NFL Superbowl History, America's National Pasttime! How did it start? When did it start?

SuperBowl History, NFL and The Super Bowl!

Surprisingly, given the importance of the game, Superbowl history is rather brief: the first Superbowl championship was held in 1967.

Bowl games are nothing new in football, but the Super Bowl elevated the practice to an American sports tradition. It all started as a way for the champions of the two pigskin leagues of the time, the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL), to determine who really was Number One.

Superbowl I, which capped off the 1966 season, took place on January 15, 1967 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Almost 62,000 fans were in the stadium to see Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers teach the Kansas City Chiefs a painful lesson about who was boss, to the tune of 35-10. Millions more watched the super cool new bowl game on TV; and thus a new football tradition was born.

America's real national pastime

Professional football as we know it began in 1920 with the 14-league American Professional Football Association. The APFA became the NFL in 1922, and had no serious competition until 1960, when the fourth AFL became a major power. After years of bitter rivalry, the leagues were forced to broker a merger deal to avoid financial ruin. The merger would be gradual, they decided: for the 1967 season, they'd share a draft and a championship bowl, and by 1970 they would be merged into a single super football league of 26 teams, the NFL. The NFL was still on top, but this AFL seriously influenced the NFL, unlike its predecessors. High-powered passing strategies and end-zone celebrations are its most durable legacies.

The NFL takes all

The NFL absorbed the AFL in 1970; after that, the two "Super Teams" came from the two NFL conferences, the NFC and AFC. Since then, despite the occasional upstart football league that didn't last, the NFL hasn't looked back.

Be sure to catch Superbowl XLI next January, and in the meantime why not bone up on the first 40 games? You'll find plenty of info on every single Super Bowl right here on this Super Site.

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The Changes in the Rules of Football

The rules of football as it is played today have changed from the very first game that was played in 1869.

The two teams that played this first game actually used the rules of rugby and it took seven years for football to develop in its own right.

Over the years some of the rules that have changed in football are:

In 1898, a touchdown changed from four points to five
In 1909, field goal dropped from four points to three
In 1912, a touchdown was increased to six points

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SuperBowl History, NFL and The Super Bowl!

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America's real national pastime

The NFL takes all

Recap of all the Super Bowl Games

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