a few basic football questions (AFC, NFC, arena, draft)

[no kudzu]

First I googled my questions but still can't get answers and I don't have anybody to ask. I enjoy football on TV but would enjoy it more with some info.

1) is there only 1 pro football league- NFL? if not what is another league?
if there is only 1 who plays in the superbowl? Didn't it used to be the best teams of two different leagues played each other?

2) why do some teams not put the names on the jerseys? I think it was pro I was watching yesterday with black uniform and no names

3)Is there still Monday night pro football? and Sunday?

4)Whatever happened to the pro career of Hershel Walker?

5) some pro players mention such and such high school while most state a college. Does that mean some pro players don't go to college at all? What percentage?

Anybody recommend a good primer for understanding the basics of football? The commentators talk so fast, I can't understand a thing.
I'm 64 y.o. lady who went to college games decades ago mostly for the social aspects. Wish I had paid attention. Many thanks for your patience.

[Finger Laker]

there have been many leagues throughout time .... the NFL is the oldest running though so I'll touch on those that are currently existing or really helped shape the NFL

In the 1940s you had the All American Football Conference which was a rival league to the NFL - they had some great teams, but a horrid business model .... when they went under the NFL absorbed the Cleveland Browns, SF 49ers & Baltimore Colts.

Around 1960 longtime (and now deceased) KC Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt tried to buy the Chicago Cardinals and move them to Texas ..... when that didn't work he tried to get an expansion team .... when that didn't work he started his own league and called up some buddies .... many of whom are still involved with their NFL franchises (ralph wilson in buffalo and bud adams with the TN Titans amongst them)

During the 1960s the league as we know it really began to take shape and expand it's geography

the AFL set up shop with the Boston Patriots (now NE), Buffa.lo Bills, NY Titans (now Jets), Houston Oilers (now TN Titans), Denver Broncos, Dallas Texans (now KC Chiefs), Oakland Raiders & LA Chargers (now SD Chargers) ......... of the franchise relocations mentioned above most happened during the 1960s

the NFL changed their opinion on expansion and put a team in Dallas - the Cowboys limiting the ability of the Texans to grab that market

They also convinced would be AFL franchise owners in Minneapolis to enter the NFL with the MN Vikings

There was also an escalation of bidding over college players, fighting for territories and more expansion

In 1966 there were to be two new teams - the Atlanta Falcons & Miami Dolphins and the AFL & NFL sat down to talk

They decided that they would agree to a merger - at that point they would create a 24 team league ... then by the end of the 1960s be at 26 and then move to 28 soon thereafter

While the agreement was in place the merger wasn't official until 1970 ....... after the agreement was in place they decided at that time to have a championship game between the winner of each league (now known as the superbowl)

The 2 teams added in the late 60s were the Cincinnati Bengals and New Orleans Saints .... the teams added in the mid-70s were the TB Buccaneers & Seattle Seahawks (who were unable to land an AFL team because the university of washington wouldn't lease out husky field)

When the merger happened the league now looked like this:

You had the AFC which included all the original AFL teams in their new locations (Boston, Buffalo, Houston, Denver, Kansas City, NY Jets, Oakland & SD) as well as the newly formed AFL teams (Miami & Cincy) ..... since the NFL had more teams they put the 2 new teams from the AAFC in the conference (Cleveland & Baltimore) as well as a long time NFL team (Pittsburgh Steelers) .... that made the 13 team AFC

The NFC was created using the following pre-AFL NFL teams (St. Louis Cardinals - moved from Chicago, NY Giants, Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, GB Packers, Detroit Lions & LA Rams) along with the team added from the AAFC (SF 49ers) and expanded teams from the 60s )Dallas Cowboys, MN Vikings, Atlanta Falcons & NO Saints)

When the expanion happened in the 70s the Seahawks went to the AFC and Bucs went to the NFC to balance the conference at 14 teams each

The United States Football League (USFL) formed in the early 80s to play in the NFL offseason - they put teams mainly in markets where the NFL already existed ..... while no new NFL markets were created directly from this league, a lot of players cut their teeth in the USFL and they did have a big impact on how the game is played - they also tested some future NFL markets such as Tennessee, Arizona & Jacksonville

Currently you have the UFL which is in their 2nd season - they have a fairly limited team set and schedule and there are a lot of ex-NFL players & coaches involved with that league ... it's in it's 2nd season so it's going to be determined it's impact ..... they currently have 5 teams Florida (Orlando), Sacramento (1st year in SF), Hartford (1st yr in NY), Las Vegas and Omaha .... Virginia (hampton roads) is set for next year

There is also the Arena League - which looks and feels completely different

Finally the other major league is the Canadian Football League ... the field and rules are different, but it looks more like what you see in the NFL than the arena league does

there have been many leagues that have come and gone and further expansion of the NFL to get where they are today

[Pitt Chick]

Originally Posted by no kudzu

1) is there only 1 pro football league- NFL? if not what is another league?
if there is only 1 who plays in the superbowl? Didn't it used to be the best teams of two different leagues played each other?

Finger Laker covered this

Originally Posted by no kudzu

2) why do some teams not put the names on the jerseys? I think it was pro I was watching yesterday with black uniform and no names

No reason.
Some throwbacks don't have names.

Originally Posted by no kudzu

3)Is there still Monday night pro football? and Sunday?

Yep.

Originally Posted by no kudzu

4)Whatever happened to the pro career of Hershel Walker?

Done... he retired over 10 years ago.

Originally Posted by no kudzu

5) some pro players mention such and such high school while most state a college. Does that mean some pro players don't go to college at all? What percentage?

All it means is that they want to give a shout out to their high school. Some just mention their hometown.

[Finger Laker]

ugh ... i had another long post of answers, and the quick back button on my mouse killed it.........

blech - short answer time

football on mondays & sundays .... league kickoff on thursday .... thanksgiving thursday games .... saturday games towards end of regular season & playoffs

all teams required to have names on the back of there uniforms ... this came from the AFL merger

walker started his career in the USFL (3 season) ... then had a few good years in dallas .... big trade to MN that setup the cowboys title runs in the early 90s .... didn't do much in MN ... had a good year in philly ... retired in 1997 at age 35 .... now is a mixed martial arts fighter

nfl draft requires all players to be 2 full years removed from their HS graduating class ...... most (if not all) either played college or it's equivalent ....... some guys like to joke around and make up schools, some want to mention their HS, hometown or some other reference as a way of saying hi and paying homage to that part of their lives

as for learning? - here is a good initial reference ... will cover the signals from the refs, football basics and a beginners guide to football

NFL Rulebook

from there just watch

[Norsky1]

Very good information!

[no kudzu]

Finger Laker, thanks so much for taking the time to answer some of my questions. Most of what I learned about football was during the 60's so my knowledge is very outdated and I never did want to interrupt a game to ask anybody what was going on. Some people really get into it and any interruption is very forbidden. When I went to a football class for women it became all about gossip about the players personal lives and not too much about the do's and don'ts of football.

thanks to others for answers. I remember Hershel at UGA when we lived in Atlanta, that is why I asked about him. Didn't he recently claim to have multiple personalities? see--here we go gossiping again.

[Finger Laker]

Yep ... he's a different kind of guy it seems ... still in amazing condition though even at his age

football is a lot more complex than it's detractors give it credit for ... but also very entertaining at it's most simplistic level

try to get into the endzone by running and throwing ... you generally do this in chunks - you have 4 plays to get 10 yards, as soon as you do you get another 4 plays to get another 10 yards

most of the time if you don't get those 10 yards on the first 3 plays you just kick the ball away on the 4th .... either trying to make the other team go a longer distance once they get the ball back or trying to get 3 points by kicking it through the field goal uprights

the defense tries to stop them from scoring

start with that, a few basic penalties and pretty soon some of the formations and why they do what they do will start to be a little more evident

pretty soon you'll be smarter than the coach demanding different plays and for someone to be benched