1997 NFL season

The 1997 NFL season was the 78th regular season of the National Football League. The Oilers relocated from Houston, Texas to Nashville, Tennessee. The newly renamed Tennessee Oilers played their home games during this season at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee while construction of a new stadium in Nashville started. Houston would rejoin the NFL with the expansion Texans in 2002.

1997 National Football League season

Regular season
Duration	August 31 – December 22, 1997
Playoffs
Start date	December 27, 1997
AFC Champions	Denver Broncos
NFC Champions	Green Bay Packers
Super Bowl XXXII
Date	January 25, 1998
Site	Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California
Champions	Denver Broncos
Pro Bowl
Date	February 1, 1998
Site	Aloha Stadium
← 1996 NFL seasons 1998 →

Colts

Patriots

Bills

Dolphins

Jets

Bengals

Ravens

Oilers

Steelers

Jaguars

Broncos

Chiefs

Raiders

Chargers

Seahawks

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AFC teams: West, Central, East

Cowboys

Giants

Eagles

Cardinals

Redskins

Bears

Lions

Packers

Vikings

Buccaneers

Falcons

Rams

Saints

49ers

Panthers

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NFC teams: West, Central, East

Due to Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, the Chicago Bears–Miami Dolphins game at Pro Player Stadium was delayed one day to Monday, October 27.

The season ended with Super Bowl XXXII when the Denver Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers 31–24 at Qualcomm Stadium. This broke the National Football Conference's streak of thirteen consecutive Super Bowl victories, the last American Football Conference win having been the Los Angeles Raiders defeating the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII.

Player movement

Transactions

Retirements

• February 1, 1997: Four-time Super Bowl starting quarterback Jim Kelly announces his retirement from the Buffalo Bills. .^[1]

Draft

The 1997 NFL Draft was held from April 19 to 20, 1997 at New York City's Theater at Madison Square Garden. With the first pick, the St. Louis Rams selected offensive tackle Orlando Pace from Ohio State University.

Referee changes

Red Cashion and Howard Roe retired. Bill Carollo and Phil Luckett were promoted to referee.

Major rule changes

• When a team fakes a punt and throws the ball downfield, pass interference will not be called on the two outside defenders who are actually trying to block a coverage man from getting downfield and might not even know the ball has been thrown.
• In order to reduce taunting and excessive celebrations, no player may remove his helmet while on the playing field except during timeouts, between quarters, and in the case of an injury. Violating the rule results in a 15-yard penalty. This is known as the "Emmitt Smith rule" after the Dallas Cowboys' running back's habit of taking his helmet off every time he scored a touchdown.

Preseason

American Bowl

A series of National Football League pre-season exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States. Three were contested in 1997, including the defending Super Bowl XXXI champion Green Bay Packers competing in Toronto.

Date	Winning Team	Score	Losing Team	Score	Stadium	City
July 27, 1997	Pittsburgh Steelers	30	Chicago Bears	17	Croke Park	Dublin
August 4, 1997	Miami Dolphins	38	Denver Broncos	19	Estadio Guillermo Cañedo	Mexico City
August 16, 1997	Green Bay Packers	35	Buffalo Bills	3	SkyDome	Toronto

Hall of Fame Game

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, in which the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28–26, was played on July 26, and held at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, the same city where the league was founded. The 1997 Hall of Fame Class included Mike Haynes, Wellington Mara, Don Shula and Mike Webster.

Regular season

Scheduling formula

Inter-conference AFC East vs NFC Central AFC Central vs NFC East AFC West vs NFC West

Highlights of the 1997 season included:

• Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 27, featuring the Chicago Bears at Detroit and the Tennessee Oilers at Dallas, with Detroit and Tennessee winning.

Final standings

AFC East view talk edit W L T PCT PF PA STK ^(3) New England Patriots 10 6 0 .625 369 289 W1 ^(6) Miami Dolphins 9 7 0 .563 339 327 L2 New York Jets 9 7 0 .563 348 287 L1 Buffalo Bills 6 10 0 .375 255 367 L3 Indianapolis Colts 3 13 0 .188 313 401 L1 AFC Central view talk edit W L T PCT PF PA STK ^(2) Pittsburgh Steelers 11 5 0 .688 372 307 L1 ^(5) Jacksonville Jaguars 11 5 0 .688 394 318 W2 Tennessee Oilers 8 8 0 .500 333 310 W1 Cincinnati Bengals 7 9 0 .438 355 405 W3 Baltimore Ravens 6 9 1 .406 326 345 L1 AFC West view talk edit W L T PCT PF PA STK ^(1) Kansas City Chiefs 13 3 0 .813 375 232 W6 ^(4) Denver Broncos 12 4 0 .750 472 287 W1 Seattle Seahawks 8 8 0 .500 365 362 W2 Oakland Raiders 4 12 0 .250 324 419 L5 San Diego Chargers 4 12 0 .250 266 425 L8

NFC East view talk edit W L T PCT PF PA STK ^(3) New York Giants 10 5 1 .656 307 265 W3 Washington Redskins 8 7 1 .531 327 289 W1 Philadelphia Eagles 6 9 1 .406 317 372 L3 Dallas Cowboys 6 10 0 .375 304 314 L5 Arizona Cardinals 4 12 0 .250 283 379 W1 NFC Central view talk edit W L T PCT PF PA STK ^(2) Green Bay Packers 13 3 0 .813 422 282 W5 ^(4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 6 0 .625 299 263 W1 ^(5) Detroit Lions 9 7 0 .563 379 306 W2 ^(6) Minnesota Vikings 9 7 0 .563 354 359 W1 Chicago Bears 4 12 0 .250 263 421 L1 NFC West view talk edit W L T PCT PF PA STK ^(1) San Francisco 49ers 13 3 0 .813 375 265 L1 Carolina Panthers 7 9 0 .438 265 314 L2 Atlanta Falcons 7 9 0 .438 320 361 L1 New Orleans Saints 6 10 0 .375 237 327 L1 St. Louis Rams 5 11 0 .313 299 359 W1

Tiebreakers

• Miami finished ahead of NY Jets in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
• Pittsburgh finished ahead of Jacksonville in the AFC Central based on better net division points (78 to Jaguars’ 23).
• Oakland finished ahead of San Diego in the AFC West based on better division record (2–6 to Chargers’ 1–7).
• San Francisco was the top NFC playoff seed based on better conference record than Green Bay (11–1 to Packers’ 10–2).
• Detroit finished ahead of Minnesota in the NFC Central based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
• Carolina finished ahead of Atlanta in the NFC West based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).

Playoffs

Main article: 1997–98 NFL playoffs

	Dec 28 – Houlihan's Stadium					Jan 4 – Lambeau Field
	5	Detroit	10
						4	Tampa Bay	7
	4	Tampa Bay	20								Jan 11 – 3Com Park
						2	Green Bay	21
						NFC
	Dec 27 – Giants Stadium										2	Green Bay	23
						Jan 3 – 3Com Park
											1	San Francisco	10
	6	Minnesota	23								NFC Championship
						6	Minnesota	22
	3	NY Giants	22													Jan 25 – Qualcomm Stadium
						1	San Francisco	38
	Wild Card playoffs
						Divisional playoffs
	Dec 27 – Mile High Stadium															N2	Green Bay	24
						Jan 4 – Arrowhead Stadium
																A4	Denver	31
	5	Jacksonville	17													Super Bowl XXXII
						4	Denver	14
	4	Denver	42								Jan 11 – Three Rivers Stadium
						1	Kansas City	10
						AFC
	Dec 28 – Foxboro Stadium										4	Denver	24
						Jan 3 – Three Rivers Stadium
											2	Pittsburgh	21
	6	Miami	3								AFC Championship
						3	New England	6
	3	New England	17
						2	Pittsburgh	7

This box:

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Statistical leaders

Team

Points scored	Denver Broncos (472)
Total yards gained	Denver Broncos (5,872)
Yards rushing	Pittsburgh Steelers (2,479)
Yards passing	Seattle Seahawks (3,959)
Fewest points allowed	Kansas City Chiefs (232)
Fewest total yards allowed	San Francisco 49ers (4,013)
Fewest rushing yards allowed	Pittsburgh Steelers (1,318)
Fewest passing yards allowed	Dallas Cowboys (2,522)

Individual

Scoring	Mike Hollis, Jacksonville (134 points)
Touchdowns	Karim Abdul-Jabbar, Miami (16 TDs)
Most field goals made	Richie Cunningham, Dallas (34 FGs)
Rushing yards	Barry Sanders, Detroit, (2,053 yards)
Passer rating	Steve Young, San Francisco (104.7 rating)
Passing yards	Jeff George, Oakland (3,917 yards)
Passing touchdowns	Brett Favre, Green Bay (35 TDs)
Receptions	Tim Brown, Oakland and Herman Moore, Detroit (104 catches)
Receiving yards	Rob Moore, Arizona (1,584)
Receiving touchdowns	Cris Carter, Minnesota (13)
Punt returns	Jermaine Lewis, Baltimore (15.6 average yards)
Kickoff returns	Michael Bates, Carolina (27.3 average yards)
Interceptions	Ryan McNeil, St. Louis (9)
Punting	Mark Royals, New Orleans (45.9 average yards)
Sacks	John Randle, Minnesota (15.5)

Awards

Most Valuable Players	Brett Favre, quarterback, Green Bay and Barry Sanders, running back, Detroit
Coach of the Year	Jim Fassel, New York Giants
Offensive Player of the Year	Barry Sanders, running back, Detroit
Defensive Player of the Year	Dana Stubblefield, defensive tackle, San Francisco
Offensive Rookie of the Year	Warrick Dunn, running back, Tampa Bay
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Peter Boulware, linebacker, Baltimore
NFL Comeback Player of the Year	Robert Brooks, wide receiver, Green Bay
NFL Man of the Year	Troy Aikman, quarterback, Dallas
Super Bowl Most Valuable Player	Terrell Davis, running back, Denver

Players of the Month

AFC

1997	Offensive	Defensive	Special Teams
September	RB – Terrell Davis, Denver	LB – Chris Slade, New England	K – Matt Stover, Baltimore
October	RB – Jerome Bettis, Pittsburgh	DE – Bruce Smith, Buffalo	K – Greg Davis, San Diego
November	QB – John Elway, Denver	S – Jerome Woods, Kansas City	WR-PR – Eric Metcalf, San Diego
December	WR – Keenan McCardell, Jacksonville	LB – Derrick Thomas, Kansas City	K – Pete Stoyanovich, Kansas City

NFC

1997	Offensive	Defensive	Special Teams
September	WR – Jake Reed, Minnesota	DT – Warren Sapp, Tampa Bay	K – Richie Cunningham, Dallas
October	RB – Barry Sanders, Detroit	DT – John Randle, Minnesota	P – Matt Turk, Washington
November	RB – Barry Sanders, Detroit	DT – Dana Stubblefield, San Francisco	K – Doug Brien, New Orleans
December	RB – Barry Sanders, Detroit	CB – Jason Sehorn, New York Giants	RB-KR – Byron Hanspard, Atlanta

Coaching changes

• St. Louis Rams – Dick Vermeil; replaced Rich Brooks who was fired after the 1996 season.
• New Orleans Saints – Mike Ditka; replaced interim head coach Rick Venturi who replaced the resigning Jim Mora that same year.
• New York Giants – Jim Fassel; replaced Dan Reeves who was fired after the 1996 season.
• Atlanta Falcons – Dan Reeves; replaced June Jones who was fired after the 1996 season.
• New York Jets – Bill Parcells; replaced Rich Kotite who was fired after the 1996 season.
• Detroit Lions – Bobby Ross; replaced Wayne Fontes who was fired after the 1996 season.
• San Francisco 49ers – Steve Mariucci; replaced George Seifert who resigned after the 1996 season.
• New England Patriots – Pete Carroll; replaced Bill Parcells who accepted the job to coach the Jets.
• Oakland Raiders – Joe Bugel; replaced Mike White who was fired after the 1996 season.
• San Diego Chargers – Kevin Gilbride; replaced Bobby Ross who resigned after the 1996 season.

Stadium changes

• Jacksonville Jaguars: Jacksonville Municipal Stadium was renamed Alltel Stadium after the communications company Alltel acquired the naming rights
• San Diego Chargers: Jack Murphy Stadium was renamed Qualcomm Stadium after the tech company Qualcomm acquired the naming rights
• Tennessee Oilers: The relocated Oilers moved from Houston's Astrodome to the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis
• Washington Redskins: The Redskins moved from RFK Stadium to Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in the Maryland suburbs, named in memory of team owner Jack Kent Cooke

New uniforms

• The Atlanta Falcons added new striping on pants, and switched from black to red numbers on the white jerseys.
• The Baltimore Ravens switched to a new numbers style with shadows in the back. White pants were worn with their purple jerseys instead of black pants.
• The Cincinnati Bengals started to use a brighter shade of orange on their uniforms. A secondary logo featuring a leaping tiger was added to the jersey sleeves, and another secondary logo with Bengal's head was also introduced.
• The Denver Broncos introduced new uniforms, changing their primary color from orange to navy blue, and their royal blue helmets to navy blue. The design featured a streak running down the sides of both the jerseys and the pants: orange on the blue jerseys and blue on the white jerseys. The "D" logo with the horse coming out of it was retired in favor of a horse head with blue outlines and an orange mane.
• The Green Bay Packers reduced the number of stripes on the arm sleeves from five to three.
• The Jacksonville Jaguars switched from block numbers to a new style font, and added black side panels to the jerseys.
• Miami Dolphins introduced new uniforms featuring a darker shade of aqua and new shadows in the numbers. The dolphin in the helmet logo was also darkened and resigned to give it a more serious expression.
• The New York Jets discontinued wearing green pants with their white jerseys, and wore white pants for all games regardless of their jersey.
• The Pittsburgh Steelers switched from block to rounded numbers on the jerseys, matching the number font on the back of their helmets. A Steelers logo patch was also added to the left side of all jerseys, as an alternative to "fixing" the traditional "missing" logo on the helmet's right side. To celebrate the team's 75th anniversary season, the Steelers introduced 1960s-era throwback uniforms with black jerseys, gold numbers and helmets, and white pants.
• The Philadelphia Eagles added the eagles head logo to the white jersey sleeves (they only did it to the green jerseys in 1996)
• The San Diego Chargers wore white pants instead of navy blue with their white jerseys.
• The San Francisco 49ers removed the gold trim on nameplates to just plain black.
• The Tampa Bay Buccaneers introduced new uniforms, changing their primary color from orange to red, and their white helmets and pants to pewter. Black and orange became trim colors. They also replaced the "Bucco Bruce" helmet logo with a red wind-swept flag featuring a white pirate skull and crossed sabres similar to a Jolly Roger.
• The relocated Tennessee Oilers began wearing an alternative logo on the left side of all jerseys that combined their oil rig derrick logo with elements from the flag of Tennessee.

Television

This was the fourth and final year under the league's four-year broadcast contracts with ABC, Fox, NBC, TNT, and ESPN. ABC, Fox, and NBC continued to televise Monday Night Football, the NFC package, the AFC package, respectively. Sunday night games aired on TNT during the first half of the season, and ESPN during the second half of the season. This was the last season to date that TNT broadcast NFL games, as well as the last for NBC until 2006. When the new TV contracts were signed near the end of the season, Fox retained the NFC package, NFL on CBS took over the AFC package, and ESPN won the right to televise all of the Sunday night games.

With Mike Ditka becoming the new head coach of the New Orleans Saints, Sam Wyche was named to replace him on The NFL on NBC pregame show. NBC fired Marv Albert following Week 3 due to sexual assault charges against him; Tom Hammond replaced Albert as the network's #2 play-by-play announcer.

For TNT's final season, Mark May joined Verne Lundquist and Pat Haden in a three-man booth.

External links

• Football Outsiders 1997 DVOA Ratings and Commentary

References

1. "Kelly retires from the Bills after 11 Years". Kelly Retires From the Bills After 11 Years - By The Associated Press. Retrieved December 3, 2020.

• "The Official national Football League: 1998 Record and Fact Book." Workman Publishing Co. New York. July 1998.
• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1991–2000 (Last accessed October 17, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
• (Last accessed October 17, 2005)