The NFL has now completed 101 seasons, which is plenty of time for crazy things to happen. Across the decades we’ve seen incredible feats and incredible follies, and moments of all varieties, both the most peculiar and the most pedestrian. The NFL truly has produced it all, from classic plays like The Catch to infamous ones like The Double Doink, if you look deep enough into NFL history, there’s almost nothing you can’t find.
NFL history can thus be regarded as nothing short of a goldmine of possibilities that have actually come to pass. With such a vast library of occurrences, what better time than the dullest part of the offseason to look back and recount 20 of the strangest NFL facts of all time.
20 strangest NFL facts of all time
20. The Chicago Bears have never had a 4,000 yard passer
In the high-flying offenses of the modern age, this is particularly shocking. Sure, the Bears haven't had a truly elite quarterback since Sid Luckman in the 1940s, but even teams who share in that pain, like the Cleveland Browns, for instance, have at least one. The New York Jets, as another example, only have one, it is Joe Namath's 1967 campaign in the AFL, which was literally the first time anyone ever hit 4,000 yards.
There have been solid seasons under center in the Windy City no doubt, from Jim McMahon, Rex Grossman, Jay Cutler, and others, but none have cracked the elusive 4,000-yard barrier. Both Erik Kramer in 1995 and Cutler in 2014 came within 200 yards, and in fact, Cutler eclipsed 3,000 yards five times in Chicago, but none have gotten past that threshold to date, but perhaps Justin Fields offers hope on the horizon.
19. An NFL commissioner once died in the stands during a game
To set the scene, it was October 11th, 1959, at Philadelphia's Franklin Field. NFL Commissioner Bert Bell was in attendance for a frankly meaningless game between the Eagles and Steelers, two teams he owned before becoming commissioner. Now before I tell this next part of the story, researching this leaves an unclear order of events, so I'll just present them together. Late in the fourth quarter, the Eagles' Norm Van Brocklin found Tommy MacDonald in the end zone to seal the game, and Bell suffered a fatal heart attack in the stands. Some accounts have the touchdown causing Bell's heart attack, while others have the inverse, where the frantic crowd reaction may have distracted the Steelers' defense just enough to allow the touchdown.
Either way, this was the tragic death of a true pioneer of the game, as Bell is the reason for the draft existing today. After his death, a certain Pete Rozelle was elected commissioner, and the NFL was never the same.
18. The Detroit Lions have had two separate stretches of 30 years without a playoff win
In 1957, the Lions took home their third NFL Championship of the decade behind the heroics of quarterback Bobby Layne. The next year, when the Lions traded Layne to Pittsburgh, he reportedly said that the Lions wouldn't win another championship for 50 years. It's been 65 years since that alleged comment, and the Lions haven't come particularly close. In fact, they would only make the playoffs three times over the next 30 years, going one and done each time.
They finally nixed the first streak in 1991 after 34 years, but it's been 31 years since and there hasn't been a single playoff win to show for it despite eight trips to the postseason, most notably making the playoffs five times between 1993-1999 without a victory.
17. Since its creation, every NFC South team has both finished last in the division, and appeared in at least one Super Bowl
Volatility is the name of the game in the NFC South. Typically divisions undergo periods of dominance, such as the recent run of six AFC West titles by the Kansas City Chiefs preceded by five from the Denver Broncos, but that doesn't seem to be the case in the NFC South. While yes, that may be changing, with the New Orleans Saints winning four straight from 2017-2020, it's still remarkable the parity in the division.
The Buccaneers of course reached Super Bowls XXXVII and LV in 2002 and 2020 respectively., winning both. For the Falcons, it's a lone loss in Super Bowl LI back in 2016. The Panthers fell short in both Super Bowl XXXVIII and Super Bowl 50 in 2015, while the Saints triumphed in their lone trip to the Super Bowl to date, Super Bowl XLIV in 2009.
16. The New York Jets have never beaten the Philadelphia Eagles
Both these teams have been around for ages, but only first met after the AFL/NFL merger in 1973. Since then, nature's mortal enemies, Jets and Birds, have played twelve times, most recently two of the last three seasons in 2019 and 2021. The Eagles have won all twelve of those games. This includes five trips to the Big Apple, five wins by at least two scores, and two victories by a single point.
Gang Green will get their next opportunity to break this curse in 2023, but if they can't get it done then, it will have been 50 years of meetings without a single win for the Jets.
15. The Cowboys had never won a game in Lambeau Field until 2008
Over the decades, the matchups between these two historic franchises often met the reputation of both squads. The first encounter between the two coincidentally came in 1960 at Lambeau Field, so that's our starting point. It took until the Cowboys' tenth trip to the frozen tundra in 2008 to grab a victory, in Week 3 of Aaron Rodgers' first season as the starter in Green Bay.
Since then the Cowboys have played in Green Bay five times, winning just one more time. For a franchise as storied as the Cowboys, to have an Achilles heel as they seem to with Lambeau is surprising.
14. The Cardinals didn't win in Green Bay between 1947 and 2018
Sticking with the mystique of Lambeau Field, and sticking with historic franchises, another surprising NFC streak is the Cardinals' long woes playing in Green Bay. These two teams have been facing off since the very infancy of the NFL, first meeting when the league was still known as the APFA, all the way back in the times of flappers and the Charleston in 1921. In fact, the Cardinals only won in Green Bay a paltry six times before 1947, and it would take them a very long time after to repeat that trick.
The Cardinals, in fact, have relocated more times since that October afternoon in 1947, than they have picked up wins on the frozen tundra. Long stretches in Chicago, St. Louis, and Arizona proved unfruitful until the then 2-9 Cardinals walked into Lambeau Field, led by Josh Rosen and a team that would finish rock bottom of the NFL. Rosen and head coach Steve Wilkes would both be replaced the following season, but the streak died that day. Congratulations, Arizona, now you only have to end the other painful streak you started in 1947, your championship drought.
13. Sammy Baugh once threw four touchdown passes as a QB, had an 81 yard punt, and caught four interceptions as a DB in the same game
In the same 1943 season that “Slingin'” Sammy Baugh would lead the league in both categories for Washington, as well as punting average Sammy Baugh accomplished a feat unimaginable by today's standards. Of course, long gone are the days of the iron man two-way player, though occasionally we do still see defensive players lining up on offense, or receivers lining up in Hail Mary defense. Aided by roster depletions due to World War II, Baugh would play quarterback, defensive back and punter that season, and he put it all together on November 14th, 1943. The Detroit Lions came to town, and Baugh bossed the game, with four scoring passes, four interceptions, and even an 81-yard punt en route to a 42-20 victory.
12. Walter Payton only won a single rushing title in his career
Thought of as the best running back of his generation, and by some as the greatest running back of all time, Sweetness only actually ever topped the NFL's rushing charts once in his career, in just his third season, 1977. That year, Payton would also pick up MVP and Offensive Player of the Year honors, but to think that a player who for quite some time held the NFL all-time rushing record only led the single-season rankings once is frankly astounding.
11. The youngest Hall Of Fame inductee was 34 when he was enshrined
Only playing seven seasons between 1965-1971, the Kansas Comet, Gale Sayers was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1977 at just 34 years old. Injuries kept the late Sayers from prolonging his playing days, but the voters in Canton clearly recognized what everyone knew about him, and that's that he was the most electric man with a football in his hands in the world when he was on the field. Sayers led the league in rushing twice, in 1966 and 1969, and finished with four Pro Bowls and five First-Team All-Pro nods. Few had better to say about him as a player than George Halas, and that speaks volumes.
10. College juniors weren't draft-eligible until 1990
It's now a foregone conclusion that college football's best players will depart for the professional ranks after their third year of school, with juniors and redshirt sophomores a common sight among the early picks in the draft nowadays. However, until 1990, four years in college was the minimum to be eligible for the draft. This is what allowed for such things as Archie Griffin winning back-to-back Heisman trophies at Ohio State, or the increased number of dynasties. When you had a full four years to work with a squad, stability was at a premium. Now, with the transfer portal, NIL money and eligibility differences, the game is completely different.
It was a change that benefitted the NFL much more than colleges, but one that nonetheless forever altered football.
9. A kicker once won MVP
The year was 1982. Hair was big, and so was the list of NFL players striking for better treatment by owners. In the strike-shortened campaign, the standout player was a kicker! Imagine if that happened today, say Justin Tucker won MVP. Sure, hitting 95% of his field goals, including a few clutch ones in the context of Washington's season was great, but it's still fundamentally odd for a kicker of all people to win MVP. Feel free to pinch yourself if necessary.
8. From 1960-1969, the NFL had a third-place game
As the AFL burst onto the scene in 1960, Pete Rozelle devised something to keep eyeballs on the NFL for as long as possible. To celebrate the life and career of the aforementioned Bert Bell who had recently passed, the NFL set up the “Bert Bell Benefit Bowl”, which, first try saying that five times fast, but back to the point, the Benefit Bowl pitted the two conference runners up against one another for third place.
Plenty of the best teams of the era played in the game, and they all hated it, from Vince Lombardi, who used words I won't repeat here to describe it, to All-Pro defensive lineman Roger Brown, who played in half of the ten Benefit Bowls between his time in Detroit and Los Angeles. Honestly, the fact that the Lions hold the most Benefit Bowl victories should tell you something about the game itself.
7. The Washington Commanders haven't shut another team out since 1991
Despite having a fair amount of success over the past 30 years, the now Commanders haven't held a team scoreless since September 30th, 1991. It was a 23-0 defeat of the division-rival Eagles, and it actually marked the third shutout Washington had earned in the first five weeks of that season. They'd also grabbed one in each of the previous two seasons as well, which makes this gargantuan streak of nearly 500 games all the more puzzling. Sure, other teams have had long stretches without a shutout, such as the Titans getting a shutout against the Giants in 2018, nearly 18 years to the day after their previous one, but 30 years is honestly impressive. Despite undoubtedly playing some of the worst teams in the league, including the 0-16 2008 Detroit Lions (honestly it's not personal Lions fans, you guys just keep showing up in these for some reason), Washington is still without a shutout since George H.W. Bush was President.
6. The first player to catch an NFL pass from Brett Favre was Brett Favre
September 13, 1992. It was Favre's first year in Green Bay, and his first completed pass went to a receiver he trusts more than any other on the planet. Himself. On a rollout bootleg, Favre's pass went straight off a Tampa Bay Buccaneer helmet and right back into his own hands for a seven-yard loss. Favre actually caught a second pass from himself, in 2009 for a two-yard loss as a Minnesota Viking. The only other player in NFL history to catch a pass after the age of 40? Jerry Rice.
5. The NFL integrated twice
In the NFL's maiden season in 1920, two black players, Fritz Pollard of the Akron Pros and Bobby Marshall of the Rock Island Independents became the first African-American players to play in the league. Pro football as a whole first integrated with the Shelby Blues' Charles Follis in 1904, but it was the NFL that of course stuck in the American conscious. The NFL segregated entirely in 1933, and it wouldn't be until the freshly relocated Los Angeles Rams signed Kenny Washington and Woody Strode to re-integrate the NFL. That same season, the team that replaced the Rams in Cleveland, the Browns, signed Marion Motley and Bill Willis to contracts with them competing in the AAFC, which would merge with the NFL in 1950.
4. The New England Patriots were almost named the Bay State Patriots
When the Patriots moved from Boston to Foxborough, ownership wanted a name more representative of the entire region as opposed to just Boston. The first name proposed to the league was not New England, but rather Bay State. However, ownership presented it shortened as the BS Patriots, which… I'm sure you can see why the NFL was not too fond of that. Thus, the New England Patriots were born, and the rest is history.
3. The season ticket waitlist in Green Bay is well over 1,000 years long
One final mention of the frozen tundra in Green Bay, and it's a testament to their impressive fanbase. If you were to apply for season tickets right now, you wouldn't be given the opportunity to purchase them for a full millennium and then some. This is all assuming the human race hasn't been totally wiped out, the Packers are still in Green Bay, and that Lambeau Field is still standing.
What a nice Christmas gift for your great-great-great-great-great-great… you get the point.
2. The Houston Oilers have won their division more recently than the Cleveland Browns
What a true honor it is to be able to describe the utter misery inflicted upon the city of Cleveland by the Browns for the past 30 years in such a fashion. The Browns last won the AFC Central in 1988, and since then, the Houston Oilers won the division twice, in 1991 and 1993, packed up and moved to Tennessee in 1996, changed their name in 1999, won the AFC Central again in 2000 as the Titans, all before divisional re-alignment sent the Titans to the AFC South in 2002. Since then, the new AFC North has been won by all three of the Bengals, Ravens and Steelers at least five times without a single division title to speak of in Cleveland.
1. Doug Williams has as many Super Bowl touchdown passes as the Denver Broncos
Yes, do not scratch your eyes, I promise you read that right. Of course everyone remembers Doug Williams' heroic performance in Super Bowl XXII, throwing four touchdowns in a blowout victory that wrote his name into NFL history. His opponent that fateful day, the Broncos, were making their second Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, and their second in succession.
In total, to date the Broncos have reached the Super Bowl eight times, and have the same number of touchdown passes as Doug Williams hung on them that February afternoon in 1988. Despite boasting three Lombardi Trophies and a quarterbacks list including legends of the game John Elway and Peyton Manning, it remains one of the most staggering stats in NFL history that the Broncos average a touchdown pass every other Super Bowl appearance. It's happy coincidence that Doug Williams put that same number on them as well.
Follow Us
Subscribe