Football

Question 1

Defensive players had a long MVP drought after this linebacker won in 1986.

Answer 1

Lawrence Taylor

Question 2

Emlen Tunnell, Rod Woodson, Dick “Night Train” Lane, Charles Woodson, Ed Reed, and Ronnie Lott are among the National Football League’s career leaders in what statistical category? Paul Krause is the all-time leader with 81.

Answer 2

Interceptions

Question 3

In a game played on October 18, 1924, a University of Illinois halfback scored four touchdowns in the game’s first twelve minutes, against a University of Michigan side that had only surrendered three touchdowns over the previous two seasons. The Wolverines would give up 54 total points that season, with 39 coming that day at the hands of the Illini (led by the player in question, who would later be named by ESPN as the best college football player of all time). Who was this player?

Answer 3

Harold “Red” Grange

Question 4

Notre Dame only lost two games throughout the three years of Quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, left halfback Jim Crowley, right halfback Don Miller, and fullback Elmer Layden on the team. They were collectively known by this name.

Answer 4

Four Horsemen (of Notre Dame)

Question 5

Bert Bell, Austin Gunsel, _______________, Paul Tagliabue, Roger Goodell. Fill in the blank with the name of the man who occupied his position in this chain for 29 years.

Answer 5

Pete Rozelle

Question 6

The NFL includes the Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and there could have been a third “Bay” team too – what team changed to a name that included that word for one month in 1971, before changing again to the name the team is known by today?

Answer 6

New England (Boston) Patriots

Question 7

Of the states that the U.S. Census Bureau defines as being part of the Southern United States, three are home to at least two current NFL stadiums. Texas and Florida are two – what is the third?

Answer 7

Maryland

Question 8

The 1999 offense of this team was at the time referred to as “The Greatest Show on Turf.”

Answer 8

St. Louis Rams

Question 9

What NFL quarterback (and former 2017 MVP frontrunner) is the only player ever to be drafted #2 overall from an FCS (Division I-AA) school?

Answer 9

Carson Wentz (North Dakota State University)

Question 10

This team won the only Rose Bowl to go into overtime.

Answer 10

University of Georgia (2018)

Question 11

Name this play in which the QB runs the ball and can choose to pitch it to another back.

Answer 11

Option

Question 12

Tom Landry perfected the shotgun formation with this team.

Answer 12

Dallas Cowboys

Question 13

These “penalties” are simultaneous violations by the offense and defense that cancel each other out.

Answer 13

Offsetting

Question 14

This is the nickname for the defensive line that took the Minnesota Vikings to four Super Bowls.

Answer 14

Purple People Eaters

Question 15

Since the college football playoff National Championship began in 2014, what team went to three of the subsequent four final games, and won twice?

Answer 15

Alabama

Question 16

This city that’s home to an NFL team is named for an 18th century British prime minister.

Answer 16

Pittsburgh

Question 17

The first major professional American football team to move was the Staleys, who later became the Chicago Bears. What city in Illinois was their original hometown?

Answer 17

Decatur

Question 18

While the Iron Bowl is a college football rivalry fought between Alabama vs. Auburn, and the Apple Cup pits Washington against Washington State, the Palmetto Bowl features two teams battling for football supremacy in what other state?

Answer 18

South Carolina

Question 19

What does DVOA stand for?

Answer 19

Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average

Question 20

The Kansas City Chiefs were originally known as what?

Answer 20

The Dallas Texans

Question 21

This former Rams player was the lead receiver of “The Greatest Show on Turf.” As of the start of 2019, he is fifth in all-time receiving yards.

Answer 21

Isaac Bruce

Question 22

Three National Football League teams have the team’s name spelled out as part of the primary logo depicted on their helmets during the 2018 regular season. Name all three.

Answer 22

Jets, Raiders, Steelers

Question 23

The wishbone-C is a common logo design shared by a number of franchises, including the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Bears, and Minnesota Twins. However, the logo originated from collegiate athletics. Which university began wearing the wishbone-C in 1898 and still uses it today? The university is the only one to have played Notre Dame in football three or more times and never lost to the Fighting Irish.

Answer 23

University of Chicago

Question 24

Fred Gehrke rushed for just 1,664 yards in his NFL career, but his impact on the NFL is still plainly evident. Gehrke is credited with painting the first logo on an NFL helmet in 1948 when he played for which team? A slightly modified version of the original design painted by Gehrke is still in use today.

Answer 24

Los Angeles Rams

Question 25

Which Canadian Football League team sported this logo between 1976 and 1988?

Answer 25

Toronto Argonauts

Question 26

The 1967 NFL Championship game between the Cowboys and Packers, which took place at Lambeau Field, was known by this nickname.

Answer 26

Ice Bowl

Question 27

What two NFL teams co-hold the record for most Super Bowl losses, with five each?

(As of January 1st, 2019)

Answer 27

New England Patriots, Denver Broncos

Question 28

In 2015 the NFL moved the spot for this kind of kick back to the 15-yard line.

Answer 28

Extra Point

Question 29

Fill in this blank from Rule 3, Section 2, Article 6 of the 2018 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League: A _____ is the touching of a loose ball by a player in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain possession of it.

Answer 29

Muff

Question 30

In the interest of player safety, the National Football League in 2019 banned a certain high-energy, full-contact practice drill whose development is credited to legendary college coach Bud Wilkinson, and thus is best known by what geographic name?

Answer 30

Oklahoma Drill

Question 31

On Wednesday, January 22, 2020, what became the full name (city and team name) of the NFL franchise which, among the four teams currently in the AFC West, has gone the longest without winning a division title (having last done so in the 2002 season)?

Answer 31

Las Vegas Raiders

Question 32

For the 1982 season, the NFL’s MVP award was given to Washington’s Mark Moseley, who remains today (and probably forever) the only player to win the award for playing what position?

Answer 32

Kicker

Question 33

What Southeastern Conference team, behind co-MVPs Peerless Price (WR) and Dwayne Goodrich (CB), won the inaugural BCS National Championship Game for the 1998 season, defeating Florida State 23–16? The school has not appeared in any subsequent college football championship games, nor has it ever come close to appearing in the succeeding four-team College Football Playoff.

Answer 33

Tennessee Volunteers

Question 34

Name any one of the three coaches who have won both a Super Bowl and a college football national championship.

Answer 34

Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer did it with the Cowboys; Pete Carroll did it with the Seahawks.

Question 35

The Rams and the Vikings both have horns on their helmets, of course. Name either of the *other* two NFL teams that do as well.

Answer 35

Bills, Texans

Question 36

Two Los Angeles NFL teams currently share their names with models of what vehicle brand?

Answer 36

Dodge makes both Rams and Chargers.

Question 37

Demolished in 1963, the New York Giants’ baseball park was, in its original incarnation, built to host what other sport?

Answer 37

It was always called the Polo Grounds because it was used by polo ponies before ballplayers.

Question 38

With the christening of the Chiefs’ home in March 2021 as GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, there remain exactly three stadiums that are primary homes to NFL teams and are not named after a corporate entity. Give the full name (city and team name) of any one of the three teams that play in these three stadiums.

Answer 38

• Green Bay Packers (Lambeau Field)
• Chicago Bears (Soldier Field)
• Cincinnati Bengals (Paul Brown Stadium)