Choosing where to begin the modern era of the NFL is easier than in most other sports. The institution of the Super Bowl for the 1966 season and the subsequent AFL-NFL merger in 1970 are the clear demarcation points in the league’s history.
The position of OUAT Sports is that 1966-69 are more a prologue, with the heart of the story really beginning in 1970. The reasons are as follows:
- The AFL was not taken seriously as a credible challenger to the NFL in those early four years of the Super Bowl. The routs Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers put on the AFL champs in the first two Super Bowls substantiated that contemporary view. Even the legendary upset Joe Namath’s New York Jets authored over the Baltimore Colts didn’t completely move the needle. The Jets’ win was widely seen as a fluke. It took the Kansas City Chiefs decisively defeating the Minnesota Vikings a year later to give the AFL credibility with the broader national fan base.
- Credibility issues aside, the NFL and AFL really were two separate leagues for those initial four years the Super Bowl existed. By 1969, there were 16 teams in the NFL against just 10 in the AFL. There was no regular season interleague play. It took the 1970 merger to shift the Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Cleveland Browns in with the franchises of the AFL to create the new AFC.
- The merger did more than balance the leagues and streamline operations though. The new TV contract that came with the merger ushered in a significant new era—prime-time football as a weekly institution. Monday Night Football came into existence. Today, it’s impossible to imagine pro football without the run of prime-time games, from Thursday to Sunday through Monday. That began in 1970.
For all of these reasons, our historic timeline picks up in 1970. We further break down the ensuing five decades as follows. The linked pages take you to each era:
Seven For the 70s (1970–77): The newly merged NFL quickly developed a familiar cast of contenders. Dallas, Miami, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Minnesota, Washington, and Los Angeles crowded the playoff field and built rivalries that defined the decade. By the end of 1977, no one had definitively separated themselves from the others.
Double Dynasty (1978–79): The Steelers decisively got separation and claimed the mantle of Team of the 70s with consecutive Super Bowl titles to close the decade. Their achievement ran parallel with Alabama winning two straight national titles, the only time there has been such a “double repeat.” This was followed by a transitional 1980 season when familiar franchises remained prominent, but the signs of change were starting to break through.
NFC Empire (1981–91): San Francisco’s breakthrough in 1981 introduced more than a new champion. Bill Walsh and Joe Montana helped change the way offensive football was played, while the Redskins, Giants and the Bears built championship teams with distinct identities of their own. Together, these four franchises made the NFC the league’s center of power.
The Duopoly (1992–95): The NFC’s broad empire narrowed to a struggle between Dallas and San Francisco. A rebuilt Cowboy team challenged the established 49ers, and their rivalry became the league’s defining battle. Free agency added a new way to fight for supremacy, with Deion Sanders moving between the two powers.
The Transition Era (1996–2001): These seasons brought a succession of different stories: Brett Favre won a title in his prime, John Elway won two before time ran out, and Kurt Warner arrived from obscurity with an offense that shook up the league. The NFC’s long hold on the Super Bowl ended, new contenders emerged, and the period closed with an unexpected winner whose importance was only beginning to become apparent.
The Brady–Peyton Rivalry (2002–15): After Tom Brady’s Patriots upset Warner’s Rams to close the previous era, Brady and Peyton Manning became the central figures in a quarterback debate that defined a generation. Championships, MVP awards, head-to-head playoff games, and contrasting circumstances supplied ammunition for both sides. By Manning’s retirement after 2015, both quarterbacks had their own case in the debate. Brady still had time to add to the evidence.
Tom Brady’s Final Verdict (2016–20): Any arguments about Tom Brady’s status as the best of all time were put to rest. He won two more championships with the Patriots. Then Brady left New England, giving the league an opportunity to see him apart from Bill Belichick. Brady won another one. The man who defined the NFL for nearly two decades had delivered his definitive verdict and brought us to the edge of our current era.
That the era we’re living through will be defined by Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs is in little doubt. Its seeds were planted toward the end of the previous era, with Kansas City’s 2019 Super Bowl title and loss to Brady in 2020. The Chiefs have since won titles in 2022 and 2023, and reached the Super Bowl in 2024, becoming the first team to get there with a chance to win a third straight. It remains to be seen when this era will end and how it will ultimately be remembered. But its central figure is already clear.