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

The2001 NFL season was the 82ndregular season of theNational Football League (NFL), and the first season of the 21st century. The league permanently moved the first week of the regular season to the weekend followingLabor Day. In the wake of theSeptember 11 attacks, the NFL's week 2 games (September 16 and 17) were postponed and rescheduled to the weekend of January 6 and 7, 2002. To retain the full playoff format, all playoff games, includingSuper Bowl XXXVI, were rescheduled one week later. TheNew England Patriots won the Super Bowl, defeating theSt. Louis Rams 20–17 at theLouisiana Superdome.

This was the last season with 31 teams as theHouston Texans were introduced as an expansion team thefollowing season. It was also the final season to feature the AFC Central and NFC Central divisions, as they were realigned into the AFC North, AFC South, NFC North, and NFC South the following season.

• July 27: The San Francisco 49ers sign quarterbackRicky Ray.^[1] Ray would go on to a career in the Canadian Football League.

• July 20: The New Orleans Saints trade Robert Arnaud to Washington.^[2]

• April 9, 2001: Three-time Super Bowl championTroy Aikman announces his retirement, after failing to find another team.
• After the 2000 season, defensive endReggie White retired after spending his last season in Carolina.
• After the 2000 season,Eddie Murray, who had played in 3 stints (1980-1995, 1997, 1999-2000) andIrving Fryar, who entered the NFL in 1984, decided they had played their final NFL games in Washington.
• Warren Moon andAl Del Greco, two players who entered the NFL in 1984, retired after spending their last seasons in Kansas City and Tennessee, respectively.

• Jessie Tuggle, who entered the NFL in 1987, retired after spending all 14 of his seasons with the Falcons.

The2001 NFL draft was held from April 21 to 22, 2001, at New York City'sTheater at Madison Square Garden. With the first pick, theAtlanta Falcons selected quarterbackMichael Vick fromVirginia Tech.

Mike Pereira became the league's director of officiating, succeedingJerry Seeman, who had served the role since 1991. Pereira was a side judge in 1996 and 1997 before joining the league office, where he was groomed as Seeman's successor over the next three seasons.

Bill Leavy andTerry McAulay were promoted to referee.Phil Luckett returned to back judge, while another officiating crew was added in 2001 in preparation for theHouston Texans expansion team, the league's 32nd franchise, in 2002.

Due to labor dispute, the regular NFL officials were locked out prior to the final week of the preseason. Replacement officials who had worked in college football or the Arena Football League officiated NFL games during the last preseason week and the first week of the regular season. A deal was eventually reached before play resumed after the September 11 attacks.

• Fumble recoveries will be awarded at the spot of the recovery, not where the player's momentum carries him. This change was passed in response to two regular season games in 2000,Atlanta Falcons–Carolina Panthers^[3] andOakland Raiders–Seattle Seahawks,^[4] in which asafety was awarded when a defensive player's momentum in recovering a fumble carried him into his own end zone.
• Taunting rules and roughing the passer will be strictly enforced.

• Jim Benton: A member of theNational Football League 1940s All-Decade Team, Benton died on March 28, 2001
• Don Boll: A draft pick of the Washington Redskins, Boll died on December 29, 2001.
• Jim Cain: A member of the Detroit Lions team that won the1953 NFL Championship Game
• Sam Claphan: Chargers tight end from 1980 to 1987, Claphan died on November 26, 2001.
• Neal Colzie: Defensive back for theOakland Raiders andTampa Bay Buccaneers, Colzie died on August 20, 2001.
• L.G. Dupre: Part of the1958 NFL Championship Game against theNew York Giants, he died after a lengthy battle with cancer on August 9, 2001.^[5]
• Dan Edwards: Drafted by thePittsburgh Steelers in the 1st round (9th overall) of the1948 NFL draft, Edwards died on August 7, 2001.
• Homer Elias:Lions guard from 1978 to 1984, he died of a heart attack on October 3, 2001.
• Bob Gaona: NFL offensive lineman who also played defense and special teams, he died on May 23, 2001.
• Hank Gremminger: Defensive back for thePackers from 1956 to 1965 and theLos Angeles Rams in 1966, he died of cardiac arrest on November 2, 2001.
• Harvey Martin: The co-MVP ofSuper Bowl XII, he died ofpancreatic cancer on December 24, 2001. Martin was the firstSuper Bowl MVP to pass away.^[6]
• Dan Nugent:Redskins guard from 1976 to 1980, Nugent died on October 18, 2001.
• Dwayne O'Steen: Part of theOakland RaidersSuper Bowl XV winning team, O'Steen died on September 21, 2001, of an apparent heart attack.
• Don Paul: was selected to fourPro Bowls, one as a member of the Cardinals and three as a member of the Browns died on September 7, 2001.
• Pete Perreault: A member of the1968 Cincinnati Bengals season, their inaugural season, Perreault died on December 8, 2001^[7])
• Dick Rehbein: Longtime NFL coach who had becomePatriots quarterbacks coach in 2000, Rehbein died ofcardiomyopathy on August 6, 2001.
• Bo Roberson: Roberson caught three passes for eighty-eight yards in the Bills' 23–0 defeat of the Chargers in the 1965American Football League Championship Game. He died on April 15, 2001.
• Tony Samuels: Drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth round of the1977 NFL draft, Samuels died on September 12, 2001.
• Paul Seiler: Former player for theNew York Jets andOakland Raiders, he died of colon cancer on September 25, 2001.
• Billy Ray Smith Sr.: A member of the Baltimore Colts teams that participated inSuper Bowl III andSuper Bowl V, he died from cancer on March 23, 2001. His son,Billy Ray Smith Jr., was a linebacker for theSan Diego Chargers from 1983-92.
• Korey Stringer: Former tackle for theMinnesota Vikings died from a heat stroke August 1, 2001, during training camp. Vikings team wore a 77 patch on their jerseys to commemorate Stringer. His number 77 was retired by the Vikings on November 19 during a Monday night game against the Giants.

Following a pattern set in 1999, the first week of the season was permanently moved to the weekend following Labor Day. With Super BowlsXXXVI–XXXVII already scheduled for fixed dates, the league initially decided to eliminate the Super Bowl bye weeks for 2001 and 2002 to adjust.

In the wake of theSeptember 11 attacks, the games originally scheduled for September 16 and 17 were postponed and rescheduled to the weekend of January 6 and 7. To retain the full playoff format, all playoff games, including theSuper Bowl, were rescheduled one week later. The season-endingPro Bowl was also moved to one week later. This was the last season in which each conference had three divisions, as the conferences would be realigned to four divisions for the2002 NFL season.

Canceling the games scheduled for September 16 and 17 was considered and rejected since it would have canceled a home game for about half the teams (15 of 31). It would have also resulted in an unequal number of games played: September 16 and 17 was to have been a bye forthe San Diego Chargers, so that team would still have played 16 games that season and each of the other teams would have played only 15 games (the Chargers ultimately finished 5–11, making any competitive advantages to playing an extra game irrelevant).

As a result of rescheduling Week 2 as Week 17,the Pittsburgh Steelers ended up not playing a home game for the entire month of September (their only home game during that month was originally scheduled for September 16). TheESPN Sunday Night Football game for that week was also changed. It was originally scheduled to beCleveland atPittsburgh, but it was replaced withPhiladelphia atTampa Bay, which was seen as a more interesting matchup. Ironically, the Eagles and Buccaneers would both rest their starters that night, and would meet one week later in the playoffs. In recognition of this, whenNBC beganairing Sunday Night Football in2006, there would be no game initially scheduled for Weeks 11 to 17 – a game initially scheduled in the afternoon would be moved to the primetime slot, without stripping any teams of a primetime appearance. This way of "flexible scheduling" would not be used at all in 2007, and since 2008, it is only used in the final week, except for the2017 season, when no primetime game was scheduled for Week 17 due to that Sunday falling on New Year's Eve.

The games that eventually made up Week 17 marked the latest regular season games to be played during what is traditionally defined as the "NFL season" (under the format at the time, the regular season could not end later than January 3 in any given year; this changed in 2021, as the NFL expanded to 17 games with the end of the regular season pushed back one week as a result; the 2021 regular season ended on January 9, and under the new format, the latest the regular season could end is January 10).

Another scheduling change took place in October, when theDallas atOakland game was moved from October 21 to 7 to accommodate a possibleOakland Athletics home playoff game on October 21. The rescheduling ended up being unnecessary as the Athletics would not make it past the Division Series round.

• Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 22, featuringGreen Bay atDetroit andDenver atDallas, with Green Bay and Denver winning.

• New England finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on better division record (6–2 to Dolphins' 5–3).
• Cleveland finished ahead of Tennessee in the AFC Central based on better division record (5–5 to Titans' 3–7).
• Jacksonville finished ahead of Cincinnati in the AFC Central based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
• N.Y. Giants finished ahead of Arizona in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
• New Orleans finished ahead of Atlanta in the NFC West based on better division record (4–4 to Falcons' 3–5).
• Baltimore was the second AFC Wild Card based on better record against common opponents (3–1 to Jets' 2–2).
• Green Bay was the first NFC Wild Card based on better conference record (9–3 to 49ers' 8–4).

* IndicatesOT victory

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

* – Sack statistics have only been compiled since 1982.

All-Pro Team

The following players were named First Team All-Pro by theAssociated Press:

Head coach

• Buffalo Bills –Gregg Williams replacedWade Phillips, who was fired following the2000 season
• Cleveland Browns –Butch Davis replacedChris Palmer, who was fired following the2000 season
• Detroit Lions –Marty Mornhinweg replaced interim head coachGary Moeller, who replacedBobby Ross who resigned during the2000 season.
• Kansas City Chiefs –Dick Vermeil replacedGunther Cunningham, who was fired following the2000 season
• New York Jets –Herman Edwards replacedAl Groh, who resigned to become the head coach of theUniversity of Virginia.
• Washington Redskins –Marty Schottenheimer replaced interim head coachTerry Robiskie who replacedNorv Turner, who was fired during the2000 season
• Houston Texans –Dom Capers was hired as the expansion Texans’ first head coach on January 19, 2001. The Texans would play theirinaugural season the next year.

Front office

• Buffalo Bills –Tom Donahoe replacedJohn Butler, who was fired on December 19, 2000. Donahoe was hired on January 10, 2001.
• Detroit Lions –Matt Millen replacedChuck Schmidt, who resigned on January 8, 2001. Millen was hired the next day.
• New York Jets –Terry Bradway replacedBill Parcells, who resigned as the team's director of football operations on January 9, 2001.
• Washington Redskins – New head coachMarty Schottenheimer fired director of player personnelVinny Cerrato on January 24, 2001. Schottenheimer acted as his own general manager.
• San Diego Chargers –John Butler, hired on Jan 4, 2001, filled the position that had been vacant sinceBobby Beathard's retirement on April 25, 2000. Before Butler's hiring, player personnel directorBilly Devaney took the responsibility of player acquisitions.^[9]
• Green Bay Packers – Head coachMike Sherman assumedRon Wolf's duties as GM. Wolf announced he would retire as Packers GM in February 2001, stayed on through theApril NFL draft and officially retired as Packers GM in June 2001.
• San Francisco 49ers –Terry Donahue replacedBill Walsh, who resigned as vice president and general manager shortly after theyear's draft in a planned move. Walsh remains with the 49ers as a special consultant.
• Philadelphia Eagles – Head coachAndy Reid assumedTom Modrak's duties as GM. Modrak was fired on May 8, 2001. OwnerJeffrey Lurie cited his displeasure with Modrak's insistence on having an escape clause in his contract as the primary reason.^[10] The next day, Reid was named executive vice president of football operations, effectively making him the team's general manager.^[11]
• Chicago Bears –Jerry Angelo was hired as the Bear's first general manager since 1987 on June 12, 2001.^[12]Mark Hatley, who had beende facto general manager in his role as vice president of pro personnel, had joined theGreen Bay Packers front office as vice president of football operations in May 2001, after it was clear he was out of the Bears’ general manager search.^[13][14]

• TheDenver Broncos moved fromMile High Stadium toInvesco Field at Mile High, with the investment companyInvesco acquiring the naming rights
• ThePittsburgh Steelers moved fromThree Rivers Stadium toHeinz Field, with theH. J. Heinz Company acquiring the naming rights

In addition, theAstroTurf atVeterans Stadium was replaced with NexTurf after a preseason game between thePhiladelphia Eagles andBaltimore Ravens was canceled for poor field conditions.^[15]

• New Orleans Saints – Replaced their gold pants with black pants.
• San Diego Chargers – White pants instead of blue with their white jerseys.
• St. Louis Rams – New font for uniform numbers.
• Chicago Bears – White pants instead of blue with their white jerseys.
• Jacksonville Jaguars – Started wearing black shoes with their uniforms.

Following9/11, every jersey had a patch to remember those who died on that day, whilethe New York Jets andNew York Giants wore a patch to remember the firefighters who died.

This was the fourth 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.

Pat Summerall announced that this would be his last season as a full-time NFL broadcaster. This would also beJohn Madden's last year of commentating on Fox, ending the 21-season Summerall–Madden pairing that dated back since 1981 on CBS. WithMatt Millen leaving Fox to become the general manager of the Detroit Lions, Fox tappedDaryl Johnston from CBS and the then-recently retired quarterbackTroy Aikman to joinDick Stockton as Fox's No. 2 team.

Deion Sanders replacedCraig James as an analyst onThe NFL Today as James served as a color commentator until 2002.

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 2001– (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)

• Football Outsiders 2001 DVOA Ratings and Commentary
  • Pro Football Reference.com – 2001

• NFL seasons
• 2001 NFL season
• 2001 in American football
• Sports events affected by the September 11 attacks

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