# 1997 NFL season

The 1997 NFL season was the 78th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). The Oilers relocated from Houston, Texas to Nashville, Tennessee. The newly renamed Tennessee Oilers played their home games during this season at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee while construction of a new stadium in Nashville started. Houston would rejoin the NFL with the expansion Texans in 2002.
This would be the only season between 1989 and 2002 in which a game ended in a tie, and the last season where two occurred in the same season until 2016.
Due to Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, the Chicago Bears–Miami Dolphins game at Pro Player Stadium was delayed one day to Monday, October 27.
The season ended with Super Bowl XXXII when the Denver Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers 31–24 at Qualcomm Stadium. This broke the National Football Conference (NFC)'s streak of thirteen consecutive Super Bowl victories, the last American Football Conference (AFC) win having been the Los Angeles Raiders defeating the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII.

## Player movement
### Retirements

* February 1, 1997: Four-time Super Bowl starting quarterback Jim Kelly announces his retirement from the Buffalo Bills. .

### Draft

The 1997 NFL draft was held from April 19 to 20, 1997, at New York City's Theater at Madison Square Garden. With the first pick, the St. Louis Rams selected offensive tackle Orlando Pace from Ohio State University.

## Referee changes

Red Cashion and Howard Roe retired. Bill Carollo and Phil Luckett were promoted to referee.

## Major rule changes

* When a team fakes a punt and throws the ball downfield, pass interference will not be called on the two outside defenders who are actually trying to block a coverage man from getting downfield and might not even know the ball has been thrown.
* In order to reduce taunting and excessive celebrations, no player may remove his helmet while on the playing field except during timeouts, between quarters, and in the case of an injury. Violating the rule results in a 15-yard penalty.

## Preseason
### American Bowl

A series of National Football League pre-season exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States. Three were contested in 1997, including the defending Super Bowl XXXI champion Green Bay Packers competing in Toronto.
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score | Stadium | City |
| July 27, 1997 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 30 | Chicago Bears | 17 | Croke Park | Dublin |
| August 4, 1997 | Miami Dolphins | 38 | Denver Broncos | 19 | Estadio Guillermo Cañedo | Mexico City |
| August 16, 1997 | Green Bay Packers | 35 | Buffalo Bills | 3 | SkyDome | Toronto |

### Hall of Fame Game

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, in which the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28–26, was played on July 26, and held at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, the same city where the league was founded. The 1997 Hall of Fame Class included Mike Haynes, Wellington Mara, Don Shula and Mike Webster.

## Regular season
### Scheduling formula

* Inter-conference
* AFC East vs NFC Central
* AFC Central vs NFC East
* AFC West vs NFC West
Highlights of the 1997 season included:
* Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 27, featuring the Chicago Bears at the Detroit Lions and the Tennessee Oilers at the Dallas Cowboys, with the Lions and Oilers winning.

### Final standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(3)}$ New England Patriots | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 369 | 289 | W1 |
| $^{(6)}$ Miami Dolphins | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 339 | 327 | L2 |
| New York Jets | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 348 | 287 | L1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 255 | 367 | L3 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 313 | 401 | L1 |
AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(2)}$ Pittsburgh Steelers | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 372 | 307 | L1 |
| $^{(5)}$ Jacksonville Jaguars | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 394 | 318 | W2 |
| Tennessee Oilers | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 333 | 310 | W1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 355 | 405 | W3 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 6 | 9 | 1 | .406 | 326 | 345 | L1 |
AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(1)}$ Kansas City Chiefs | 13 | 3 | 0 | .813 | 375 | 232 | W6 |
| $^{(4)}$ Denver Broncos | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 472 | 287 | W1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 365 | 362 | W2 |
| Oakland Raiders | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 324 | 419 | L5 |
| San Diego Chargers | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 266 | 425 | L8 |
NFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(3)}$ New York Giants | 10 | 5 | 1 | .656 | 307 | 265 | W3 |
| Washington Redskins | 8 | 7 | 1 | .531 | 327 | 289 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 6 | 9 | 1 | .406 | 317 | 372 | L3 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 304 | 314 | L5 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 283 | 379 | W1 |
NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(2)}$ Green Bay Packers | 13 | 3 | 0 | .813 | 422 | 282 | W5 |
| $^{(4)}$ Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 299 | 263 | W1 |
| $^{(5)}$ Detroit Lions | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 379 | 306 | W2 |
| $^{(6)}$ Minnesota Vikings | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 354 | 359 | W1 |
| Chicago Bears | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 263 | 421 | L1 |
NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(1)}$ San Francisco 49ers | 13 | 3 | 0 | .813 | 375 | 265 | L1 |
| Carolina Panthers | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 265 | 314 | L2 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 320 | 361 | L1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 237 | 327 | L1 |
| St. Louis Rams | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 299 | 359 | W1 |

### Tiebreakers

* Miami finished ahead of NY Jets in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
* Pittsburgh finished ahead of Jacksonville in the AFC Central based on better net division points (78 to Jaguars' 23).
* Oakland finished ahead of San Diego in the AFC West based on better division record (2–6 to Chargers' 1–7).
* San Francisco was the top NFC playoff seed based on better conference record than Green Bay (11–1 to Packers' 10–2).
* Detroit finished ahead of Minnesota in the NFC Central based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
* Carolina finished ahead of Atlanta in the NFC West based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).

## Playoffs

| Dec 28 – Houlihan's Stadium | Dec 28 – Houlihan's Stadium | Dec 28 – Houlihan's Stadium | Jan 4 – Lambeau Field | Jan 4 – Lambeau Field | Jan 4 – Lambeau Field | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Detroit | 10 | Jan 4 – Lambeau Field | Jan 4 – Lambeau Field | Jan 4 – Lambeau Field | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Detroit | 10 | 4 | Tampa Bay | 7 | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Tampa Bay | 20 | 4 | Tampa Bay | 7 | Jan 11 – 3Com Park | Jan 11 – 3Com Park | Jan 11 – 3Com Park | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Tampa Bay | 20 | 2 | Green Bay | 21 | Jan 11 – 3Com Park | Jan 11 – 3Com Park | Jan 11 – 3Com Park | | | | | |
| | | | NFC | NFC | NFC | | | Jan 11 – 3Com Park | Jan 11 – 3Com Park | Jan 11 – 3Com Park | | | | | |
| Dec 27 – Giants Stadium | Dec 27 – Giants Stadium | Dec 27 – Giants Stadium | NFC | NFC | NFC | 2 | Green Bay | 23 | | | | | |
| Dec 27 – Giants Stadium | Dec 27 – Giants Stadium | Dec 27 – Giants Stadium | Jan 3 – 3Com Park | Jan 3 – 3Com Park | Jan 3 – 3Com Park | | | 2 | Green Bay | 23 | | | | | |
| Dec 27 – Giants Stadium | Dec 27 – Giants Stadium | Dec 27 – Giants Stadium | Jan 3 – 3Com Park | Jan 3 – 3Com Park | Jan 3 – 3Com Park | 1 | San Francisco | 10 | | | | | |
| 6 | Minnesota | 23 | Jan 3 – 3Com Park | Jan 3 – 3Com Park | Jan 3 – 3Com Park | NFC Championship | NFC Championship | NFC Championship | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Minnesota | 23 | 6 | Minnesota | 22 | NFC Championship | NFC Championship | NFC Championship | | | | | |
| 3 | NY Giants | 22 | 6 | Minnesota | 22 | NFC Championship | NFC Championship | NFC Championship | | | Jan 25 – Qualcomm Stadium | Jan 25 – Qualcomm Stadium | Jan 25 – Qualcomm Stadium |
| 3 | NY Giants | 22 | 1 | San Francisco | 38 | NFC Championship | NFC Championship | NFC Championship | | | Jan 25 – Qualcomm Stadium | Jan 25 – Qualcomm Stadium | Jan 25 – Qualcomm Stadium |
| Wild Card playoffs | Wild Card playoffs | Wild Card playoffs | 1 | San Francisco | 38 | | | | | | | | Jan 25 – Qualcomm Stadium | Jan 25 – Qualcomm Stadium | Jan 25 – Qualcomm Stadium |
| Wild Card playoffs | Wild Card playoffs | Wild Card playoffs | Divisional playoffs | Divisional playoffs | Divisional playoffs | | | | | | | | Jan 25 – Qualcomm Stadium | Jan 25 – Qualcomm Stadium | Jan 25 – Qualcomm Stadium |
| Dec 27 – Mile High Stadium | Dec 27 – Mile High Stadium | Dec 27 – Mile High Stadium | Divisional playoffs | Divisional playoffs | Divisional playoffs | | | | | | N2 | Green Bay | 24 |
| Dec 27 – Mile High Stadium | Dec 27 – Mile High Stadium | Dec 27 – Mile High Stadium | Jan 4 – Arrowhead Stadium | Jan 4 – Arrowhead Stadium | Jan 4 – Arrowhead Stadium | | | | | | | | N2 | Green Bay | 24 |
| Dec 27 – Mile High Stadium | Dec 27 – Mile High Stadium | Dec 27 – Mile High Stadium | Jan 4 – Arrowhead Stadium | Jan 4 – Arrowhead Stadium | Jan 4 – Arrowhead Stadium | | | | | | A4 | Denver | 31 |
| 5 | Jacksonville | 17 | Jan 4 – Arrowhead Stadium | Jan 4 – Arrowhead Stadium | Jan 4 – Arrowhead Stadium | | | | | | Super Bowl XXXII | Super Bowl XXXII | Super Bowl XXXII |
| 5 | Jacksonville | 17 | 4 | Denver | 14 | | | | | | Super Bowl XXXII | Super Bowl XXXII | Super Bowl XXXII |
| 4 | Denver | 42 | 4 | Denver | 14 | Jan 11 – Three Rivers Stadium | Jan 11 – Three Rivers Stadium | Jan 11 – Three Rivers Stadium | | | | | Super Bowl XXXII | Super Bowl XXXII | Super Bowl XXXII |
| 4 | Denver | 42 | 1 | Kansas City | 10 | Jan 11 – Three Rivers Stadium | Jan 11 – Three Rivers Stadium | Jan 11 – Three Rivers Stadium | | | Super Bowl XXXII | Super Bowl XXXII | Super Bowl XXXII |
| | | | AFC | AFC | AFC | | | Jan 11 – Three Rivers Stadium | Jan 11 – Three Rivers Stadium | Jan 11 – Three Rivers Stadium | | |
| Dec 28 – Foxboro Stadium | Dec 28 – Foxboro Stadium | Dec 28 – Foxboro Stadium | AFC | AFC | AFC | 4 | Denver | 24 | | |
| Dec 28 – Foxboro Stadium | Dec 28 – Foxboro Stadium | Dec 28 – Foxboro Stadium | Jan 3 – Three Rivers Stadium | Jan 3 – Three Rivers Stadium | Jan 3 – Three Rivers Stadium | | | 4 | Denver | 24 | | |
| Dec 28 – Foxboro Stadium | Dec 28 – Foxboro Stadium | Dec 28 – Foxboro Stadium | Jan 3 – Three Rivers Stadium | Jan 3 – Three Rivers Stadium | Jan 3 – Three Rivers Stadium | 2 | Pittsburgh | 21 | | |
| 6 | Miami | 3 | Jan 3 – Three Rivers Stadium | Jan 3 – Three Rivers Stadium | Jan 3 – Three Rivers Stadium | AFC Championship | AFC Championship | AFC Championship | | | | |
| 6 | Miami | 3 | 3 | New England | 6 | AFC Championship | AFC Championship | AFC Championship | | |
| 3 | New England | 17 | 3 | New England | 6 | AFC Championship | AFC Championship | AFC Championship | | | | |
| 3 | New England | 17 | 2 | Pittsburgh | 7 | AFC Championship | AFC Championship | AFC Championship | | | | |
* view
* talk

## Statistical leaders
### Team

| Points scored | Denver Broncos (472) |
| Total yards gained | Denver Broncos (5,872) |
| Yards rushing | Pittsburgh Steelers (2,479) |
| Yards passing | Seattle Seahawks (3,959) |
| Fewest points allowed | Kansas City Chiefs (232) |
| Fewest total yards allowed | San Francisco 49ers (4,013) |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | Pittsburgh Steelers (1,318) |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | Dallas Cowboys (2,522) |

### Individual

| Scoring | Mike Hollis, Jacksonville (134 points) |
| Touchdowns | Karim Abdul-Jabbar, Miami (16 TDs) |
| Most field goals made | Richie Cunningham, Dallas (34 FGs) |
| Rushing yards | Barry Sanders, Detroit, (2,053 yards) |
| Passer rating | Steve Young, San Francisco (104.7 rating) |
| Passing yards | Jeff George, Oakland (3,917 yards) |
| Passing touchdowns | Brett Favre, Green Bay (35 TDs) |
| Receptions | Tim Brown, Oakland and Herman Moore, Detroit (104 catches) |
| Receiving yards | Rob Moore, Arizona (1,584) |
| Receiving touchdowns | Cris Carter, Minnesota (13) |
| Punt returns | Jermaine Lewis, Baltimore (15.6 average yards) |
| Kickoff returns | Michael Bates, Carolina (27.3 average yards) |
| Interceptions | Ryan McNeil, St. Louis (9) |
| Punting | Mark Royals, New Orleans (45.9 average yards) |
| Sacks | John Randle, Minnesota (15.5) |

## Awards

| Most Valuable Players | Brett Favre, quarterback, Green Bay and Barry Sanders, running back, Detroit |
| Coach of the Year | Jim Fassel, New York Giants |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Barry Sanders, running back, Detroit |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Dana Stubblefield, defensive tackle, San Francisco |
| Offensive Rookie of the Year | Warrick Dunn, running back, Tampa Bay |
| Defensive Rookie of the Year | Peter Boulware, linebacker, Baltimore |
| NFL Comeback Player of the Year | Robert Brooks, wide receiver, Green Bay |
| NFL Man of the Year | Troy Aikman, quarterback, Dallas |
| Super Bowl Most Valuable Player | Terrell Davis, running back, Denver |

### Players of the Month
#### AFC

| 1997 | Offensive | Defensive | Special Teams |
| September | RB – Terrell Davis, Denver | LB – Chris Slade, New England | K – Matt Stover, Baltimore |
| October | RB – Jerome Bettis, Pittsburgh | DE – Bruce Smith, Buffalo | K – Greg Davis, San Diego |
| November | QB – John Elway, Denver | S – Jerome Woods, Kansas City | WR-PR – Eric Metcalf, San Diego |
| December | WR – Keenan McCardell, Jacksonville | LB – Derrick Thomas, Kansas City | K – Pete Stoyanovich, Kansas City |

#### NFC

| 1997 | Offensive | Defensive | Special Teams |
| September | WR – Jake Reed, Minnesota | DT – Warren Sapp, Tampa Bay | K – Richie Cunningham, Dallas |
| October | RB – Barry Sanders, Detroit | DT – John Randle, Minnesota | P – Matt Turk, Washington |
| November | RB – Barry Sanders, Detroit | DT – Dana Stubblefield, San Francisco | K – Doug Brien, New Orleans |
| December | RB – Barry Sanders, Detroit | CB – Jason Sehorn, New York Giants | RB-KR – Byron Hanspard, Atlanta |

## Coaching changes

* St. Louis Rams – Dick Vermeil; replaced Rich Brooks who was fired after the 1996 season.
* New Orleans Saints – Mike Ditka; replaced interim head coach Rick Venturi who replaced the resigning Jim Mora that same year.
* New York Giants – Jim Fassel; replaced Dan Reeves who was fired after the 1996 season.
* Atlanta Falcons – Dan Reeves; replaced June Jones who was fired after the 1996 season.
* New York Jets – Bill Parcells; replaced Rich Kotite who was fired after the 1996 season.
* Detroit Lions – Bobby Ross; replaced Wayne Fontes who was fired after the 1996 season.
* San Francisco 49ers – Steve Mariucci; replaced George Seifert who resigned after the 1996 season.
* New England Patriots – Pete Carroll; replaced Bill Parcells who accepted the job to coach the Jets.
* Oakland Raiders – Joe Bugel; replaced Mike White who was fired after the 1996 season.
* San Diego Chargers – Kevin Gilbride; replaced Bobby Ross who resigned after the 1996 season.

## Stadium changes

* Jacksonville Jaguars: Jacksonville Municipal Stadium was renamed Alltel Stadium after the communications company Alltel acquired the naming rights
* San Diego Chargers: Jack Murphy Stadium was renamed Qualcomm Stadium after the tech company Qualcomm acquired the naming rights
* Tennessee Oilers: The relocated Oilers moved from Houston's Astrodome to the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis
* Washington Redskins: The Redskins moved from RFK Stadium to Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in the Maryland suburbs, named in memory of team owner Jack Kent Cooke

## New uniforms

* The Atlanta Falcons added new striping on pants, and switched from black to red numbers on the white jerseys.
* The Baltimore Ravens switched to a new numbers style with shadows in the back. White pants were worn with their purple jerseys instead of black pants.
* The Cincinnati Bengals started to use a brighter shade of orange on their uniforms. A secondary logo featuring a leaping tiger was added to the jersey sleeves, and another secondary logo with Bengal's head was also introduced.
* The Denver Broncos introduced new uniforms, changing their primary color from orange to navy blue, and their royal blue helmets to navy blue. The design featured a streak running down the sides of both the jerseys and the pants: orange on the blue jerseys and blue on the white jerseys. The "D" logo with the horse coming out of it was retired in favor of a horse head with blue outlines and an orange mane, which will remain the same until the end of the 2023 season.
* The Green Bay Packers reduced the number of sleeve stripes from five to three.
* The Jacksonville Jaguars switched from block numbers to a new style font, and added black side panels to the jerseys.
* The Miami Dolphins introduced new uniforms featuring a darker shade of aqua and new shadows in the numbers. The dolphin in the helmet logo was also darkened and resigned to give it a more serious expression.
* The New York Jets discontinued wearing green pants with their white jerseys, and wore white pants for all games regardless of their jersey.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers switched from block to Futura Bold Condensed numbers and names on back on the jerseys, matching the number font on the back of their helmets. A Steelers logo patch was also added to the left side of all jerseys, as an alternative to "fixing" the traditional "missing" logo on the helmet's right side.
* The Philadelphia Eagles added the eagles head logo to the white jersey sleeves (they only did it to the green jerseys in 1996)
* The San Diego Chargers wore white pants instead of navy blue with their white jerseys.
* The San Francisco 49ers removed the gold trim on nameplates to just plain black.
* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers introduced new uniforms, changing their primary color from orange to red, and their white helmets and pants to pewter. Black and orange became trim colors. They also replaced the "Bucco Bruce" helmet logo with a red wind-swept flag featuring a white pirate skull and crossed sabres similar to a Jolly Roger.
* The relocated Tennessee Oilers began wearing an alternative logo on the left side of all jerseys that combined their oil rig derrick logo with elements from the flag of Tennessee.

## Television

This was the fourth and final season under the NFL's four-year broadcast contracts with ABC, Fox, NBC, TNT, and ESPN. ABC, Fox, and NBC continued to televise Monday Night Football, the NFC package, the AFC package, respectively. Sunday night games aired on TNT during the first half of the season, and ESPN during the second half of the season. This was the last season to date that TNT broadcast NFL games, as well as the last for NBC until 2006. When the new television contracts were signed near the end of the season, Fox retained the NFC package, CBS took over the AFC package, and ESPN won the right to televise all of the Sunday night games.
With Mike Ditka becoming the new head coach of the New Orleans Saints, Sam Wyche was named to replace him on The NFL on NBC pregame show. NBC fired Marv Albert following Week 3 due to sexual assault charges against him; Tom Hammond replaced Albert as the network's #2 play-by-play announcer.
For TNT's final season, Mark May joined Verne Lundquist and Pat Haden in a three-man booth.