The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The AFC and its counterpart, the National Football Conference (NFC), each contain 16 teams with 4 divisions. Both conferences were created as part of the 1970 merger between the National Football League, and the American Football League (AFL). All ten of the AFL teams, and three NFL teams, became members of the new AFC, with the remaining thirteen NFL teams forming the NFC. A series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making the current total of 16 teams in each conference. The current AFC champions are the Kansas City Chiefs, who defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the 2023 season's AFC Championship Game for their fourth conference championship and went on to win Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers
The National Football Conference (NFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States. The NFC and its counterpart, the American Football Conference (AFC), each have 16 teams organized into four divisions.
James William Plunkett is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He achieved his greatest success during his final eight seasons with the Raiders franchise, whom he led to two Super Bowl wins.
The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. The game is played on the last Sunday in January by the two remaining playoff teams, following the AFC postseason's first two rounds. The AFC champion then advances to face the winner of the NFC Championship Game in the Super Bowl.
William Lee McGinest Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football at USC and was selected fourth overall by the Patriots in the 1994 NFL draft. During his 12 seasons with the team, he was named to two Pro Bowls and won three Super Bowl titles. McGinest also holds the record for postseason sacks. For his accomplishments in New England, he was inducted to the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2015.
The 1971 NFL season was the 52nd regular season of the National Football League. The Boston Patriots changed their name to New England Patriots to widen their appeal to the entire New England region after moving to their new stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, located between Boston and Providence, Rhode Island.
Ernest Henry Wright was an American professional football player who was an offensive tackle for 13 seasons, from 1960 to 1969 in the American Football League (AFL), and from 1970 to 1972 in the National Football League (NFL).
Joseph Robert Garcia Kapp was an American football player, coach, and executive. He played college football as a quarterback for the California Golden Bears. Kapp played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Calgary Stampeders and the BC Lions and then in the National Football League (NFL) with the Minnesota Vikings and the Boston Patriots. Kapp led the BC Lions to their first Grey Cup Championship victory in 1964. With the Vikings, he led them to victory in the 1969 NFL Championship Game, the only league championship in team history. Kapp returned to his alma mater as head coach of the Golden Bears from 1982 to 1986. He was the general manager and president of the BC Lions in 1990.
Samuel Lewis Cunningham Jr, nicknamed "Bam", was an American professional football player who was a fullback for 10 seasons with the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans, where he earned first-team All-American honors and was the MVP of the 1973 Rose Bowl.
The Fearsome Foursome was the dominating defensive line of the Los Angeles Rams of the 1960s and 1970s. Before them, the term had occasionally been applied to other defensive lines in the National Football League.
Leon Clifford McLaughlin was an American football player and coach. He played professionally as a center for five seasons with the Los Angeles Rams of National Football League (NFL). After his playing career he served as assistant coach for several NFL teams: Pittsburgh Steelers (1966–68), Los Angeles Rams (1971–72), Detroit Lions (1973–74), Green Bay Packers (1975–76), New England Patriots (1977), and St. Louis / Phoenix Cardinals (1978–89). McLaughlin was the head football coach at San Fernando Valley State College—now known as California State University, Northridge—from 1969 to 1970.
Richard Francis Cash is a former American football defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL). He was a 10th round selection in the 1968 NFL Draft out of Northeast Missouri State University by the Green Bay Packers. Cash would play for the Atlanta Falcons (1968), the Los Angeles Rams (1969–1970), and the New England Patriots (1972–1973).
The 1985 Denver Broncos season was the team's 26th year in professional football and its 16th with the National Football League (NFL). Despite finishing with eleven wins and five losses, the Broncos failed to make the playoffs. The Broncos were coming off a loss to the Steelers in the divisional round, and were picked by many to make the Super Bowl at the end of the 1985 season. The Broncos started out well, as they started 6–2 and 8–3. However, two losses in overtime to arch rival Los Angeles resulted in the Broncos needing to win their final two games of the season to try to sneak into the playoffs. They did just that, beating Kansas City 14–13 and Seattle 27–24. However, even though the Broncos finished 11–5, they failed to reach the playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker with the New England Patriots. The tiebreaker was based on the teams' common opponents record; and the Patriots beat the Broncos in that category by finishing 4–2 against the Raiders, Seahawks, Dolphins, and Colts, while the Broncos finished just 3–3 against the same four teams. The 1985 Broncos are one of two teams in NFL history since the 1970 merger to end the season with eleven or more wins and not qualify for the playoffs - the other is the 2008 Patriots.
Jon William Embree is an American football coach and former player who is the assistant head coach and tight ends coach for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He is a former head coach at Colorado. Prior to that, he was the tight ends coach for the Washington Redskins of the NFL. As a player, he spent two seasons in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams as a tight end until an injury ended his career. He was selected in the sixth round of the 1987 NFL Draft by the Rams, after playing college football at Colorado.
Several organizations give out NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards that are listed in the NFL Record and Fact Book and Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League. The Associated Press (AP) has been giving the award since 1972; Pro Football Writers of America/Pro Football Weekly since 1970; and Sporting News has announced winners since 2008. The Newspaper Enterprise Association was the originator of the award in 1966. However, it became defunct after 1997. Also going defunct was the United Press International (UPI) AFC-NFC Defensive Player of the Year Awards that began in 1975.
Kevin Lamar Johnson is a former American football defensive tackle who played three seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagles and Oakland Raiders. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the fourth round of the 1993 NFL Draft. He first enrolled at Los Angeles Harbor College before transferring to Texas Southern University. Johnson attended Westchester High School in Los Angeles, California. He was also a member of the Orlando Predators and Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League.
