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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 .
This was the last season to date that TNT broadcast NFL games, as well as the last for NBC until 2006 . When the TV contracts were renewed near the end of the season, Fox retained the National Football Conference package, CBS took over the American Football Conference package and ESPN won the right to televise all of the Sunday night games.
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 Denver Broncos and Tampa Bay Buccaneers both changed their uniforms, and the new uniforms for both teams were introduced during this season.
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 .
Stadiums
Pittsburgh Steelers – New font style numbers to match those on the helmets; Steelers logo patch on uniform.
Baltimore Ravens – New style numbers with shadow in the back; wore white pants with home uniforms.
Cincinnati Bengals – Brighter orange on uniform; new Logo, and Bengals logo on sleeve ends.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – New logo and uniforms; Pewter pants and red home jerseys. Orange was maintained as a pinstripe.
Jacksonville Jaguars – New font style numbers; black side panels on uniforms.
Atlanta Falcons – New Logo; new striping on pants; red numbers with black trim on road uniforms.
San Diego Chargers – White pants with road uniforms.
Denver Broncos – New Logo and uniforms, with navy replacing orange as the primary color.
Miami Dolphins – New Logo with darker aqua; new shadow in the numbers.
Coaching changes
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.
Final regular season standings
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).
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 – James Wood, 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
Playoffs
Statistical leaders
Team
Individual
Scoring
Mike Hollis , Jacksonville (134 points)
Touchdowns
Karim Abdul-Jabbar , Miami (16 TDs)
Most field goals made
Richie Cunningham , Dallas (34 FGs)
Rushing
Barry Sanders , Detroit , (2,053 yards)
Passing
Steve Young , San Francisco (104.7 rating)
Passing touchdowns
Brett Favre , Green Bay (35 TDs)
Pass receiving
Tim Brown , Oakland and Herman Moore , Detroit (104 catches)
Pass receiving yards
Rob Moore , Arizona (1,584)
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
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 .
Coaches
External links
References
Early era (1920–1969)
Modern era (1970–present)Italics indicate future seasons