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128-682: The Super Bowl is the annual league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 , replacing the NFL Championship Game . Since 2022, the game has been played on the second Sunday in February. Prior Super Bowls were played on Sundays in early to mid-January from 1967 to 1978, late January from 1979 to 2003, and

256-738: A Super Ball toy; a vintage example of the ball is on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton , Ohio. In a July 25, 1966, letter to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle , Hunt wrote, "I have kiddingly called it the 'Super Bowl,' which obviously can be improved upon." The leagues' owners chose the name "AFL–NFL Championship Game", but in July 1966 the Kansas City Star quoted Hunt in discussing "the Super Bowl—that's my term for

384-659: A Sunday in those years. The All-America Football Conference was created in June 1944 to compete against the NFL . Even though the league drew comparable crowds to the NFL in its final three seasons, the continuing dominance of the Cleveland Browns led to the league's downfall. For its first three seasons, the league was divided into two divisions: Eastern and Western (1946–1948). The league had no divisions in 1949. The site of

512-658: A Super Bowl and 15 (eight AFC, seven NFC) hold multiple titles. The AFC's Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots have the most Super Bowl titles at six each. The Patriots also have the most Super Bowl appearances at 11. The Patriots and the Denver Broncos of the AFC hold the record for the most defeats in the Super Bowl at five each. The Baltimore Ravens of the AFC and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of

640-423: A divisional foe in the conference championship game. A players' strike shortened the 1982 season to nine games. The league used a special 16-team playoff tournament for that year. The top eight teams from each conference qualified (ignoring the divisional races—there were no division standings, and in some cases, two teams from the same division did not play each other at all that season). The playoffs reverted to

768-559: A four-team tournament, with the four divisional champions participating. The two division winners in each conference met in the "Conference Championships", with the winners advancing to the NFL Championship Game. Again, the home team for each playoff game was determined by a yearly divisional or conference rotation. The AFL, on the other hand, raised its total franchise number to ten with the Miami Dolphins joining

896-526: A partial renovation, including a new scoreboard. The work was completed just in time for the first home game of the Yale football team's season on September 16. The annual game between Yale and its rival Harvard , known locally as The Game , is held at the Yale Bowl every other year. In 2023, its attendance was over 51,000. The New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) won just one of

1024-437: A record with the 1970s Dallas Cowboys for most Super Bowl appearances in a decade with five appearances (2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018). The Patriots also had four Super Bowl appearances in five years. They also had eight consecutive AFC championship appearances spanning 2011–2018. The Super Bowls of the 2000s and 2010s are notable for the performances (and the pedigrees) of several of the participating quarterbacks, especially on

1152-496: A score of 28–24. Down by 10, the Patriots mounted a late fourth quarter comeback to win the game with Tom Brady scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. In a key play in the final seconds of the game, then-rookie free agent Malcolm Butler would intercept a pass by Russell Wilson at the one-yard line, allowing the Patriots to run out the clock and end the game. Tom Brady was awarded his third Super Bowl MVP, tying Joe Montana for

1280-576: A team consisting partly of high school players, also against league rules) to pass Pottsville in the standings. The league awarded the Cardinals the title, one of only two in the team's history, but the Cardinals declined the offer and the championship was vacated. Only in 1933, when the Bidwill family (which still owns the Cardinals) bought the team, did the Cardinals reverse their decision and claim

1408-865: A win and half a loss, but this was not applied retroactively. Had it been, it would have changed the outcome of four 1920-1931 championships: the Buffalo All-Americans would have tied the Akron Pros for the 1920 title, the Duluth Kelleys would have tied the Cleveland Bulldogs for the 1924 title, the Pottsville Maroons would have won in 1925, and the New York Giants would have won in 1930. Had win–loss differential (the standard method in baseball) been used,

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1536-667: A year later with a 24–7 win over the Minnesota Vikings. In the mid to late 1970s, the Steelers became the first NFL dynasty of the post-merger era by winning four Super Bowls ( IX , X , XIII , and XIV ) in six years. They were led by head coach Chuck Noll , the play of offensive stars Terry Bradshaw , Franco Harris , Lynn Swann , John Stallworth , and Mike Webster , and their dominant " Steel Curtain " defense, led by "Mean" Joe Greene , L. C. Greenwood , Ernie Holmes , Mel Blount , Jack Ham , and Jack Lambert . Many of

1664-584: Is not recognized by NFL record books. Unlike the AFL statistics which are treated as NFL statistics, records of the AAFC and its teams (most of which folded) are not recognized. However, individual AAFC player statistics are included in Pro Football Hall of Fame records, and the defunct conference is memorialized in the Hall. From 1946 to 1948 the champions of each division met in the AAFC championship game. In 1949, there

1792-612: The 1933 title game was determined by the won-lost percentage in use at the time; the Western Division champion Chicago Bears (10–2–1, .833), having a better record than the Eastern Division champion New York Giants (11–3–0, .786), won the right to host the first title playoff. Thereafter, from 1934 onward, the divisions alternated the site of the playoff, with the East/American hosting in even years and

1920-548: The 1989 season. More significantly, the home teams in the playoffs were still decided by a yearly divisional rotation, not on regular-season records (excluding the wild-card teams, who would always play on the road). This lack of "home-field advantage" was most evident in the 1972 playoffs , when the undefeated Miami Dolphins played the AFC Championship Game at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh against

2048-530: The 2016 regular season . After the NFL's Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls, some team owners feared for the future of the merger. At the time, many doubted the competitiveness of AFL teams compared with their NFL counterparts, though that perception changed when the AFL's New York Jets defeated the heavily favored NFL contender Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in Miami. One year later,

2176-621: The AFL champion in Super Bowls I through IV, the only true inter-league championship games in the history of professional football. The first two of these games were known as the AFL-NFL Championship Game , as the title Super Bowl was not chosen until 1968. Thus the third AFL-NFL matchup was dubbed "Super Bowl III" and the first two matches were retronamed as Super Bowls I and II. The first two games were convincingly won by

2304-620: The Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Colts tied for first place in the Western Conference at 10–3–1. Green Bay had won both its games with Baltimore during the regular season, but because no tie-breaker system was in place, a conference playoff game was held on December 26 (what was scheduled to be an off-week between the end of the regular schedule and the NFL Championship Game). The Cleveland Browns ,

2432-603: The New York Giants have won the third most with eight (four pre-Super Bowl era and four Super Bowls). Although the Cleveland Browns have also won eight overall championships (four AAFC and four pre-Super Bowl era), their four AAFC titles are not recognized by the NFL. The New York Jets and the Kansas City Chiefs of the AFL won the last two AFL-NFL World Championship Games, after the name Super Bowl had been officially adopted. At its inception in 1920 ,

2560-890: The North American Soccer League during the 1976 and 1977 seasons. Yale Bowl was mulled as a possible playing site when the United States hosted the World Cup in 1994 , but lost out to Foxboro Stadium in Massachusetts and Giants Stadium in New Jersey . In 1991, the Bowl's vicinity saw the addition of the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center , home to the annual ATP / WTA event (the Pilot Pen tournament), across Yale Avenue from

2688-582: The Pro Bowl . The Super Bowl is contested the week after the Pro Bowl. This schedule has been in effect since an 18th week (and 17th regular season game) were added to the NFL schedule for the 2021 season, with Super Bowl LVI on February 13, 2022, the first to be played under this format. The Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots are tied with a record six Super Bowl wins. The Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers have five victories each, while

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2816-566: The Steelers , who were undefeated at home during the regular season, but had three losses on the road. Beginning in 1972 , tie games were included in the computing of each team's winning percentage . Each tie was then counted as half of a win and half of a loss, rather than being omitted from the computation. Previously, the NFL disregarded any tie games played when they computed the standings, basing it on winning percentage with any ties thrown out and ignored. Overtime games were not played during

2944-663: The playoffs , being bested by the Tennessee Titans 20–13. That game represented Tom Brady's final game as a New England Patriot. In Super Bowl LV , which took place in Tampa, Florida , the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the defending champion Chiefs, 31–9. No player on the Buccaneers who scored points ( Rob Gronkowski , Antonio Brown , Leonard Fournette and Ryan Succop ) was on the Buccaneers' roster

3072-584: The "Conference Championships" (AFC & NFC). Two weeks later, the AFC and NFC champions met in the Super Bowl , now the league's championship game. Thus, Super Bowl V in January 1971 was the first Super Bowl played for the NFL title. With the introduction of the wild card, a rule was instituted to prohibit two teams from the same division (champion and wild card) from meeting in the first-round (Divisional Playoffs). This rule would remain in effect through

3200-579: The 1960 through 1969 seasons, the NFL staged an additional postseason game called the " Playoff Bowl " (aka the " Bert Bell Benefit Bowl" or the "Runner-up Bowl"). These games matched the second-place teams from the two conferences; the CBS television network advertised them as "playoff games for third place in the NFL." All ten of these consolation games were played in the Orange Bowl in Miami in January,

3328-576: The 1970s, winning a combined eight Super Bowls between them in the decade, with the Steelers winning four of the eight. The Baltimore Colts, now a member of the AFC, would start the decade by defeating the Cowboys in Super Bowl V, a game which is notable as being the only Super Bowl to date in which a player from the losing team won the Super Bowl MVP (Cowboys' linebacker Chuck Howley ). Beginning with this Super Bowl, all Super Bowls have served as

3456-511: The 1978 format in the following year. In 1990 , the NFL expanded the playoffs to twelve teams by adding a third wild-card team (a sixth seed) from each conference. The restrictions on intra-division playoff games during the Divisional Playoffs were removed. However, only the top two division winners in each conference (the 1 and 2 seeds) received byes and automatically advanced to the Divisional Playoffs as host teams. The 3 seed,

3584-463: The 1980s was the 49ers, which featured the West Coast offense of Hall of Fame head coach Bill Walsh . This offense was led by three-time Super Bowl MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana , Super Bowl MVP and Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice , running back Roger Craig , and Hall of Fame defensive safety/cornerback Ronnie Lott . Under their leadership, the 49ers won four Super Bowls in

3712-555: The 1980s, the Cowboys rose back to prominence in the 1990s. During this decade, the Cowboys made post-season appearances every year except for the seasons of 1990 and 1997. From 1992 to 1996, the Cowboys won their division championship each year. In this same period, the Buffalo Bills had made their mark reaching the Super Bowl for a record four consecutive years, only to lose all four (XXV-XXVIII). After Super Bowl championships by division rivals New York (1990) and Washington (1991),

3840-595: The 2005 and 2006 seasons, respectively defeating the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears . In the 2007 season , the Patriots became the fourth team in NFL history to have a perfect unbeaten and untied regular-season record, the second in the Super Bowl era after the 1972 Miami Dolphins, and the first to finish 16–0. They easily marched through the AFC playoffs and were heavy favorites in Super Bowl XLII . However, they lost that game to Eli Manning and

3968-515: The AFC side in repeated appearances by the same teams and players. In particular, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger , or Peyton Manning appeared as the AFC team's quarterback in all but two of the Super Bowls from 2001 through 2018. Conversely, the only NFC teams to make the Super Bowl multiple times with the same quarterback in this era were the Seahawks, led by quarterback Russell Wilson , and

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4096-703: The AFL's Kansas City Chiefs defeated the NFL's Minnesota Vikings 23–7 in Super Bowl IV in New Orleans, which was the final AFL–NFL World Championship Game played before the merger. Beginning with the 1970 season, the NFL realigned into two conferences; the former AFL teams plus three NFL teams (the Baltimore Colts , Pittsburgh Steelers , and Cleveland Browns ) would constitute the American Football Conference (AFC), while

4224-585: The AFL-NFL World Championship Game (renamed the Super Bowl after 1968). Following the merger in 1970, the Super Bowl name continued as the game to determine the NFL champion. The most important factor of the merger was that all ten AFL teams joined the NFL in 1970 , while all AFL Championship Games and records are included in NFL record books. The former NFL Championship Game became the NFC Championship Game , while

4352-562: The Bears' 6–1–6 (.692, +5). To determine the champion, the league, reportedly at the behest of George Preston Marshall , voted to hold the first official playoff game in Chicago at Wrigley Field . Because of severe winter conditions before the game, and fear of low turnout, the game was held indoors at Chicago Stadium which forced some temporary rule changes. The game was played on a modified 80-yard dirt field, and Chicago won 9–0, winning

4480-417: The Cowboys won three of the next four Super Bowls ( XXVII , XXVIII , and XXX ) led by quarterback Troy Aikman , running back Emmitt Smith , and wide receiver Michael Irvin . All three of these players went to the Hall of Fame. The Cowboys' streak was interrupted by the 49ers , who were the first team to win their league-leading fifth title overall with Super Bowl XXIX with a dominant performance featuring

4608-673: The Decatur Staleys would have won the 1920 title by virtue of being one game ahead of Buffalo, and the 1924 title would have been won by the Frankford Yellow Jackets , who were four games ahead of actual champion Cleveland in the standings by that measure. At the end of the 1932 season, the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans were tied with the best winning percentage at .857, with

4736-779: The Denver Broncos by a score of 55–10 in Super Bowl XXIV . The 1980s also produced the 1985 Chicago Bears , who posted an 18–1 record under head coach Mike Ditka ; quarterback Jim McMahon ; and Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton . Their team won Super Bowl XX in dominant fashion. The Washington Redskins and New York Giants were also top teams of this period; Washington won Super Bowls XVII , XXII , and XXVI . The Giants claimed Super Bowls XXI and XXV . Both teams won multiple Super Bowls with different starting quarterbacks; Washington won with Joe Theismann (XVII), Doug Williams (XXII) and Mark Rypien (XXVI), and

4864-653: The Denver Broncos to an upset victory over the defending champion Packers, snapping the NFC's thirteen-year winning streak. The following year, the Broncos defeated the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII , Elway's fifth Super Bowl appearance, his second NFL championship, and his final NFL game. The back-to-back victories heralded a change in momentum in which AFC teams would win nine out of 12 Super Bowls. In

4992-412: The Divisional Playoffs, which became the second round of the playoffs. In the divisional round, much like the 1970 playoff format, teams from the same division were still prohibited from playing each other, regardless of seeding. Under the 1978 format, teams from the same division could meet only in the wild-card round or the conference championship. Thus, as before, a divisional champion could only play

5120-454: The Eastern Division championship. Semifinal playoff games were held in 1949, setting up a championship final between the first-place Browns and the second-place San Francisco 49ers . In 1948, the Browns became the first professional football team to complete an entire season undefeated and untied — 24 years before the 1972 Miami Dolphins of the NFL would accomplish the task, but this feat

5248-472: The Eastern Division in 1966 and the Cincinnati Bengals joining the Western Division in 1968. The league until 1969 kept using the one-game-playoff format except when division tie-breakers were needed. In its final season, 1969, the AFL adopted a four-team playoff to determine its champion. Following the NFL and AFL Championship Games for the 1966 through 1969 seasons, the NFL champion played

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5376-526: The Eastern champion at 11–3–0, did not play that week. The championship game was then held on its originally scheduled date, January 2, 1966—the first time the NFL champion was crowned in January. Green Bay won both post-season games at home, beating the injury-riddled Colts (with third-string QB Tom Matte ) in overtime by a controversial field goal, and taking the title 23–12 on a very muddy field (in what turned out to be Jim Brown 's final NFL game). For

5504-410: The Ed Thorp trophy that accompanied the league title should the championship game result in a tie. Sudden death overtime was finally approved for the NFL championship game in 1946 and has remained in effect ever since. The first playoff game requiring overtime was the 1958 NFL Championship Game . The 1955 and 1960 NFL championship games were played on Monday afternoons, Christmas having fallen on

5632-469: The Giants with Phil Simms (XXI) and Jeff Hostetler (XXV). As in the 1970s, the Raiders were the only AFC team to interrupt the Super Bowl dominance of NFC teams; they won Super Bowls XV and XVIII (the latter as the Los Angeles Raiders). Conversely, the Cincinnati Bengals (XVI and XXIII), Dolphins, (XVII and XIX), and Broncos (XXI, XXII and XXIV) made multiple Super Bowls in the 1980s without winning one. Following several seasons with poor records in

5760-440: The Giants, led by quarterback Eli Manning. One of these teams was featured in the culmination of the 2010 season , Super Bowl XLV , which brought the Packers their fourth Super Bowl victory and record thirteenth NFL championship overall with the defeat of the Steelers in February 2011. This became Aaron Rodgers ' only Super Bowl victory so far. The following year, in Super Bowl XLVI , the Patriots made their first appearance of

5888-414: The MVP award for this game. The Patriots also won Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX defeating the Carolina Panthers and the Philadelphia Eagles respectively. This four-year stretch of Patriot dominance was interrupted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ' 48–21 Super Bowl XXXVII victory over the Oakland Raiders. The Steelers and Colts continued the era of AFC dominance by winning Super Bowls XL and XLI in

6016-400: The NFC are the only franchises to be undefeated in multiple Super Bowls, having each won two. Among the 12 teams who have not won a Super Bowl, the AFC's Cleveland Browns , Houston Texans , and Jacksonville Jaguars , and the NFC's Detroit Lions are the only four to have not appeared in the game. The Super Bowl is among the world's most-watched single sporting events and frequently commands

6144-455: The NFL (the only two AAFC teams that currently exist, the Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers , joined the NFL in 1950 ), but AAFC Championship Games and records are not included in the NFL's record books. The AFL began play in 1960 and, like its rival league, used a playoff system to determine its champion. From 1966 to 1969 , prior to the merger in 1970, the NFL and the AFL agreed to hold an undisputed Championship Game called

6272-472: The NFL had no playoff system or championship game: the champion was the team with the best record during the season as determined by winning percentage, with ties excluded. This sometimes led to very unusual results, as teams played anywhere from six to twenty league games in a season, and not all teams played the same number of games or against league talent. As a result, in the league's first six seasons, four league titles were disputed and had to be resolved by

6400-409: The NFL successfully fended off several rival leagues. In 1960, it encountered its most serious competitor when the American Football League (AFL) was formed. The AFL vied with the NFL for players and fans. After the AFL's inaugural season , AFL commissioner Joe Foss sent an invitation to the NFL on January 14, 1961, to schedule a "World Playoff" game between the two leagues' champions, beginning with

6528-399: The NFL's Packers , the last two by the AFL 's New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs , leaving the leagues even at 2–2 in "Championship" competition when they subsequently merged. All participants in those four AFL-NFL championship games were either AFL champions or NFL champions in the record books, no matter the outcome of the Super Bowl. Three of the four league champions who lost one of

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6656-549: The NFL's championship game. The Cowboys, coming back from a loss the previous season, won Super Bowl VI over the Dolphins. However, this would be the Dolphins' final loss for over a year, as the next year , the Dolphins would go 14–0 in the regular season and eventually win all their playoff games, capped off with a 14–7 victory in Super Bowl VII , becoming the first and only team in the Super Bowl era to finish an entire perfect regular and postseason undefeated. The Dolphins would repeat as league champions by winning Super Bowl VIII

6784-475: The NFL, 16–7. The Jets were led by quarterback Joe Namath , who had famously guaranteed a Jets win before the game, and former Colts head coach Weeb Ewbank , and their victory proved that the AFL was the NFL's competitive equal. This was reinforced the following year when the Chiefs defeated the NFL's Vikings 23–7 in Super Bowl IV . After the AFL–NFL merger was completed in 1970, three franchises—the Cowboys, Miami Dolphins , and Steelers—would go on to dominate

6912-401: The New York Giants 17–14, leaving the Patriots' 2007 record at 18–1. The following season, the Steelers logged their record sixth Super Bowl title ( XLIII ) in a 27–23, final-minute victory against the Arizona Cardinals . The 2009 season saw the New Orleans Saints defeat the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV by a score of 31–17 to take home their first Championship. With this victory,

7040-456: The Notre Dame All-Stars that gave professional football legitimacy over college football. Part of the controversy over these older championships stems from the criteria the league used to determine its champion. The league used a variation of win percentage as its criterion, in which the number of wins is divided by the sum of wins and losses, and ties were excluded. The league began considering ties in its standings in 1972, counting them as half

7168-560: The Packers, Chiefs and New York Giants have four. Fourteen other NFL franchises have won at least one Super Bowl. The Patriots own the record for most Super Bowl appearances with eleven. The Cowboys, Steelers, Broncos and the 49ers are tied for second with eight appearances apiece, reaching that milestone in this respective order. Bill Belichick owns the record for the most Super Bowl wins (eight) and appearances (twelve: nine times as head coach, once as assistant head coach, and twice as defensive coordinator) by an individual. Tom Brady has

7296-428: The Rose Bowl Game. Exploiting the Rose Bowl Game's popularity, post-season college football contests were created for Miami (the Orange Bowl ), New Orleans (the Sugar Bowl ), and El Paso (the Sun Bowl ) in 1935, and for Dallas (the Cotton Bowl ) in 1937. By the time the first Super Bowl was played, the term "bowl" for any major American football game was well established. For four decades after its 1920 inception,

7424-408: The Rose Bowl, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum , and Michigan Stadium . It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987 for its role in football history . The Yale Bowl's designer, Charles A. Ferry, for unknown reasons chose not to include locker rooms (or restrooms). Players dress in the Smilow Field Center and walk 200 yards (185 m) to the field. When the NFL's Giants played at

7552-403: The Saints joined the New York Jets as the only teams to have won in their sole Super Bowl appearance, a distinction the Ravens also enjoyed in winning Super Bowl XXXV after the 2000 season and the Buccaneers in 2002. In the AFC, this era was dominated by the Patriots, with the only four other teams to represent the conference being the Steelers, Ravens, Broncos, and Chiefs. The Patriots had tied

7680-408: The Spartans record of 6–1–4 and the Bears record of 6–1–6 taken to be six wins, one loss, while the Green Bay Packers finished 10–3–1. Had pure win–loss differential or the current (post-1972) system of counting ties as half a win, half a loss been in place in 1932, the Packers' record of 10–3–1 (.750, +7) would have won them a fourth consecutive championship, ahead of the Spartans' 6–1–4 (.727, +5) and

7808-412: The Super Bowl MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young (who threw a Super Bowl record 6 touchdown passes), Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice , and Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders ; however, the Cowboys' victory in Super Bowl XXX the next year also gave them five titles overall and they did so with Sanders after he won the Super Bowl the previous year with the 49ers. The NFC's winning streak

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7936-409: The West/National in odd years. If there was a tie for first place within the conference, an extra playoff game decided who would go to the NFL Championship Game, with a coin toss deciding where the game would be played. (This occurred nine times in these 34 seasons: 1941 , 1943 , 1947 , 1950 (both conferences), 1952 , 1957 , 1958 , and 1965 .) This last occurred during the 1965 season , when

8064-414: The broadcast and commercial viewership becoming an integral part of the event. The Super Bowl is also the second-largest event for American food consumption, behind Thanksgiving dinner . Since the turn of the 20th century, college football teams from across the United States have scheduled " bowl games " against each other. The original "bowl game" was the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California , which

8192-481: The championship game between the two leagues", and the media immediately began using the term. Although the league stated in 1967 that "not many people like it", asking for suggestions and considering alternatives such as "Merger Bowl" and "The Game" , the Associated Press reported that "Super Bowl" "grew and grew and grew—until it reached the point that there was Super Week, Super Sunday, Super Teams, Super Players, ad infinitum". "Super Bowl" became official beginning with

8320-416: The championship game during the first three was determined just as it was in the NFL—a divisional rotation. In 1949, the league held a four-team playoff, with home field based upon won-lost record. The Browns, led by Quarterback Otto Graham , won all four of the league championship games. A tiebreaker playoff game was played in 1948 to break a tie between the Baltimore Colts and Buffalo Bills (AAFC) for

8448-438: The coaches of the two teams, John Harbaugh and Jim Harbaugh , are brothers. During the third quarter, the Ravens had a commanding 28–6 lead. However, there was a blackout in New Orleans, where the game was being played. The game was delayed for 34 minutes, and after play resumed, San Francisco stormed back with 17 straight points, but still lost. Super Bowl XLVIII , played at New Jersey 's MetLife Stadium in February 2014,

8576-440: The decade ( XVI , XIX , XXIII , and XXIV ) and made nine playoff appearances between 1981 and 1990, including eight division championships, becoming the second dynasty of the post-merger NFL. The 1984 San Francisco 49ers were the first team to achieve an 18–1 record, doing so under Walsh. The 1989 San Francisco 49ers , under first-year head coach George Seifert , posted the most lop-sided victory in Super Bowl history, defeating

8704-401: The decade, a position where they would become a mainstay. The Patriots, however, lost to the Eli Manning-led Giants, 21–17, who had beaten the Patriots four years before. This was the Giants' fourth Super Bowl victory. In Super Bowl XLVII , the NFC's 49ers were defeated by the Ravens 34–31. The game had been dubbed as the 'Harbaugh Bowl' in the weeks leading up to the game, due to the fact that

8832-418: The decade, making the playoffs in eight straight seasons. Pittsburgh still remains the only team to win back-to-back Super Bowls twice and four Super Bowls in a six-year period. The Steelers' 1970s dynasty was interrupted only by the Raiders' first Super Bowl win in Super Bowl XI and the Cowboys' second Super Bowl win in Super Bowl XII . Conversely, the Vikings, with their Purple People Eaters defense, were

8960-410: The defending Super Bowl champion New York Jets , a Sunday afternoon sellout in mid-August 1969 . The Connecticut Bicentennials of the NASL played two seasons at the Yale Bowl, mostly in front of dismal crowds. Even their highest-ever home attendance, against the New York Cosmos in 1977, drew only 17,302 fans, leaving the stadium more than three-quarters empty. However, the Bi's could only draw

9088-456: The design and naming of the Rose Bowl , from which is derived the name of college football's post-season games ( bowl games ) and the NFL 's Super Bowl . In 1973 and 1974 , the stadium hosted the New York Giants of the National Football League , as Yankee Stadium was renovated into a baseball-only venue. The Giants shared Shea Stadium in 1975 with the Jets and baseball Mets , then moved into new Giants Stadium in 1976 . Ground

9216-472: The division winner with the worst regular-season record in each conference, would then host the 6 seed in the Wild Card Playoffs. In each conference, the matchup between the 3 and 6 seeds in the wild-card round dictated where the wild-card round winners traveled to for the divisional round: Yale Bowl Former capacity : The Yale Bowl Stadium is a college football stadium in

9344-475: The dominant team throughout the early 2000s, winning the championship three out of four years early in the decade. They would become only the second team in the history of the NFL to do so (after the 1990s Dallas Cowboys). In Super Bowl XXXVI , first-year starting quarterback Tom Brady led his team to a 20–17 upset victory over the St. Louis Rams , who two seasons earlier won Super Bowl XXXIV . Brady would go on to win

9472-558: The dozen home games they played in New Haven in the 1973 and 1974 seasons. (With the exception of the games played with replacement teams during the 1987 NFL strike and the COVID-19 -disrupted 2020 season , the attendance at the final game at the Yale Bowl is the smallest at a Giants' home game since 1955.) The team also played preseason games in the stadium, including the first-ever game against future rival and stadium share partner,

9600-521: The first Sunday of February from 2004 to 2021. Winning teams are awarded the Vince Lombardi Trophy , named after the eponymous coach who won the first two Super Bowls. Because the NFL restricts the use of its "Super Bowl" trademark, it is frequently referred to as the "big game" or other generic terms by non-sponsoring corporations. The day the game is held is commonly referred to as " Super Bowl Sunday " or simply "Super Sunday". The game

9728-488: The first Super Bowl to end in overtime, the Atlanta Falcons led 28–3 late in the third quarter, but the Patriots came back to tie the game 28–28 with back-to-back touchdowns and two-point conversions, and the Patriots went on to win 34–28 in overtime. This 25-point deficit was the largest comeback win for any team in a Super Bowl, breaking the previous of a 10-point deficit to come back and win. The Patriots never held

9856-587: The first four Super Bowls would eventually win at least one. The exception is the Minnesota Vikings which went to three others and lost all of them. After the 1969 season and Super Bowl IV , the AFL and NFL fully merged and underwent a re-alignment for the 1970 season. Three of the pre-merger NFL teams were transferred to the AFC ( Browns , Colts , and Steelers ) to level the conferences ( AFC and NFC ) at 13 teams each; each conference split into three divisions. With only six division winners in

9984-535: The first two AFL–NFL World Championship Games, later renamed Super Bowls, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders following the 1966 and 1967 seasons, respectively. The Packers were led by quarterback Bart Starr , who was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for both games. These two championships, coupled with the Packers' NFL championships in 1961 , 1962 , and 1965 , amount to

10112-485: The former AFL Championship Game became the AFC Championship Game . The NFL lists the old AFL/NFL championship games with "new" AFC/NFC championship games in its record books. The Green Bay Packers have won the most NFL championship titles with 13 (nine pre-Super Bowl era and four Super Bowls, including the first two AFL-NFL World Championship Games). The Chicago Bears have won the second most overall championships with nine (eight pre-Super Bowl era and one Super Bowl) and

10240-512: The game played in February. Super Bowl XXXVII was held in January, but all subsequent games were held on the first Sunday in February until the schedule expansion of the 2021 season moved the game to the second Sunday. The current NFL schedule begins on the weekend immediately after Labor Day (the first Monday in September). That weekend is the first of an 18-week regular season , followed by three weeks of playoff games and one week for

10368-459: The high-scoring game; while the Eagles would gain 538 yards in the victory. The combined total for both teams of 1,151 yards of offense broke an NFL record (for any game) that had stood for nearly seven decades. The Patriots' 33 points were the highest losing score in Super Bowl history, a record held until 2023, when the Eagles lost Super Bowl LVII to the Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 38–35. It

10496-605: The history of the modern league that a host city's professional football franchise got to play in a Super Bowl that was hosted in their home stadium . History of the National Football League championship Following its founding in Canton, Ohio (1920), the NFL first determined champions through end-of-season standings, switching to a playoff system in 1933 (a one-game playoff was required in 1932). The rival All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and American Football League (AFL) have since merged with

10624-595: The largest audience among all American broadcasts during the year. It is second only to the UEFA Champions League final as the most watched annual club sporting event worldwide, and the seven most-watched broadcasts in American television history are Super Bowls. Commercial airtime during the Super Bowl broadcast is the most expensive of the year because of the high viewership, leading to companies regularly developing their most expensive advertisements for

10752-645: The last game "post-season", giving the Bulldogs their third consecutive league title. The fourth and final disputed title was the 1925 NFL Championship controversy between the Pottsville Maroons and the Chicago Cardinals . The Maroons had been controversially suspended by the league at the end of the 1925 NFL season for an unauthorized game against a non-NFL team, allowing the Cardinals to throw together two fairly easy matches (one against

10880-632: The lead until the game-winning touchdown in overtime. It was Tom Brady's 5th Super Bowl win and he was awarded his record fourth Super Bowl MVP, throwing a then-record 466 yards for 43 completions. In Super Bowl LII , the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the defending champion Patriots 41–33, ending a 57-year championship drought for the franchise. Nick Foles won the Super Bowl MVP. The Patriots totaled 613 yards in defeat, with Tom Brady breaking his previous Super Bowl record of 466 passing yards with an all-time playoff record of 505 passing yards in

11008-464: The league championship. Since the game counted in the standings, Portsmouth finished third behind Green Bay. A number of new rule changes were instituted, many inspired by the 1932 indoor championship game: the goal posts were moved forward to the goal line, every play started from between the hash marks, and forward passes could originate from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage (instead of five yards behind). The playoff game proved so popular that

11136-408: The league reorganized into two divisions for the 1933 season, with the winners advancing to a scheduled championship game. Starting in 1933 , the NFL decided its champion through a single postseason playoff game, called the NFL Championship Game . During this period, the league divided its teams into two groups, through 1949 as divisions and from 1950 onward as conferences . Home field for

11264-673: The league's executive committee. In 1920, the Akron Pros went undefeated, tying three games, but two teams that had won more games (and who had both tied Akron), the Buffalo All-Americans and Decatur Staleys , petitioned the league for a share of the title; both teams' petitions were denied, and Akron was awarded the first (and only) Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup . According to modern tie-breaking rules, Akron and Buffalo would be co-champions. Akron and Buffalo both awarded their team members with gold medallions . The next

11392-494: The merger in 1970, the 10 AFL teams and three of the NFL teams formed the American Football Conference (AFC) and the remaining 13 NFL teams formed the National Football Conference (NFC). All games since 1971's Super Bowl V have been played between the best team from each of the two conferences, with the AFC and NFC tied at 27 wins each. Among the NFL's current 32 teams, 20 (11 NFC, nine AFC) have won

11520-502: The most Super Bowl MVP awards. In Super Bowl 50 , the first Super Bowl to be branded with Arabic numerals , the Broncos, led by the league's top-ranked defense, defeated the Panthers, who had the league's top-ranked offense, in what became the final game of quarterback Peyton Manning's career. Von Miller dominated, totaling 2.5 sacks and forcing two Cam Newton fumbles; both fumbles leading to Broncos touchdowns. In Super Bowl LI ,

11648-463: The most Super Bowl losses at five. The Cleveland Browns , Detroit Lions , Houston Texans , and Jacksonville Jaguars are the four teams to have never appeared in a Super Bowl, although the Browns and Lions both won NFL championships before the Super Bowl era. The Jaguars, who began play in 1995, and the Texans, who began play in 2002, are among the youngest franchises in the league. The Packers won

11776-468: The most Super Bowl starts (ten) and wins as a player (seven), while Charles Haley has the second-most wins among players with five. Eight teams have appeared in Super Bowl games without a win. The Minnesota Vikings were the first team to appear four times without a win, while the Buffalo Bills played in a record four consecutive Super Bowls, losing in each. The Patriots and Broncos are tied for

11904-477: The most successful stretch in NFL History; five championships in seven years, and the second threepeat in NFL history (1965, 1966, and 1967). The Packers are the only team to threepeat, as they also accomplished the feat in the pre-playoff era (1929, 1930 and 1931). The first playoff game in the NFL was in 1932 . In Super Bowl III, the AFL's New York Jets defeated the 19.5-point favorite Baltimore Colts of

12032-413: The newly merged league, the NFL designed an eight-team playoff tournament, with four clubs from each conference qualifying. Along with the three division winners in each conference, two wild card teams (one from each conference), the second-place finishers with the best records in each conference, were added to the tournament. The first round was named the "Divisional Playoffs", the winners advancing to

12160-627: The northeast United States, located in New Haven, Connecticut , on the border of West Haven , about 1½ miles (2½ km) west of the main campus of Yale University . The home of the Yale Bulldogs of the Ivy League , it opened 110 years ago in 1914 with 70,896 seats ; renovations have reduced its current capacity to 61,446, still making it the second largest FCS stadium, behind Tennessee State's Nissan Stadium . The Yale Bowl inspired

12288-424: The only other team to appear in multiple Super Bowls (IV, VIII, IX and XI) during the decade but failed to win each one. In the 1980s and 1990s, the tables turned for the AFC, as the NFC dominated the Super Bowls of the new decade and most of those in the 1990s. The NFC won 16 of the 20 Super Bowls during these two decades, including 13 straight from Super Bowl XIX to Super Bowl XXXI . The most successful team of

12416-414: The previous season. This marked a record seventh Super Bowl victory for Tom Brady , also more than any individual NFL franchise, and who would also break his own record for the oldest quarterback to win a championship at 43 years old. Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians would also break Bill Belichick 's record for the oldest head coach to win a championship at 68. Super Bowl LV also marked the first time in

12544-423: The regular season until 1974 . In 1975 , the league modified its 1970 playoff format by instituting a seeding system . The surviving clubs with the higher seeds were made the home teams for each playoff round. The three division champions in each conference were seeded first through third based on their regular-season records, with the wild-card team in each conference as the fourth seed. Teams that earned

12672-571: The remaining NFL clubs would form the National Football Conference (NFC). The champions of the two conferences would play each other in the Super Bowl. The winning team receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy , named after the former coach of the Green Bay Packers, who won the first two Super Bowl games as well as five NFL championships preceding the merger in 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966 and 1967. Following Lombardi's death in September 1970,

12800-555: The show was published with the vinyl edition of the Eagles double live album, issued later that year, though no recordings from the event are included on the discs. A Paul McCartney concert was scheduled for June 1990, but cancelled amid neighbors' opposition; the show was moved to Chicago . The stadium has hosted many soccer matches over the years; it served as home field for the Connecticut Bicentennials of

12928-462: The stadium (1973, 1974), the pro players disliked the arrangement, but Yale players reportedly enjoy the walk. Fans cheer for the team as it marches to the stadium while the Yale Band plays, a tradition known as the "Bulldog Walk." The Bowl's first game, on November 21, 1914 , drew more than 68,000 spectators, who watched the Bulldogs lose 36–0 to rival Harvard . In 1958, a new scoreboard

13056-472: The stadium. On October 5, 2001, the closing ceremony of the Yale Tercentennial was held at the Yale Bowl. Guests included Tom Wolfe '57, William F. Buckley '50, Sesame Street ' s Big Bird , Paul Simon '96 Hon, and Garry Trudeau '70. By the 21st century, many of the outside retaining walls and portal entries were deteriorating. In the spring and summer of 2006, the bowl received

13184-427: The team with the lowest point total by a winning team in Super Bowl history. Tom Brady would receive a record sixth Super Bowl championship, the most of any player in NFL history, surpassing his tie with Charles Haley for five wins. Brady would also become the oldest player to ever win a Super Bowl at age 41, while Bill Belichick would be the oldest coach to ever win a Super Bowl at age 66. Wide receiver Julian Edelman

13312-443: The team's key players were selected in the 1974 draft , in which Pittsburgh selected four future Hall of Famers, the most for any team in any sport in a single draft. A fifth player, Donnie Shell , was signed by Pittsburgh after going unselected in the 1974 NFL Draft; he too was later enshrined in the Hall of Fame. The Steelers were the first team to win three and then four Super Bowls and appeared in six AFC Championship Games during

13440-421: The third annual game. Roman numerals are used to identify each Super Bowl, rather than the year in which it is held, since the fifth edition, in January 1971. The sole exception to this naming convention tradition occurred with Super Bowl 50 , which was played on February 7, 2016, following the 2015 regular season . The following year, the nomenclature returned to Roman numerals for Super Bowl LI , following

13568-418: The third, and the second versus the fourth. The league expanded the playoffs to 10 teams in 1978 , adding a second wild-card team (a fifth seed) from each conference. The two wild-card teams from each conference (the fourth and fifth seeds) played each other in the first round, called the "Wild Card Playoffs." The division winners (the first three seeds) would then receive a bye to automatically advance to

13696-497: The time it was the longest professional football championship game ever played. Also in 1963, an Eastern Division playoff was needed to determine the division winner between the Boston Patriots and Buffalo Bills . In 1966, the success of the rival AFL, the spectre of the NFL's losing more stars to the AFL, and concern over a costly "bidding war" for players precipitated by the NFL's Giants' signing of Pete Gogolak , who

13824-533: The title as their own, a decision that continues to be disputed, with the Bidwills opposing any change in the record and the two current Pennsylvania teams in favor. The league recognized the Bidwills' claim to the title and has taken no other action on the issue, although a self-made championship trophy from the Maroons sits in the Pro Football Hall of Fame . Ironically, it was Pottsville's win in that game against

13952-419: The top seed became known as clinching " home-field advantage " throughout the playoffs, since they played all of their playoff games at their home stadium (except for the Super Bowl, played at a neutral site). However, the league continued to prohibit meetings between teams from the same division in the Divisional Playoffs. Thus, there would be times when the pairing in that round would pit the first seed versus

14080-531: The trophy was named after him. The first trophy awarded under the new name was presented to the Baltimore Colts following their win in Super Bowl V in Miami. The Super Bowl was held in January from its inception in 1967 until 2001 . In 2002 , a week of regular season games was postponed and rescheduled following the September 11 attacks ; as a result, Super Bowl XXXVI became the first edition of

14208-492: The upcoming 1961 season. The first World Playoff game, if actually played, would have matched up the AFL champion Houston Oilers against the NFL champion Green Bay Packers . In the mid-1960s, Lamar Hunt , owner of the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs , first used the term "Super Bowl" to refer to the AFL–NFL championship game in the merger meetings. Hunt later said the name was likely in his head because his children had been playing with

14336-536: The week after the NFL championship game. The NFL now classifies these contests as exhibition games and does not include the records, participants, or results in the official league playoff statistics. The Playoff Bowl was discontinued after the AFL–NFL merger ; the final edition was played in January 1970. Starting with the 1934 game the winning team received the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy . The trophy

14464-413: The years between 1995 and 2018, five teams—the Steelers, Patriots, Broncos, Baltimore Ravens , and Indianapolis Colts —accounted for 22 of the 24 AFC Super Bowl appearances (including the last 16), with those same teams often meeting each other earlier in the playoffs. In contrast, the NFC saw a different representative in the Super Bowl every season from 2001 through 2010. The New England Patriots became

14592-727: Was announced on June 8, 1966, and became fully effective in 1970. After expanding to enfranchise the New Orleans Saints in 1967 , the NFL split its 16 teams into two conferences with two divisions each: the Capitol and Century Divisions in the Eastern Conference , and the Coastal and Central Divisions in the Western Conference . The playoff format was expanded from a single championship game to

14720-477: Was broken on the stadium in August 1913. Fill excavated from the field area was used to build up a berm around the perimeter to create an elliptical bowl. The facade was designed to partially echo the campus's Neo-Gothic design, and, as with some central campus buildings, acid was applied to imitate the effects of aging. It was the first bowl-shaped stadium in the country, and inspired the design of such stadiums as

14848-477: Was continued by the Packers led by Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre , won Super Bowl XXXI , their first championship since Super Bowl II in 1967. The Patriots made their maiden Super Bowl appearances in XX (1985) and XXXI (1996) but lost both times. However, the turn of the century would soon bring hope and glory to the franchise. Super Bowl XXXII saw quarterback John Elway and running back Terrell Davis lead

14976-500: Was created as part of a 1966 merger agreement between the NFL and the competing American Football League (AFL) to have their 'best' teams compete for a championship. It was originally called the AFL–NFL World Championship Game until the "Super Bowl" moniker was adopted in 1969's Super Bowl III . The first four Super Bowls from 1967 to 1970 were played prior to the merger, with the NFL and AFL each winning two. After

15104-452: Was emphasized that this did not apply to the final championship game, which would crown co-champions in the event of a tie. While a shared championship was deemed an acceptable solution, it must have become obvious that an elimination game leading to the championship must necessarily produce a winner. Commissioner Elmer Layden approved a similar arrangement for the 1941 season, with the same limitation. A coin toss would decide possession of

15232-725: Was first played in 1902 as the "Tournament East–West football game" as part of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses . In 1923, the Tournament East-West football game moved to the new Rose Bowl Stadium ; the stadium got its name from the fact that the game played there was part of the Tournament of Roses and that it was shaped like a bowl, much like the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut . The Tournament of Roses football game thus eventually came to be known as

15360-479: Was in the 1921 NFL season , between the same All-Americans and Staleys (with the latter now being based in Chicago). Buffalo had insisted that the last matchup between the two was an exhibition game not to be counted toward the standings, however, Chicago owner George Halas and league management insisted the game be counted in its standings (the league, at the time, did not recognize exhibition matches). The result

15488-515: Was installed; its distinctive clock was arranged vertically instead of horizontally. During the 1970s, the Bowl hosted several concerts. In 1971, Yes performed on July 24 and the Grateful Dead on July 31, a recording of which was released as Road Trips Volume 1 Number 3 . But neighborhood opposition to the concerts brought them to an end after a June 14, 1980, show featuring the Eagles , Heart , and The Little River Band . A picture from

15616-528: Was named Super Bowl MVP. In Super Bowl LIV , the Chiefs defeated the 49ers in a comeback, 31–20, for their first Super Bowl title in 50 years. This victory marked the first time since 1991 that the NFC did not have more Super Bowl victories than the AFC. Notable was the absence of the Patriots, who after making it to the Super Bowl the last three years and winning two of them, had lost in the Wild Card round of

15744-536: Was named after Ed Thorp, a noted referee, rules expert, and sporting goods dealer. Thorp died in 1934 and a large, traveling trophy was made that year, passed along from champion to champion each season with each championship team's name inscribed on it. Teams would also receive a replica trophy. The trophy was last awarded to the Minnesota Vikings in 1969. Late in the 1940 season, NFL President Carl Storck announced that sudden death periods would be authorized for any playoff game needed to decide either division title. It

15872-552: Was only one seven-team division, so the championship game was the final round of a four team tournament. With its creation in 1960, the AFL determined its champion via a single playoff game between the winners of its two divisions, the Eastern and Western . The AFL Championship games featured classics such as the 1962 double-overtime championship game between the Dallas Texans and the defending champion Houston Oilers . At

16000-491: Was that although the two teams were effectively tied in the standings, the disputed game, having been played later, was given more weight and thus ended up being considered a de facto championship game. Chicago also had one fewer tie game. A nearly identical situation recurred in 1924 , when Chicago tried the same tactic of a final game against the Cleveland Bulldogs , but the league ruled the opposite and declared

16128-545: Was the Eagles' third Super Bowl appearance and their first win in franchise history. With the Eagles' victory, the NFC East became the first division to have each team win at least one Super Bowl. While Super Bowl LII produced the second highest-scoring Super Bowl, the following year's Super Bowl LIII became the lowest-scoring Super Bowl. The Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams , 13–3. In so doing, they became

16256-406: Was the first Super Bowl held outdoors in a cold-weather environment. The Seahawks won their first NFL title with a 43–8 defeat of the Broncos, in a highly touted matchup that pitted Seattle's top-ranked defense against a Peyton Manning-led Denver offense that had broken the NFL's single-season scoring record. In Super Bowl XLIX , the Patriots beat the defending Super Bowl champions, the Seahawks, by

16384-487: Was under contract to the AFL's Buffalo Bills , led the two leagues to discuss a merger . Pivotal to this was approval by Congress of a law (PL 89-800) that would waive jeopardy to anti-trust statutes for the merged leagues. The major point of the testimony given by the leagues to obtain the law was that if the merger were permitted, "Professional football operations will be preserved in the 23 cities and 25 stadiums where such operations are presently being conducted." The merger

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