American Football

See also Super Bowl History (for details of the most recent Super Bowl) and Super Bowl Records (for the Super Bowl records of all 32 NFL teams).

Rules, etc.

Points for a touchdown		6
Points for a field goal (over the bar and between the posts)		3
Points for a safety (scored most commonly by the defense, when an offensive player is forced back into his own end zone and the ball goes to ground)		2
A period of play, ending with a player or the ball being on the ground or out of play		Down
Number of "downs" allowed to travel 10 yards		4 (3 in Canada)
NFL: number of players allowed on each team's "active roster" (i.e. not counting the 16 practice squad players)		53
The scoring area, beyond the goal line		End zone
Team of officials who mark where a team begins its play		Chain gang
Match where the losing team scores no points (also in other US sports)		Shutout
Player usually positioned behind the centre, who directs attacking play		Quarterback

The seven officials:

	Referee
	Umpire
	Head Linesman
	Line Judge
	Field Judge
	Side Judge
	Back Judge

Teams

Super Bowl I (Green Bay Packers beat Kansas City Chiefs)		1967
Lost four consecutive Super Bowls (1991–4) – their only four appearances		Buffalo Bills
Owned by Randy Lerner since 2002, and when he bought Aston Villa (one of only four NFL teams that's never won Super Bowl)		Cleveland Browns
Formed in Baltimore 1953; moved to Indianapolis 1984. Lost Super Bowl 1969 (III), won 1970 (V); won 2007, lost 2010		Colts
Won a record 5th Super Bowl on their record 8th appearance, 1996. No further appearances since (2011), but Steelers have equalled their appearance record and beaten their wins record		Dallas Cowboys
Moved from Brooklyn (New York) to Los Angeles, 1957		Dodgers
Winners of Super Bowls I and II (1967, 1968)		Green Bay Packers
The two teams that share Meadowlands Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey (prior to 2009 they shared Giants Stadium, on an adjacent site)		New York Giants
		New York Jets
Formed in 1960; played in Los Angeles (and were renamed accordingly) 1982–94. Five Super Bowl appearances, and three wins between 1976 and 1983 – including one win as LA; moved to Las Vegas in 2019 (changing their name accordingly)		Oakland Raiders
Won a record 6th Super Bowl, 2009; lost the 2011 Super Bowl when they equalled the record of eight appearances set by Dallas Cowboys in 1996		Pittsburgh Steelers
Formed Cleveland, 1936; moved to Los Angeles in 1946, St. Louis in 1995, and back to LA in 2016. Two Super Bowl wins (2000, 2022) and three defeats (1980, 2002, 2019)		Rams
Won a record 5th Super Bowl in 1995, on their 5th appearance; lost their 6th (2013), but set another new record with their 6th win in 2020		San Francisco 49ers
Played at Candlestick Park– venue of the Beatles' last US concert– from 1971 to 2013, and from 2014 at the Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara
Owned since 1995 by the Glazer family (Super Bowl winners 2004, Malcolm Glazer died in 2014); they bought Manchester United between 2003 and 2005		Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Washington Redskins changed their name in 2022, in the wake of the George Floyd protests (after being Washington Football Team for two seasons) to		Washington Commanders

Players and Coaches

Widely regarded as the greatest quarterback of all time, with 7 Super Bowl wins and 4 MVP awards to his name; spent the majority of his career (2001–19) with New England Patriots, and the last three seasons (2001–19) with Tampa Bay Buccaneers		Tom Brady
Hugely successful coach of the Alabama University team, 1958–82		Paul "Bear" Bryant
Coach who led Green Bay Packers to Super Bowl success in 1967 and 1968; he moved to Washington Redskins in 1969, but died of cancer 1970, aged 57, after which the Super Bowl winners' trophy was named after him		Vince Lombardi
Legendary quarterback for the Miami Dolphins, 1983–99: widely recognized as one of the greatest quarterbacks in history, but never a Super Bowl winner; both the Dolphins and Pittsburgh Panthers (whom he played for 1979–82) retired the No. 13 in his honour		Dan Marino
Quarterback for Indianapolis Colts 1998–2011, Denver Broncos 2012–15: won the Super Bowl with each; described as the greatest passing quarterback of all time		Peyton Manning
Quarterback in four winning Super Bowls for San Francisco 49ers (1982–90); transferred to Kansas City Chiefs in 1994; nicknamed 'the Comeback Kid', for his history of rallying his teams from late–game deficits		Joe Montana
Brash, hard–living quarterback who inspired NY Jets to a shock victory over Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III (1969)		Joe Namath (NAY–muth)

© Haydn Thompson 2017–24