1982 NFL season

The 1982 NFL season was the 63rd regular season of the National Football League. A 57-day-long players' strike reduced the 1982 season from a 16-game schedule per team to an abbreviated nine game schedule. Because of the shortened season, the NFL adopted a special 16-team playoff tournament; division standings were ignored for seeding (although each division sent at least two teams, except the NFC West which had only one). Eight teams from each conference were seeded 1–8 based on their regular season records. Two teams qualified for the playoffs despite losing records (the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions). The season ended with Super Bowl XVII when the Washington Redskins defeated the Miami Dolphins 27–17 at the Rose Bowl.

1982 NFL season

Regular season
Duration	September 12, 1982 – January 3, 1983
A player's strike shortened the regular season to 9 games.
Playoffs
Start date	January 8, 1983
AFC Champions	Miami Dolphins
NFC Champions	Washington Redskins
Super Bowl XVII
Date	January 30, 1983
Site	Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Champions	Washington Redskins
Pro Bowl
Date	February 6, 1983
Site	Aloha Stadium
← 1981 NFL seasons 1983 →

Colts

Patriots

Bills

Dolphins

Jets

Bengals

Browns

Oilers

Steelers

Broncos

Chiefs

Raiders

Chargers

Seahawks

AFC teams: West, Central, East

Cowboys

Giants

Eagles

Cardinals

Redskins

Bears

Lions

Packers

Vikings

Buccaneers

Falcons

Rams

Saints

49ers

NFC teams: West, Central, East

The Redskins playing against the Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII.

Before the season, a verdict was handed down against the league in the trial brought by the Oakland Raiders and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum back in 1980. The jury ruled that the NFL violated antitrust laws when it declined to approve the proposed move by the team from Oakland to Los Angeles. Thus, the league was forced to let the officially renamed "Los Angeles Raiders" play in the second largest city in the United States, returning football to the Los Angeles area proper following a two-year absence (the Los Angeles Rams left the Coliseum for Anaheim Stadium in Orange County in 1980).

For the start of the 1982 season, the Minnesota Vikings moved from Metropolitan Stadium to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

Player movement

Transactions

• August 25, 1982: Quarterback Ken Stabler, winner of Super Bowl XI with the Oakland Raiders, signed with the New Orleans Saints.^[1]

Traded

September 18, 1982: The New Orleans Saints traded longtime starter Archie Manning to the Houston Oilers for offensive tackle Leon Gray.^[2]

Retirements

• February 10, 1982: Four-time Super Bowl champion Mean Joe Greene announces his retirement.^[3]

Draft

The 1982 NFL draft was held from April 27 to 28, 1982, at New York City's Sheraton Hotel. With the first pick, the New England Patriots selected defensive end Kenneth Sims from the University of Texas. And with the second pick, the Baltimore Colts selected Johnie Cooks from Mississippi State.

Major rule changes

• The penalty for incidental grabbing of a facemask that is committed by the defensive team changed from five yards and an automatic first down to only five yards with no automatic first down. The incidental facemask penalty was eliminated for the 2008 season.
• The penalties for illegally kicking, batting, or punching the ball changed from 15 yards to 10 yards.
• This was the first season that the NFL recorded quarterback sacks as an official statistic.

Regular season

New Sunday time slots

For the first time all Sunday afternoon games began in one of two windows: 1:00 p.m. ET/noon CT for early games, or 4:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT for late games. From 1970 to 1981, most games began at 1 p.m. local time regardless of the home team (except in Denver, where the Broncos kick off at 2 p.m. MT). An exception to this rule was made for the Baltimore Colts, who were forced to begin Sunday home games no earlier than 2 p.m. Eastern due to a Baltimore ordinance, since repealed, which prohibited Sunday sporting events from beginning prior to that hour. That ordinance was cited by owner Robert Irsay as a burden and a factor in moving the franchise to Indianapolis in March 1984.

1982 players' strike

Players began a 57-day strike following the completion of week 2 of the regular season. As a result of the impasse, games were simply cancelled until a settlement was reached (ultimately, Weeks 3 to 10).

During the players strike, the NFLPA put on two exhibition games. One game was played at RFK Stadium in Washington DC and the other was at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Low attendance and court rulings forced the NFLPA to cancel any further games.

Upon reaching that settlement, the NFL announced that Weeks 11 to 16 would be played as scheduled, and the games originally scheduled for week 3 of the season would be played following the completion of the resumed regular season as a new week 17, with the playoffs pushed back one week. Later, the NFL decided to use the final week 17 to hold various intra-division games from cancelled Weeks 3 to 10 instead of merely playing the week-3 games. This was done to increase attendance and to allow some teams to balance out home and away games, to the extent possible (either five home and four away, or four home and five away). Because the 1982 shortened season would include only nine regular season contests for each team, the NFL announced that the three divisions in each of the two conferences would be eliminated for the purpose of determining playoff qualifications, and the regular season would be followed by an expansion of the playoffs from 10 to 16 teams. With this, each conference had 14 teams competing for 8 playoff spots, with division standings being disregarded in favor of overall conference standings. The Washington Redskins were the Super Bowl winners.

Final standings

AFC v t e # Team W L T PCT PF PA STK Seeded postseason qualifiers 1 Los Angeles Raiders 8 1 0 .889 260 200 W5 2[lower-alpha 1] Miami Dolphins 7 2 0 .778 198 131 W3 3[lower-alpha 1] Cincinnati Bengals 7 2 0 .778 232 177 W2 4[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3] Pittsburgh Steelers 6 3 0 .667 204 146 W2 5[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3] San Diego Chargers 6 3 0 .667 288 221 L1 6[lower-alpha 3] New York Jets 6 3 0 .667 245 166 L1 7 New England Patriots 5 4 0 .556 143 157 W1 8[lower-alpha 4] Cleveland Browns 4 5 0 .444 140 182 L1 Did not qualify for the postseason 9[lower-alpha 4] Buffalo Bills 4 5 0 .444 150 154 L3 10[lower-alpha 4] Seattle Seahawks 4 5 0 .444 127 147 W1 11 Kansas City Chiefs 3 6 0 .333 176 184 W1 12 Denver Broncos 2 7 0 .222 148 226 L3 13 Houston Oilers 1 8 0 .111 136 245 L7 14 Baltimore Colts 0 8 1 .056 113 236 L2 Tiebreakers Miami finished ahead of Cincinnati based on better conference record (6–1 to Cincinnati’s 6–2). Pittsburgh finished ahead of San Diego based on better record against common opponents (3–1 to Chargers' 2–1). Conference tiebreak was initially used to eliminate New York Jets. Pittsburgh and San Diego finished ahead of New York Jets based on conference record (Pittsburgh and San Diego 5–3 against Jets’ 2–3) Cleveland finished ahead of Buffalo and Buffalo ahead of Seattle based on conference record (4–3 to Buffalo’s 3–3 to Seattle’s 3–5).

NFC v t e # Team W L T PCT PF PA STK Seeded postseason qualifiers 1 Washington Redskins 8 1 0 .889 190 128 W4 2 Dallas Cowboys 6 3 0 .667 226 145 L2 3 Green Bay Packers 5 3 1 .611 226 169 L1 4[lower-alpha 1] Minnesota Vikings 5 4 0 .556 187 198 W1 5[lower-alpha 1] Atlanta Falcons 5 4 0 .556 183 199 L2 6[lower-alpha 1] St. Louis Cardinals 5 4 0 .556 135 170 L1 7[lower-alpha 1] Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5 4 0 .556 158 178 W3 8[lower-alpha 2] Detroit Lions 4 5 0 .444 181 176 W1 Did not qualify for the postseason 9[lower-alpha 2] New Orleans Saints 4 5 0 .444 129 160 W1 10[lower-alpha 2] New York Giants 4 5 0 .444 164 160 W1 11[lower-alpha 3] San Francisco 49ers 3 6 0 .333 209 206 L1 12[lower-alpha 3] Chicago Bears 3 6 0 .333 141 174 L1 13[lower-alpha 3] Philadelphia Eagles 3 6 0 .333 191 195 L1 14 Los Angeles Rams 2 7 0 .222 200 250 W1 Tiebreakers Minnesota (4–1), Atlanta (4–3), St. Louis (5–4), Tampa Bay (3–3) seeds were determined by best won-lost record in conference games. Detroit finished ahead of New Orleans and the N.Y. Giants based on best conference record (4–4 to Saints’ 3–5 to Giants’ 3–5). San Francisco finished ahead of Chicago, and Chicago finished ahead of Philadelphia, based on conference record (49ers’ 2–3 to Bears’ 2–5 to Eagles’ 1–5).

Clinched playoff seeds are marked in parentheses and shaded in green

Playoffs

The Packers playing against the Cardinals in the 1982 NFC First Round Playoff game.

Main article: 1982–83 NFL playoffs

Each of the first three rounds of the playoffs was pushed back one week in order to make room for the new week 17, which was originally scheduled as the Wild Card weekend. This was possible because there was an idle week between the Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl was held as originally scheduled.

Bracket

	Jan 9 – Riverfront Stadium
	6	NY Jets	44			Jan 15 – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
	3	Cincinnati	17
	Jan 8 – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum					6	NY Jets	17
						1	LA Raiders	14
	8	Cleveland	10			AFC					Jan 23 – Miami Orange Bowl
	1	LA Raiders	27
	Jan 9 – Three Rivers Stadium										6	NY Jets	0
											2	Miami	14
	5	San Diego	31			Jan 16 – Miami Orange Bowl					AFC Championship
	4	Pittsburgh	28
	Jan 8 – Miami Orange Bowl					5	San Diego	13
						2	Miami	34
	7	New England	13
	2	Miami	28													Jan 30 – Rose Bowl
	First Round playoffs					Second Round playoffs										A2	Miami	17
																N1	Washington	27
	Jan 8 – Lambeau Field															Super Bowl XVII
	6	St. Louis	16			Jan 16 – Texas Stadium
	3	Green Bay	41
	Jan 9 – Texas Stadium					3	Green Bay	26
						2	Dallas	37
	7	Tampa Bay	17			NFC
											Jan 22 – RFK Stadium
	2	Dallas	30
	Jan 9 – Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome										2	Dallas	17
											1	Washington	31
	5	Atlanta	24			Jan 15 – RFK Stadium					NFC Championship
	4	Minnesota	30
	Jan 8 – RFK Stadium					4	Minnesota	7
						1	Washington	21
	8	Detroit	7
	1	Washington	31

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Until this season, no team ever reached the post-season with a losing record. The Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions both made playoff appearances with 4–5 records. It would be 28 years before another team with a losing record would make the postseason (however, this would be accomplished in a full season).^[4]

The postseason would mark several "firsts" and "lasts" for several teams and players:

• This was the Cardinals' first postseason appearance since 1975 and last postseason game representing St. Louis. The franchise relocated to Arizona in 1988 and did not return to the playoffs until 1998. The Cardinals were 0–3 in playoff games representing St. Louis, with all three on the road.
• This marked Terry Bradshaw's final appearance at Three Rivers Stadium. He sat out nearly all of the 1983 season with an elbow injury, appearing in just one half of a late-season game against the Jets in what turned out to be their final game at Shea Stadium. It would also be the final appearance of fellow Hall of Famers Lynn Swann and Jack Ham, both of whom would retire in the offseason, the last home playoff game of head coach Chuck Noll (who would coach eight more years, with the Steelers either missing the playoffs or only playing away playoff games), and the Steelers last home playoff game until 1992.
• This was Tampa Bay's last playoff game until 1997, by which time the Buccaneers replaced their orange uniforms. From 1983 to 1996, they suffered 14 consecutive losing seasons, 13 of which saw Tampa Bay lose 10 or more games.
• This would be Atlanta's last playoff appearance until the 1991 season.
• This was the final postseason appearance in the Hall of Fame careers of Chargers stars Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner, and Kellen Winslow. All would remain with the Chargers until at least 1986, but the Chargers would not return to the postseason until 1992.
• This was the Packers' first postseason appearance since 1972 and only the second since Vince Lombardi stepped down as head coach following the 1967 season, as well as the team's only postseason victory between the Lombardi and Brett Favre eras (1969–91). The Packers would not play another postseason game until 1993.
• This would be the final playoff win in Cowboys coach Tom Landry's career before his firing in 1989. It would be the Cowboys last playoff victory until 1991. After appearing in 10 of the previous 13 NFC Championship games, this would be Dallas's last appearance until 1992.

Awards

Most Valuable Player	Mark Moseley, Placekicker, Washington
Coach of the Year	Joe Gibbs, Washington
Offensive Player of the Year	Dan Fouts, quarterback, San Diego
Defensive Player of the Year	Lawrence Taylor, linebacker, NY Giants
Offensive Rookie of the Year	Marcus Allen, running back, LA Raiders
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Chip Banks, linebacker, Cleveland
Man of the Year	Joe Theismann, quarterback, Washington
Comeback Player of the Year	Lyle Alzado, defensive end, LA Raiders
Super Bowl Most Valuable Player	John Riggins, running back, Washington

Coaching changes

Offseason

• Baltimore Colts: Frank Kush replaced the fired Mike McCormack.
• Chicago Bears: Mike Ditka replaced the fired Neill Armstrong.
• New England Patriots: Ron Meyer replaced the fired Ron Erhardt.

In-season

• Seattle Seahawks: Jack Patera was fired during the players strike after the team lost their first two games. Mike McCormack, the team's director of football operations, took over as interim for the remainder of the season.

Stadium changes

• The relocated Los Angeles Raiders moved from the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
• The Minnesota Vikings moved from Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington to the Metrodome in Minneapolis

Uniform changes

• The league discontinued the 1979 numbering system for officials, with officials numbered separately by position, and reverted to the original system where each NFL official was assigned a random number regardless of position. Officials who were in the league in 1978 were allowed to reclaim their old number or switch to a number used by a 1978 official who had since retired or was not in use in 1978; officials hired beginning in 1979 then picked from remaining numbers based upon seniority. Also the officials' position was now abbreviated on the back of the uniform instead of being spelled out in full.
• The Baltimore Colts began wearing gray pants with their blue jerseys. The gray pants featured a horseshoe on each hip, with the player's number inside the horseshoe.
• The Chicago Bears switched from gray to navy blue face masks.
• The Detroit Lions switched from silver to white numbers on their blue jerseys.
• The Dallas Cowboys added elliptical blue circles with the player's number to the hip area of the pants.
• The St. Louis Cardinals repeated their helmet logo on top of the sleeve stripes of their white jerseys.
• The Washington Redskins modified their helmet logo. The feathers hanging from the side of the Redskin portrait were now curved ("tucked under" the portrait) instead of hanging straight. The Redskins reverted to their previous logo, adopted in 1972, the next season.

Television

ABC, CBS, and NBC each signed five-year contracts to renew their rights to broadcast Monday Night Football, the NFC package, and the AFC package, respectively. The major change was that ABC was allowed into the Super Bowl rotation beginning with Super Bowl XIX at the end of the 1984 season.^[5]

Len Berman replaced Bryant Gumbel as host on NBC's pregame show NFL '82. Pete Axthelm also joined the show as a studio analyst.

With games canceled during the players' strike, CBS sent Pat Summerall and John Madden, and some of their other regular NFL announcing crews, to instead call a few college football Division II and III games.^[6] NBC acquired the rights to air the Canadian Football League for those weeks, sending Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen, and their other regular NFL announcing crews to those games.^[7]

During this season, the new Channel 4 in the United Kingdom began its coverage of the NFL^[8] which was to earn a substantial following during English soccer's low point of the mid-1980s. However, the first game shown—between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers—had been played some time before it was shown in the UK, because coverage began during the players' strike.^[9]

Deaths

October

• October 26 – Vince Jacob, age 51. Official since 1975 (line judge 1975–77; side judge 1978 – first two weeks of 1982).

December

• December 11 – Rich Houston, age 37. Drafted in the 4th round of the 1969 National Football League Draft, Houston played for the New York Giants 1969–1973.

References

1. "Stabler will play for Saints". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama). Associated Press. August 25, 1982. p. 25.
2. "Saints deal Manning to Oilers". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. September 18, 1982. p. 19.
3. "A legend calls it quits. By Teresa Varley". Pittsburgh Steelers. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
4. O'Neil, Danny (January 2, 2011), "Seahawks defeat Rams 16–6 to win NFC West title", The Seattle Times, retrieved January 3, 2011
5. Quinn, Kevin G. (2011). The Economics of the National Football League: The State of the Art. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 338. ISBN 978-1-4419-6289-8.
6. Jablonski, David (December 29, 2021). "Madden's broadcasting career took detour to Springfield for Wittenberg game in 1982". Springfield News-Sun.
7. Cosentino, Dom (January 10, 2014). "Every Game Was Terrible: The Year The CFL Failed To Conquer America". Deadspin.
8. "All in the game for DJ", Burton Daily Mail page 11, 6 November 1982
9. "Channel 4", The Standard page 25, 5 November 1982

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1981–1990 Archived October 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
• 1982 NFL season at Football Reference