Selected I
History of Football · 01
The Leagues
From the APFA's auto-showroom founding to the merger — who survived and why.
→The record of the American game — how the leagues, the rules, and the numbers got this way.
The American game's record, kept honestly
How the leagues formed, why the rules changed, and what the record book actually says — sourced from the primary record.
From 1869 to the seventeen-game season
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Selected II
History of Football · 02
The Rules
Why the rulebook reads the way it does, one change at a time.
Selected III
History of Football · 03
The Records
Era-labeled records — including the ones that can never fall.
— Hover to preview.
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From the blog
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Best Running Back in NFL History: An Era-Aware Ranking
Jim Brown leads our ranking of the greatest NFL running backs, with the cases for Payton, Sanders and Smith—and the era differences that matter.
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Who Has the Most Super Bowl Rings? Players and Coaches
Compare Tom Brady’s seven Super Bowl rings with Bill Belichick’s eight, see every winning season, and learn why player and coaching records differ.
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NFL Single-Season Rushing Records: Dickerson and the 2,000-Yard Club
Eric Dickerson holds the NFL season rushing record with 2,105 yards. Compare the top seasons, touchdowns, rookie marks and 14- to 17-game schedules.
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