It is illegal for any player to put adhesive or slippery substances such as the product "Stickum" on his body, equipment or uniform. This rule is known as both the "Lester Hayes Rule" and the "Fred Biletnikoff Rule" since both players were notorious for using sticky substances to make it easier for them to intercept/catch passes.
An offensive player who comes into the game wearing an illegal number for the position he takes must report to the referee before the start of the next play.
The penalty for anineligible receiver who touches a forward pass is a loss of down.
The penalty for illegal use of hands, arms, or body (including holding) is reduced from 15 yards to 10 yards.
The penalty for intentional grounding is modified: loss of down and 10 yards penalty from the previous spot, or if the foul occurs more than 10 yards from the line of scrimmage, loss of down at the spot of the foul.
Officials began wearing numbers 21 through 25 within their position groups after going no higher than number 20 in 1979 and 1980.
April 28 -Cliff Battles, age 70. Running back for the Boston Braves, which later became theWashington Redskins. Elected to the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in 1968.
July 1, 1981: LinebackerRusty Chambers, the Miami Dolphins leading tackler in 1978 and 1979, died in an automobile accident.[1]
From 1970 to 2001, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, records against common opponents, and records in conference play.
TheCincinnati Bengals made significant modifications to their uniforms for the first time since the team's debut in 1968, discontinuing the design similar to theCleveland Browns' jerseys. Orange and black tiger stripes adorned the shoulder stripes of the jersey and the side striping of the pants. Black tiger stripes were also added to the orange helmets, replacing the Bengals wordmark.
TheDallas Cowboys darkened the shade of their blue jerseys from royal to navy blue, with the numerals becoming silver. The Cowboys wore this blue jersey through1994.
TheHouston Oilers resumed wearing blue pants with their white jerseys after a one-season hiatus; in addition, the team also changed their face masks from gray to red.
This was the fourth and final year under the league's broadcast contracts withABC,CBS, andNBC to televiseMonday Night Football, the NFC package, and the AFC package, respectively. The league then negotiated to have all three networks renew their deals for another five years.[4]
John Madden became the lead color commentator for CBS, replacingTom Brookshier who moved into a play-by-play role. However CBS Sports executives debated on whether Madden should be paired with incumbent lead play-by-play announcerPat Summerall or should #2 announcerVin Scully be promoted to the role. To resolve the situation, both Scully and Summerall were paired with Madden in four-week stretches. Scully was paired with Madden during the first four weeks of the season while Summerall was primarily covering theUS Open Tennis Championships. Then Summerall called games with Madden while Scully covered theMajor League Baseball playoffs for CBS Radio. After the eighth week of the NFL season, CBS Sports executives decided that Summerall had better chemistry with Madden than Scully did. Scully was later assigned as a consolation prize the NFC Championship Game. After the season, he would move to NBC to cover Major League Baseball and golf, but he decided to never call NFL games again.[5]
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