Old NFL Alignment

[iccomics]

who came of with this stuff?

colts in east with jags in central?

cowboys and cards in nfc east?

bucs in nfc central?

and there is only one team in the nfc west that is actually on the western half of the USA...

who came of with this alignment?

AFC

East W L T PF PA

Indianapolis Colts 13 3 0 423 333

Buffalo Bills 11 5 0 320 229

Miami Dolphins 9 7 0 326 336

New York Jets 8 8 0 308 309

New England Patriots 8 8 0 299 284

Central W L T PF PA

Jacksonville Jaguars 14 2 0 396 217

Tennessee Titans 13 3 0 392 324

Baltimore Ravens 8 8 0 324 277

Pittsburgh Steelers 6 10 0 317 320

Cincinnati Bengals 4 12 0 283 460

Cleveland Browns 2 14 0 217 437

West W L T PF PA

Seattle Seahawks 9 7 0 338 298

Kansas City Chiefs 9 7 0 390 322

Oakland Raiders 8 8 0 390 329

San Diego Chargers 8 8 0 269 316

Denver Broncos 6 10 0 314 318

NFC

East W L T PF PA

Washington Redskins 10 6 0 443 377

Dallas Cowboys 8 8 0 352 276

New York Giants 7 9 0 299 358

Arizona Cardinals 6 10 0 245 382

Philadelphia Eagles 5 11 0 272 357

Central W L T PF PA

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11 5 0 270 235

Minnesota Vikings 10 6 0 399 335

Green Bay Packers 8 8 0 357 341

Detroit Lions 8 8 0 322 323

Chicago Bears 6 10 0 272 341

West W L T PF PA

St. Louis Rams 13 3 0 526 242

Carolina Panthers 8 8 0 421 381

Atlanta Falcons 5 11 0 285 380

San Francisco 49ers 4 12 0 295 453

New Orleans Saints 3 13 0 260 434

[BCBoy]

I think.............

The Cowboys were in the NFC East because the NFL still wanted to have some inter division rivalies. Since the Redskins and even the Giants had rivalries with the Cowboys

the NFL didn't want that rivalry to be taken away by putting Dallas in the Central or West or South or whatever.....

[leafs13]

iccomics, did you just figure out the NFL was like this before? I know the divisions were pretty stupid though, that is why they changed it.

[iccomics]

i knew they were like this before, but i just now posted a topic

[Moser316]

Actually, I can field this one. When the AFL and NFL merged in 1970, there were five different options for league realignment (i.e. divisional alignments, who from the NFL would join the AFC, and so on). At an owners meeting presided over by then-commissioner Pete Rozelle, the five different options were placed in five unmarked envelopes. To ensure impartiality in which alignment was chosen, none of the owners nor Rozelle chose which one would become the post-merger NFL alignment. For that, Rozelle left the task to his secretary, who had no prior knowledge of the five alignments being discussed. As I remember from the article I read (I'm going to have to look it up -- it had all five alignment options), Rozelle's secretary chose Envelope #3, which had the alignment we all grew to know and love.

Think about how different the NFL would have been without some of the rivalries that the Envelope #3 alignment created. Hopefully I can find that article, and when I do I'll post the other four options considered.

[Sec19Row53]

i knew they were like this before, but i just now posted a topic

Keep in mind that many of us are of an age that we've lived all of this -- kind of like how we've lived through the 2001 World Series. Just because the thought crossed your mind doesn't mean that you need to post it. There once was a member like that (twice, actually -- name of Keith, aka xlr8r). He's not very fondly remembered on most message boards.

Tread carefully.

[jkrdevil]

It's called expansion and team movement. The Colts were originally in Baltimore which is very well in the east. The other teams were put where they would fit as far as number of teams go when the league expanded. So In 1977, the Bucs were put in the central. In 1993 The Panthers were put in the west because the West needed teams. The league didn't want to drastically realign at those times and possible breakup rivalries. The only exception to this was the Cowboys who stayed in the NFC East when the leagues merged because the had been in the NFL East and were already rivals with those teams in the east.

In 2002 the league realigned when it made sense to add a new division because of the number of teams. But the league still didn't want to break up rivalries thus the Cowboys were are in the east.

[TBGKon]

It's called expansion and team movement. The Colts were originally in Baltimore which is very well in the east. The other teams were put where they would fit as far as number of teams go when the league expanded. So In 1977, the Bucs were put in the central. In 1993 The Panthers were put in the west because the West needed teams. The league didn't want to drastically realign at those times and possible breakup rivalries. The only exception to this was the Cowboys who stayed in the NFC East when the leagues merged because the had been in the NFL East and were already rivals with those teams in the east.

In 2002 the league realigned when it made sense to add a new division because of the number of teams. But the league still didn't want to break up rivalries thus the Cowboys were are in the east.

If I remember correctly, the Bucs 1st season was played in the AFC West, cant remember where I heard it, but I think it's true

[infrared41]

If I remember correctly, the Bucs 1st season was played in the AFC West, cant remember where I heard it, but I think it's true

Your memory is right on the money. The Bucs did play their first season (1976) in the AFC west. They moved to the NFC central in 1977. The Seahawks played their first year (also 1976) in the NFC west then went to the AFC west in 1977 only to end up back in the NFC west in the last realignment.

[Ron Mexico]

When Carolina and Jacksonville joined the NFL, the NFC West and AFC Central only had 4 teams each, so the expansion teams went there to make it 5 teams in every division.

[mjrbaseball]

When the Bucs and Seahawks first joined the NFL, teams played a 14-game schedule. In their first two seasons, they did not play traditional divisional schedules.

In 1976, Tampa Bay was nominally in the AFC Central, but they played all of the other 13 AFC teams once. The Seahawks were placed in the NFC West, but played all 13 NFC teams once. Plus they played each other.

In 1977, the Bucs and Seahawks were placed in what would become their "permanent" divisions, but they still played special schedules. Tampa Bay played all the other 13 NFC teams, and Seattle played the 13 AFC teams. And again, they played each other.

It wasn't until 1978 that the Buccaneers and Seahawks played regular schedules.

[buzzcut]

Here are a few of the rejected alignments that were considered, as found in the 1999 Athlon Pro Football yearbook. (Note the last two are sketchy):

Part 1:

NFC East: NYG, WSH, PHI, MIN, ATL

NFC Central: GB, CHI, DET, NO

NFC West: SF, LARm, DAL, STL

Part 2:

NFC East: NYG, WSH, PHI, MIN

NFC Central: DAL, STL, ATL, NO

NFC West: SF, LARm, GB, CHI, DET

Part 3 (The one that was eventually selected):

NFC East: NYG, WSH, PHI, DAL, STL

NFC South: GB, CHI. DET, MIN

NFC West: SF, LARm, ATL, NO

Part 4:

NFC East: NYG, WSH, PHI, MIN

NFC Central: GB, CHI, DET, DAL, STL

NFC West: SF, LARm, ATL, NO

Part 5:

NFC East: NYG, WSH, PHI, MIN, DET

NFC Central: GB. CHI, ATL, STL

NFC West: SF, LARm, DAL, NO

The AFC alignments were the same in all 5 plans.

[cyandlux]

I dont know....I think it was kinda messed up because baseball and football kinda mirrored eachother. Both Atlantas in the west, etc. When they expanded they liked to try to keep things even and that complicated things more, too.

[lost_limey]

I do think the post-2002 alignment for Football worked out very well. I'm still unsure of how the NBA's new alignment seems

[Ron Mexico]

I think the NBA did the absolute best they could with their new divisional format. I can't pick out anyone that is really out of place geographically, except the T-Wolves. But they're not even as geographically out of place as the Wild are, and there's no other Western Conference division they fit into.