The 1994 NFL season was the 75th

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. To honor the NFL's 75th season, a special anniversary logo was designed and each player wore a patch on their jerseys with this logo throughout the season. Also, a selection committee of media and league personnel named a special

NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team The National Football League 75th Anniversary All-Time Team was chosen by a selection committee of media and league personnel in 1994 to honor the greatest players of the first 75 years of the National Football League (NFL). Five players on the li ...

, honoring the best NFL players from the first 75 seasons. The Phoenix Cardinals changed their name to

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

in an attempt to widen their appeal to the entire state of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

instead of just the

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

area. The name was initially resisted by team owner

Bill Bidwill William Vogel Bidwill (July 31, 1931 – October 2, 2019) was an American businessman and the owner of the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He had co-owned the team from 1962 for ten seasons with his brother Charles Jr. ...

. This marked the last season until 2016 that the city of Los Angeles had an NFL team and the last one until 2017 that the city had two. Both the

Rams In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)Raiders left the city following the season. The Rams moved east to

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

after being in Los Angeles for 49 years, while the Raiders left after twelve seasons to return to their previous home in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. The Rams eventually returned in 2016 after failing to reach an agreement with St. Louis on a new stadium. The season ended with Super Bowl XXIX when

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

defeated

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

49–26 at

Joe Robbie Stadium Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the University of Miami's NCAA Division I college ...

. This was the first season of the 1990s to not feature the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

in the Super Bowl. This was also the first time in which

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

fell on a Sunday during the regular season. The league established the practice to move most of that weekend's games to the Saturday afternoon of Christmas Eve. Every NFL season afterwards with Christmas Day on a Sunday has followed this same scheduling format. Prior to the 1990 introduction of the

bye week In sport, a bye is the preferential status of a player or team that is automatically advanced to the next round of a tournament, without having to play an opponent in an early round. In knockout (elimination) tournaments they can be granted eit ...

, Christmas had fallen within the postseason. In years in which Christmas was on a Sunday, that weekend's games would be split between Saturday, December 24 and Monday, December 26. The NFL's

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...

was implemented this season.

Player movement

Transactions

*July 21: San Francisco signed quarterback

Bill Musgrave William Scott Musgrave (born November 11, 1967) is an American football coach and former player who is the senior offensive assistant for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He is also a former quarterback, offensive coor ...

*July 21: Indianapolis signed quarterback

Don Majkowski Donald "Majik" Vincent Majkowski (born February 25, 1964) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, and Detroit Lions. College career Following graduation from the F ...

*July 22: Washington signed safety Martin Bayless *July 22: The New York Giants re-signed sign punter

Mike Horan Michael James Horan, AM (born 1 July 1944) is a former Australian politician who represented the seat of Toowoomba South in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 18 May 1991 to 24 March 2012. Originally he was a member of the National P ...

*July 22: The Los Angeles Rams signed running back Johnny Bailey *July 23: Philadelphia signed Defensive End

Greg Townsend Gregory Townsend Sr. (born November 3, 1961) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Raiders in the fourth round of the 1983 NFL Draft. Townsend also played for the Philadelph ...

*July 23 The Los Angeles Raiders signed Tackle Robert Jenkins *July 25: Indianapolis signed linebacker

Scott Radecic J. Scott Radecic (born June 14, 1962) is a former American football linebacker who played twelve seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Graduating from Brentwood High School in 1980, he played college football at Penn State University, ...

*July 25: Miami signed guard

Houston Hoover Houston Roosevelt Hoover (born February 6, 1965) is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) who played for the Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins. He played college football at Jackson S ...

. *July 25: Green Bay signed guard

Guy McIntyre Guy Maurice McIntyre (born February 17, 1961) is a former professional American football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL). He played in three Super Bowls and five Pro Bowls as a member of the San Francisco 49ers. McInty ...

. *July 25: Kansas City signed wide receiver

Sanjay Beach Sanjay Rajiv Beach (born February 21, 1966) is a former American professional football player who played wide receiver for four seasons for the New York Jets, the Green Bay Packers, and the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL ...

. *July 25: Buffalo signed free safety

Mike Dumas Michael Dion Dumas (born March 18, 1969 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a 1987 graduate of Lowell High School, is a former American football player who was selected by the Houston Oilers in the 2nd round (28th overall) of the 1991 NFL Draft. A 6'0", ...

*July 25: San Francisco signed Wide Receiver

Ed McCaffrey Edward Thomas McCaffrey, Jr. (born August 17, 1968) is an American football coach and former wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons. McCaffrey played college football for Stanford University and ea ...

*July 26: Detroit signed Tight End Rodney Holman *July 27 Green Bay signed safety

Mike Prior Michael Robert Prior (born November 14, 1963) is a former American football safety who played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Illinois St ...

*July 30: Arizona signed safety

Andre Waters Andre Maurice Waters (March 10, 1962 – November 20, 2006) was an American professional football player who was a safety for the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) from 1984 to 1995. Waters was ...

*July 30: San Francisco signed running back

Marc Logan Marc Anthony Logan (born May 9, 1965) is a former American football running back that played NCAA D1-A before playing in the NFL. Marc weighs in at 6'0, 228 lbs. Marc attended the University of Kentucky in college wearing the number 25. At Kent ...

*August 31: Minnesota signed punter

Mike Saxon Michael Eric Saxon (born July 10, 1962) is a former American football punter in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at San Diego State University. He won Sup ...

Trades

*April 14, 1994: Houston traded quarterback

Warren Moon Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played professionally for 23 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Edmonton ...

to Minnesota. *April 24, 1994: Minnesota traded defensive end

Chris Doleman Christopher John Doleman (October 16, 1961 – January 28, 2020) was an American professional American football, football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He spent the majority of his career with the Minnesot ...

as a part of a package involving draft picks to Atlanta. *July 12, 1994: Detroit traded safety William White to Kansas City.

Retirements

*January 15: Linebacker Lawrence Taylor announced his retirement. Taylor was a 10-time Pro-Bowler, 10-time All-Pro (eight first-team, two second-team), two time

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

champion ( XXI, XXV), 1981

Defensive Rookie of the Year Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...

, three time Defensive Player of the Year (1981, 1982, 1986), and 1986

NFL MVP The National Football League Most Valuable Player Award (NFL MVP) is an award given by various entities to the American football player who is considered the most valuable in the National Football League (NFL) during the regular season. Organizati ...

. Taylor played for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

his entire 13-year career.

Draft

The 1994 NFL Draft was held from April 24 to 25, 1994. With the first pick, the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

selected defensive tackle

Dan Wilkinson Daniel Raymon Wilkinson (born March 13, 1973) is a former American football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. Nicknamed "Big Daddy", he played college football at Ohio State, where he received co ...

from

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

Major rule changes

A package of changes were adopted to increase offensive production and scoring: *The

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...

after touchdowns is adopted. However, the

defensive two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must ru ...

would not be adopted until the season; instead a two-point conversion automatically was blown dead and ruled as "no good" as soon as the defense gained possession of the ball. *The spot of the kickoff is moved from the 35-yard line to the 30-yard line; this rule change was reverted prior to the season. *The "neutral zone infraction" foul is adopted. A play is automatically dead before the snap when a defensive player enters the neutral zone and causes an offensive player to react. *After a field goal is missed, the defensive team takes possession of the ball at the spot of the kick (instead of at the line of scrimmage) or the 20-yard line, whichever is farther from the goal line. *During field goal attempts and extra point tries, players on the receiving team cannot block below the waist. *The referee shall announce the end of each quarter on his microphone. Prior to 1994, an official (the line judge from 1965 up to 1993) fired a starter's pistol to signal the end of a period.

Preseason

American Bowl

A series of four pre-season games that were held at sites outside the United States. On July 31, the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

defeated

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

at Estadi Olímpic in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. On August 7,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

defeated Kansas City at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. On August 13, the

defeated

Olympiastadion Olympiastadion is the German, Finnish and Swedish word for Olympic Stadium and may refer to: * Stockholm Olympic Stadium, the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics (though mostly referred as simply ''Stockholms Stadion'') * Olympiastadion (Berlin), the ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. On August 15,

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

defeated

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of above sea level. Wit ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

Hall of Fame Game

The

Pro Football Hall of Fame Game The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game is an annual National Football League (NFL) exhibition game in Canton, Ohio, held the weekend of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's induction ceremonies. The game is played at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, part ...

, in which

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

defeated

, was played on July 30 at

Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, formerly Fawcett Stadium, is a football stadium and entertainment complex in Canton, Ohio. It is a major component of ''Hall of Fame Village'', located adjacent to the grounds of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The ...

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...

, the same city where the league was founded. The 1994 Hall of Fame Class included Tony Dorsett, Bud Grant, Jimmy Johnson, Leroy Kelly, Jackie Smith and Randy White.

Regular season

Scheduling formula

Highlights of the 1994 season included: *Shula Bowl: On October 2, Don Shula's

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

defeated his son

David Shula David Donald Shula (born May 28, 1959) is an American football coach and former player. He is the wide receivers coach at Dartmouth College. Shula served as the head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL) from 19 ...

. This marked the first time in NFL history that a head coaching matchup featured father against son. *

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

: Two games were played on Thursday, November 24, featuring Buffalo at

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and Green Bay at

, with Detroit and Dallas winning.

Final standings

Tiebreakers

*Miami finished ahead of New England in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0). *Kansas City finished ahead of L.A. Raiders in the AFC West based on head-to-head sweep (2–0). *Green Bay was the first NFC Wild Card based on best head-to-head record (3–1) vs. Detroit (2–2) and Chicago (1–3) and better conference record (8–4) than the New York Giants (6–6). *Detroit was the second NFC Wild Card based on better division record (4–4) than Chicago (3–5) and head-to-head victory over N.Y. Giants (1–0). *Chicago was the third NFC Wild Card based on better record against common opponents (4–4) than N.Y. Giants (3–5). *New Orleans finished ahead of Atlanta in the NFC West based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).

Playoffs

Statistical leaders

Team

Individual

Awards

Coaching changes

Offseason

Buddy Ryan James David "Buddy" Ryan (February 17, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). During his 35-season coaching career, Ryan served as the head coach of the ...

replaced the fired

Joe Bugel Joseph John Bugel (March 10, 1940 – June 28, 2020) was an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL). For many years, he was acknowledged as the greatest offensive line coach in the league, particularly with the Washington ...

. * Atlanta Falcons:

June Jones June Sheldon Jones III (born February 19, 1953) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the Offensive Coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons. Jones was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa from 1 ...

replaced the fired

Jerry Glanville Jerry Michael Glanville (born October 14, 1941) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Alabama Airborne of Major League Football. He played football at Northern Michigan University in the early 1960s, and is a former NASCAR ...

who became a color commentator for the NFL on Fox prior to the 1994 season. *

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Barry Switzer Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is a former American football coach and player. He served for 16 years as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and four years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football Le ...

replaced Jimmy Johnson, who resigned in March 1994. * New York Jets:

Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head football coach at USC from ...

replaced the fired

Bruce Coslet Bruce Coslet (born August 5, 1946) is a former American college and professional football player and professional football coach. A tight end, he played for the University of the Pacific and in 1969 debuted with the American Football League's C ...

. *

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

Norv Turner Norval Turner (born May 17, 1952) is an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL). An offensive assistant for the majority of his coaching career, he came to prominence as the Dallas Cowboys' offensive coordinator during the ...

replaced the fired

Richie Petitbon Richard Alvin Petitbon (born April 18, 1938) is am American former professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Petitbon first attended Loyola University New Orleans on a track and field scholarship and left afte ...

In-season

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

Jack Pardee John Perry Pardee (April 19, 1936 – April 1, 2013) was an American football linebacker and the only head coach to helm a team in college football, the National Football League (NFL), the United States Football League (USFL), the World Footbal ...

was fired after 10 games and was replaced by

Jeff Fisher Jeffrey Michael Fisher (born February 25, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach and general manager for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL). He is a former cornerback and return specialist. He ...

Stadium changes

This was the final season of selected Green Bay Packers home games in Milwaukee. Recent upgrades to

Lambeau Field Lambeau Field is an outdoor athletic stadium in the north central United States, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The home field of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), it opened in 1957 as City Stadium, replacing ...

started to make it more lucrative for the team to play full-time in Green Bay, while

Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Opened in 1953, it was primarily a baseball park for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Braves and later the Milwaukee Brewers. It was also used for Green Bay Packers f ...

was becoming outdated for football. The home of the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

, the Hoosier Dome, was renamed the RCA Dome after

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

acquired the naming rights The

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

played their first three regular season home games at Husky Stadium because the Kingdome, the Seahawks' regular home field, was undergoing repairs for damaged tiles on its roof. The Seahawks returned to Husky for the 2000 and 2001 seasons while their new stadium was under construction.

Uniforms

Throwback uniforms and games

The league honored its 75th season by having each team wear

throwback uniform Throwback uniforms, throwback jerseys, retro kits or heritage guernseys are sports uniforms styled to resemble the uniforms that a team wore in the past. One-time or limited-time retro uniforms are sometimes produced to be worn by teams in games ...

s during selected games. The designs varied widely in their accuracy; many of them were not completely accurate for a number of reasons: * Although no attempt was made to simulate obsolete leather helmets (which were phased out in the 1950s), teams simulating uniforms from the era of leather headgear (Bears, Cardinals, Lions, Packers, Redskins, Steelers) simply removed all decals and striping from their regular hard-shell helmets. * All jerseys displayed the players' last names on the back, though this practice did not become standard until 1970. * The Buffalo Bills and New York Jets' otherwise accurate throwbacks used different colored helmets than their historic uniforms used, being red and green, respectively, instead of white. The Dallas Cowboys wore their then-current helmets with their throwbacks. The Cowboys and the Bills would later adopt a more accurate representation of their 1960s throwbacks as their alternative uniform, while the Jets would move to a style similar to their throwbacks but with a darker shade of green and green facemasks full-time in 1998. * In some instances the fonts and typestyles used were only approximate matches at best. The San Diego Chargers and

' throwbacks averted this, being completely accurate replications, including typefaces, of their first uniforms in 1960. The Chargers and the Oilers' successors, the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

, wore these throwbacks again for the American Football League's 50th anniversary celebration during the 2009 season. * The Cleveland Browns were the only team to not acquire throwbacks or alter any part of the uniform they had. They passed off their all white uniforms as "1964 throwbacks" to honor the Browns 1964 NFL Championship since with the exception of white facemasks, the 1994 all white uniform were similar in design to the 1964 uniform. Many believe

Art Modell Arthur Bertram Modell (June 23, 1925 – September 6, 2012) was an American businessman, entrepreneur and National Football League team owner. He owned the Cleveland Browns franchise for 35 years and established the Baltimore Ravens franchis ...

did this because of the four NFL Championships (1950, 1954, 1955 and 1964) the 1964 team was the only one that

Paul Brown Paul Eugene Brown (September 7, 1908 – August 5, 1991) was an American football coach and executive in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Brown was both the co-founder and first coach of the Clevela ...

was not the Head Coach of and having throwbacks honoring any of the other Browns Championship Teams would be acknowledging Brown, something Modell would not do because of their antagonistic relationship dating back to when Modell purchased the team. * On-field officials working these throwback games wore

flat cap A flat cap is a rounded cap with a small stiff brim in front, originating in Britain and Ireland. The hat is known in Ireland as a paddy cap; in Scotland as a bunnet; in Wales as a Dai cap; and in the United States as an English cap, Irish ca ...

s similar to the ones that NFL officials wore back in the 1920s, but still had on their regular striped shirts instead of the white dress shirts worn during that era. Some teams occasionally wore their throwbacks in additional games during the season, and the San Francisco 49ers wore them through the Super Bowl. They proved to be so popular that

the New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

followed the lead of the Jets (who went back to their 1960s logo in 1998) and eventually returned to wearing them full-time, with very slight modifications, in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. After the NFL modified its rules to allow teams to wear

alternate jersey A third jersey, alternative jersey, third kit, third sweater or alternative uniform is a jersey or uniform that a sports team can wear instead of its home outfit or its away outfit during games, often when the colors of two competing teams' ot ...

s in 2002, the San Diego Chargers selected their throwbacks as their third uniforms. Instead of wearing their throwbacks in additional games, the

celebrated their back-to-back Super Bowl titles by wearing "Double-Star" white alternative jerseys during Thanksgiving and through the playoffs. Similar to their throwbacks, they had blue sleeves and blue stars on each shoulder, but it was the modern star design with white lines and blue borders.

Wholesale team changes

* The

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

added trim to the nameplates to match the numbers on both regular jerseys: blue trim on the orange jerseys and orange trim on the white jerseys. * The

adopted a new style of numbers on their jerseys: white numbers with orange trim on their aqua jerseys and aqua numbers with orange trim on their white jerseys. * The

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

switched from red to white numbers on their blue jerseys; gray to red facemasks; and a different red-blue design on the pants stripping. * The

adopted a thinner font for their jersey numbers.

Television

This was the first season that the then-eight-year old

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

network televised NFL games, taking over the NFC package from

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

, and ESPN renewed their rights to televise ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, A ...

'', the AFC package, Sunday night games during the first half of the season, and Sunday night games during the second half of the season, respectively. All of these networks signed four-year television contracts through the 1997 season. The league also signed an exclusivity agreement with the new

direct broadcast satellite Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...

(DBS) service

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...

to launch

NFL Sunday Ticket NFL Sunday Ticket is an out-of-market sports package that broadcasts National Football League (NFL) regular season games unavailable on local affiliates. It carries all regional Sunday afternoon games produced by Fox and CBS. The ideal custome ...

, a

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...

subscription service offering every Sunday afternoon regular season NFL game. Fox hired several members from CBS, including its lead broadcast team of

Pat Summerall George Allen "Pat" Summerall (May 10, 1930 – April 16, 2013) was an American football player and television sportscaster who worked for CBS, Fox, and ESPN. In addition to football, he announced major golf and tennis events. Summerall announ ...

and

John Madden John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, who he led to eight pla ...

; and Dick Stockton and

Matt Millen Matthew George Millen (born March 12, 1958) is a former American football linebacker and executive. Millen played 12 years in the National Football League for the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, and Washington Redskins, ...

to serve as Fox's #2 team. For the new ''

Fox NFL Sunday ''Fox NFL Sunday'' is an American sports television program broadcast on the Fox television network. The show debuted on September 4, 1994, and serves as the pre-game show for the network's National Football League (NFL) game telecasts under t ...

'' pregame show, the network hired CBS play-by-play announcer

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

to be the host, and

Terry Bradshaw Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). Since 1994, he has been a television sports analyst an ...

as the show's lead analyst in basically the same role he had on ''

The NFL Today ''The NFL Today'' is an American football television program on CBS that serves as the pre-game show for the network's National Football League (NFL) game telecasts under the ''NFL on CBS'' brand. The program features commentary on the latest ne ...

'' on CBS. The then-recently retired player

Howie Long Howard Matthew Moses Long (born January 6, 1960) is an American sports analyst and former professional football player. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons as a defensive end, spending his entire career with the Raider ...

and head coach Jimmy Johnson also joined ''Fox NFL Sunday''. NBC fired O. J. Simpson after he was charged with murder during the off-season. The network also hired

Greg Gumbel Greg Gumbel (born May 3, 1946) is an American television sportscaster. He is best known for his various assignments for CBS Sports (most notably, the National Football League and NCAA basketball). The older brother of news and sportscaster Brya ...

from CBS to become the new host of '' NFL Live!'', replacing

Jim Lampley James Lampley (born April 8, 1949) is an American sportscaster, news anchor, film producer, and restaurant owner. He was best known as a blow-by-blow announcer on ''HBO World Championship Boxing'' for 30 years. He also had covered a record 14 O ...

Ahmad Rashad Ahmad Rashad (born Robert Earl Moore; November 19, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former professional football player. He was the fourth overall selection of the 1972 NFL Draft, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was known as Bobby Moo ...

became the show's new co-host, while

Joe Gibbs Joe Jackson Gibbs (born November 25, 1940) is an American auto racing team owner and former professional football coach. In football, he was head coach for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1992, and ...

joined

Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College (1986) and the Pro (1988) Football Halls of Fame, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year i ...

as the show's analysts.

External links

Football Outsiders 1994 DVOA Ratings and Commentary

References

*''NFL Record and Fact Book'' ()
NFL History 1991–2000
(Last accessed October 17, 2005) *''Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League'' ()
NFL 75th Anniversary ThrowbacksArchived
2009-10-21) {{DEFAULTSORT:1994 Nfl Season National Football League seasons

1994 in American sports