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The NFC West is a division of the National Football League's National Football Conference. It currently has four members: Arizona Cardinals, St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers, and Seattle Seahawks.

The division was formed in 1967 as the National Football League Coastal Division, keeping with the theme of having all of the league's divisions starting with the letter "C." The division was so named because its teams were fairly close to the coasts of the United States, although they were on opposite coasts, making for long travel between division rivals. The NFL Coastal Division had four members: Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Colts, Los Angeles Rams, and San Francisco 49ers. Los Angeles and San Francisco occupied the West Coast, while Baltimore and Atlanta occupied the East Coast (in the case of Atlanta, it was also fairly close to the Gulf Coast).

After the AFL-NFL Merger in 1970, the division was renamed the NFC West. The Baltimore Colts moved to the AFC East and were replaced by the New Orleans Saints. In 1976, the newly-formed Seattle Seahawks spent one season in this division before moving to the AFC West. Except for that one year, the division remained the same until 1995 with the addition of the new Carolina Panthers team. And even though the Rams moved to St. Louis that same year, they remained in this division (despite the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East being located further west), leaving just one team on the West Coast.

The 2002 re-alignment changed the entire look of the NFC West. The Falcons, Panthers, and Saints moved into the NFC South, while the Cardinals and Seahawks moved in. The Rams remained in the West, preserving the historical rivalry with the 49ers that has existed since 1950, and thus are currently the only team in the division that is located east of the Rocky Mountains (the Rams had played in Los Angeles from 1946–1994, thus contributing to the rivalry with the 49ers).

In 2010, the NFC West became the first division in NFL history to have a champion with a losing record, after the 2010 Seattle Seahawks won the division title with a record of 7-9.

Entering 2012 the 49ers lead the division with a record of 522-423-15 with five Super Bowl titles and an overall playoff record of 27-19. The Rams hold a record of 513-506-20 with two Super Bowl appearances and one win to go with a 19-24 overall playoff record. The Cardinals hold a 496-699-39 record and a loss in Super Bowl XLIII with a 6-7 playoff record. The Seahawks hold a record of 269-295, and loss in Super Bowl XL to go with a playoff record of 8-11; they are 5-6 in the playoffs as a member of the NFC West, having gone 3-5 while in the AFC West.

Divisional lineups[link]

^A The Western Conference was divided into the Coastal and Central divisions. Atlanta moved in from the Eastern Conference. Also joining the Coastal Division were Baltimore, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

^B The Coastal Division is renamed the National Football Conference West division (or NFC West for short), due to the AFL-NFL Merger. Baltimore moved to the AFC East division. New Orleans moved in from Capitol Division (now the NFC East)

^C Seattle was enfranchised in 1976. Moved to the AFC West in 1977.

^D In 1995, Carolina is enfranchised and the Rams move to St. Louis

^E For the 2002 season, the league realigns to have 8 four team divisions. Seattle returns to the NFC West. Arizona joins the West. Atlanta, Carolina, and New Orleans moved to the new NFC South.

Division champions[link]

*A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special sixteen-team playoff tournament for that year only. Division standings were ignored, and Atlanta had the best record of the division teams.

Wild Card qualifiers[link]

*A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special sixteen-team playoff tournament for that year only. Division standings were ignored.

See also[link]

• 49ers-Rams rivalry

Total playoff berths[link]

(Current NFC West teams' records 1967-2011)

To sort table above, click button to right of heading.

¹These numbers only reflect the Seahawks & Cardinals' time as a member of the NFC West.

References[link]

NFC may refer to:

Technology:

• Near Field Communication, a wireless communication technology
• Nintendo Family Computer (or Nintendo Famicom), the Japanese version of the Nintendo Entertainment System video game console
• Network File Control, a networking technology
• Nuclear Fuel Complex, a division of the Department of Atomic Energy in India

Other:

• Nagacorp FC, a Cambodian sporting club
• National Finance Center, a division of the United States Department of Agriculture
• National Football Conference, a constituent conference of the National Football League
• National Freight Corporation, a road services and transport company
• News First Class, a news website
• New Friends Colony, a residential neighbourhood in India
• NFC Championship Game, the National Football Conference Championship Game
• Normalization Form (Canonical) Composition, one of four normal forms in Unicode normalization
• St George's Park National Football Centre, a sports training centre

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

A compass rose with west highlighted

West is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.

West is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of east and is perpendicular to north and south.

By convention, the left side of a map is west.

To go west using a compass for navigation, one needs to set a bearing or azimuth of 270°.

West is the direction opposite that of the Earth's rotation on its axis, and is therefore the general direction towards which the Sun sets.

During the Cold War "the West" was often used to refer to the NATO camp as opposed to the Warsaw Pact and non-aligned nations. The expression survives, with an increasingly ambiguous meaning.

Moving continuously west is following a circle of latitude, which, except in the case of the equator, is not a great circle.

The word west is derived from the name of one of the four dwarves in Norse mythology, Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri, who each represented one of the directions of the world. cf Greek hesperus and Roman vesper.

Symbolic meanings[link]

In Chinese Buddhism, the West represents movement toward the Buddha or enlightenment (see Journey to the West). The ancient Aztecs believed that the West was the realm of the great goddess of water, mist, and maize. In Ancient Egypt, the West was considered to be the portal to the netherworld, and is the cardinal direction regarded in connection with death, though not always with a negative connotation. Ancient Egyptians also believed that the Goddess Amunet was a personification of the West.^[1] The Celts believed that beyond the western sea off the edges of all maps lay the Otherworld, or Afterlife.

In American literature (e.g. in The Great Gatsby) moving West has sometimes symbolized gaining freedom, perhaps as an association with the settling of the Old West (see also Manifest Destiny).

References[link]

Look up west in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

1. ^ Campbell, Joseph. The Mythic Image. Princeton University Press, 1981.

A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football that are played are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, Rugby league, and Rugby union.

It has been estimated that there are 250 million association football players in the world,^[1] and many play the other forms of football.

Career[link]

Football players generally begin as amateurs and the best players progress to become professional players. Normally they start at a youth team (any local team) and from there, based on skill and talent, scouts offer contracts. Once signed, they learn to play better football and some advance to the senior or professional teams.

This section requires expansion.

Psychological aspects of performance[link]

Research shows that association football players that take less than 200ms after the referee blows their whistle for a penalty kick are significantly more likely to miss scoring than those that take over a second.^[2]

Common injuries[link]

Head[link]

American football players are prone to head injuries. This may make them prone to Alzheimers.^[3]

Knee[link]

Anterior cruciate ligaments are particularly vulnerable in most types of football due to injuries that can be sustained during tackles.

Lists of players[link]

• Lists of association football players
• List of American football players
• List of footballers (Gaelic football)
• Category:Lists of rugby league footballers

References[link]

See also[link]

• Sports unions

This sports-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Vernon Davis

Davis in February 2010
No. 85     San Francisco 49ers
Tight end
Personal information
Date of birth: (1984-01-31) January 31, 1984 (age 28)
Place of birth: Washington, D.C.
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Weight: 250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
College: Maryland
NFL Draft: 2006 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6
Debuted in 2006 for the San Francisco 49ers
Career history
San Francisco 49ers (2006–present)
Career highlights and awards
Pro Bowl selection (2009)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 15, 2011
Receiving yards 3,631 Receiving average 12.4 Receiving TDs 35 Stats at NFL.com

Vernon Leonard Davis (born January 31, 1984) is a professional American football tight end for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. He was drafted in the 1st round (6th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft by the 49ers. Upon entering the league, Davis signed to a 5-year, $23 million deal that made him the highest paid tight end at the time. He joined current Seattle Seahawks tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. as the fourth highest tight end ever drafted after Ron Kramer, (Green Bay, No. 4 in 1957) Mike Ditka (Chicago, No. 5 in 1961) and Riley Odoms (Denver, No. 5 in 1972). After three mediocre, injury-riddled seasons Davis finally broke out in 2009, co-leading the NFL in touchdown receptions. In the 2011 playoffs, Davis caught the game winning touchdown pass from Alex Smith against the New Orleans Saints, now referred to as "The Grab," or "The Catch III" and is considered one of the best catches in 49ers history.

Early life[link]

Davis attended Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., and was a letterman in football, basketball, and track & field. Regarded as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Davis was listed as the No. 4 tight end prospect of the class of 2003.^[1] In track & field, he was the DCIAA champion in the high jump with a jump of 6 ft 5 in (196 cm). While attending at Dunbar, he was teammates with future Cleveland Browns kick return specialist and wide receiver, Joshua Cribbs.

High School football[link]

Davis played tight end and safety but he also played wide receiver, kick returner, linebacker and defensive end. In his senior season he caught 21 passes for 511 yards and 5 touchdowns, despite missing three games with a deep bone bruise below his knee. He also caught three two point conversions and returned two kick offs and two punts for touchdowns. He had 35 receptions for 385 yards as a junior.

Football Awards[link]

• Selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl
• Rated as the third-best tight end in the nation by ESPN.com's Tom Lemming
• A member of SuperPrep's Elite 50 and that publication's 39th-rated player nationally
• A Mid-Atlantic all-region pick by SuperPrep and the third-best player (at any position) in the region
• Second team All-USA by USA Today
• Ranked as the fourth-best tight end in the nation and the seventh-best player (overall) in the Atlantic East by Rivals.com
• Gatorade Player of the Year for the District of Columbia

College career[link]

Davis played college football at the University of Maryland, where he majored in studio art. In 2003, Davis saw the most consistent action of any true freshman, playing in all thirteen contests. He had five receptions for 87 yards (11.8 avg) and led the kickoff coverage unit with eight solo tackles.

In 2004, he played in every game, starting at H-back against Northern Illinois, Duke, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. He finished second on the team with 27 catches for 441 yards and had 16.3 avg and three touchdowns.

In 2005, Davis was a Consensus All-American and All-Atlantic Coast Conference first-team selection. He was a finalist for the Mackey Award, given to the nation’s top tight end. He started every game, leading the team with 51 receptions and the conference with 871 receiving yards (17.1 avg). His six touchdown catches rank tenth on the school's season-record list. His 51 receptions also rank tenth on the Terps’ annual record chart while his 871 yards rank fifth. He was graded 82.5% for blocking consistency as he registered 67 knockdowns, including 18 blocks down field and had eight touchdown-resulting blocks.

Davis was heavily involved with working out in college. He set school strength records (in spring of 2005) for a tight end in the bench press (465 pounds), power-clean (355 pounds), index (797 pounds) and squat (685 pounds). He finished his college career with 1371 yards on 83 receptions for 16.5 yards per catch, the best average of any first round tight end ever and more yards than other previous high first round tight ends such as Tony Gonzalez, Jeremy Shockey, Kyle Brady and Kellen Winslow II.

Professional career[link]

2006 NFL Draft[link]

Davis was selected 6th overall in the 1st round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the 49ers. He was the top tight end prospect in the NFL Draft, partially due to a strong performance at the scouting combine.^[2] He ran the 40 yard dash in 4.38 seconds. Davis also broad-jumped 10'08", nearly a foot farther than the next-best tight end, Marcedes Lewis.

Leading up to the draft, Vernon, along with fellow prospects A. J. Hawk and Jeremy Bloom, appeared in ads for Under Armour's new line of football cleats, with the slogan Click Clack (I think you hear us coming).

San Francisco 49ers[link]

2006 rookie season[link]

Vernon's first reception in the NFL was a 31-yard touchdown catch, against the Arizona Cardinals on September 10, 2006.^[5] He added a career-long 52-yard touchdown against the Green Bay Packers on December 10 with a short catch followed by a long run. Davis played in ten games in the 2006 season due an injury he suffered on September 24, 2006. He sustained a hairline fracture to his left fibula, on a non-contact play against the Philadelphia Eagles, but returned on November 19 against the Seattle Seahawks. For the season, he had 265 yards receiving on 20 catches, averaging 13.2 yards per reception. He also had three receiving touchdowns.

2007 season[link]

In Week 3, Davis was injured while attempting to catch a pass from quarterback Alex Smith against the Steelers. Davis sprained his right knee and missed the next two games. Despite his injury and the 49ers' offensive ineptitude, Davis bettered most of the numbers from his rookie season. Even though his yards per reception diminished, he finished the season with 52 receptions for 509 yards and four touchdowns.

2008 season[link]

During October, after catching a seven-yard pass in the third quarter, Davis slapped Seahawks safety Brian Russell in the facemask, resulting in a 15-yard penalty, causing Coach Mike Singletary to bench him and then send him to the locker room for the game's remainder. After the game, Mike Singletary then spoke his infamous "I want winners" rant. This resulted in Vernon Davis changing his attitude from himself, to the team. The following game Vernon Davis leaped over a Cardinal defender and caught a pass from Shaun Hill resulting in a touchdown, his first of the season.^[6] He started all 16 regular season games, and finished the season with 31 receptions for 358 yards, and two touchdowns.^[7]

2009 season[link]

Through week 11 of the season, Davis led the NFL with nine touchdown receptions, tied with wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Randy Moss. In the final game of the season, he tied the all-time record for most touchdown receptions for a tight end in a single season (13),^[8] sharing the record set by Antonio Gates in 2004; that record stood until 2011, when it was broken by Rob Gronkowski. He was also selected to appear in his first Pro Bowl.

2010 season[link]

Before the season, he was awarded a five-year contract extension for $37 million with $23 million guaranteed. The deal made Davis the league's highest paid tight end.^[9] Against the Oakland Raiders in week six, he recorded his third straight game with a touchdown catch. Davis finished the season with 56 catches and 914 yards, resulting in 16.3 yards per catch.

2011 season[link]

Davis had 67 receptions for 792 yards with 6 touchdowns that year, helping the 49ers win the NFC West and make the postseason for the first time since the 2002 season. In the playoffs in the divisional round against the New Orleans Saints, he had seven receptions for 180 yards, breaking Kellen Winslow's record (166) for most yards by a tight end in a playoff game.^[10] He scored two touchdowns, and on the game-winning drive, he had a critical 47-yard reception that put the 49ers in a position to tie the game. With nine seconds remaining, Davis caught the game winning touchdown pass from Alex Smith, now referred to as "The Grab," or "The Catch III." Davis caught three passes for 112 yards and another two touchdown against the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game, but the 49ers lost 20–17 in overtime.^[11]

Career Statistics[link]