The National Football League (NFL) is the premier professional American football league in the United States. Founded in 1920, the NFL consists of 32 teams divided equally between two conferences; the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each team plays 16 games throughout a regular season that begins in September and ends in January. Teams then compete in the playoffs, culminating in Super Bowl LII, held at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on February 4, 2018. The NFL was founded in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA), a merger of three existing leagues: The American Football League (AFL), the American Soccer League (ASL), and the minor league Eastern Professional Football League (EPFL). In 1922, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League (NFL).

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NFL Teams. There are currently 32 teams in the NFL. There have been 29 franchises since 1933, when the Portsmouth Spartans moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens. The current franchise owners are the Rooney family, who purchased the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1968. NFL Franchises. The Cleveland Browns were originally established in 1946 as an expansion team in the All-America Football Conference. The Browns joined the NFL in 1950 as part of the AFL–NFL merger.

NFL Championships. The NFL has had only four champions since the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. The Dallas Cowboys hold the record for most championships, having won five titles. In addition, the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and San Francisco 49ers have three championships. NFL Draft. The NFL draft is the annual event where the various NFL teams select newly graduated college players. The draft order is determined based on the previous year’s standings, with the worst team selecting first. The draft is conducted via conference call, with the head coach of each team calling in to select his players.