Johnny Grier became the first African-American in NFL history to be promoted to referee.[2] Grier replaced Bob Frederic, who retired in the offseason after 17 seasons as a referee. Grier was the field judge in the previous season'sSuper Bowl XXII, which was the same game thatDoug Williams of the Washington Redskins became the first African-Americanquarterback to win theSuper Bowl. Grier would be a referee until a career-ending injury during the2004 season.
A standard system of two time intervals between plays are established (and would be timed using the play clock): For normal plays, the offensive team has 45 seconds to snap the ball after the previous play is signaled dead. After time outs and other administrative stoppages, the time limit is 30 seconds beginning after the Referee signals that the ball is ready to resume play.
If a fumble occurs during anextra point attempt, only the fumbling player can recover and/or advance the ball. This change closes a loophole in the "Stabler Fumble Rule" that was enacted during the1979 NFL season in reaction to theHoly Roller Game.
The penalty for running into the kicker was changed from five yards and an automatic first down to just five yards.
Alan Ameche: Having played for the Baltimore Colts in the 1950s, he died of a heart attack on August 8, 1988, at age 55 atMethodist Hospital inHouston,Texas, a few days after undergoing another heart bypass surgery.[3][4]
Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 24, featuring Minnesota atDetroit and Houston atDallas, with Minnesota and Houston winning. This was the last time until2000 both visiting teams won on Thanksgiving.
Note: The Cincinnati Bengals (the AFC 1 seed) did not play the Houston Oilers (the 5 seed), nor did the Chicago Bears (the NFC 1 seed) play the Minnesota Vikings (the 4 seed), in the Divisional playoff round because those teams were in the same division.
Referees were outfitted with white hats while all other officials wore black hats, matching the standard practice in college and high school football. From 1979 through 1987, the reverse convention--the same as theCanadian Football League at the time--was used, with referees wearing black hats with all other officials wearing white hats.
TheGreen Bay Packers removed the elliptical green circles with the player's number from the hip area of the pants, also removing the gold stripe in the middle, one of the additions made in1984 by former coachForrest Gregg; the team also added a small gold stripe on their socks.
TheNew England Patriots dropped the red road pants they had worn since 1984; the red pants would return in 1990.
TheSan Diego Chargers switched to a darker shade of blue on their jerseys, from gold to blue face masks, and from gold to white lightning bolts. The helmets remained unchanged until a complete redesign in2007.
London.jpg)
