76Terry Bradshaw
Terry Bradshaw (NFL QB for the Pittsburgh Steelers) only got to start in college when the incumbent starter, Phil Robertson, decided to forgo his senior season in order to pursue other interests. Robertson would go on to create the Duck Commander Company and later star on Duck Dynasty.
77. The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only team to win the Super Bowl with a perfect season. There's an urban legend that every season, whenever the last remaining undefeated NFL team loses its first game, all surviving members of the '72 Dolphins open bottles of champagne in celebration.
78. 52% of retired NFL players used prescription painkillers during football games, 3/4ths of that said they abused them. 63% said the pills came from a non-medical source.
79. To supplement his income while playing in the NFL, Terry Crews would paint his fellow teammates' portraits.
80. As of September 2015, 96% of NFL players had Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) based on postmortem brain studies.
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15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
81Brain damage
The NFL stopped a $16 million study into the football and brain damage connection because they didn't approve of the doctor conducting it, despite giving an unrestricted $30 million to the NIH to fund the research
82. NFL commentator John Madden has a fear of flying and instead uses coach buses to travel the country. He once loaned his personal bus to former ice skating champion Peggy Fleming, whose flight from NYC to her home in Los Gatos, CA had been grounded after the 9/11 attacks.
83. The first African American NFL player (Kenny Washington) and the first African American MLB player (Jackie Robinson), were on the same college football team at the same time.
84. The NFL gives only about 5% of proceeds from its Breast Cancer Awareness month to charity
85. Mark Davis, the owner of the Oakland Raiders NFL team, is worth $500 million but drives a 1997 minivan and carries a 2003 dumbphone. Until recently he ate at Hooters every Tuesday night for $12.99 all-you-can-eat wings. Davis travels to southern California to get his unusual bowl haircut.
86Ed Hochuli
NFL official Ed Hochuli is actually a lawyer who referees football games as a side gig.
87. Former NFL quarterback Todd Marinovich left the league due to his drug problems. He didn't play football for the next eight years until he signed with the Arena Football League. He threw ten touchdowns in his first game back while withdrawing from heroin.
88. Brett Favre played for so long in the NFL that he began publicly talking about retiring in 2002, nine years before officially doing so in 2011. Favre, who entered the league in 1991, became the only active player with a grandchild in 2010.
89. Bill Belichick is the only head coach in the NFL who refuses to have his likeness and name represented in any John Madden Football game.
90. The NFL cannot host games on Fridays or Saturdays until late December as federal law prohibits professional football leagues from competing with college or high school football, which typically host games on those days.
91Football field
The NFL requires football fields to be built either facing north/south or in the shade so the sun doesn't interfere with play.
92. NFL player Brian Bosworth outraged Denver Broncos fans, then sold 10,000 of them 15$ T-shirts that said "Ban the Boz", without them knowing that he was selling them.
93. David Carr admitted in 2006 of deflated footballs and the NFL did nothing.
94. In 1999, NFL player Orlando Brown was hit in the eye by an errant penalty flag and then threw the guilty referee to the ground. He missed 3 seasons due to partial blindness and sued the NFL, settling for a reported $15-20 million.
95. After Pat Tillman turned down a $3.9 million contract in the NFL to join the Army and dying in action, a fellow Ranger did the "Walk for Pat" to raise exactly that amount for his foundation
96Insurance companies
The NFL sued over three dozen insurance companies in an attempt to cover the claims that players made against the league for failing to protect players from brain injury
97. Austin, Texas is the biggest city in the United States without a team in the NBA, MLB, NFL or NHL despite being the 13th most populated city in the country.
98. In 1982 an icy field caused an NFL game to be scoreless into the 4th quarter. With less than 5 minutes left, the home team called a timeout so that a snowplow could clear a small section of field for their kicker. They won 3-0 and snow plows were subsequently banned from NFL games.
99. Former NFL player Al Cowlings, who drove OJ Simpson in the Ford Bronco chase, held a press conference during the murder trial where he announced a $2/minute 900 phone number where he would answer questions on everything other than the murder and trial. He reportedly made over $1 million
100. The NFL only has one female official, Sarah Thomas
74. Being born with no toes is called Symbrachydactyly. “Clubbed Foot” is a completely different medical condition.
The funny part. Arizona was denied the superbowl, yet the NFL did not give their employees MLK day off as they did not recognize it as an official NFL holiday.
I Love your lists but I have to know, Who made twice as much money?
61. NFL Stars: In the 60s and 70s made twice as much money as NFL Stars, signed million dollar contracts…
Oh! My bad. It was supposed to have been this fact:
“In the ’60s and ’70s, professional bowlers were international celebrities who made twice as much money as NFL stars.”
I have corrected it.
dang i remember when Dempsey made that kick i watched that game on tv. if i recall he was also missing part of one of his arms.
High School and Collegiate kickers use a tee, the pros don’t. Thus the difference in length of field goals. Many college kickers can’t make it in the NFL for that very reason.
git a new life