The National Football League is an association of professional American football franchises created in 1920. Each season ends with the legendary Super Bowl, watched by millions of television viewers. In order to understand the national craze for this sport, which is limited to the borders of Uncle Sam's country, a history is necessary! From the birth of the sport, to its expansion and the creation of numerous teams, to its status as a symbol of America, American football is an essential part of the American landscape.
FROM APFA TO A UNIFIED LEAGUE
Inspired by the rugby we all know in Europe, American football owes its birth to the sporting clash of rugby and football rules between two schools, Rutgers and Princeton on 6 November 1869. However, the official rules of the sport were born in 1880 and numerous teams developed until 1920, when the American Professional Football Association was created in order to group the teams into a structured championship in terms of calendar and players. The association, chaired by Jim Thorpe who greatly contributed to the success of the sport, was made up of 14 historic teams including the current Cardinals and Decatur Staleys, now known as the Chicago Bears. Rules and regulations were established and the association's headquarters were set up in Columbus in 1921. In 1922, the association was renamed the NFL and college stars began to join the league. Teams moved to major cities for greater popularity and attendance, and the first East-West final was played in 1933. Since then, every regular season final has been played in the city of the best team of the season, creating a unique fervour each time!
After 1945 and the end of the war, the West was more and more conquered by football and some teams moved to the West Coast like the Cleveland Rams who moved to Los Angeles. Competing leagues such as the AAFC were created, but the more diverse NFL always outshone the others and introduced the legendary Super Bowl in 1966. As the other leagues disappeared, the NFL took over their teams and in 1970 the league was structured into two conferences with three divisions each. This reinvigorated the sport and ensured the success of the NFL, which continued to acquire teams like the Seattle Seahawks in 1976.
THE NFL: A HIGHLY STRUCTURED LEAGUE
The two conferences that make up the NFL are the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference and are divided into four divisions each: North, South, East, West, although there is sometimes a lack of geographical logic in the distribution of teams in the divisions. In the early years of the league, there was no minimum and maximum number of games to be played by each team, but for the sake of fairness, from 1947 onwards each team had to play 12 games per season, then 14 from 1960 onwards after the merger of the NFL with the American Football League, and finally stopped at 16 games in 1978. Because of the large number of franchises, not all of them play each other in the championship because few games are played. The play-off system was then invented to allow the top 12 qualified teams to play each other in a knock-out format until the last two teams meet in the Conference Finals. The champions of each conference then play each other in the Super Bowl!
Over the course of its existence, the NFL has used three different trophies to reward the best teams in its league. The Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup was used as early as 1920 and was envisioned as a trophy that winning teams would pass on to each other as they won. The Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy was created in 1934 and also given annually to the winning team. The last team to win it was the Minnesota Vikings but it seems that the trophy was later lost by the members of the franchise! Finally, the third and current NFL trophy is the Vince Lombardi Trophy which is made every year for the winning team by Tiffany's and is estimated to be worth between 30,000 and 300,000 dollars!
THE SUPER BOWL: THE CROWN OF CHAMPIONS
At the beginning of each year, a major American football event marks the entire nation and unleashes passions: the Super Bowl. If you don't know American football, you've probably heard of the Super Bowl, and maybe you've already stayed up for hours to watch it live? The Super Bowl is the most watched event on television by Americans, with over 100 million viewers worldwide! With its sensational halftime show and the spirit of competition at its peak, the event is such that brands wishing to advertise during the game must pay an average of no less than 4 million dollars for a 30-second spot! The broadcast of the game costs around 500 million dollars and so the national television channels join forces to finance such an event and broadcast it each in turn. The Super Bowl is therefore a game whose figures are mind-boggling!
Each Super Bowl takes place in different cities that are actually scheduled several years in advance after a selection process similar to that of the Olympic Games. The Super Bowl was first held in southern cities due to the difficult weather in February but now, with the stadiums covered, any city can bid.
As the NFL prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary, American football is becoming more than ever the US sport that can ignite crowds and is becoming a pillar of popular culture across the Atlantic, attracting more and more curiosity around the world. This is evidenced by the many accessories such as the famous NHL caps worn not only by fans and players but also by all those who love the symbols of a sporting America proud of its champions and its competitive spirit!
Discover our selection of New Era snapbacks or men's caps.
And for those of you who are looking for a cap to personalise , we offer you the signature on the side of your NFL snapback!