 6. A total of $25.1 million, the largest NFL postseason pool ever, was divided among 737 players who participated in the 1997 playoffs, March 24. The game was played before a crowd of 98,374 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. NBC's telecast of the game was watched by an estimated 110,780,000 viewers, according to A.C. Nielsen, making it the sixth most-watched program in television history.

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The extended CBA also created a $100 million fund for youth football, March 22. The game, played for the first time at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, was attended by a sellout crowd of 75,129. Despite the players' strike, the average paid attendance in 1982 was 58,472, the fifth-highest in league history. The Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills 37-24 in Super Bowl XXVI to capture their third world championship in 10 years, January 26. The Green Bay Packers won their first NFL title in 29 years by defeating the New England Patriots 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Johnny Grier became the first African-American referee in NFL history, September 4. Commissioner Rozelle announced that two teams would play a preseason game as part of the American Bowl series on August 6, 1989, in the Korakuen Tokyo Dome in Japan, December 16. | A strengthened policy regarding anabolic steroids and masking agents was announced by Commissioner Rozelle. "NFL International Week" featured six 1990 playoff teams playing nationally televised games in London, Berlin, and Tokyo on July 28 and August 3-4. The use in officiating of a limited system of Instant Replay was not approved.

The transfer of the Oilers from Houston to Nashville for the 1998 season was approved by a vote of the NFL clubs at a meeting in Atlanta, April 30.

The strike was called by the NFLPA on Tuesday, September 22, following the New England at New York Jets game. A minimum salary schedule for years of experience was established; training camp and postseason pay were increased; players' medical, insurance, and retirement benefits were increased; and a severance-pay system was introduced to aid in career transition, a first in professional sports. The game was played before a sellout crowd of 63,130 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis and attracted the second largest television audience in Super Bowl history. ABC'S Monday Night Football, in its seventeenth season, became the longest-running prime-time series in the history of the network. The game was seen live or on tape in 60 foreign countries, including an estimated 300 million in China.

In an ABC News Poll taken during the NFL offseason, America's sports fans chose football as their favorite spectator sport by more than a 2-to-1 margin over basketball and baseball (35%-16%-12%), April 26. Former NFL quarterback and Rhein Fire general manager Oliver Luck was named President of the World League, July 13. San Francisco defeated Cincinnati 20-16 in Super Bowl XXIII. NFL clubs awarded the league's thirtieth franchise to the Jacksonville Jaguars at a meeting in Chicago, November 30. Packaging | NFL total paid attendance for all 1995 games reached a record level for the seventh consecutive year, exceeding 19 million for the first time (19,202,757), March 7.

Houston, Texas and owner Robert McNair were awarded the NFL's thirty-second franchise in a vote of the NFL clubs at a league meeting in Atlanta. ABC's NFL Monday Night Football finished the 1994-95 television season as the fifth highest-rated show out of 146 with a 17.8 average rating, the highest finish in the 25-year history of the series, April 18. The game was viewed by the fourth-largest audience in U.S. television history-128 million people, January 26.

Hunt and Mara served as co-chairmen. Patrick Bowlen purchased a majority interest in the Denver Broncos from Edgar Kaiser, Jr., March 21. By a vote of 28-3, the owners adopted an instant replay system as an officiating aid for the 1999 season, March 17. Hess had been involved in the ownership of the Jets since 1963 and was sole owner of the club since 1984, May 9. NFL playoff games earned the top television rating spot of the week for each week of the month-long playoffs, January 29.

NFL paid attendance of 19,741,493 for all games played during the 1998 season was the highest in league history, topping the 19,202,757 fans who paid to attend games in 1995. Those records fell two weeks later when the Los Angeles Raiders at Dallas game achieved a 10.2 cable rating in 4.36 million homes.

CBS Radio reported a record 14 million listeners for the game. The game was viewed in more than 25 million homes. A series of safety-related rules changes were adopted at a league meeting in Phoenix, primarily related to the use of the helmet against defenseless players, March 14. The owners awarded the 1983, 1984, and 1985 AFC-NFC Pro Bowls to Honolulu's Aloha Stadium. At the same meeting in Chicago, NFL clubs approved a plan to form a European league with joint venture partners, October 27. The game, played in Pasadena's Rose Bowl, drew a sellout crowd of 101,063. Walter Payton, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, died of liver cancer at the age of 45. According to A.C. Nielsen figures, the ABC broadcast of the game was viewed in the U.S. on television by 115,000,000 people.

Each vested player would receive $60 per month for each year of service in the League for life. Paul Tagliabue became the seventh chief executive of the NFL on October 26 when he was chosen to succeed Commissioner Pete Rozelle on the sixth ballot of a three-day meeting in Cleveland, Ohio.
Copyright © 2020 Trading Card Database LLC The NFL Management Council and the NFL Players Association announced an agreement on the formulation and implementation of the most comprehensive drug and alcohol policy in sports, October 28. - Checklist The NFL launched the World League of American Football, the first sports league to operate on a weekly basis on two separate continents, March 23. An estimated 300 million Chinese viewed a tape delay of the game in March. San Francisco's Jerry Rice became the all-time reception and receiving-yardage leader with career totals of 942 catches and 15,123 yards. Commissioner Tagliabue announced the NFL Teacher of the Month program in which the League furnishes grants and scholarships in recognition of teachers who provided a positive influence upon NFL players in elementary and secondary schools, September 20. Ericsson Stadium opened in Charlotte, North Carolina with a crowd of 65,350 as the Carolina Panthers defeated the Chicago Bears 30-12 in a preseason game, August 3. NFL paid attendance totaled 999,778 for 15 games in Week 12, the highest weekend total in league history, November 16-17. An agreement between the NFL and the city of Cleveland regarding the Cleveland Browns' relocation was approved by a vote of the NFL clubs, February 9. Long-time NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle retired in 1989. The NFL and FOX announced the formation of a joint venture to create a six-team World League to begin play in Europe in April, 1995, March 23. Super Bowl XVII was the second-highest rated live television program of all time, giving the NFL a sweep of the top 10 live programs in television history.

It concluded the biggest American Bowl series in NFL history with four games attracting a record 256,666 fans, August 15. The game was viewed in a record 35,330,000 homes.

NFL owners awarded Super Bowl XXVI, to be played on January 26, 1992, to Minneapolis, May 24. The package included 27 regular-season games and 10 postseason games.


- External Links The Rhein Fire defeated the Frankfurt Galaxy 34-10 to win the 1998 World Bowl in front of 47,846 fans in Frankfurt's Waldstadion-the biggest crowd to witness a World Bowl since 1991, June 14. NFL Charities and 50 NFL players donated $1 million to the United Negro College Fund in honor of the fiftieth anniversity of the UNCF and the integration of the modern NFL, September 15. Trivia | The New York Giants defeated Denver 39-20 in Super Bowl XXI and captured their first NFL title since 1956. The NBC broadcast of the game was the most watched program in television history and was seen by 133,400,000 people in the United States. For the fifth straight year, NFL owners voted to continue a limited system of Instant Replay. Former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle died at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, California. A Harris Poll says 55 percent of adults follow professional football, up 4 percent from 1997 and 6 percent from 1992, October 15.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association officially signed a 7-year Collective Bargaining Agreement in Washington, D.C., which guarantees more than $1 billion in pension, health, and post-career benefits for current and retired players-the most extensive benefits plan in pro sports.

1991 Pro Set WLAF. Dallas' Emmitt Smith scored 25 touchdowns, breaking the season record of 24 set by Washington's John Riggins in 1983. The NFC's number-one seed, Washington, defeated the AFC's number-two seed, Miami, 27-17 in Super Bowl XVII at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, January 30. Under the heading of "personal foul," players were prohibited from directly striking, swinging, or clubbing on the head, neck, or face. NFL clubs approved the transfer of the Minnesota Vikings from a 10-man ownership group to Red McCombs, July 28.

Striking players returned for the seventh week of the season, October 25. (Bum) Bright, April 18. The NBC telecast replaced the final episode of M*A*S*H as the most-viewed television program in history, with an audience of 127 million viewers, according to A.C. Nielsen figures. NBC Radio figures indicated an audience of 10 million for the game. In addition to drawing a 48.3 rating and a 70 percent share in the United States, Super Bowl XX was televised to 59 foreign countries and beamed via satellite to the QE II. Carolina and Jacksonville stocked their expansion rosters with a total of 66 players from other NFL teams in a veteran player allocation draft in New York, February 16. - Pricing As of opening day, September 10, of the 229 Plan B free agents, 111 were active and 23 others were on teams' reserve lists. NFL clubs unanimously awarded the league's twenty-ninth franchise to the Carolina Panthers at a meeting in Chicago. By a 23-5 margin, owners voted to continue the instant replay system for the third consecutive season with the Instant Replay Official to be assigned to a regular seven-man, on-the-field crew.

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