NFL

10 Super Stats From @ESPNStatsInfo

As you'd expect, they've been cranking out a lot of Super Bowl stuff. Here are a few highlights.

16 Things You Can Watch Instead of the Super Bowl

Don’t care about the Super Bowl this year? Lucky for you, there’s plenty of other programming out there.

Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images (1963)

The NFL Used to Play a "Losers' Bowl for Losers"

If coming in second place just makes you the first loser, what can be said about a team that finishes in third? Well, for ten seasons (1960-69) of NFL football, they’d call you the winner of the Playoff Bowl.

11 Defunct Franchise Names Washington’s Football Team Can Use

With the furor over the Washington Redskins’ offensive name growing louder, it’s looking more likely that despite owner Daniel Snyder’s adamant denials, the team will eventually end up with a new mascot. But what will that mascot be?

10 Obscure Rules from the World of Sports

Good sportsmen (and women) play by the rules. Even the rules you've never heard of.

Why Do Athletes Slap Each Others’ Butts?

Unfortunately, the first athlete to playfully slap a teammate on the butt didn’t record his reasoning for history, but it’s become common practice among professionals and amateurs alike, and many have their own take on it.

15 Historical Brother vs. Brother Matchups

For as long as there have been brothers, brothers have been battling each other. In honor of the Harbowl, here's our incomplete guide to sibling rivalries.

Why the NFL Can't Play on Friday and Saturday (and Other Times Congress Interfered with Football)

This season, the NFL added a weekly Thursday night game, which puts professional football on TV three nights a week. Later on, after the bulk of the college football season is over, Saturday will also be in the mix—but for now, the league has to stay away

10 Susceptible Super Bowl Records (and One That Definitely Won't Be Broken)

© John A. Angelillo/CorbisAdmittedly, I haven't paid as much attention to this year's Super Bowl as to previous NFL championships. (Having the new issue of mental_floss on deadline has plenty to do with that.) Still, I love delving into the numbers, so th

11 Expansion Teams That Just Missed the Cut

When the NFL expansion committee headed by current league commissioner Roger Goodell awarded franchises to Charlotte and Jacksonville in 1993, three other prospective teams with nicknames, logos, and color schemes already unveiled and season ticket deposi

Where Are They Now? NFL Coaches Fired Last Year

Eight NFL head coaches were fired by – or mutually agreed to part ways with – their employers last season. If you were wondering what they’re up to now, you don’t have to look

Root (or boot) all 32 NFL teams

Coming Thursday: Woody's Winners for Week 1! In the meantime, mental_floss has your football fix right here. Even if you're not an NFL fan, now that the new season is almost upon us, someone, somewhere will ask you your opinion about a team or two. We've