National Football League

See the external Professional Football Researchers Association for more "player named" rules, and background information on how these rules came about. Hanukkah begins at sundown on the evening before the date shown. The following is a partial list of rules that were enacted largely based on a single player's exploits on the field. The holiday will end after sundown on December 23. However, in December 2004, Electronic Arts signed a five-year exclusive agreement with the NFL, meaning only Electronic Arts will publish games featuring NFL team and player names. Three candles will be lit after dark on Sunday, and so on for the rest of the week, except for the following Friday, December 22, when the last 8 candles are lit, again shortly before sunset. Prior to the 2005-2006 football season, other NFL games were produced by competing video game publishers, such as 2K Games and Midway Games. Two candles will be lit on Saturday night after dark and the end of Shabbat.

Electronic Arts publishes an NFL video game for current video game consoles and for PCs each year, called Madden NFL, being named after former coach and current football commentator John Madden. For example, in 2006 Gregorian calendars will likely list Hanukkah on Saturday, December 16, but 25 Kislev actually begins at sunset on December 15 and so the first candle will be lit on that Friday evening, shortly before sunset since it is also the start of Shabbat. shifting of franchises from the central city to the suburbs became popular from the 1970s on, though at the turn of the millenium a reverse shift back to the central city became somewhat evident. So, the first day of Hanukkah actually begins at sunset of the day immediately before the date noted on Gregorian calendars. Additionally, with the increasing suburbanization of the U.S. The Jewish day begins at sunset, whereas the Gregorian Calendar begins the day at midnight. Louis, each of which eventually received teams some years after their original franchises left. Hanukkah begins at the 25th day of Kislev and concluding on the 2nd or 3rd day of Tevet (Kislev can have 29 or 30 days).

While owners invariably cited financial difficulties as the primary factor in such moves, many fans bitterly disputed these contentions, especially in Cleveland, Baltimore and St. The dates of Hanukkah are determined by the Hebrew Calendar. Franchise moves became far more controversial in the late 20th century when a vastly more popular NFL, free from financial instability, allowed many franchises to abandon long-held strongholds for perceived financially greener pastures. There were a number of key battles between the Maccabees and the Seleucid Syrian-Greeks:. Franchise mergers were popular during World War II in response to the scarcity of players. But as 'ch' is pronounced differently in English than it is in the traditional Romanisation of Hebrew (which was based upon analogies to German and Latin spelling), and the 'kaf' consonant is part of a long syllable instead of a short one, "Hanukkah" (technically with a small dot under the first 'H,' to show it is pronounced like broad Latin and German 'ch') emerged as an alternative that is more pronounceable to the Anglophone eye. In the early years, the league was not stable and teams moved frequently. Thus, the most accurate transliteration to English is 'Ch(a)n(u)k(a)h'.

In 2003, the NFL lauched its own cable-television channel, the NFL Network. The only standard spelling of Hanukkah is the hebrew five letters - Chet(Ch,H,K) Nun Vav Kaf Hey - plus the vowels, which are not written in advanced Hebrew. The league played a regular-season NFL game in Mexico City in 2005 and intends to play more such games in other countries. As mentioned above, there is a frequent confusion over the many alternative spellings of Hanukkah in the English language. In 1991, the league formed the World League of American Football, (now NFL Europe), a developmental league now with teams in Germany and the Netherlands. A decorated tree has come to be called a "Hanukkah bush". In recent years, the NFL has expanded into new markets and ventures. In recent years, an amalgam of Christmas and Hanukkah has emerged — dubbed "Chrismukkah" — celebrated by some mixed-faith families, particularly in the United States.

However, the USFL failed to make money and folded after three years. Hanukkah gained increased importance with many Jewish families in the twentieth century, including large numbers of secular Jews who wanted a Jewish alternative to the Christmas celebrations that often overlap with Hanukkah. The USFL was a well-financed competitor with big-name players and a national television contract. Traditionally, gelt came in the form of genuine coins, but most modern games are played using coins made of solid chocolate wrapped in gold-colored foil. The founding of the United States Football League in the early '80s was the biggest challenge to the NFL in the post-merger era. It is a term used for the money used in playing the game of dreidel. Rules changes in the late '70s ensured a fast-paced game with lots of passing to attract the casual fan. Chanukkah gelt ("Hanukkah money") is used as part of a game on the festival of Hanukkah.

Monday Night Football, which first aired in 1970 brought in high ratings by mixing sports and entertainment. When a lookout gave a signal, the children would put away the scrolls they were learning from, and take out top's (Dreidel's) and spin them, as if they had been playing a game. The Super Bowl became an unofficial national holiday and the top-rated TV program most years. The jewish children would hide in caves, and leave a lookout for Greek soldiers. In the 1970s and '80s, the NFL solidified its dominance as America's top spectator sport and its important role in American culture. The Greeks had made a law that the learning of Torah be forbidden. After the merger, the then-renamed Super Bowl became the NFL's championship game. The game is played in part to commemorate the jewish children of that time.

Another result of the merger was the creation of an AFL-NFL Championship game that for four years determined the so-called "World Championship of Professional Football". Another version differs in that nun is "nem" - "take", while gimel is "gib" - "give." The game may last until one person has won everything. The remaining 13 NFL teams became the National Football Conference. The dreidel stops and lands with one of the symbols facing up and the appropriate action is taken, corresponding to one of the following Yiddish words:. The ten AFL teams joined three existing NFL teams to form the NFL's American Football Conference. Before beginning, each player starts with 10 or 15 coins (gelt), and then each player puts one in the pot. By 1966, the leagues agreed to merge as of the 1970 season. In Israel, the fourth letter is פ-Pe instead of shin, stading for "Po", meaning "here", and the entire phrase is therefore "A great miracle happened here." This is done in recognition that the miracle of Hannukah occurred in the land of Israel.

The ensuing costly war for players between the NFL and AFL almost derailed the sport's ascent. These letters also stand for the words Nes Gadol Haya Sham meaning "a great miracle happened there," or, without the nikkud (vowel marks), נס גדול היה שם. It is most likely that if the AFL had never existed, neither would have the Cowboys, the Vikings, or the Falcons. It has four sides:. The AFL also forced the NFL to expand in order to compete: The Dallas Cowboys were created to drive the AFL's Dallas Texans out of business; the Minnesota Vikings were the NFL franchise given to Max Winter for abandoning the AFL; and the Atlanta Falcons franchise went to Rankin Smith to dissuade him from purchasing the AFL's Miami Dolphins. The dreidel (a four-sided "top") is associated with Hanukkah. The newer league also secured itself financially after it established the precedents for gate and television revenue sharing between all of its teams, and network television broadcasts all of its games. Many Sephardim as well as Polish Ashkenazim and Israelis have the custom to eat all kinds of doughnuts (bimuelos or sufganiyot) which are deep-fried in kosher (mainly non animal-fat) oils.

The AFL introduced features that the NFL did not have, such as wider-open passing offenses, flashier uniforms with players' names on their jerseys, and an official clock visible to fans so that they knew the time remaining in a period (the NFL kept time by a game referee's watch, and only periodically announced the actual time). Many Ashkenazi families make potato pancakes, known as latkes in Yiddish. As more people wanted to cash in on this surge of popularity than the NFL could accommodate, a rival league, the American Football League (AFL), was founded in 1960. There is a custom to have Hanukkah parties and to eat foods fried or baked in oil, preferably olive oil, as the original miracle of the Hanukkah menorah involved the discovery of the small flask of oil used by the Jewish High Priest (the Kohen Gadol). The rise of professional football was so fast that by the mid-'60s, it had surpassed baseball as Americans' favorite spectator sport in some surveys. The weekly Torah portion for the first Sabbath is almost always Miketz, telling of Joseph's dream and his enslavement in Egypt. The 1958 NFL championship in New York -- considered by many to be the most-important game in the rise of the NFL -- drew record TV viewership and made national celebrities out of Unitas and his Baltimore Colts teammates. Since Hanukkah lasts eight days it includes at least one, and sometimes two, Sabbaths.

The NFL embraced television, giving Americans nationwide a chance to follow stars like Bobby Layne, Paul Hornung and Johnny Unitas. In addition, the Hallel Psalms are sung during each morning service and the Tachanun penitential prayers are omitted. In the 1950s, pro football finally earned its place as a major sport. The same prayer is added to the grace after meals. In 1950, the NFL accepted three teams from the defunct All-America Football Conference, expanding to 13 clubs. Translation:. In 1945, the Cleveland Rams moved to Los Angeles, becoming the first big-league sports franchise on the West Coast. Transliteration:.

The spread of the T formation led to a faster-paced, higher-scoring game that attracted record numbers of fans. (The erroneous designation of Mattathias as son of Johanan the high priest seems to rest upon the late Hebrew apocryphal "Megillat Antiokhos" or "Megillat Hanukkah," which has other names and dates strangely mixed.) The liturgical part inserted reads as follows:. By the end of World War II, pro football began to rival the college game for fans' attention. This addition refers to the victory achieved over the Syrians by the Hasmonean Mattathias and his sons. One factor in the league's rising popularity was the institution of an annual championship game in 1933. An addition is made to the "hoda'ah" (thanksgiving) benediction in the Amidah, called Al ha-Nissim ("On/about the Miracles"). By 1934 all of the small-town teams, with the exception of the Green Bay Packers, had moved to or been replaced by big cities. It is also common to sing just the first and fifth verses, the fifth dealing specifically with Hanukkah.

Yet as former college stars like Red Grange and Benny Friedman began to test the professional waters, the pro game slowly began to increase in popularity. Many Jews sing only the first verse, repeating the lines to form the Hanukkah melody. Franchises included such colorful representatives as the Oorang Indians, an all-Native American outfit that also put on a performing dog show. It lists a number of events of persecution in Jewish history, and praises God for survival despite these tragedies. Teams entered and left the league frequently. Each night immediately after the lighting of the candles, while remaining within eyeshot of the candles, Ashkenazim (and, in recent decades, some Sephardim and Mizrahim in Western countries, then usually sing the following hymn written in Medieval Ashkenaz (Germany). However, the NFL was hardly a major league in the '20s. During all eight days of Hanukkah these lights are sacred, and we are not permitted to make them serve except for to look at them in order to express thanks and praise to Your great Name for your miracles, Your wonders and Your salvations.".

In 1921, the APFA began releasing official standings, and the following year, the group changed its name to the National Football League. Translation: "We light these lights For the miracles and the wonders, for the redemption and the battles that you made for our forefathers, in those days at this season, through your holy priests. In the early years, APFA members continued to play non-APFA teams. (Ashkenazic version):. The group of 11 teams, all but one in the Midwest, was originally less a league than an agreement not to rob other teams' players. When the lights are kindled the Hanerot Halalu prayer is subsequently recited:. Legendary athlete Jim Thorpe was elected president. Translation: "Praised are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has kept us in life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season.".

The American Professional Football Association was founded in 1920 at a Hupmobile dealership in Canton, Ohio. Recited only on the first night just prior to lighting the candles:. Over the next few decades, while most attention was paid to football at elite colleges on the East Coast, the professional game spread widely in the Midwest. Translation: "Praised are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who performed wondrous deeds for our ancestors, in those days, at this season.". Professional football in the United States dates at least to 1892, when an athletic club in Pittsburgh paid William "Pudge" Heffelfinger $500 to take part in a game. Recited all eight nights just prior to lighting the candles:. from Canada in 1874, and then transformed into American college football. Translation: "Praised are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to kindle the Hanukkah lights.".

English Association Football or "soccer" developed into rugby, which was imported to the U.S. Recited all eight nights just prior to lighting the candles:. Like the Amerian college football game from whch it sprung, NFL football is a descendant of the sport nowadays called soccer in the United States. On the first night of Hanukkah one light (candle, lamp, or electric) is lit on the right side of the Menorah, on the following night a second light is placed to the left of the first and is lit first proceeding from left to right, and so on each night. Since then, NFL broadcasts have become among the most-watched programs on American television, and the fortunes of entire networks have rested on owning NFL broadcasting rights. The blessings are said before or after the candles are lit depending on tradition. In fact, it was television that brought pro football into prominence in the modern era of technology. On the first night of Hanukkah, Jews recite all three blessings, on all subsequent nights, they recite only the first two.

The television rights to pro football are the most lucrative (and most expensive) rights of any sport available. Typically three blessings (Berakhot singular Berakhah) are recited during this eight-day festival. Whites make up the majority of the remaining players, followed by Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, and Asians. A simple solution is to use "tea lights" or Shabbat candles, arranging them in a straight line and setting the shammus candle apart and above the rest. Since then, the percentage of black players has increased steadily to its present 2005 level of 69%. Candles must be lit before the start of Shabbat and inexpensive Hanukkah candles do not burn long enough to meet the requirement. In the early 1980s, blacks and whites each made up roughly half of the players. Friday night presents a problem, however.

Increasingly, positions such as tight end, fullback, and linebacker are being filled by blacks. The standard candles sold for Hanukkah burn for half an hour, so on most days this requirement can be met by lighting the candles when it is dark out. Most quarterbacks, punters, and kickers are white, while almost all running backs, wide receivers, defensive backs, defensive linemen, safeties, punt returners, and kickoff returners are black. Hanukkah lights should burn for at least one half hour after it gets dark. In 2005, a slim majority of offensive linemen are white, while no whites are listed as Tailbacks or Cornerbacks on NFL rosters. Chabad-Lubavitch, light lamps near an inside doorway, not in public view. White running backs, defensive backs, and receivers have become less and less common over the last 25 years. However, some groups, e.g.

White skill players have become increasingly rare in the modern NFL, as most positions are filled by blacks. Only when there was danger of anti-semitic persecution were lamps supposed to be hidden from public view, as was the case in Persia under the rule of the fire-worshipers, or in parts of Europe before and during World War II. (disputed — see talk page). It is customary amongst some Ashkenazim to have a separate menorah for each family member (customs vary), whereas most Sephardim light one hanukkah for the whole household. To this day, the NFL's head-coach hiring policies are questioned, and it has had to institute measures to attempt to have black head coach candidates be treated more equitably. Accordingly lamps are set up at a prominent window or near the door leading to the street. It took until 1988 before a black quarterback started for a Super Bowl team, when Doug Williams won it for the Redskins. The reason for the lights is not for the "lighting of the house within", but rather for the "illumination of the house without", so that passers-by should see it and be reminded of the holiday's miracle.

1978 Rose Bowl MVP Warren Moon played for six seasons in the CFL before his abilities finally landed him the starting role with the Houston Oilers. Some use the "guard" candle to light the others. Even after that, for many NFL teams the door would remain closed to black quarterbacks through the 1970s. Hence, if one were to need extra illumination, the extra "servant" candle would be available and one would avoid using the prohibited lights, as derived from the Talmud (Tracate Shabbat 21b-23a). After that, no old-line NFL team had a black starting quarterback until the Steelers' Joe Gilliam in 1972. The purpose of this is to adhere to the prohibition of using the Hanukkah lights for anything other than publicizing - and meditating on - the Hanukkah story (in contrast to Sabbath candles which are meant to be used for illumination). The Chicago Bears had a black quarterback in 1953, Willie Thrower, who played in only one game and did not start in any games. An extra light is lit each night and placed near the Hanukah lights.

The next year 1969, another American Football League team, the Buffalo Bills were the first professional football team of the modern era to begin the season with a black, James Harris as their starting quarterback. In the State of Israel, the secular menorah used for Hanukkah is usually called a "hanukiah". The AFL's Denver Broncos were the first modern-era team to have a black starting quarterback, Marlin Briscoe, who started the fourth game of the 1968 season, and broke pro football rookie records for passing yardage and touchdowns. Ashenazic Jews (central and east European Jews) usually call the eight-candled version a "Hanukkah menorah." Some Sephardic Jews (west European, Mediterranean and Latin American Jews) just call it "a hanukkah". This action, and pressure by another competing league, the more racially-liberal American Football League, slowly managed to reverse the NFL's racial quotas. (A religious menorah holds only seven candles, plus the servant candle). Stadium, which was at the time controlled by the United States Department of the Interior, would be voided if he continued to refuse to sign any black players. When a formal candelabra or menorah is used, it is the special secular menorah used for Hanukkah - which holds eight candles, plus the servant candle.

Still, Marshall refused to sign black players until threatened with civil rights legal action by the Kennedy administration in 1962, in which it was explained to him that his lease on the then-new D.C. Electric lights are sometimes used and are acceptable in places where open flame is not permitted, such as a hospital room. Another theory holds that the NFL, like most of the United States during the Great Depression, simply fired black workers before white workers, but this could hardly account for the league's apparent "all-white" policy during this period. The lights can be candles or oil lamps. Marshall's policies not only excluded blacks from his Washington Redskins team but may have influenced the entire league to drop blacks until 1946, when pressure from the competing All-America Football Conference induced the NFL to be more liberal in its signing of blacks. As a universally-practiced "beautification" of the mitzvah, an additional candle is added each night, for a total of thirty-six over the course of eight nights. The league had a few black players until 1933, one year after entry to the league of George Preston Marshall. The primary ritual, according to Jewish law and custom, is to light a single light each night for eight nights.

Although the current NFL is well-represented at virtually every position by African-American athletes, that was not always the case. Jewish law does not require one to refrain from activities on Hanukkah that would fit the Jewish definition of "work." So, children do not get out of going to school to celebrate the holiday, and parents do not get a week's vacation from employment, either. The NFL's current CBA (collective bargaining agreement) expires in 2008. There are additions to the regular daily prayer services in the Siddur, the Jewish prayer book. Furthermore, they attribute NFL competitive parity instead to the league's extensive revenue sharing policies. Some aspects are practiced at home by the family, other aspects are communal. They also note that the salary cap could hypothetically drive prospective athletes to other sports that do not cap the salaries of players; while NFL's large rosters lead to high total payrolls, star players earn more in baseball and basketball (it should however be noted that talent in football does not necessary translate into talent in basketball or baseball, and that star players typically make more money from endorsements than from their team salaries). Hanukkah has relatively simple religious rituals that are performed during the eight nights and days of the holiday.

Critics of the salary cap note that the driving reason for the cap was to maximize the profitability of the NFL teams, and limit the power of NFL players to command the high salaries they are said to deserve in exchange for bringing in large numbers of paying fans to the stadiums. Hence, Hanukkah's eight days (in celebration of monotheistic morality's victory over Hellenistic humanism) have great symbolic importance for practicing Jews. These concerns, among others, led in part to modified salary cap adoption in the National Basketball Association in 1984 and the National Hockey League in 2005. Similarly, the rite of circumcision, which brings a Jewish male into God's Covenant, is performed on the eighth day. They claim fans end up paying higher ticket prices to help pay for escalating player salaries. Hence, the Eighth Day of the Assembly festival, mentioned above, is according to Jewish Law a festival for Jews only (unlike Sukkoth, when all peoples were welcome in Jerusalem). They point to the relative parity of competition that exists in the NFL as of 2005 compared to Major League Baseball as evidence that the NFL salary cap preserves competitive balance. Eight, being one step beyond seven, represents the Infinite (as an eight turned on its side).

This has been seen as a problem in American baseball, long dominated since the advent of free agency by large market teams. Seven is the number of days of creation, that is, of completion of the material cosmos. Proponents of the salary cap note that it prevents a well-financed team in a major city from simply spending giant amounts of money to secure the very best players in every position and thus dominating the entire sport. It has also been noted that the number eight has special significance in Jewish theology, as representing transcendence and the Jewish People's special role in human history. The cap for the 2005 season is expected to be approximately $85.5 million. The olive harvest is in November and olive oil would be ready in time for Hanukkah in December. For the 2004 season, the NFL's salary cap was $80.582 million, an increase of $5.5 million from 2003. Pesach is a celebration of the barley harvest, Shavuot of the wheat, Sukkot of the figs, dates, pomegranates and grapes, and Hanukkah of the olives.

The cap is determined via a complicated formula based on the revenue that all NFL teams receive during the previous year. It has been noted that Jewish festivals are connected to the harvesting of the Biblical seven fruits which Israel was famed for. Escalating player salaries throughout the 1980s and the advent of free agency in 1992 led to the NFL's adoption of a salary cap in 1994, a maximum amount of money each team can pay its players in aggregate. In any event, he does report that lights were kindled in the household and the popular name of the festival was, therefore the "Festival of Lights" ("And from that time to this we celebrate this festival, and call it Lights"). These numbers are of course exceeded dramatically by the best players in each position. Given that his audience was Hellenized Romans, his silence on the origin of the eight-day custom is more likely due to its miraculous nature than to it being inspired by Sukkot. These numbers are set by contract between the NFL and the players' union, the National Football League Players' Association. 7, § 7, #323) mentions the eight-day festival and its customs, but does not tell us the origin of the eight day lighting custom.

Exhibition game minimum is $10,000. The historian Josephus ([2] Jewish Antiquities xii. The minimum salary for an NFL player is $235,000 in his first year, and rises after that based on the number of years in service. 16:13-15). However, these players usually begin as second- or third-string backups, only playing games if the first-stringer is injured, or if there has been a runaway score and the coach decides to put a backup in the game for a little experience, and to ensure his first-stringer does not get injured at the end in a play that is not meaningful to the team. 29:12; Deut. Occasionally a player drafted out of college will go right into a "first-string" position as the team's primary player in that position. 23:33-36, Num.

For example, before the draft occurs, Team A might trade its first-round draft pick plus a certain player (who already plays for Team A) to Team B in exchange for another particular player who already plays for Team B. However, Sukkot is in fact a seven-day holiday, the eighth day being a separate festival known as Shemini Atzeret ("the Eighth Day of the Assembly"); see Lev. Draft picks are frequently traded in advance for players and other draft picks. 2-4). Draft picks continue, in the order from the weakest team to the strongest team, and once all teams have picked one player, they all pick again starting with the weakest team. The theory is based on the belief that Sukkot also lasts for eight days, and was a holiday in which the lighting of lamps played a prominent part during the Second Temple period (Suk.v. The idea is that weak teams can thereby become strengthened over time, in the specialties where they need strengthening. During the war the Jews were not able to celebrate Sukkot properly.

That is, the team is the first to select a player from a pool of all eligible college players in the country. 9). The NFL team with the worst record in the previous year gets first pick of the draft. 6 and i. There is a highly organized and formal process called the draft (currently consisting of seven rounds) that takes place over two days in April, in which all NFL teams participate. x. Many of the USA's college football players want to play in the NFL. A number of historians believe that the reason for the eight day celebration was that the first Hanukkah was in effect a belated celebration of the festival of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles (Macc.

For the history of the process see National Football League championships. 36). The NFL's method for determining its champions has changed over the years. iv. To date, a coin toss has never been used by the league to break a tie. (1 Macc. If the teams remain tied after comparing all of these statistics, then the tie is broken using a coin toss. Other versions of the story state that an eight day celebration of songs and sacrifices was proclaimed upon rededication of the altar, but do not mention the miracle of the oil.

Other data that is then compared include their record against teams in their division, their record against teams in their conference, their record against common opponents, net points scored, and net touchdowns scored. An eight day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle. The first criterion that is always compared first is head-to-head, how the tied teams fared when they played each other during the regular season. But there was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. The process basically involves comparing a set of each team's season statistics, one record at a time, until one club has a higher value than the others. According to the Talmud, oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was supposed to burn throughout the night every night. The tiebreaking rules are also used to help determine playoff seedings and the order in which teams pick in the NFL draft (see below). After having recovered Jerusalem and the Temple, Judah ordered the Temple to be cleansed, a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made.

As mentioned above, each team's order of finish in their respective divisions (first-place, second-place, etc.) determine the opponents in two of their games during the following season. 59). teams that have the same regular season won-lost-tied record. iv. The league uses a set of rules to break ties in the final season standings, i.e. (1 Macc. For example, the Jacksonville Jaguars finished the 2005 regular season with a 12-4 record, but only qualified as a wild card team and thus had to face the New England Patriots, the AFC East division champions with a 10-6 record, at the Patriots' home field, Gillette Stadium. The festival of Hanukkah was instituted by Judah Maccabee and his brothers to celebrate this event.

A major disadvantage that critics cite in the current system is that a divisional winner could host a playoff game against a wild card team that earned a better regular season record. The Temple was liberated and rededicated. Only the wild card teams played during the first round, while all of the division winners received a bye, automatically advancing to the second round. By 165 BCE the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy was successful. During that time, three division winners and two wild card teams from each conference qualified for the playoffs. By 166 BCE Mattathias had died, and Judah took his place as leader. The terms "Wild Card Playoffs" and "Divisional Playoffs" originated from the playoff format that was used before 1990. Judah became known as Judah Maccabee ("Judah the Hammer").

The two surviving teams from the Divisional Playoff games meet in Conference Championship games, with the winners of those contests going on to face one another in the Super Bowl. Mattathias, a Jewish priest, and his five sons John, Simon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah led a rebellion against Antiochus. the game is held at the higher seed's home field). In 167 BCE Antiochus ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. And in any given playoff game, whoever has the higher seed gets the home field advantage (i.e. Under the reign of Antiochus IV, the Temple in Jerusalem was looted, Jews were massacred, and Judaism was effectively outlawed. In any given playoff round, the highest surviving seed always plays the lowest surviving seed. Jews rebelled at having to do this.

The first and the second seeds from each conference receive a bye in the first round, which entitles these teams to automatically advance to the second round, the Divisional Playoff games (even though the participants may be from different divisions) to face the Wild Card survivors. At first little changed, but under his reign Jews were gradually forced to violate the precepts of their faith. The third and the sixth seeded teams, and the fourth and the fifth seeds, face each other during the first round of the playoffs, dubbed the Wild Card Playoffs. By 175 BCE Antiochus IV Epiphanes ascended to the Seleucid throne. At the conclusion of each 16-game regular season, six teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament, which culminates in the Super Bowl:. The Jewish people paid taxes to Syria and accepted its legal authority, and by and large were free to follow their own faith, maintain their own jobs, and engage in trade. Festivities and a pre-game concert would kick off the season. Around 200 BCE Jews lived as an autonomous people in the land of Israel, also referred to as Judea, which at that time was controlled by the Seleucid king of Syria.

In 2002, the NFL began scheduling a Thursday night special opening game, which would be nationally televised. Indeed, Saadia Gaon's theory is highly unlikeley, as Megillat Antiokhos gives the timeframe for the story in relation to the destruction of the second Temple, which occurred over 200 years later, and could not possibly have been known to the Maccabees. In addition, it would leave the three-day holiday weekend alone to the opening weekend of college football, preventing conflicts, and maximizing exposure. Another source is the Megillat Antiokhos — a text ascribed to the Maccabees themselves by Saadia Gaon, but according to some scholars, perhaps written around the first or second century CE. Television ratings seemed to be sagging due to the holiday, and the stadium crowds were apparently lacking due to vacationing fans and higher average temperatures of early September. The Tanakh ends with the consequences following the events of Purim, and had already been codified many centuries earlier by the Men of the Great Assembly (Anshei Knesset HaGedolah). In 2001, the NFL decided to move opening week to the weekend after Labor Day. The books of the Maccabees (Sefer HaMakabim) are not part of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), but are part of deuterocanonical historical and religious material preserved in the Septuagint.

In 1994, the schedule was changed back to seventeen weeks. A story similar in character, and obviously older in date, is the one alluded to in 2 Maccabees 1:18 et seq., according to which the relighting of the altar-fire by Nehemiah was due to a miracle which occurred on the twenty-fifth of Kislev, and which appears to be given as the reason for the selection of the same date for the rededication of the altar by Judah Maccabeus. In 1993, the league adjusted the schedule to include two bye weeks per team, and the sixteen games were played over eighteen weeks. The story of Hanukkah is preserved in the books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. As a result, opening weekend was moved up to Labor Day weekend. Rashi, in a note to Shabbat 21b, says their purpose is to publicize the miracle. One week during the season, on a rotating basis, each team would have the weekend off. Josephus believed that the lights were symbolic of the liberty obtained by the Jews on the day that Hanukkah commemorates.

Each team would play sixteen regular season games over seventeen weeks. Except in times of danger, the lights were to be placed outside one's door or in the window closest to the street. In 1990, the NFL introduced a bye-week to the schedule. As is the case in most such disputes, Jews today follow Hillel. From 1978-1989, the sixteen games were played over sixteen weeks. The followers of Shammai favored the former custom; the followers of Hillel advocated the latter. In 1978, the league changed the schedule to include sixteen regular season games and four exhibition games. There was a dispute over how the last option was to be performed: either display eight lamps on the first night of the festival, and reduce the number on each successive night; or begin with one lamp the first night, increasing the number till the eighth night.

Teams played six, or even seven exhibition games. The Talmud presents three customs:. Opening weekend typically was the weekend after Labor Day, or even two weekends after Labor Day. They used this, and miraculously, that oil burned for eight days (the time it took to have new oil pressed and made ready). From 1961 through 1977, the NFL schedule consisted of fourteen regular season games played over fourteen weeks. They found only a single container that was still sealed by the High Priest, with enough oil to keep the Menorah in the Temple lit for a single day. Competition from the new league caused the NFL to expand and follow suit with a fourteen-game schedule in 1961. The Gemara, in tractate Shabbat 21b ^[1], says that after the occupiers had been driven from the Temple, the Maccabees discovered that almost all of the ritual olive oil had been profaned.

In 1960, the American Football League began play and introduced a balanced schedule of 14 games per team over a fifteen week season, in which each of the eight teams played each of the other teams twice, with one bye week. The miracle of Hanukkah is described in the Talmud. From 1947 through 1960, each NFL team played 12 games per season. In doing so, the oil becomes metaphor for the miraculous survival of the Jewish people through millenia of trials and tribulations. From 1926 through 1946, they played from eleven to fifteen games per season, depending on the number of teams in the league. Instead, the festival commemorates the Miracle of the Oil and the positive spiritual aspects about the Temple's re-dedication. In its early years after 1920, the NFL did not have a set schedule, and teams played as few as eight and as many as sixteen games, some against college or other amateur squads. The spiritual side of Judaism shies away from commemorating military victories, the Hasmoneans later became corrupt, and civil war between Jews is considered deplorable, so Hanukkah does not formally commemorate either of these historical events.

. Historically, Hanukkah commemorates two events:. Interconference
. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days - which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate new oil. Intraconference
. At the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem following the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire, there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day.
For the 2006 season, the assignments will be:. The word Hanukkah means "dedication." Spiritually, Hanukkah commemorates the Miracle of the Oil.

. . Interconference
. Other variations are discussed below. Intraconference
. It is most commonly transliterated to English as Hanukkah or Chanukah.
For the 2005 season, the assignments were as follows:. In Hebrew script, the word Hanukkah is written חנכה, ḥănukkāh, or חנוכה, ḥănūkkāh.

This formula has been regarded as very successful, rekindling old rivalries while starting new ones, as teams will play in each other's stadiums eventually, which makes for a more consistent and attractive schedule each year. The festival is observed in Jewish homes by the kindling of lights on each of the festival's eight nights, one on the first night, two on the second night and so on. Currently, each team's regular season schedule is set using a pre-determined formula: ^[2]. Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights or Festival of Dedication, is an eight day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th day of Kislev, which generally is in December, or sometimes, late November. In 2005, with Christmas falling on a Sunday, the NFL has flipped their normal schedule for that weekend, having the normal slate (less the Sunday night contest) of Sunday games on Saturday (Christmas Eve day), with two nationally televised games on Sunday (Christmas Day), similar to what the NFL did in 1994 with the afternoon games on Saturday, and the primetime games the following two days (Detroit at Miami on Sunday, San Francisco at Minnesota on Monday). He is succeeded by Jonathan Maccabaeus and Simon Maccabaeus who continue to lead the Jews in battle.). For the last three weeks or so of the regular season, after the end of the college football season, the league typically schedules two or three nationally televised games on Saturday afternoons or evenings. Battle of Elasa (Judas Maccabeus dies in battle against the army of King Demetrius and Bacchides.

In addition, the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions each host a game on Thanksgiving Day. Dathema (A Jewish fortress saved by Judas Maccabeus.). In recent years, the league has started scheduling a nationally telecast regular season game on the Thursday night prior to the first Sunday of NFL games to "kickoff" the season. Battle of Emmaus (Judas Maccabeus fights the forces of Lysias and Georgias). Traditionally, every game is played on Sunday afternoon with the exception of one game per week being played in Sunday night, and another game being played on Monday night. Lysias has success in battle against the Maccabess, but allows them temporary freedom of worship.). Each team plays 16 games during a 17-week period. Battle of Beth-zechariah (Elazar the Maccabee is killed in battle.

The NFL season begins the weekend after Labor Day. Battle of Beth Zur (Judas Maccabeus defeats the army of Lysias, recapturing Jerusalem.). This is especially true of the television networks, which now telecast many exhibition games nationally. Battle of Beth Horon (Judas Maccabeus defeats the forces of Seron.). The NFL publicity machine has relentlessly called the exhibition games "pre-season" games, to the point where most media have jumped on board and use the same expression. Battle of Adasa (Judas Maccabeus leads the Jews to victory against the forces of Nicanor.). Pro football is so popular that fans pay the price of the exhibition games for the right to have a guaranteed seat during the season. Rome annexes Judea.

A judgment in 1974^[1] stated: "No fewer than five lawsuits have been instituted from Dallas to New England, each claiming that the respective National Football League (NFL) team had violated the Sherman Act by requiring an individual who wishes to purchase a season ticket for all regular season games to buy, in addition, tickets for one or more exhibition or preseason games.". The Priests of the Temple are struck down at the Altar. Supreme Court, but have failed to change the policy. Twelve thousand Jews are massacred as Romans enter Jerusalem. Such complaints have gone all the way to the U.S. The Roman general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) is dispatched to the area. The exhibition games are unpopular with many season ticket holders who point out that regular-season prices are charged for meaningless games, in which teams seldom play their stars and starters for more than a quarter of each game. 63 BCE: The Hasmonean Jewish Kingdom comes to an end due to rivalry between the brothers Aristobulus II and Hyrcanus II, both of whom appeal to the Roman Republic to intervene and settle the power struggle on their behalf.

Two "featured" exhibition games, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game and American Bowl, do not count toward the normal allottment of four games, so the four teams playing in those games each end up playing five exhibition games. 83 BCE: Consolidation of the Kingdom in territory east of the Jordan River. Summers see most NFL teams playing four "pre-season" exhibition games from early August through early September. 96 BCE: An eight year civil war begins. . Israel throws off Syrian rule completely. One week later, selected all-star players from both the AFC and NFC meet in the Pro Bowl, currently held in Hawaii. 131 BCE: Antiochus VII dies.

This game is held at a pre-selected site which is usually a city that hosts an NFL team or a popular college stadium. 130 BCE: Antiochus VII besieges Jerusalem, but withdraws. At the end of each regular season, six teams from each conference play in the NFL playoffs, a 12-team single-elimination tournament that culminates with the NFL championship, the Super Bowl. 139 BCE: The Roman Senate recognizes Jewish autonomy. During the league's regular season, each team plays 16 games over a 17-week period generally from September to December. This inaugurates a period of great geographical expansion, population growth, and religious, cultural and social development. The divisions are labeled East, West, North, and South; the teams do not consistently follow geographic boundaries as the NFL wanted to keep certain rivalries intact. The Seleucid kings have a formal overlordship, which the Hasmoneans acknowledged.

Each conference is then further divided into four divisions consisting of four teams each. The Seleucids recognize Jewish autonomy. Currently, the league's 32 teams are divided into two conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). 142 BCE: Establishment of the Second Jewish Commonwealth. After the 1958 NFL Championship Game (which went into overtime), the NFL's greatest spurt in popularity came in the 1960s and 1970s with the merger of the rival American Football League, or AFL (1960-1969). The Temple is liberated and rededicated (Hanukkah). Prior to the 1960s, the most popular version of American football was played collegiately. 165 BCE: The Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy is successful.

The NFL is one of the major professional sports leagues of North America. The Hasmonean Jewish Kingdom begins; It lasts until 63 BCE. The league was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, which adopted the name "National Football League" in 1922. 166 BCE: Mattathias dies, and Judah takes his place as leader. The National Football League (NFL) is the largest professional American football league, consisting of thirty-two teams from American cities and regions. Judah becomes known as Judah Maccabe (Judah The Hammer). ^  NFL scheduling formula at NFL.com. Mattathias, and his five sons John, Simon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah lead a rebellion against Antiochus.

^  Examples of Exhibition Game Lawsuits. 167 BCE: Antiochus orders an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. 168 BCE: Under the reign of Antiochus IV, the Temple is looted, Jews are massacred, and Judaism is outlawed. NFL Comeback Player of the Year. 175 BCE: Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) ascends the Seleucid throne. Super Bowl MVP. 198 BCE: Armies of the Seleucid King Antiochus III (Antiochus the Great) oust Ptolemy V from Judea and Samaria.

Defensive Rookie of the Year. Jenok (rare). Offensive Rookie of the Year. Khanike (YIVO standard transliteration from the Yiddish and/or Ashkenazic pronunciation of the Hebrew). Defensive Player of the Year. Hanukka (rare spelling). Offensive Player of the Year. Channukah.

Coach of the Year. Hanuka (rare spelling; again, the gender would be masculine instead of feminine, in Hebrew). Most Valuable Player. Chanukkah. Halas Trophy. Chanuka (rare spelling; in Hebrew, dropping the final 'h' would change the gender of the word). George S. Hanukah (less common alternative in the United States).

Lamar Hunt Trophy. Chanukah (common alternative in the United States). Vince Lombardi Trophy. Hanukkah (most common in the United States). Enacted in 2005. Shin - shtel ayn - "put in" - the player puts one or two in the pot. the Roy Williams rule -- no horse-collar tackles. Hey - halb - "half" - the player takes half of the pot, rounding up if there is an odd number.

the Peyton Manning rule -- basically more emphasis on the Mel Blount rule after the New England Patriots committed several uncalled pass interference penalties in the 2003 AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. Gimel - gants - "all" - the player takes the entire pot. the Terrell Owens rule -- no "foreign objects" on a player's uniform (enacted in response to the 2002 "Sharpie™ incident"). Nun - nisht - "not" - the next player spins. Enacted due to a play in the 1999 NFC Championship Game, where Emanuel, playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a catch ruled incomplete since the ball touched the ground. ש (Shin) - In Israel פ (Pe). the Bert Emanuel rule -- the ball can touch the ground during a completed pass as long as the receiver maintains control of the ball. ה (Hey),.

Another rule, resulting in offensive pass interference, prohibiting WRs to push off CBs, is also often called "the Michael Irvin rule.". ג (Gimel),. the Michael Irvin rule -- no taunting. נ (Nun),. Enacted in 1978. The most pious method, where the number of candles changed each night. the Mel Renfro rule -- allows a second player on the offense to catch a tipped ball, without a defender subsequentlly touching it. One light each night for each member of the household, or,.

Enacted in current form in 1978. Lighting one light each night per household,. the Mel Blount rule -- Officially known as defensive pass interference, defensive backs can only make contact with receivers within five yards of the line of scrimmage. They defeated overwhelming forces, and re-dedicated the Second Temple. Enacted in 1956. The rebellion was begun by Mattathias Maccabee and continued by Judah Maccabee and his other sons. the Lou Groza rule -- no artificial medium to assist in the execution of a kick. The victory of the Jews over the armies of Antiochus IV.

Enacted in 1981. The triumph of Judaism's spiritual values as embodied in its Torah (symbolized by the Menorah, since the Torah is compared to light) over Hellenistic civilization (considered darkness) which under Antiochus IV, had attempted to culturally assimilate the Jews away from practicing Judaism's commandments, by forcefully installing Greek religious symbols in the Second Temple. the Lester Hayes rule -- no Stickum™ allowed. A Defensive player can recover and advance at any time of play.Enacted in 1979. the Ken Stabler rule -- on fourth down or any down in the final two-minutes of play, if a player fumbles, only the fumbling player can recover and/or advance the ball.

Enacted in 1965. the Fran Tarkenton rule -- a line judge was added as the sixth official to ensure that a back was indeed behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass. the Erik Williams rule -- no hands to the facemask by offensive linemen. Enacted in 1997.

the Emmitt Smith Rule -- no taking your helmet off on the field of play. (There is also a college football rule with this nickname.). Enacted after Deion Sanders signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 1995 for a minimum salary and a $13 million signing bonus. the Deion Sanders rule -- Player salary rule which correlates a contract's signing bonus with its yearly salary.

Enacted in 1977. the Deacon Jones Rule -- no head-slapping. Prior to this rule change a player had to be five yards behind the line of scrimmage to throw a forward pass.. Enacted in 1933.

the Bronko Nagurski Rule -- forward passing made legal from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage. The clock didn't stop and New England won. Enacted in 2002 after the Patriots' kicker won Super Bowl XXXVI on a last second kick that went through with three seconds remaining on the clock. the Adam Vinatieri Rule -- the clock stops immediately after a field goal is kicked through the uprights.

Current NFL players. List of American football players. New York, New York (1960-present). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1946-1960).

Chicago, Illinois (1941-1946). Columbus, Ohio (1921-1941). Canton, Ohio (1920-1921). Commissioner Paul Tagliabue (1989-present).

Commissioner Alvin "Pete" Rozelle (1960-1989). Interim President Austin Gunsel (1959-1960, following death of Bell). Commissioner Bert Bell (1946-1959). Commissioner Elmer Layden (1941-1946).

President Carl Storck (1939-1941). President Joseph Carr (1921-1939). President Jim Thorpe (1920). Two wild card qualifiers (those non-division champions with the conference's best won-lost-tied percentages), which are seeded five and six.

The four division champions from each conference (the team in each division with the best regular season won-lost-tied record), which are seeded one through four based on their regular season won-lost-tied record. The Super Bowl bye week was removed to accommodate the longer, expanded playoffs. In the 1982 strike-shortened season, a postseason tournament replaced the traditional playoff format. By the 2003 season, the bye week was restored.

As a result, Super Bowl XXXVI had to be delayed after the league postponed the second week's games following the September 11 attacks. In the 2001 season, the bye week disappeared when the league moved opening weekend a week later. In the 1999 season, the bye week was removed to accommodate the schedule being moved ahead one week. In the 1993 season, there was no bye week since the regular season consisted of eighteen weekends.

In the 1990 season, there was no bye, as the league was still adjusting the schedule from adding the bye week during the season. For most years, there has been an open weekend between the Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl. By moving the season a week later, the NFL hoped to prevent teams traveling complications. The Year 2000 problem sparked travel concerns for the final week of the season, and playoffs.

In 1999, the NFL moved the first week of the season one week later due to the conflict with January 1, 2000. NFC West. AFC West v. NFC East.

AFC South v. NFC South. AFC North v. NFC North.

AFC East v. NFC West. NFC North v. NFC South.

NFC East v. AFC West. AFC North v. AFC South.

AFC East v. NFC East. AFC West v. NFC West.

AFC South v. NFC North. AFC North v. NFC South.

AFC East v. NFC South. NFC North v. NFC West.

NFC East v. AFC South. AFC North v. AFC West.

AFC East v. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in a conference are matched in the same way each year: one at home, and one on the road. These games match a first-place team against the first-place teams in the two same-conference divisions the team is not scheduled to play that season. Each team plays two games versus two teams within its conference based on the prior year's standings.

Each team plays the four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle: two at home, and two on the road (four games). Each team plays the four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle: two at home, and two on the road (four games). Each team plays every other team in their division twice: once at home, and once on the road (six games).