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Owners of several professional football teams, including the Canton Bulldogs and Decatur Staleys now the Chicago Bears, met in Canton, Ohio, to form the American Professional Football Association, which would be renamed the NFL in 1922. -
The league adopted a divisional format and established an annual NFL Championship Game to determine the winner, a significant step in creating a structured, competitive postseason. -
The Los Angeles Rams signed Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, becoming the first team to integrate with African-American players in the modern NFL era, a key moment in the league's social history. -
The NFL Championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants was the first-ever sudden-death overtime title game and was televised coast-to-coast, leading to a massive surge in the sport's popularity -
Facing competition from the rival American Football League AFL, the two leagues agreed to a merger, which ultimately led to a stronger, unified league and the creation of the AFL-NFL World Championship Game, soon to be known as the Super Bowl. -
The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, a milestone event that would grow into the single most-watched annual television event in the United States. -
The first Monday Night Football game aired on ABC, bringing pro football into prime time and making it a weekly national television staple, greatly increasing its audience and cultural relevance. -
The Miami Dolphins completed the only undefeated season in NFL history, winning all 14 regular season games, two playoff games, and Super Bowl VII. -
A class-action lawsuit led to the establishment of modern free agency and a salary cap, fundamentally changing how teams build their rosters and distribute talent across the league. -
The emergence of the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick era marked a period of unprecedented dominance, including six Super Bowl wins and the only 16-0 regular season in 2007