When Did the NFL Move the Goal Posts?
A look at how and when the NFL moved the goal posts, and how it has affected the game.
The origins of the NFL
The National Football League was established in 1920, but it wasn’t until 1933 that the goal posts were moved from the end line to the back of the end zone. This change was made to increase scoring and make the game more exciting. Let’s take a look at the history of the NFL and how the game has evolved over the years.
The first NFL game
The National Football League (NFL) was formed in 1920, when eleven teams from around the country banded together to create a professional football league. The first NFL game was played on October 3, 1920, between the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Cardinals. Though the game was not well-attended, it marked the beginning of a new era in American sports.
The first NFL championship game
The first NFL championship game was held in 1933, between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants. The Bears won, 32-14. At that time, there were only eight teams in the NFL.
The NFL’s early years
The National Football League was founded in 1920, with its first Official Game taking place on October 3rd of that year. This was not, however, the first instance of football being played in America. In fact, the game can be traced back to 1869, when it was first played between Rutgers and Princeton.
The first NFL draft
The occasion was the first NFL draft, and the place was a Philadelphia hotel ballroom. In the room were 11 NFL owners, plus league president Joseph Carr. The year was 1936, and most of those in attendance had been in the room five years earlier when the league held its first meeting and approved the move of the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans to Detroit.
The 11 owners represented all of pro football: George Halas of the Chicago Bears, Art Rooney of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Curly Lambeau of the Packers, George Preston Marshall of the Washington Redskins and Tim Mara and Wellington Mara of the New York Giants among them.
They were there to stock their rosters for the 1936 season through a random drawing of names from a hat. The order of selection was determined by a coin flip. It was as primitive as that.
The process continued that way for four more years until a more modern draft system was introduced in 1940.
The first NFL playoff game
The first NFL playoff game was held on December 28, 1932, following the 1932 regular season. The opponents were the Chicago Bears, who had posted a 12–2 record during the regular season under head coach Ralph Jones, and the Portsmouth Spartans (now the Detroit Lions), who had gone 10–3–1 under head coach Potsy Clark. The host site was Wrigley Field in Chicago; due to severe winter weather in much of the Midwest that day, attendance was significantly lower than usual (estimates vary from 5,000 to 12,000).
The NFL’s modern era
In the modern era, the National Football League (NFL) has been the most popular sport in the United States. Football is a physical and demanding sport, which is why the NFL has madeseveral rule changes over the years to make the game safer and more exciting. One of the most notable changes was moving the goal posts.
The first Super Bowl
The first Super Bowl was played on January 15, 1967. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10. The game was played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in front of 61,946 fans.
The first NFL player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season
In 1973, O.J. Simpson, then of the Buffalo Bills, became the first player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. He accomplished the feat in just 14 games, carrying the ball 332 times for 2,003 yards and 12 touchdowns. That year, Simpson also caught 33 passes for 293 yards and five touchdowns.
The NFL today
The most recent Super Bowl
The most recent Super Bowl was played on February 3, 2019. The New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in a game that was largely decided by defense. The Patriots’ defense held the Rams to just three points, while the offense did just enough to win the game.
This was the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in history, and it was largely due to the fact that both teams had strong defensive performances. The Patriots’ defense was especially impressive, as they were able to shut down one of the league’s most potent offenses.
While the game was not particularly exciting, it was a good showcase for how important defense can be in winning a championship.
The NFL’s current TV partners
As the most watched sport in the United States, the National Football League (NFL) generates a lot of money from television rights fees. The NFL currently has contracts with four major networks – CBS, FOX, NBC, and ESPN – that cover the football season from September to February. These deals are worth a combined $3.1 billion per year and run through the 2022 season.
The NFL also earns money from two additional sources of TV revenue – direct TV packages like NFL Sunday Ticket, and through international broadcast deals. In total, the NFL brought in $7.3 billion in TV revenue during the 2017 season. This was a 5% increase from the previous year and is expected to continue to grow in the future.
In recent years, the NFL has seen a decline in ratings. This is due in part to increased competition from other sports leagues like the NBA and MLB, as well as cord-cutting by viewers who no longer have traditional cable packages. Despite this decline, the NFL’s TV ratings are still higher than any other sport in the US. For example, during the 2017 regular season, NFL games were watched by an average of 14 million viewers. This was more than double the ratings of MLB games (6 million) and NBA games (4 million).
The decline in ratings has caused some concerns about the future of the NFL’s TV deals. However, Analysts believe that the league’s current TV partners will continue to pay high rates for rights to broadcast games. This is because live sports are one of the few types of programming that still draws large audiences that watch ads on traditional television. For now, it seems thatthe NFL’sTV deals are safe.
