There’s Been Plenty of Huge Changes to the NFL Over the Last 100 Years; Check Out Some of the Biggest Ones

100 years is a long time for anything to survive, but not only has the NFL survived, but it’s thrived and is now the top organized sport in the world in terms of popularity.

The league has been the biggest sport in North America for sometime, surpassing baseball as the real National pastime for fans, and on a weekly basis fans can’t get enough of the action on and off the field from their favorite team.

There’s been a number of ups and downs, and while some mistakes have been made, there’s been a lot more right than wrong, and you can see that in the fact that teams are now very much in the billions in terms of cost.

Today we take a look at a couple of the big changes in the league over the last 100 years, and how those changes have made the NFL the league we all love.

The first change that has shaped the game is that of racial integration. Going back, segregation wasn’t outlawed in the United States until 1964, which meant that the NFL was pretty much an all-white league until that time.

Once racial integration took place, the league took off. Kenny Washington permanently broke the race barrier by signing for the Los Angeles Rams, and thankfully the game has never looked back.

It took time, but the league integrated black players from there, and another major reason for it was the fact that the AFL came along, which helped racial integration.

Speaking of which, the AFL merger which made the NFL an even stronger league is another big way the league has changed.

The American Football League was run by a bunch of upstarts, many rich guys who could not get their hands on an NFL franchise at the time.

Go back and check out the first four Super Bowls. The first two were won by the Green Bay Packers, but the last two before the leagues merged were won by the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs.

If Betway NFL would have been around, you could have put and won some serious coin on the underdog AFL teams that won Super Bowls III and IV.

Prior to Super Bowl IV in 1966, a deal was agreed and a 24-team league was formed with two conferences – the AFC, featuring the former AFL franchises, and the NFC, featuring the remaining NFL franchises.

A final big change to the game was that of the way that helmets have evolved over the last 100 years.

The first helmets were just pieces of leather that really didn’t protect players like they should have.

With player safety and keeping players on the field as the biggest chore for the league, they started to make the helmets both bigger and safer.

Companies like Schutt and Riddell each year unveil helmets that are safer, and more aerodynamic so players can look good and feel good.

Check out a comparison of the helmets from the 30’s to now, and you’ll be amazed.

For more breakthrough things that have changed the game over the last century, check out the infographic below!

The post There’s Been Plenty of Huge Changes to the NFL Over the Last 100 Years; Check Out Some of the Biggest Ones appeared first on Saints Gab.

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