2018
The NFL announced a joint player and ownership committee focused on social justice and debuted a new campaign, Let’s Listen Together, highlighting the player-led work on social and racial equality on January 23. The NFL Foundation also launched a new grant for active and retired players who develop social justice programming or partner with local non-profit organizations committed to this work.
The NFL reached an agreement with FOX Sports to broadcast the next five seasons of Thursday Night Football beginning with the 2018 season on January 31. The agreement awards FOX Sports with a five-year deal that includes 11 games between Weeks 4-15 (excluding Thanksgiving night) to be broadcast on FOX, simulcast via NFL Network, and distributed in Spanish on FOX Deportes.
The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII to earn their first Super Bowl title in franchise history on February 4. Eagles quarterback Nick Foles was named MVP after becoming the first player in NFL history with a touchdown pass and a touchdown catch in a Super Bowl. Philadelphia and New England combined for 1,151 yards in Super Bowl LII, the highest total in any game in league history.
New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson died at the age of 90 on March 15.
In an effort to take unnecessary risk out of the game and improve player safety, NFL clubs at the league’s annual meeting adopted rules that make lowering the head to initiate contact with the helmet a foul on March 28. The standard for a catch is also changed.
The NFL reached an agreement to renew its exclusive partnership with Amazon Prime Video to deliver a live OTT digital stream of Thursday Night Football to a global audience across devices during the 2018 and 2019 NFL Seasons on April 26.
NFL clubs approved the majority ownership transfer of the Carolina Panthers from Jerry Richardson to David Tepper on May 22.
NFL clubs adopted changes to the kickoff, including the following: the kickoff team must have at least five players on each side of the ball; the kickoff team cannot line up more than one yard from the restraining line; at least two players must be lined up outside the yard-line number and two players between the inbounds line and the yard-line number; at least eight players must be in the 15-yard “setup zone” prior to kickoff; prohibiting wedge blocks; until the ball is touched or hits the ground, no player on the receiving team may cross the restraining line or initiate a block against the kicking team in the 15-yard area from the kicking team’s restraining line; the ball is dead if it is not touched by the receiving team and touches the ground in the end zone (touchback) all on May 22.
NFL owners voted to award Super Bowl LVII to Arizona and Super Bowl LVIII to New Orleans. Nashville was named the host of the 2019 NFL Draft on May 22.
NFL clubs unanimously approve a policy for all league and team personnel to stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem on May 23. Personnel who choose not to stand for the Anthem may stay in the locker room until after the Anthem has been performed.