The following is a list of regular season games that have been canceled by the National Football League since 1933. While canceling games was extremely common prior to this date, since that year, the NFL has only seen four instances in which games have been canceled and not been rescheduled. In the first case (1974) and, to date, the most recent (2011), only one preseason game was canceled, while seven weeks of regular season games were lost in 1982 and one week of regular season games was lost in 1987. In all four seasons, the cancellations were the results of labor disputes between the league and the National Football League Players Association.

In addition to this game, one other game (albeit an exhibition) was canceled for reasons other than a labor dispute: the China Bowl, which was originally scheduled to take place in 2007, was postponed to 2009 and eventually canceled due to an economic recession.

Canceling games was far more common in the 1920s and early 1930s, in the founding years of the league. When a team did not want to play a game, they could cancel without any punishment or penalty. When league schedules were standardized in 1933, cancellations were effectively banned, and teams would have to forfeit the game or postpone if a cancellation was due to issues outside the team's control. There have been no forfeits in the league's history; a 1921 game between the Rochester Jeffersons and the Washington Senators is occasionally listed as a forfeit, but because of the lax cancellation rules of the time, is listed in modern records as a cancellation. The November 17, 1935 Boston Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles game was canceled due to rain and snow.

John Earl Madden (born April 10, 1936) is a former American professional football player in the National Football League, a former Super Bowl-winning head coach with the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League and later the NFL, and a former color commentator for NFL telecasts. In 2006, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his coaching career. He is also widely known for the long-running Madden NFL video game series he has endorsed and fronted since 1988.

Madden broadcast with Pat Summerall in the 1980s and 1990s, on CBS and later Fox. He was also the last color commentator for ABC's Monday Night Football before it moved to ESPN in 2006. His last regular role was as a commentator for NBC Sunday Night Football.

Madden has also written several books and has served as a commercial pitchman for various products and retailers. He retired from broadcasting on April 16, 2009 in order to spend more time with his family.

John Madden was born in Austin, Minnesota, to Earl Russell Madden and Mary Margaret (Flaherty) Madden. His father, an auto mechanic, moved the Madden family to Daly City, California, a suburb of San Francisco, when he was young. He attended middle school at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and then Jefferson High School, graduating in 1954.

Barry Sanders (born July 16, 1968) is a former American football running back who spent all of his professional career with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. Sanders left the game just short of the all-time rushing record. Sanders is a member of the college and professional football halls of fame. He is considered one of the greatest and most elusive running backs of all time.

A Wichita, Kansas native, Sanders attended Wichita North High School. Barry started at tailback his sophomore year, but took a back seat to his brother Byron the following year. Sanders did not become the starting running back until the fourth game of his senior year.He rushed for 1,417 in the final seven games of the season, which earned him all-state honors. During that seven game span Sanders averaged 10.2 yards per carry. He was, however, overlooked by most college recruiters because of his 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) size. Although he was a stellar athlete, Barry only had scholarships from Emporia State, Iowa State, Tulsa, and Oklahoma State.