The National Football League Trivia Quiz

Answer: Christian Okoye

Barry Sanders seemed to shun the spotlight. He could have also owned a few college football records at Oklahoma State, but also chose to sit out instead. He retired in the prime of his career about 1,500 yards short of the all-time rushing mark owned at the time by Walter Payton. Emmitt Smith has broken it since, but paid his respect to Barry by stating, "He was no Barry. Barry would break your kneecaps if you attempted to tackle him".

Answer: Chuck Bednarik

He was known as the NFL's last "iron man". He played in eight pro bowls, was MVP in the 1954 title game, was named the NFL's all time center and averaged 58 minutes per game.

Answer: John McKay

John McKay, who had been a very successful coach at USC, took over the expansion team known as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976. They lost their first 26 games, and McKay was full of colorful quotes. He had them in the NFC Championship Game just three years later, however in a 9-0 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

He passed away on June 10, 2001. Just 18 months later, the Buccaneers won their first Super Bowl, 48-21 over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII.

Answer: True

Kansas City won in Buffalo by the score of 31-7, and Green Bay won in Dallas by the score of 34-27. This completed the 1966 season and the two leagues finally squared off with Green Bay coming away with a 35-10 victory. Oddly enough, the next time that two road teams won the championship games, the victorious teams were Buffalo and Dallas (the same two teams who had hosted and lost the 1966-1967 AFL and NFL championship games). Buffalo defeated Miami on the road, 29-10 in the AFC Championship and Dallas defeated San Francisco on the road, 30-20 to advance to Super Bowl XXVII. Dallas won handily, 52-17 to complete the 1992-1993 season.

Answer: Raiders

Deon Sanders was a two-sport athlete and began his NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons. He left to go to San Francisco in 1994, and won a Super Bowl ring ("Super Bowl XXIX" over the San Diego Chargers, 49-26). He then defected and went to their archrival, the Dallas Cowboys, the following year and won another Super Bowl ring. ("Super Bowl XXX" over the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-17).

He ended his career with the Washington Redskins, but failed to make it a "trifecta". The Oakland Raiders were courting him during their playoff run in 2002-2003, but when the Redskins released him, the San Diego Chargers picked him up off waivers.

He did not return that season. However, with Deon Sanders, a return to the NFL is always possible.

Answer: False

The home team gets to choose which uniform they want to wear and the road team wears the opposite. Until recently, this was the only sport of the "major 4" that had this rule. Baseball, hockey, and basketball teams, all wore white at home. However, with the rush of recent marketing ploys and advertising, now many teams have several different uniforms and there is no consistency.

In the NFL, several teams will wear their white jerseys in the beginning of the year when it is hot, and will switch to their colored ones later in the season.

Other teams stand by tradition and stick to one or the other throughout the season.

Answer: Rams

This movie was made in 1978, while the Rams played in Los Angeles. In the movie, Warren Beatty was taken from Earth too soon by an angel, and returned in an older body. It was fitting that the Rams were the team showcased, as many Hollywood stars would come out to watch the games there. It has been argued that quarterbacks such as Joe Namath were brought in to add to the star appeal.

Answer: Gale Sayers

Gale Sayers entered the NFL in 1965 as a member of the Chicago Bears. He was said to look like a "twisting tornado from the Kansas plains from whence he came." He was an incredible running back with great cutback ability and blazing speed. Unfortunately, he sustained a knee injury in 1968 that began to limit his play.

He won "comeback player of the year" award in 1969, after rushing for a 1,000-yard season. However, he injured his left knee in 1970, and his career only lasted 4 and a half more years.

He was depicted in the movie "Brian's Song", as Brian Piccolo's friend, which told the sad tale of Piccolo's losing battle with cancer.

Answer: Cardinals

The only team in the NFL that played in 1920 that still has the same nickname was the Chicago Cardinals. They finished the season 6-2-2 and behind the division winning Akron Pros. They changed their name for one year to Card-Pitt in 1944 only to change it back to the Chicago Cardinals in 1945.

In 1960, the franchise moved to St. Louis. They once again relocated in 1988 and were named the Phoenix Cardinals. They were renamed the Arizona Cardinals in 1994. Between 1920-2003, they won the league championship twice (1925 and 1947).

They only had 6 playoff appearances in this 73-year time span.

Answer: Frank Reich

Frank Reich was the backup quarterback for the Buffalo Bills during a 1993 wildcard game against the Houston Oilers. The Oilers had defeated the Bills, 27-3 on the final day of the season and rushed to a 28-3 halftime lead in Buffalo. The 3rd quarter started out just as gloomy for the Bills, as Reich was intercepted for a touchdown to fall behind, 35-3.

The Bills were the AFC representative for the Super Bowl the prior two years and it looked like they would not make it for a third time. However, Frank Reich rallied the troops to an amazing 41-38 overtime win and the Bills did make it back to the Super Bowl, where they lost to Dallas, 52-17.

They even made it back the following year and again lost to Dallas, this time by the score of 30-13. Amazingly enough, Frank Reich also has the greatest comeback to date in college football history as well, leading the Maryland Terrapins past the Miami Hurricanes 42-40 after trailing 31-0 at halftime.

He had also been the backup quarterback there, behind Boomer Esiason for 3 years.

These records may be broken some day, but Frank Reich should not be forgotten.