The1983 NFL season was the 64thregular season of theNational Football League. TheColts played their final season inBaltimore before the team'srelocation toIndianapolisthe following season. The season ended withSuper Bowl XVIII when theLos Angeles Raiders defeated theWashington Redskins 38–9 atTampa Stadium in Florida.

Colts

Patriots

Bills

Dolphins

Jets

Bengals

Browns

Oilers

Steelers

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

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NFC teams: West, Central, East

• May 2, 1983: The Baltimore Colts traded John Elway for Chris Hinton, backup quarterbackMark Herrmann, and a first-round pick in the 1984 Draft, which turned into offensive linemanRon Solt.

• January 11, 1983: Wide receiver and four-timeSuper Bowl championLynn Swann retires.^[1]

The1983 NFL draft was held from April 26 to 27, 1983, atNew York City'sSheraton Hotel. With the first pick, theBaltimore Colts selected quarterbackJohn Elway fromStanford University.

• In the last 30 seconds of a half (but not overtime), with the defensive team behind with no more time outs, a defensive foul cannot prevent the half from ending except for the normal options that are available to the offensive team.
• Pass interference will not be called if there was incidental contact, or if players make simultaneous attempts to catch, tip, block, or bat the ball.
• Players may not use a helmet, that is no longer worn by anyone, as a weapon to strike or hit an opponent; they risk disqualification if they do. This rule was instituted after Raiders defensive endLyle Alzado swung a helmet atNew York Jets tackleChris Ward during a playoff game the previous season.

• June 25, 1983: Larry Gordon, the Miami Dolphins first round pick in the1976 NFL draft, died from heart failure^[2]
• October 31, 1983:George Halas, the owner of theChicago Bears dies of cancer at the age of 88 years old.
• December 16, 1983:Doug Kotar, Running Back for the New York Giants, died from an inoperable brain tumor.^[3]

From1978 to1981 and this season to1989, ten teams qualified for the playoffs: the winners of each of the divisions, and two wild-card teams in each conference. The two wild cards would meet for the right to face whichever of the three division winners had the best overall record. The tiebreaker rules were based on head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.

Highlights of the 1983 season included:

• Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 24, featuring Pittsburgh atDetroit and St. Louis atDallas, with Detroit and Dallas winning.

• Los Angeles Raiders was the first AFC seed over Miami based on head-to-head victory (1–0).
• Seattle was the first AFC Wild Card ahead of Denver based on better division record (5–3 to Broncos' 3–5) after Cleveland was eliminated from the three-way tie based on head-to-head record (Seattle and Denver 2–1 to Browns' 0–2).
• New England finished ahead of Buffalo in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
• Baltimore finished ahead of N.Y. Jets in the AFC East based on better conference record (5–9, .357 to Jets' 4–8, .333).
• San Diego finished ahead of Kansas City in the AFC West based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
• Minnesota ended up in fourth place in the NFC Central after being eliminated from the three-way tie based on conference record (Chicago 7–7 and Green Bay 6–6 to Vikings' 4–8).
• Green Bay finished ahead of Chicago in the NFC Central based on better record against common opponents (4–4 to Bears' 3–5).

Note: The Los Angeles Raiders (the AFC 1 seed) did not play the Seattle Seahawks (the 4 seed) in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division.

• Kansas City Chiefs running backJoe Delaney dies after attempting to rescue three boys who were drowning in a makeshift swimming pool at a construction site inMonroe, Louisiana.
• The Raiders' Super Bowl win would be the AFC's last win until the 1997 season when the Denver Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers.

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

• Atlanta Falcons:Dan Henning replaced the firedLeeman Bennett.
• Buffalo Bills:Kay Stephenson replacedChuck Knox, who left the team to join the Seattle Seahawks.
• Kansas City Chiefs:Marv Levy was fired and replaced byJohn Mackovic.
• New York Giants:Ray Perkins was replaced byBill Parcells.
• New York Jets:Walt Michaels resigned and was replaced byJoe Walton.
• Los Angeles Rams:Ray Malavasi was fired and replaced byJohn Robinson.
• Philadelphia Eagles:Dick Vermeil resigned and was replaced byMarion Campbell.
• Seattle Seahawks:Chuck Knox joined the Seahawks after resigning from the Bills. Seattle had firedJack Patera after the team lost their first two games in 1982.Mike McCormack, the team's director of football operations, took over as interim for the remainder of that season.

• Houston Oilers:Ed Biles was fired after the team lost their first six games. Defensive coordinatorChuck Studley took over as interim.

Schaefer Stadium is renamedSullivan Stadium afterNew England Patriots founder and ownerBilly Sullivan

• TheNew Orleans Saints' jersey numbers were slightly modified, adding a thin inner border which matched the jersey color between the gold outer border and the number itself, similar to the numbers on theSan Diego Chargers' jerseys.
• TheSeattle Seahawks revised their jerseys for the first time since joining the NFL in1976. The new jerseys moved the TV numbers from the sleeves to the shoulders, with the helmet logo duplicated on the sleeves and the jersey collars gaining striping trim; the socks also became solid blue. The face masks also changed from gray to blue.
• TheWashington Redskins reversed their helmet logo modification of 1982, when the feathers hanging from the portrait of the Native American were curved instead of straight, which they were from 1972-81. Washington kept the 1972 logo until retiring the Redskins nickname and all Native American imagery prior to the 2020 season.

This was the second year under the league's five-year broadcast contracts withABC,CBS, andNBC to televiseMonday Night Football, the NFC package, and the AFC package, respectively.^[4]

O. J. Simpson replacedFran Tarkenton as ABC's fill-in color commentator.Howard Cosell then ignited racial controversy during the broadcast of the September 5MNF game between theDallas Cowboys andWashington Redskins when his commentary onAlvin Garrett, an African American wide receiver for Washington, included a reference to "That little monkey".^[5] The fallout contributed to Cosell's decision to leaveMNF after the season.

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1981–1990Archived October 6, 2008, at theWayback Machine (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
• NFL Salaries, 1983, offense
• NFL Salaries, 1983, defense