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| Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants
Event Date: September 5, 2012 8:30pm
Location: MetLife Stadium
Open the 2012-13 Season with one of the biggest rivalries in the NFL as Dallas takes on the defending Superbowl Champs. | 2012 Preseason Games
Event Date: August 2012
Location: Various NFL Stadiums
The preseason offers a chance to preview of the talent all your favorite teams picked up in the offseason. |
The National Football League, or NFL, is the most popular sport association in the United States. American football captivates fans from all over North America - and the world - every year in the fall and winter seasons. Football teams in the NFL even play games during national U.S. holidays, allowing families to eat, drink and be merry on Thanksgiving Day, and to enjoy a game on television together as a family. As a spectator sport, football stadiums are some of the biggest sporting arenas in the United States. Sometimes, the stadiums double as venues for popular concerts and events, or even for other sports such as baseball.
Modern American football evolved from British origins to become the sport it is today. Students at Rugby School in the 1840's in England played a game where players could pick up the ball and run with it. This sport was known as Rugby football, or just "rugby." British soldiers took the game with them to Canada, where its popularity quickly spread. In 1874, the United States saw the most important evolution in the parent sport. A game between Cambridge and Harvard allowed the schools to compromise rugby rules to allow greater handling of the ball. In 1895, the punter for the University of North Carolina Tarheels avoided a blocked punt and threw the first ever forward pass to George Stephens, who ran 70 yards downfield for a touchdown and the win against the University of Georgia Bulldogs.
The NFL was formed in the 1920's when 10 professional football teams put their heads together and formed the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which later became the National Football Association. Over time, professional football became so popular that other leagues tried to support their own franchises. The most successful of these was the American Football League, or AFL, which consolidated with the NFL in 1970. With the consolidation, the NFL expanded into two divisions: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). From then on, the two best teams, one from each conference, played in the championship matchup known as the Super Bowl.
From Foxboro to San Diego, from Tampa Bay to Green Bay, from Pittsburgh to Dallas, NFL football has thousands of passionate fans. Every Sunday in the Fall, these football fans wake up early to watch the NFL pre-game shows and then head out to the parking lot at the stadium to tailgate. TicketCity is not affiliated with the National Football League or the official NFL website.