NFL Trivia - Share What You Know

[AlphaRam]

What sort of trivia do you know about the NFL? Share what you know to help teach others.

In 1934, the Portsmouth Spartans moved to Detroit and were renamed the Lions.

The 1934 Thanksgiving Day game between the Bears and the Lions became the first NFL game broadcast nationally on radio.

[AlphaRam]

The statistic for sacks was not an official record until 1982.

[Goldenfleece]

William "Pudge" Heffelfinger was the first paid football player. He was paid $500 to play for the Alleghany Athletic Association (AAA) against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club (PAC) in 1892. He scored the only touchdown of the game on a 35 yard fumble return. The next year PAC was the first team to offer a player a contract for the season.

At the time a touchdown was worth 4 points, a field goal was worth 5, and the forward pass was not allowed. The forward pass was not legalized until 1906 and could not be performed outside the pocket until 1933. The value of the touchdown was gradually increased and the value of the field goal decreased until they finally reached 6 and 3 respectively in 1912, but there was no two point conversion in the pros until 1994.

[AlphaRam]

In 1970, the NFL made it mandatory that all uniforms have the player's name on the back.

By the way, the numbers on the sleeves or the shoulders were placed there to accomodate television.

[AlphaRam]

The Chicago Bears were once known as the Chicago Staleys. (What the hell is a "staley"?)

[Goldenfleece]

Staley Starch was the name of a company that sponsored the team. The name was changed to the Bears the year after they moved to Chicago because the Cubs were already in town and Owner George Halas figured football players were bigger, so they should be Bears. The emblem on Pittsburgh's helmet is the logo for U.S. Steel. The Packers name comes from its packing company sponsors as well. Another interesting fact about the Packers is that it is a publicly held non-profit corporation owned by the fans, who do not receive dividends. The articles of incorporation specify that no single individual can own more than 200,000 out of the 4,000,000+ shares, thus eliminating the possibility of a majority owner and ensuring the team will never leave Green Bay.

For a while back in the '20s, the Oorang Indians team consisted entirely of Native Americans, but it was more spectacle than good football. The team rarely won games, but the pregame and halftime festivities included shooting exhibitions to feature the talents of the bird dogs from the sponsor Oorang Dog Kennels as well as tomahawk and knife throwing, Indian dancing, and even a player by the name of Long Time Sleep wrestling a bear on occasion.

[AlphaRam]

Thanks! Now I know where the name Staley came from.

The Packers, in fact, were derived from Acme Packers.



Many Pottsville fans claim that the Maroons won the 1925 NFL Championship. The team was leading the league for most of the season, when NFL President Joseph Carr suspended the team for playing a team of University of Notre Dame All-Stars in Philadelphia (and winning 9-7) on the same day the Frankford Yellow Jackets were scheduled to play a game in Philadelphia, violating Frankford's franchise rights. Although Carr warned the Maroons in writing that they faced suspension if they played in Philadelphia, the Maroons claim that Carr approved the game during a telephone call. The Chicago Cardinals, who finished the year with the best record, were declared the 1925 champions.

[AlphaRam]

Defunct NFL teams
1920s
Chicago Tigers (1920) | Cleveland Tigers/Indians (1920-21) | Muncie Flyers (1920-21) | Rochester Jeffersons (1920-25) | Rock Island Independents (1920-25) | Akron Pros/Indians (1920-26) | Canton Bulldogs (1920-26) | Columbus Panhandles/Tigers (1920-26) | Hammond Pros (1920-26) | Detroit Heralds/Tigers/Panthers/Wolverines (1920-28) | Buffalo All-Americans/Bisons/Rangers (1920-29) | Dayton Triangles (1920-29) | Cincinnati Celts (1921) | New York Giants (Brickley's) (1921) | Tonawanda Kardex (1921) | Washington Senators (1921) | Evansville Crimson Giants (1921-22) | Louisville Brecks/Colonels (1921-23, 1926) | Minneapolis Marines/Red Jackets (1921-24, 1929-31) | Oorang Indians (1922-23) | Toledo Maroons (1922-23) | Racine Legion/Tornadoes (1922-24, 1926) | Milwaukee Badgers (1922-26) | St. Louis All Stars (1923) | Cleveland Indians/Bulldogs (1923-27) | Duluth Kelleys/Eskimos (1923-27) | Kenosha Maroons (1924) | Kansas City Blues/Cowboys (1924-26) | Frankford Yellow Jackets (1924-31) | Pottsville Maroons/Boston Bulldogs (1925-29) | Providence Steam Roller (1925-31) | Brooklyn Lions (1926) | Hartford Blues (1926) | Los Angeles Buccaneers (1926) | New York Yankees (1927-28) | Orange/Newark Tornadoes (1929-30) | Staten Island Stapletons (1929-32)

1930s
Brooklyn Dodgers/Tigers (1930-44) | Cleveland Indians (1931) | Cincinnati Reds (1933-34) | St. Louis Gunners (1934)

1940s-50s
Boston Yanks (1944-48) | Baltimore Colts (1950) | New York Bulldogs/Yanks (1949-51) | Dallas Texans (1952)

[AlphaRam]

Nathan Vasher of the Chicago Bears returned a 52-yard field goal attempt 108 yards for a touchdown on November 13, 2005, the longest play in NFL history.

Anyone remember seeing that highlight from this past season?

[rams_fan81]

The browns were given their name because of their owner Jim Brown.