However, in 1968 the Colts returned with the continued leadership of Unitas and Shula and went onto win the Colts ' third NFL Championship and made an appearance in Super Bowl III.

That first season started with a 94 yard opening kickoff return for a touchdown by John Gilliam ( No other team in NFL history has ever returned a kickoff for a touchdown on its first attempt as a new franchise ), but the Saints lost that game 27 – 13 to the Los Angeles Rams at Tulane Stadium.

In 2002, the Seahawks were returned to the NFC West as part of an NFL realignment plan that gave each conference four balanced divisions of four teams each.

On special teams, Williams returned 18 kickoffs for 749 yards and an NFL record 4 touchdowns, giving him a whopping 41. 1 yards per return average.

This was the last Super Bowl called by Criqui, as NBC Radio lost NFL rights following the season and he returned to his secondary play-by-play role on NBC television.

In particular, ESPN the Magazine's 1999 NFL preview predicted the Rams would be the worst team in the NFL via numerical rating system ; worse even than the Browns who had returned as an expansion team that year.

On special teams, receiver Tony Horne returned 30 kickoffs for 892 yards and 2 touchdowns, giving him an NFL leading 29. 7 yards per return average.

Buck also served as a part-time radio broadcaster for the football Cardinals in 1980 and 1981 ( filling in when regular announcer Dan Kelly was busy doing hockey ), and returned to calling Sunday NFL games for CBS television from 1982 to 1987.

Smith returned to the university during the NFL off-season and completed his bachelor's degree in 1996.

He returned to the university during the NFL off-season to complete his coursework, and graduated with his bachelor's degree in public recreation in May 1996.

* November 23 – Memories of the " Heidi Game " returned to haunt NBC as that network was forced to join Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in progress at the conclusion of an overtime NFL game

He returned to the NFL in 1998 with the Buffalo Bills, where he earned Pro Bowl and NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors.

* October 23 – in a game where the New Orleans Saints beat the Los Angeles Rams 37-34 Robert Bailey of the Rams sets the NFL record for longest punt return ( 103 yards ) and Tyrone Hughes of the Saints sets the NFL single game record for kickoff return yards ( 304 ) and most return yards ( 347 ) and ties the single game record for kickoff returns returned for touchdown ( 2 ).

* On November 4, 2007, Antonio Cromartie of the San Diego Chargers returned a 57-yard field goal attempt, which was short, 109 yards for a touchdown, which became the longest play in NFL history.

The Blues ended their stint in the NFL after the season and returned to being an independent for 1927, playing one season as the Hartford Giants before folding.

After the XFL Avery returned to the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings in 2003.

Modell's move returned the NFL to Baltimore for the first time since the Colts left for Indianapolis after the 1983 season.

The Browns returned to the NFL in 1999 with Lerner, a friend of Modell as well as a minority owner of Modell's original franchise and MBNA CEO and owner, assuming ownership, after Lerner outbid other interested parties for the right to buy the reactivated Browns ' franchise.

After the USFL received only $ 3 in its antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, on which it had staked its survival, the league suspended operations and never returned.

He returned again to the Bears, as a full-time occupation, in 1946 and led them to a fifth NFL championship.

After a two-year hiatus, Parcells returned to the NFL in 1993 as the head coach for the New England Patriots.

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.

In 2005, owner Arthur Blank's $ 10 million investment in the facility's upgrade gave the players a more relaxing environment and, introduced its players to a training-camp style unlike few in the NFL had seen before.

Bidwill, with plans already in the works to leave St. Louis, opted instead to sign a long term lease with Arizona State University to use its Sun Devil Stadium as the home of his soon-to-be Arizona-based NFL franchise.

The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence.

During its final two years of existence, the AFL teams won upset victories over the NFL teams in Super Bowl III and IV, the former New York Jets victory was considered one of the biggest upsets in American sports history.

While the NFL retained its old name and logo, it nevertheless claims the rights to all AFL products and trademarks, including the name and the eagle logo.

Under his watch, the Browns won the AAFC championship in all four years of its existence, including the AAFC's only perfect season in 1948, and continued to succeed after moving to the NFL in 1950.

Cleveland won the league championship in its first NFL season, followed by two more in 1954 and 1955.

These factors – combined with a war for players between the two leagues that raised salaries and ate into owners ' profits – ultimately led to the dissolution of the AAFC and the merger of three of its teams, including the Browns, into the NFL in 1949.

The AAFC proposed match-ups with NFL teams numerous times during its four-year existence, but no inter-league game ever materialized.

Some people suggested Cleveland was at best the dominant team in a minor league, while others were confident of its prospects in the NFL.

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.

The team's national following might best be represented by its NFL record of consecutive home sell-outs.

Though it was not part of the NFL at the time, the All-America Football Conference saw its last drop kick November 28, 1948, when Joe Vetrano of the San Francisco 49ers drop kicked an extra point after a muffed snap against the Cleveland Browns.

The Ohio League, which traced its history to the 1890s, was the predecessor of today's NFL.

In 1958 Baltimore played its first NFL Championship Game against the 10 – 3 New York Giants.

In 1991, the NFL announced plans to add two teams, its first expansion since the 1976 addition of the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The team became the first NFL expansion team to make the playoffs three times in its first four seasons of play.

The Jaguars finished the 1999 season 15 – 3, with all three of their losses coming against the Titans ( the only time in NFL history that a 3-loss team had all of its losses to one team ).

In 1972, the Dolphins completed the NFL's only perfect season culminating in a Super Bowl win, winning all 14 of its regular-season games, both of its NFL playoff games, and also Super Bowl VII.

Then in 1965, a group 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.

Five months later in January 1960, after significant pressure from the NFL, the ownership group, along with Bernie Ridder, reneged on its agreement with the AFL and then was awarded the National Football League's 14th franchise with play to begin in 1961.