One independent group which had been active in NFL exhibition promotions in Atlanta applied for franchises in both the American Football League and the NFL, acting entirely on its own with no guarantee of stadium rights.

NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, who had been moving slowly in Atlanta matters, was spurred by the AFL interest and headed on the next plane down to Atlanta to block the rival league's claim on the city of Atlanta.

The Atlanta Falcons franchise began on June 30, 1965 when NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle granted ownership to 41 year-old Rankin Smith Sr .. Smith an Executive Vice President of Life Insurance Company of Georgia at the time, paid $ 8. 5 million the highest price in NFL history at the time 1965 for an NFL franchise.

Sanders was also famous for playing on major league baseball teams ( the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves ) while simultaneously playing in the NFL.

In the 2001 NFL Draft, the Falcons orchestrated a trade with the San Diego Chargers, acquiring the first overall pick ( which was used on quarterback Michael Vick ) in exchange for wide receiver / return specialist Tim Dwight and the fifth overall pick ( used on running back LaDainian Tomlinson ).

In a special meeting prior to Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans on February 2, 2002, NFL owners voted unanimously to approve the purchase.

The Falcons would go on to lose in the wild-card round of the 2008 NFL playoffs to the eventual NFC champion Arizona Cardinals, 30 – 24.

However, these negotiations came to nothing, since the Bidwills insisted on retaining a controlling interest in the franchise and were unwilling move their team to a city where a previous NFL franchise had failed in 1952.

Walsh directly helped propel Dennis Green into the NFL head coaching ranks by offering to take on the head coaching job at Stanford.

Many former and current NFL head coaches trace their lineage back to Bill Walsh on his coaching tree, shown below.

A 2012 poll on NFL. com rated the 2000 team as the second-greatest NFL team of the Super Bowl Era.

The resulting controversy ended when representatives of Cleveland and the NFL reached a settlement on February 8, 1996.

Before becoming the studio host for The NFL on NBC in 1984, Costas did play-by-play of NFL games with analyst Bob Trumpy.

The proof of Cleveland's mettle came quickly: its NFL regular-season opener was against the two-time defending champion Eagles on September 16 in Philadelphia.

That set up the NFL championship match between the Browns and the Los Angeles Rams a week later in Cleveland, a game the Browns won 30-28 on a last-minute Groza field goal.

The Browns went on to win their third championship game in six NFL seasons, beating the Los Angeles Ram 38 – 14.

On April 3, 2012, it was revealed that the Panthers would not be adopting Nike's " Elite 51 " uniform technology, and that aside from the aforementioned logo change and the league-wide revision of the NFL shield on the uniform ( replacing the NFL Equipment logo ), the uniforms will essentially remain unchanged.

Later shows built a tight theme, sometimes acting as a metaparody — such as the Emmy-winning " Moral Majority " episode where advertisers and special interest groups forced significant changes to SCTV's programming ; " Zontar ", a parody of the Larry Buchanan film Zontar, The Thing from Venus which featured an alien race seeking to kidnap SCTV's on-air talent for " a nine-show cycle plus three best-ofs " ( which was the actual deal NBC worked out with SCTV that season ); and an ambitious parody of The Godfather featuring an all-out network war over pay television between SCTV, CBS, NBC, ABC, and PBS-the last featured mafia-style hits on the sets of The Today Show, Three's Company, and The NFL Today as well as an extended sequence with guest star John Marley as an off-beat Leonard Bernstein, spoofing his Godfather role of Hollywood mogul Jack Woltz.

Bernstein joined CBS Sports in August 1998 as the lead sideline reporter for the NCAA Men's Basketball Championships and as a feature reporter for The NFL Today.

Since signing on with CBS / Westwood One Radio in 2001, Bernstein has often pulled " double duty " during the NFL season, covering a Sunday game for CBS and Monday Night Football for radio.

In addition to her roles with the NFL and college basketball, Bernstein also has covered track and field, horse racing and figure skating for the Network and has hosted the U. S. Open Tennis Championships and the Hambletonian.

Bernstein also served as a sideline reporter for college football on ABC and ESPN with Brad Nessler, Bob Griese and Paul Maguire for the 2006 and 2007 seasons, but announced on her website that she was leaving sideline reporting prior to the 2008 season to concentrate on studio hosting and in-depth reporting duties, including her role as a substitute host for NFL Live, Jim Rome Is Burning, and Outside the Lines.

During the 1998 NFL season, when the show returned, newcomer Bonnie Bernstein joined the both the show and the network.

During the 2004 NFL season, Bonnie Bernstein took over Lesley Visser's spot on the show while taking over Armen Keteyian's spot as the lead sideline reporter for the NFL on CBS teaming up with Nantz and Simms while Keteyian takes over Bernstein's spot on the No. 2 announce team.

Phyllis George was replaced by Miss Ohio USA 1970 Jayne Kennedy from the 1978 to the 1979 NFL season.

* Cortez Kennedy, Former NFL defensive lineman, Pro Football Hall of Fame ( Class of 2012 )

Kennedy lent his voice to the videogame ESPN NFL 2K5 as a celebrity adversary with his own football team, the Upper Darby Cheesesteaks.

The team produced a number of Major League stars including Morris, Dan Haren, Coco Crisp, Adam Kennedy, Aliezer Alfonzo, Skip Schumaker and NFL quarterback Chad Hutchinson.

Brunell signed with the University of Washington out of high school in a highly touted recruiting class that included future NFL players Lincoln Kennedy and Steve Emtman.

In 1963, Scotti received brief national attention for getting into a brawl with his NFL teammates over the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Cortez Kennedy ( born August 23, 1968 ) is a former NFL defensive tackle who played his entire eleven-season career with the Seattle Seahawks.

On November 24, just two days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the NFL played its normal schedule of games.

" No NFL games were telecast, since on the afternoon of the 22nd, just after the president had been pronounced dead, CBS President Frank Stanton ordered that all regular programming be pre-empted until after Mr. Kennedy was buried.

In previous years, Orgeron was an assistant at the University of Miami, where he coached eight All-Americans, including NFL first rounders Cortez Kennedy, Russell Maryland and Warren Sapp.

He won the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. award for his work with the Georgia Special Olympics and has been named the NFL Man of the Year.

* Allan Kennedy: former NFL player ; San Francisco 49ers

On November 24, just two days after the assassination of President Kennedy, the NFL played its normal schedule of games.

Their current preseason TV announcers on WFLD ( Channel 32 ), which also carries the majority of the team's regular season games through the NFL on Fox, are Sam Rosen ( play-by-play ), Erik Kramer ( color commentary ) and Lou Canellis ( sideline reporter ).

To honor the 40th anniversary of the 1958 NFL Championship, also known as " The Greatest Game Ever Played ", the following participants of that game appeared during the coin toss ceremony: Raymond Berry, Lenny Moore, Jim Parker, Art Donovan, Gino Marchetti, Frank Gifford, Roosevelt Brown, Don Maynard, Sam Huff, and Tom Landry, the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants.

* Sam Ball, Former NFL player

* Sam Mills ( 1959 – 2005 ), NFL Football Player, attended Long Branch High School.

Notable staff included 9 year NFL Veteran John " JT " Turner of the Minnesota Vikings and Sam Adams, 6 time pro bowl defensive tackle who had two Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl ring while playing for the Baltimore Ravens.

Tullahoma High School Alumni include former NFL QB Steve Matthews, former NFL LB Antonio London, Red Sox draft picks OF Tony Sheffield and 3B Sam Melton, 3rd Overall pick in the 2001 MLB draft Dewon Brazelton, former Giants minor leaguer Gary Phillips, former Mariners minor leaguer Marshall Nisbett, 2006 Dodgers 1st round draft pick Bryan Morris, actress Samantha Burton, star of The Sandlot 2, Don " Fast Hands " Felts, world jacks champion and Lawson Binns Jordan, " The Voice of Tullahoma.

Sam Deutsch, a Cleveland jeweler and boxing promoter who also owned a minor-league baseball team, bought an NFL franchise in 1923 and named the team the Indians.

Sean Landeta and Sam Mills both also had successful careers in the NFL.

* Sam Wyche-Former NFL quarterback and head coach ; led Cincinnati Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII

* Sam Silas, NFL Pro-Bowl Selectee

* Sam Bradford ( born 1987 ), NFL quarterback for the St. Louis Rams

* Sam McCullum, ( 1974 ) NFL wide recevier

Bill Walsh, Ken Stabler, Sam Wyche and Otis Sistrunk were among a few players and coaches who would later gain fame in the NFL.

Before the 1979 NFL Draft, Bill Walsh, who was the new coach of the San Francisco 49ers, flew to Morehead State with Assistant Coach Sam Wyche to work out Simms.

Samuel David " Sam " Wyche ( born January 5, 1945 ) is a former American football player and head coach, who is best known as the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL.

Aside from Visser returning to the show, Sam Ryan joined CBS Sports / The NFL Todayas she joined the network in June 2006.

This unit consisting of Rickey Jackson, Sam Mills, Vaughan Johnson, and Pat Swilling became known as one of the best four-man linebacking corps in NFL history.

* NFL on Fox-Joe Buck, Kenny Albert, Thom Brennaman, Dick Stockton, Chris Myers, Ron Pitts, Sam Rosen, Gus Johnson

The Wheels had a decent quarterback in Bubba Wyche ( brother of former NFL quarterback and head coach Sam Wyche ), but little in the way of protection ( Wyche was sacked eleven times in one game ) or receivers.

Sam also calls preseason NFL games for the Chicago Bears and previously did this for the New York Giants for several seasons.