Image: peepo / E+ / Getty Images
About This Quiz
Tracing the origins of NFL football is difficult because it grew from the same games that birthed soccer, rugby and different types of football around the world. They all stem around possessing, scoring and stealing a ball.Â
During the Roman Empire, athletes played a game called harpastum, which translates to "carried away" and "to seize, to snatch." Before that the Ancient Greeks played a game called episkyros and before that Ancient Chinese played Cuju. All over the world - from Native Americans in Virginia to indigenous tribes in Australia to Inuit in Greenland - people have played football for centuries. The first person to ever stand among a mob of people with a ball sparked a game of keep-away that started it all. There was a time when if you were walking home with the last loaf of bread, you would start a village vs. village game of football.Â
By the 19th century Americans began perfecting their own version of the game. It was much less violent and much more organized, but it was still pretty violent and not too organized. The first college game was played between Rutgers and Princeton and it looked nothing like today's game: Throwing and passing weren't allowed. Rutgers won 6-4 and shortly after, Yale student Walter Camp began suggesting changes to the game. It wasn't long before people began getting paid to play and the NFL was inevitable. Today the NFL is the most popular sports league in America and generates billions of dollars a year. The Super Bowl is one of the most-watched TV programs every year and the league's stars are some of the biggest in the world. Let's see what you know about the NFL.
The NFL was the third of the major sports leagues to be founded. When was it created?
1920
The NFL was founded in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA). Representatives from Ohio football teams met in Canton multiple times to discuss and finalize the league's formation. The league was renamed to the National Football League in 1922.
1899
1946
1917
The first Super Bowl was played in 1967. What team won?
Chicago Bears
Kansas City Chief
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers won the first Super Bowl in 1967--47 years after the league's founding--when they beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10. Coach Vince Lombardi was in his eighth year with the team, and quarterback Bart Starr was an 11-year veteran.
New York Giants
Which of these teams has the fewest Super Bowl wins?
Dallas Cowboys
New England Patriots
Green Bay Packers
The Steelers and the Pats are tied for most Super Bowl wins with six each, and the Cowboys have five. The Packers only have four. They won six championships in the 1960s, but the Super Bowl didn't begin until 1967.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Advertisement
The NFL formed with 10 teams from four states. Which of these teams joined the latest?
Chicago Bears
Arizona Cardinals
Green Bay Packers
Miami Dolphins
There are only two teams in the NFL that have been around since its founding in 1920: the Bears and the Cardinals. The Packers joined a year later but is the oldest franchise that has never moved locations.
What NFL team has the most Super Bowl losses?
Buffalo Bills
New England Patriots
The Patriots (6-5) and the Denver Broncos (3-5) are tied for the most Super Bowl losses in history. The Bills and Vikings each have four losses. The Bills are the only team to make the Super Bowl four times in a row. They lost all four times and have never won.
Minnesota Vikings
Green Bay Packers
There have been several NFL relocations in the past 25 years, but what is the newest NFL team to join the league?
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are the newest team in the NFL, entering the league in 2002. The Ravens joined in 1997 and the Jags and Panthers both joined in 1995. The Texans replaced the Houston Oilers after the Oilers moved to Nashville and became the Tennessee Titans in 1999.
Baltimore Ravens
Carolina Panthers
Tennessee Titans
Advertisement
The coach who has the most career wins also coached the only NFL perfect season. Who is it?
Chuck Noll
Don Shula
Don Shula has the most career wins with 347 wins and 173 losses. He's 71-23 while coaching the Baltimore Colts and 257-133 as head coach for the Miami Dolphins. He also coached the Dolphins to back-to-back Super Bowl wins and the only perfect season in NFL history.
Bill Belichick
Marty Schottenheimer
A dozen teams have won multiple Super Bowls. What team has won the most in a row?
Green Bay Packers
New England Patriots
Dallas Cowboys
All of the above
Seven NFL teams have won two Super Bowls in a row and no team has won three in a row. The Pats and the Cowboys are the only two teams to win three Super Bowls in a four-year stretch. The Patriots also have the most appearances with 11.
How long is a point-after-touchdown kick attempt?
15 yards
33 yards
Until 2015, the extra-point kick after a touchdown was 20 yards from the goal posts. Before the start of the 2015 season it was moved back to 33 yards from the goal posts. The change caused an increase in missed kicks and 2-point conversion attempts.
22 yards
35 yards
Advertisement
What team won Super Bowl X?
Miami Dolphins
Oakland Raiders
Dallas Cowboys
Pittsburgh Steelers
Super Bowl X (10) was held in Miami in 1976 and the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 21-17. The win gave Pittsburgh its second consecutive Super Bowl victory. The team was coached by Chuck Noll.
An NFL football field is 53.3 yards wide. Who has the most career rushing yards?
Barry Sanders
Walter Payton
Emmitt Smith
Emmitt Smith holds the NFL record for most career rushing yards with 18,355 yards over 226 games, mostly for the Dallas Cowboys. He had more than 4,000 carries over that time period. Walter Payton and Barry Sanders round off the top three career leaders.
Jim Brown
A football weighs about one pound. Who has the most career passing yards?
Drew Brees
Drew Brees has the most regular-season career passing yards in NFL history with 74,437 yards and counting. Brady, Manning and Favre all have more than 70,000 passing yards. Brees has played most of his career for the New Orleans Saints.
Peyton Manning
Brett Favre
Tom Brady
Advertisement
Wide receivers are some of the most outspoken players in the league. Do you know who has the most career receiving yards?
Randy Moss
Terrell Owens
Jerry Rice
Jerry Rice has the all-time record for most regular-season receiving yards, with 22,895 yards over 1,549 receptions for an average of 14.8 yards per catch. He played most of his career with the San Francisco 49ers.
Larry Fitzgerald
Who broke Joe Theismann's leg?
Aaron Donald
Junior Seau
Lawrence Taylor
On Non. 18, 1985 New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor sacked Joe Theismann and fractured his leg. The play is considered one of the NFL's most shocking moments and it ended Theismann's NFL career.
Bruce Smith
Who hit on a sideline reporter during a live broadcast?
Joe Namath
In December of 2003, Joe Namath apologized for drinking too much and appearing on television. When ESPN's Suzy Kolber asked him what he thought of the current Jets quarterback, he responded by saying, "I want to kiss you."
Joe Theismann
Terry Bradshaw
Dan Marino
Advertisement
Which of these items has never been used as a prop in a touchdown celebration?
Sharpie
Cellphone
Popcorn
Tiger
Joe Horn infamously pulled a cellphone out of nowhere during a touchdown celebration, and Terrell Owens has used both a Sharpie and a fan's popcorn during his celebrations. He also used a cheerleader's pom-poms. No one has ever celebrated a TD with a tiger.
Four quarterbacks have thrown more than 500 touchdowns. What quarterback has thrown the most interceptions?
Vinny Testaverde
Fran Tarkenton
Brett Favre
From 1991 to 2010, Brett Favre threw 10,169 passes with 6,300 completions, 508 touchdowns and 336 interceptions, which is the most interceptions in NFL history. He has the fourth-most touchdown passes in NFL history.
Dan Marino
What is a catch?
When a player secures the football and lands in bounds
According to Rule 8 Section 1 Articles 3-4 of the NFL rule book, a player must secure the football with his hands or arms and touch the ground in bounds with two feet or any body part aside from his hands to complete a catch.
When a player secures the football and gets one foot in bounds
When a player secures the football and gets two hands down
When a player secures the football and gets one hand in bounds
Advertisement
There are 22 players on the field during an NFL game. How many officials are assigned to each game?
4
5
6
7
NFL games are officiated by a team of seven officials: a line judge, a field judge, a side judge, a back judge, a head linesman, an umpire and a referee. The referee oversees general supervision of the game and has final authority on all calls.
What team won Super Bowl XXV?
Washington Redskins
New York Giants
Super Bowl XXV (25) was played in Tampa, FL in 1991 and the New York Giants beat the Buffalo Bills 20-19. It was the second Super Bowl victory for the Giants and the first of four consecutive Super Bowl losses for the Buffalo Bills.
San Francisco 49ers
Dallas Cowboys
The first NFL ALL-Star Game was played in 1939 on a baseball field. Where was the first Pro Bowl played?
Hawaii
Florida
California
The first Pro Bowl was played in 1951 in Los Angeles. There were multiple All-Star games with players from football leagues in America, but the Pro Bowl wasn't created until 1951. Since 1980, it has been played in Hawaii most of the time.
Texas
Advertisement
Five Super Bowls were named using Arabic numerals. When did the Super Bowl begin using Roman numerals?
Super Bowl X
Super Bowl II
Super Bowl V
The NFL began counting Super Bowls with Roman numerals in Super Bowl V (5). The move was to help differentiate between normal championships and Super Bowls. Super Bowl L was marketed as Super Bowl 50 because ad agencies thought "L" was unattractive.
Super Bowl IV
How many points were scored in the highest-scoring game in NFL history?
101
113
The highest-scoring NFL game of all time happened in 1966 when the Redskins beat the Giants 72-41 for a total of 113 points scored. The Redskins scored 10 touchdowns and a field goal to pull off the accomplishment.
121
129
How can an NFL team score just 1 point?
Safety
Safety on a PAT or 2-pt conversion attempt
Up until 2015, it wasn't possible to score just one point (unless you scored a touchdown) but that changed when the league implemented changes to extra points. Now if a team blocks a PAT - or stops a 2-pt. conversion - and runs it back for a safety, it's worth one point. A normal safety is worth two points.
Field goal
Field goal in the last possession of overtime
Advertisement
Football in America was being played for decades before players began accepting cash. Who was the first professional football player?
Don Hutson
Otto Graham
Jim Brown
William Heffelfinger
William “Pudge†Heffelfinger became the first professional football player in November of 1892 when he was paid to play in a Pittsburgh football game. It was the first time someone had been paid in cash to play in a football game.
The NFL is made up of 32 teams from two conferences. How many divisions are there?
Two
Four
Six
Eight
The NFL is split into two conferences--the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC)--and each conference is divided into four divisions - North, South, East and West - for a total of eight divisions.
The richest NFL team owner is worth $11 billion. What is the minimum salary for an NFL athlete?
$275,000
$1 million
$480,000
The minimum annual salary for a rookie is $480,000. A player who has three years experience command at least $705,000 and a player with seven to nine years of experience commands at least $915,000. The highest-paid players make tens of millions annually.
$800,000
Advertisement
The first Super Bowl was played in 1967. What team has the longest losing streak since then?
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost 26 games in a row from 1976 to 1977. The Chicago Cardinals have the longest losing streak in the pre-Super Bowl era when they lost 29 games in a row from 1943 to 1945. The Cleveland Browns went 0-16 in 2017.
Cleveland Browns
Americans wager billions on the Super Bowl every year. What team was the biggest favorite in Super Bowl history?
New York Giants
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers were 18-point favorites against the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX in 1995. The Baltimore Colts were also 18-point favorites in the third Super Bowl. The Packers were 14-point favorites twice. The Patriots were 14-point underdogs against the St. Louis Rams but they stunned the world and won.
New England Patriots
Green Bay Packers
What team won Super Bowl L?
New England Patriots
Denver Broncos
Super Bowl L (50) was played in 2016 in California and the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers 24-10. Vonn Miller was the MVP of the game and Peyton Manning played the last game of his hall-of-fame career.
Philadelphia Eagles
New York Giants
Advertisement
There have been 12 teams that have never won a Super Bowl, but how many teams have never been to a Super Bowl?
0
2
4
There are four NFL teams that have never been to the Super Bowl: the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars. To their credit, the Texans and Jaguars are fairly new teams.
6
There are hundreds of interceptions thrown every season. Who has thrown the most touchdowns without an interception?
Peyton Manning
Drew Brees
Tom Brady
Aaron Rodgers
In 2018, Aaron Rodgers set the record for most consecutive touchdown passes without an interception with 402 touchdowns. Tom Brady previously held the record when he threw 358 consecutive touchdowns without an interception in 2011.
The largest comeback in a Super Bowl is 25 points. What is the largest comeback ever in an NFL game?
32 points
In the 1992 AFC Wild Card game, the Buffallo Bills trailed the Houston Oilers 35-3 in the third quarter. The Bills scored 32 points to force overtime and eventually win. The biggest comeback in Super Bowl history was when the Patriots trailed the Falcons 28-3 in the third quarter and came back to win.
44 points
25 points
47 points
Advertisement
Overtime rules are being modified all the time. What is the lowest-scoring NFL game ever?
13-3
0-0
The lowest scoring game in the history of the NFL occurred in November of 1947 when the Detroit Lions tied the New York Giants 0-0. It was the first and the last scoreless tie in NFL history. The lowest scoring Super Bowl was when the Pats beat the Rams 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII.
2-0
3-0
How much did a 30-second commercial cost during the 2019 Super Bowl?
$4.5 million
$5.25 million
The average cost for a 30-second Super Bowl commercial in 2019 was $5.25 million. The game had an estimated 113 million U.S. viewers but was the lowest scoring Super Bowl and one of the most boring games in Super Bowl history.
$8.75 million
$10 million
You Got:
/35
peepo / E+ / Getty Images