Original: The league is divided evenly into two conferences â '' the American Football Conference ( AFC ) and National Football Conference ( NFC ) , and each conference has four divisions that have four teams each , for a total of 16 teams in each conference .
Simplified: The league called the National Football League changed its name to the National Football Conference ( usually called the NFC ) and the league called the American Football League changed its name to the American Football Conference ( usually called the AFC ) .