1997 NFL season

Infobox NFL
year = 1997
NFLchampion = Denver Broncos
regular_season = August 31 1997 - December 22 1997
playoffs_start = December 27 1997
AFCchampion = Denver Broncos
NFCchampion = Green Bay Packers
sb_name = XXXII
sb_date = January 25 1998
sb_site = Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California
pb_date = February 1 1998

The 1997 NFL season was the 78th regular season of the National Football League. 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 a new stadium in Nashville began construction.

This was the last season that both NBC and the TNT network held rights to broadcast NFL games. When the TV contracts were renewed near the end of the season, CBS took over the American Football Conference package and ESPN won the right to televise "all" of the Sunday night games.

Due to Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, the Chicago Bears - Miami Dolphins game at Pro Player Stadium was moved back one day to Monday, October 27.

The Denver Broncos and Tampa Bay Buccaneers both changed their uniforms, and the new uniforms for both teams were introduced during this season.

The season ended with Super Bowl XXXII when the Denver Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers.

1997 NFL Season Changes

Washington Redskins - New Stadium called Jack Kent Cooke Stadium.

Pittsburgh Steelers - New font style numbers. Steelers logo patch on uniform.

Tennessee Oilers - Move out Houston to Tennessee. Played in the Liberty Bowl.

Baltimore Ravens - new style numbers with shadow in the back. Wore white pants with road uniforms.

Cincinnati Bengals - Brighter orange to uniform. New Logo, and Bengal logo on sleeve ends.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - New Logo. New Uniforms.

Jacksonville Jaguars - new font style numbers. Black side panels on uniforms.

Atlanta Falcons - New Logo. new stripping on pants. On road uniforms red numbers with black trim.

San Diego Chargers - White pants with road uniforms.

Denver Broncos - New Logo and uniforms.

Miami Dolphins - New Logo with darker aqua. new shadow in the numbers.

1997 Coaching Changes

St. Louis Rams - Dick Vermeil new coach. Replace Rich Brooks who was fired after the 1996 season.

New Orleans Saints - Mike Ditka new coach. Replace the interim head coach who was fired along with Jim Mora that same year.

New York Giants - Jim Fassel new coach. Replace Dan Reeves who was fired after the 96 season.

Atlanta Falcons - Dan Reeves new coach. Replace June Jones who was fired early in the 96 season after dispute with quarterback Jeff George.

New York Jets - Bill Parcells new coach. Replace Rich Kotite who was fired after the 96 season.

Detroit Lions - Bobby Ross new coach. Replace Wayne Fontes who was fired after the 96 season.

San Francisco 49ers - Steve Mariucci new coach. Replace George Seifert who retire after the 96 season.

New England Patriots - Pete Carroll new coach. Replace Bill Parcells who accept the job to coach the Jets.

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 and between quarters. This is known as the "Emmitt Smith rule" after the Dallas Cowboys' Running Back's habit of taking his helmet off every time he scored a touchdown.

Final regular season standings

"W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against"

"Clinched playoff seeds are marked in parentheses and shaded in green"

Individual

Awards

References

* "NFL Record and Fact Book" (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
* [http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1991-2000 NFL History 1991-2000] (Last accessed October 17, 2005)
* [http://nflhistory.net/linescores/pdf/1997.pdf 1997 season in details]
* "Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League" (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
* [http://www.steelersfever.com/nfl_history_of_rules.html Steelers Fever - History of NFL Rules] (Last accessed October 17, 2005)