Colts

Patriots

Bills

Dolphins

Jets

Bengals

Ravens

Titans

Steelers

Jaguars

Browns

Broncos

Chiefs

Raiders

Chargers

Seahawks

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AFC teams: West, Central, East

Cowboys

Giants

Eagles

Cardinals

Redskins

Bears

Lions

Packers

Vikings

Buccaneers

Falcons

Rams

Saints

49ers

Panthers

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NFC teams: West, Central, East

The2000 NFL season was the 81stregular season of theNational Football League (NFL). The season ended withSuper Bowl XXXV when theBaltimore Ravens defeated theNew York Giants, 34–7, atRaymond James Stadium inTampa, Florida.

Week 1 of the season reverted toLabor Day weekend in 2000. It would be the last NFL season to date to start on Labor Day weekend. It would also be the last time until2015 thatCBS televised the late afternoon games in Week 1, because both Week 1 of the NFL season andCBS'scoverage ofthe U.S. Open tennis finals would take place on the same day beginning next season.

• July 24: The Carolina Panthers sign defensive endReggie White.^[1]
• July 21: The Baltimore Ravens sign tight endBen Coates.^[1]
• July 24: The San Diego Chargers sign linebackerSteve Tovar.^[1]
• July 25: The Carolina Panthers sign defensive endEric Swann.^[1]
• July 26: The Seattle Seahawks sign wide receiver Sean Dawkins.^[1]
• July 28: The Chicago Bears sign kickerMichael Husted.^[1]

• July 11: The Green Bay Packers trade tight end Lawrence Hart to the New Orleans Saints for running back Marvin Powell.^[2]
• July 31: The Green Bay Packers trade quarterbackAaron Brooks and tight end Lamont Hall to the New Orleans Saints for linebacker K.D. Williams.^[2]

The2000 NFL draft was held from April 15 to 16, 2000, atNew York City'sTheater at Madison Square Garden. With the first pick, theCleveland Browns selected defensive endCourtney Brown fromPennsylvania State University. Taken by the New England Patriots with the 199th pick in the sixth round was Michigan quarterbackTom Brady. Tom Brady went on to win 3NFL MVP awards, a record 7Super Bowl titles and 5Super Bowl MVP awards.

• In order to cut down on group celebrations, unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and fines will be assessed for celebrations by two or more players.
• Anyone wearing an eligible number (1 to 49 or 80 to 89) can play quarterback without having to first report to the referee before a play.
  • This rule change resulted in the increase of trick plays teams can employ on offense.
• The "Bert Emanuel" rule was implemented, stating that when making a catch and falling to the ground, the ball is allowed to touch the ground and still be considered a catch if the player maintains clear control of the ball.

Tom Fears

Fears played 9 seasons as an end for theLos Angeles Rams and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1970. He was a 3-time NFL champion (1951, 1962, 1965), he was named First-team All-Pro in 1950, and was a member of the1950s All-Decade Team. He was the first Mexican born player inducted into the Hall of Fame. He died January 4, aged 77

Derrick Thomas

Thomas played 11 seasons for theKansas City Chiefs. He was a 6-time All-Pro selection (1st team 1990–1992, 2nd team 1993, 1994, 1996) and a 9-time Pro Bowl selection (1989–1997). He was named to the1990s All-Decade Team. He owns NFL record for sacks in a game with 7, which he achieved in 1990. He was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. He died February 8 of apulmonary embolism, aged 33. He is the only player inducted into the Hall of Fame that died while still active in the NFL.

Tom Landry

Landry was the first head coach of theDallas Cowboys. He won 2 Super BowlsVI andXII. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990. He died February 12, aged 75.

• Fred Lane,Indianapolis Colts running back, homicide, died on July 6.
• Eric Turner,Oakland Raiders safety, stomach cancer, died on May 28.^[3]

Highlights of the 2000 season included:

• Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 23, featuringNew England atDetroit and theMinnesota atDallas, with Detroit and Minnesota winning.

• Green Bay finished ahead of Detroit in the NFC Central based on better division record (5–3 to Lions' 3–5).
• New Orleans finished ahead of St. Louis in the NFC West based on better division record (7–1 to Rams' 5–3).
• Tampa Bay was the second NFC Wild Card based on head-to-head victory over St. Louis (1–0).

* Indicatesovertime victory

The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the season:

Offseason

• Dallas Cowboys –Dave Campo replacedChan Gailey, who was fired after the1999 season.
• Green Bay Packers –Mike Sherman replacedRay Rhodes, who was fired after the1999 season.
• Miami Dolphins –Dave Wannstedt replacedJimmy Johnson, who retired after the1999 season.
• New England Patriots –Bill Belichick replacedPete Carroll, who was fired after the1999 season. Belichick was hired by the New England Patriots shortly after he resigned from the Jets. Bill Parcells and the Jets claimed that Belichick was still under contract to the Jets, and demanded compensation from the Patriots. NFL CommissionerPaul Tagliabue agreed, and the Patriots gave the Jets a first-round draft pick in 2000 in exchange for the right to hire Belichick.
• New Orleans Saints –Jim Haslett replacedMike Ditka, who was fired after the1999 season.
• New York Jets –Al Groh replacedBill Belichick, who replacedBill Parcells, who retired to become the full-time General Manager after the1999 season. Defensive coordinator Bill Belichick, the first choice to replace Parcells as head coach, resigned in order to take the Patriots job.
• St. Louis Rams –Mike Martz replacedDick Vermeil, who retired after winningSuper Bowl XXXIV.

In-season

• Cincinnati Bengals –Bruce Coslet resigned three games into the season and was replaced by defensive coordinatorDick LeBeau, who held the job through the2002 season.
• Arizona Cardinals –Vince Tobin was fired seven games into the season and was replaced by defensive coordinatorDave McGinnis, who held the job through the2003 season.

• Houston Texans –Charley Casserly was hired as the first executive vice president/GM of the expansion Texans on January 19th, 2000. The Texans would play theirinaugural season two years later.
• Minnesota Vikings – Head coachDennis Green took over asde facto general manager afterTim Connolly's resignation on January 24th, 2000.
• New Orleans Saints –Randy Mueller replacedBill Kuharich, who was fired after the1999 season.
• St. Louis Rams –Charley Armey replaced former head coachDick Vermeil, who retired after winningSuper Bowl XXXIV.
• Pittsburgh Steelers –Kevin Colbert replacedTom Donahoe, who was fired after the1999 season, asde facto general manager.
• New England Patriots – New head coachBill Belichick replacedBobby Grier asde facto general manager, as Belichick was given the final say on personnel matters. Grier left the Patriots after the2000 NFL draft.

• TheCincinnati Bengals moved fromCinergy Field toPaul Brown Stadium, named after team founderPaul Brown
• TheSeattle Seahawks began playing atHusky Stadium while theKingdome was demolished anda new Seahawks stadium built in its place
• Giants Stadium's Astroturf was replaced with natural grass

• TheBaltimore Ravens introduced a new Ravens wordmark logo, a new Ravens shield logo was placed on the sleeve ends, and there was new pants stripping with the "B" logo on hips.
• TheKansas City Chiefs began wearing red pants with their white jerseys for first time since1988.
• TheNew England Patriots introduced new uniforms, darkening the shade of their blue from royal to nautical blue. The new white jerseys were worn with blue block numbers and blue pants.
• TheNew Orleans Saints updated theirfleur-de-lis helmet logo to be a bit smaller but with a wider white and black outline. Also introduced was an alternative old gold logo. They also returned to wearing old gold pants with their white jerseys.
• TheNew York Giants unveiled new uniforms. The blue jerseys were a modernized version of the team's design used in the 1950s. The white jerseys still retained elements of the 1980s design (such as the 1980s' blue collars and nameplates, and missing the 1950s' red sleeve stripes) but with red numbers like the 1950s version. Gray pants were worn with both the blue and white jerseys. The helmet also returned to featuring the lowercase "ny" logo, in addition to the TV numbers moving from the sleeve to the shoulder.
• TheSt. Louis Rams introduced new uniforms, darkening the shades of blue and gold to "New Century Blue" and "Millennium Gold". Among other modifications, the curling rams horns on the sleeves were replaced by a new logo featuring charging ram's head, in addition to the TV numbers moving from the sleeve to the shoulder.

This was the third year under the league's eight-year broadcast contracts withABC,CBS,Fox, and ESPN to televiseMonday Night Football, the AFC package, the NFC package, andSunday Night Football, respectively.

ABC firedBoomer Esiason, reportedly because he andAl Michaels never got along in theMNF booth. ABC decided to go in a radical direction by hiring comedianDennis Miller, along withDan Fouts, to join Michaels.^[5]

Dick Enberg joined CBS, becoming the #2 play-by-play commentator, alongsideDan Dierdorf, whileVerne Lundquist returned to call college football for CBS after week 2. Also,Mike Ditka joinedThe NFL Today as an analyst.Daryl Johnston joined CBS as a color commentator, withKevin Harlan starting week 6.

• Football Outsiders 2000 DVOA Ratings and Commentary
• Pro Football Reference.com – 2000

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1991–2000 (Last accessed October 17, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
• Steelers Fever – History of NFL Rules (Last accessed October 17, 2005)

• NFL seasons
• 2000 NFL season
• 2000 in American football

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from November 2013