The 1957 NFL season was the 38th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended when the Detroit Lions crushed the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Championship Game, 59–14.

Major rule changes[link]

• During sudden-death overtime, rules for time outs are the same as in a regular game, including the last two minutes of the second and fourth quarters.
• Home teams wore dark jersey and road team wore white. Previously, NFL teams were allowed to wear whatever uniform color they liked, even if it clashed with the other team, and were not required to have a white jersey.

Conference races[link]

Cleveland won its opener, 6–3 over the Giants, and led the Eastern Conference from wire to wire. A 17–7 loss to the Eagles in Week Four forced the Browns to share the lead with New York, but the Giants lost the following week, and spent the rest of the season trying to catch Cleveland.

The Western Conference race was more protracted. Baltimore, Detroit and San Francisco were tied for the lead several times, and had identical 7–4 records at the end of the penultimate week. When two teams tied for first place, they would meet in a one-game playoff. The NFL did have a provision for that: "If all three teams win, tie, or lose, then a two-week playoff series begins next Sunday with Baltimore drawing a bye, San Francisco playing Detroit, and the winner meeting the Colts at Baltimore Dec. 29.".^[1] Detroit and San Francisco both won, but the Colts lost, so the additional playoff never took place.

Final standings[link]

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

Note: The NFL did not officially count tie games in the standings until 1972

Playoffs[link]

See: 1957 NFL playoffs

Home team in capitals

Western Conference Playoff Game

• Detroit 31, SAN FRANCISCO 27

NFL Championship Game

• DETROIT 59, Cleveland 14

Awards[link]

References[link]

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1951–1960 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• 1957 season in details
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)

The National Football League has enjoyed success in selling out many of their venues from season ticket sales alone. Out of 32 teams in the league, 24 claim to have waiting lists from under 1,000 people to over 150,000. For some fans, this means a wait not just of years, but decades. This is due mostly to the NFL's short window of play; there are only eight regular-season home games, forcing the most devoted fans into a desperate and sometimes costly search for a limited number of events.^[1]

Since 1973, the waiting lists have also had the by-product of preventing any home games of certain teams from being blacked out on local television. Home games must be sold out within 72 hours of kickoff before a telecast is allowed, and the longest waiting lists have ensured every home game of the applicable teams being locally televised. Prior to 1973, home games could not be locally televised even if they were sold out. Four teams have had the benefit of not seeing any blackouts at all since 1972.

Personal Seat Licenses (PSLs)[link]

Personal Seat Licenses (PSLs) is a license which grants the holder the right to buy season tickets for a particular team. PSLs were first used in the NFL by the expansion Carolina Panthers in 1993 to help finance their new stadium. Since that time, several teams have used the mechanism to finance new stadium projects including the Chicago Bears remodel of Soldier Field and more recently the Dallas Cowboys. The New York Jets and the New York Giants used PSL programs to finance the construction of the New Meadowlands Stadium, now MetLife Stadium.^[2]

Criticism related to waiting lists[link]

In 2003, the New York Jets changed their waiting list policy to require a $50 annual maintenance fee to remain on the waiting list. However, due to the long list of names and high renewal rates among existing ticket holders, there was uncertainty about the fees a person may possibly have to pay if they remained on the list for many years. After attention from the media and the New York Attorney General's Office, the Jets agreed to cap the maintenance fees at $500, allow the transfer of the waiting list position if the person moved out of state and provide at least 80% of non-renewed season tickets to waiting list members. In 2008, the Jets sent notices to those on the waiting list that the $50 annual maintenance fee would be waived and any money already accrued would be either refunded or credited toward the purchase of Jets merchandise.

In 2004, the New England Patriots, who have a substantial season ticket waiting list, received media attention for not allowing the son of a deceased season ticket holder to retain his father's season tickets. The following year, the New England Patriots introduced the "Pass It On" transfer program, which allows season ticket holders to transfer season tickets to immediate family members for $2,000 to $5,000 per ticket, depending on the location of the seat.^[3]

The NFL requires that season ticket purchasers not only purchase the regular season games, but also typically two preseason games whether they want the exhibition games or not. The legality of requiring the purchase of the preseason games has been challenged all the way to the Supreme Court but it has not resulted in a change of policy for the NFL.^[4]

Lengthiest waiting lists[link]

Annual postcard sent out by the Green Bay Packers organization to those on the waiting list for season tickets

The Green Bay Packers have the most famous waiting list, with more than 90,000 names. Turnover is generally low; the Packers estimate that only 90 tickets turn over every year, a rate which would mean a name placed on the list today would be eligible for season tickets in 1000 years.^[5] It is a common custom in Green Bay and other Wisconsin cities to put a baby's name on the list as soon as the birth certificate is obtained.^[6][7][8] Transfer of standing to surviving relatives is permitted by the Packers.^[5]

The Washington Redskins were reported to have the most number of names on their waiting list at over 150,000. However, recent investigations question if a waiting list exists at all,^[9] which would seem to contradict the fact that FedExField has demolished 10,000 seats heading into the 2011 season. The New York Giants, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Denver Broncos historically have also maintained long waiting lists for season tickets.^[1]

Waiting lists[link]

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} "Toughest NFL Waiting Lists - Forbes.com". Forbes. 2007-09-07. http://www.forbes.com/2007/09/07/nfl-football-tickets-forbeslife-cx_ls_0907tickets.html. 
2. ^ Mascarenhas, Rohan (2010-08-17). "New Meadowlands Stadium opens to Giants, Jets fans in East Rutherford". The Star-Ledger (Newark). http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/new_meadowlands_stadium_opens.html. Retrieved 2011-08-23. 
3. ^ Mohl, Bruce (2005-02-25). "Season ticket transfer fees irk fans". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/02/25/season_ticket_transfer_fees_irk_fans/. 
4. ^ Angelo F. Coniglio v. Highwood Services, Inc., 495 F.2d 1286 (2d Cir. 1974-04-17).
5. ^ ^{a b} Gary D’Amato (19 January 2011). "Packers season tickets worth the wait - 1000 years for some on the list". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/114877119.html. Retrieved 24 February 2011. 
6. ^ Packers.com - Fan Zone - Faq - Tickets
7. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Waitlist_Postcard.jpg
8. ^ "SI.com - Be the 74,659th In Line! - Oct 9, 2007". CNN. 2007-10-09. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/rick_reilly/10/09/reilly1015/index.html. Retrieved 2010-05-20. 
9. ^ [1]
10. ^ The Baltimore Ravens' waiting list is capped at 3,000.
11. ^ http://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/green-bay-packers-daily-links-season-ticket-waiting-list-expands-to-96000
12. ^ http://www.seasonticketwaitinglist.com/2010/03/indianapolis-colts-season-tickets.html
13. ^ http://www.seasonticketwaitinglist.com/2010/03/new-england-patriots-season-tickets.html
14. ^ "#21 New Orleans Saints". Forbes. 2010-08-25. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2010/30/football-valuations-10_New-Orleans-Saints_309939.html. 
15. ^ http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2007/06/01/want-eagles-season-tickets-wait-4-000-years/
16. ^ http://www.seasonticketwaitinglist.com/2009/05/pittsburgh-steelers-season-tickets.html
17. ^ O'Neil, Danny (2010-03-03). "Seahawks raise prices slightly for season-ticket renewals". The Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seahawks/2011244325_hawktickets04.html. 
18. ^ http://www.seasonticketwaitinglist.com/2010/03/seattle-seahawks-season-tickets.html

13 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/01/AR2009090103984_pf.html

Jack Pardee
Pardee as head coach of the Houston Cougars football team
Biographical details
Born	(1936-04-19) April 19, 1936 (age 76) Exira, Iowa
Playing career
1954–1956 1957–1970 1971–1973	Texas A&M Los Angeles Rams Washington Redskins
Position(s)	Fullback, linebacker
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1974 1975–1977 1978–1980 1981 1984–1985 1987–1989 1990–1994 1995	Florida Blazers Chicago Bears Washington Redskins San Diego Chargers (DC) Houston Gamblers University of Houston Houston Oilers Birmingham Barracudas
Head coaching record
Overall	87–77 (NFL) 22–11–1 (college)
Bowls	0–1
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1986 (profile)

John Perry Pardee (born April 19, 1936) is a former American football linebacker and the only head coach to helm a team in college football, the National Football League, the United States Football League, the World Football League, and the Canadian Football League. Pardee was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1986.

Playing career[link]

As a teenager, Pardee moved to Christoval, Texas where he excelled as a member of the six-man football team (Pardee is the only six-man player to later have played or coached in the NFL).^[1] He was an All-American linebacker at Texas A&M University and a two-time All-Pro with the Los Angeles Rams (1963) and the Washington Redskins (1971).

Pardee was one of the famed Junction Boys, the 1954 Texas A&M preseason camp held in Junction, Texas, by football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. He was part of the 35 left from the approximately 100 players who went to Junction, Texas. After completing college at Texas A&M, Pardee was the 14th overall pick when he was drafted in the second round by the Los Angeles Rams as a linebacker. Pardee played for the Rams from 1957 to 1970; sitting out the 1965 season while battling melanoma. In 1971, Pardee joined the Washington Redskins, ending his playing career there in 1973.

Coaching career[link]

WFL[link]

When the World Football League started up in 1974, Pardee got his first head coaching job with the Washington Ambassadors. The team would later relocate to Norfolk, Virginia and become the Virginia Ambassadors before finally moving to their third and final home as the Florida Blazers. The Blazers, based in Orlando, made it all the way to the 1974 World Bowl and lost by one point to the Birmingham Americans. Pardee's regular season coaching record in 1974 with the Blazers was 14–6, and 2–1 in the 1974 WFL Playoffs and World Bowl. Some of the Blazers players relocated to San Antonio for the 1975 season, and Pardee would move on too, signing on as head coach of the Chicago Bears for the 1975.

First stint in the NFL[link]

In 1975, Pardee was hired by the Chicago Bears as head coach. He spent the next three years there, leading Chicago to their first playoff berth in 14 years in 1977, before moving on to the Washington Redskins. In 1979 he led the Redskins to within 1 game of making the playoffs, but in the season's final week they blew a 13-point lead to the eventual NFC East champions Dallas Cowboys and missed the playoffs. He was fired after going 6-10 in 1980. In 1981, he was hired as Assistant Head Coach in charge of defense for the San Diego Chargers.

USFL[link]

In 1984, Pardee returned to his native Texas by becoming the head coach of the Houston Gamblers. The Gamblers played spring football in the United States Football League. The Gamblers had one of the most potent offenses in pro football, the run and shoot offense, with Jim Kelly as quarterback. The Gamblers merged with the New Jersey Generals in 1986, and Pardee was named head coach. With Kelly and Doug Flutie both vying for the role of starting quarterback, and Herschel Walker in the backfield, the Generals were poised to dominate the USFL. But the league's attempted move to a fall schedule (at the behest of the Generals' owner, Donald Trump) ruined any chance of that. There would be no 1986 season, and the Generals, despite Trump's best efforts, disbanded with the rest of the league.

NCAA[link]

Pardee returned to Houston in 1987, by becoming the head coach at the University of Houston. During his three year stint, the Cougars, utilizing the same offense he coached in the USFL, produced the first ever African-American quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy, Andre Ware. His team also became the first major college team in NCAA history to have over 1,000 total offensive yards in a single game, raking up 1,021 yards while beating SMU, 95–21.^[2]

Not long after Pardee's arrival, however, Houston was slapped with crippling NCAA sanctions due to numerous major violations under his predecessor, Bill Yeoman. Among them, the Cougars were banned from bowl games in 1989 and 1990 and kicked off live television in 1989. As a result, most of the nation never got a chance to see the Cougars set numerous offensive records during the 1989 season.

Second stint in the NFL[link]

In 1990, Pardee packed up the run and shoot offense and moved across town, and back to the NFL, by joining the Houston Oilers. He spent five years coaching a team which made the playoffs each of his first four years there, led by Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon. After starting the 1994 season 1–9, Pardee resigned.

CFL[link]

He continued his coaching career in the Canadian Football League. In 1995, he was named head coach of the Birmingham Barracudas. The "Cudas" were part of a failed experiment to expand the CFL into the United States. With Matt Dunigan at quarterback, Birmingham made the playoffs, but lost in the first round. After just one year, the Barracudas disbanded and all American teams, except Baltimore, were finished.

Return to coaching[link]

In December 2007, Pardee, then 71, was contacted by athletic director Dave Maggard about the vacant head coaching job at the University of Houston. Signaling interest, he made it as far as a finalist for the position, however the school moved forward with Kevin Sumlin, 43, a co-offensive coordinator from the University of Oklahoma.^[3]

Personal life[link]

Pardee has been married for 50 years to Phyllis Lane Perryman and has five children and 12 grandchildren. Pardee's youngest son, Ted, is the color commentator for the Houston Cougars football radio broadcasts, and is vice president of sales and marketing with Dowley Security Systems, Inc.

Head coaching record[link]

College[link]

NFL[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jack Pardee at the College Football Hall of Fame
• Jack Pardee at the College Football Data Warehouse
• Jack Pardee at Pro-Football-Reference.com

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009)

James William "Jim" Plunkett (born December 5, 1947) is a former American football quarterback who played college football for Stanford University, where he won the Heisman Trophy, and professionally for three National Football League teams: the New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers and Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. He led the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories (XV and XVIII). He is the only eligible quarterback to start (and win) two Super Bowls without being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Biography[link]

Plunkett was born to Mexican American parents with an Irish-German great-grandfather on his paternal side. Plunkett's father was a news vendor afflicted with progressive blindness, who had to support his blind wife along with their three children.^[1] In an effort to aid the family's financial situation, Plunkett worked a series of odd jobs while growing up, including serving as a gas station attendant, grocery store clerk and as a laborer on construction sites. In an acknowledgement of his Mexican roots, Plunkett chose the fictional character of Zorro as his hero.^{[citation needed]}

Jim went to William C. Overfelt High School in the 9th and 10th grades and then transferred and graduated from James Lick High School both of which are located in East San Jose, California. Plunkett showed his talent for tossing the football by winning a throwing contest at the age of 14 with a heave of over 60 yards. Once he arrived at the school, he played quarterback and defensive end for the football team, with his athletic ability also helping him compete in basketball, baseball, track and wrestling. He is on their hall of fame wall in the James Lick gymnasium.

College[link]

Upon entering Stanford University, Jim Plunkett endured a rough freshman campaign after being weakened by a thyroid operation. His performance originally caused head coach John Ralston to switch him to defensive end, but Plunkett was adamant in remaining at quarterback, throwing 500 to 1,000 passes every day to polish his arm. He earned the opportunity to start in 1968, and in his first game, completed ten of thirteen passes for 277 yards and four touchdowns, and never relinquished his hold on the starting spot. Plunkett's arrival ushered in an era of wide-open passing, pro-style offenses in the Pac-8, a trend that has continued to the present.

His successful junior campaign saw him set league records for touchdown passes (20), passing yards (2,673) and total offense (2,786). This display of offensive firepower led Washington State coach Jim Sweeney to call Plunkett "The best college football player I've ever seen." After his junior year, Plunkett became eligible to enter the NFL draft, which would have given him a chance to earn a large roster bonus for himself and his mother. He passed up the chance at a paycheck, however, so that he could set a good example to the chicano youth he had tutored. In his senior year,1970, he led Stanford to their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1952, a game that ended with a 27-17 Stanford victory over the favored Ohio State Buckeyes.

With eighteen passing and three rushing touchdowns added to his 2,715 passing yards on the year (which broke his own conference record), Plunkett was awarded the 1970 Heisman Trophy, the award given annually to the top college football player in the country. Though he had set so many records on the season, 1970 had been the "Year of the Quarterback," and Plunkett beat out Notre Dame's Joe Theismann and Archie Manning of Ole Miss to win the award. He was the first Latino to win the Heisman Trophy. Aside from the Heisman, he captured the Maxwell Award for the nation's best quarterback and was named player of the year by United Press International, The Sporting News, and SPORT magazine. In addition, the American College Football Coaches Association designated him as their Offensive Player of the Year. He became the second mulitiple recipient of the W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy, awarded each year to the outstanding football player on the Pacific Coast. Plunkett received the Voit Trophy in both 1969 and 1970. While at Stanford he joined Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.

NFL career[link]

UCLA coach Tommy Prothro had called Plunkett the "best pro quarterback prospect I've ever seen", echoing Sweeney's words from the year prior. His excellent arm strength and precision made him attractive to pro teams that relied much more heavily on the passing game than most college teams of the late 1960s. In 1971, he was drafted with the first overall pick in the NFL draft by the New England Patriots (the team was still known as the Boston Patriots at the time of the draft; the name change to New England did not become official until March 21 of that year). Plunkett owns the distinction of being the only player of Hispanic heritage to be drafted with the first overall pick in the NFL draft. The Patriots finished the season at 6-8, fourth place in the AFC East. Plunkett's first game was a 20-6 victory over the Oakland Raiders, the Patriots' first regular-season contest at Schaefer Stadium. New England also influenced the AFC East championship race, as Plunkett's 88-yard fourth-quarter touchdown pass to former Stanford teammate Randy Vataha on the final day of the season dropped the Baltimore Colts to a 10-4-0 record and into second place in the division behind the 10-3-1 Miami Dolphins. Two weeks before the Patriots defeated the Colts, Plunkett engineered a 34-13 victory over the Dolphins.

Plunkett's touchdowns dropped and his interceptions rose in the following seasons, however, and he struggled with injuries and a shaky offensive line for the rest of his tenure in New England. By 1975, the Patriots drafted Steve Grogan, who would become a fixture with the club for 16 seasons, and under the leadership of coach Chuck Fairbanks, New England's offense became more run-oriented, led by Sam Cunningham.

Prior to the 1976 NFL Draft, Plunkett was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for QB Tom Owen, two first round picks in 1976, and a first and second round pick in 1977. He led the team to a 6-1 start before faltering to an 8-6 record. After a 5-9 season in 1977, the 49ers released him during the 1978 preseason.

Plunkett then joined the Oakland Raiders in 1978, serving in a reserve capacity over the next two years, throwing no passes in 1978 and just 15 passes in 1979. However, five weeks into the 1980 NFL season, his career took a major turn when starting QB Dan Pastorini fractured his leg in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The 33-year-old Plunkett came off the bench to relieve Pastorini, throwing five interceptions in a 31-17 loss. The Raiders, however, believing that Marc Wilson did not have the experience they wanted, called on Plunkett to start for the remainder of the year. In his first game as a starter, he completed eleven of fourteen passes with a touchdown and no interceptions. Plunkett guided Oakland to nine victories in eleven games and a playoff berth as a wild card. Plunkett led the Raiders to four playoff victories, including the first-ever victory by a wild card team in the Super Bowl, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 27–10 in Super Bowl XV. Throwing for 261 yards and three touchdowns, Plunkett was named the game's MVP; subsequently, Plunkett has the distinction of being the first minority to quarterback a team to a Super Bowl victory and the only Latino to be named Super Bowl MVP. In addition to this, he became the second of four players to win the Heisman Trophy and Super Bowl MVP, Roger Staubach before him, and Marcus Allen and Desmond Howard after him.

After returning to the backup role in 1983, Plunkett again assumed starting duties, this time after an injury to Wilson. The Los Angeles Raiders advanced to Super Bowl XVIII, where they defeated the Washington Redskins, 38-9. Plunkett completed 16 of 25 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown in the game.

Plunkett spent most of his last three seasons either injured or as a backup. He retired after the 1986 season, and is currently the fourth-leading passer in Raiders history. He currently holds the Oakland Raiders record, as well as tied for the league record, for the longest career pass. The 99-yard pass play occurred during an October 2, 1983 game against the Washington Redskins.

Currently, Plunkett does a post-game radio show of Raiders games, and is a co-host of several Raiders TV shows.

See also[link]

• Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame

References[link]

• Jim Plunkett Story: The Saga of a Man Who Came Back by Dave Newhouse

External links[link]

• Profile at NFL.com
• Jim Plunkett at the College Football Hall of Fame
• Jim Plunkett at the Heisman Trophy
• Jim Plunkett at Pro-Football-Reference.com