• Source: 2006 NFL season

The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006.
The season began with the reigning Super Bowl XL champion Pittsburgh Steelers defeating the Miami Dolphins in the NFL Kickoff Game.
The NFL title was eventually won by the Indianapolis Colts, when they defeated the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI at Dolphin Stadium at Miami Gardens, Florida on February 4, 2007.




New NFL commissioner


On March 20, 2006, Paul Tagliabue announced his plans to retire as NFL commissioner. During an NFL meeting in Northbrook, Illinois, on August 8, league team owners selected Roger Goodell, the NFL's then-current chief operating officer, as the new commissioner. Tagliabue continued to serve as commissioner until Goodell officially replaced him on Friday September 1.
Tagliabue became NFL commissioner on October 26, 1989. During his tenure, the league added four new teams; saw four franchises move (including two franchises—the Rams and Raiders—from Los Angeles, the second-largest television market in the U.S.); the construction of seventeen new stadiums; began its own in-house television specialty cable network, the NFL Network; greatly increased television rights fees with its broadcasters, including the addition of the Fox network and its NFL programming; and maintained labor peace with the players' union.




Draft


The 2006 NFL draft was held from April 29 to 30, 2006 at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. With the first pick, the Houston Texans selected defensive end Mario Williams from North Carolina State University.




New referees


Bernie Kukar and Tom White retired. Jerome Boger and Gene Steratore were promoted to referee.




Notable retirements


Jerry Azumah
Ahmed Plummer
Jimmy Smith
Wayne Chrebet
Dat Nguyen
Tommy Maddox
Jerome Bettis
Curtis Martin
Doug Flutie
Deion Sanders
Brady Smith
Dez White
Kordell Stewart




Major rule changes



End zone celebrations became more restricted. Players cannot celebrate by using any type of prop, or do any act in which they are on the ground. Players may still spike, spin the ball, or (until 2014), dunk it over the goal posts. Dancing in the end zone is also permitted as long as it is not a prolonged or group celebration. The Lambeau Leap, though, is still legal.
Defenders were prohibited from hitting a passer in the knee or below unless they are blocked into him. This rule was enacted in response to the previous season's injuries to Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Brian Griese.
Down-by-contact calls could now be reviewed by instant replay to determine if a player fumbled the ball before he was down, and who recovered it. Previously, these plays could not be reversed once officials blew the whistle.
The "horse-collar tackle" rule enacted during the previous 2005 season was expanded. Players are now prohibited from tackling a ball carrier from the rear by tugging inside his jersey. Previously, it was only illegal if the tackler's hand got inside the player's shoulder pads.
To reduce injuries, defensive players cannot line up directly over the long snapper during field goal and extra point attempts.




= Officials' uniform makeover

=
The 2006 season marked the debut of new officiating uniforms which are supposed to be more comfortable for officials to wear in extreme weather over the old polyester uniforms. The uniforms were designed by Reebok using a proprietary material technology to keep officials both warm and dry during the winter months of the season. On the shirt, the position and number are removed from the front pocket and the lettering and numbers on the back side were black-on-white and are smaller print and the sleeve shows the uniform number. Officials also wore full-length black pants with white stripe during the winter months to stay warm, which was criticized by media. Also, a black stripe was added to each side of the white knickers. This was the first major design overhaul since 1979, when the position name was added to the shirt, but later abbreviated in 1982.




= Return of "The Duke" football

=

For the first time since Super Bowl IV at the conclusion of the 1969 season, the official NFL game ball was known as "The Duke" in honor of Wellington Mara, whose family owns the New York Giants. Son John is the current CEO of the team. The NFL first used "The Duke" ball in honor of owner Tim Mara (Wellington's father) made a deal with Wilson Sporting Goods to become the league's official supplier of game balls, a relationship that continued into its sixty-fifth year in 2006.
"The Duke" ball was discontinued after the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, and the merged league began using a different standardized ball made by Wilson. The only other time that "The Duke" ball name was used was during the two "Thanksgiving Classic" games in 2004.
One side of the new 2006 "Duke" football featured the NFL shield logo in gold, the words "The Duke", and the NFL commissioner's signature. The obverse side has a small NFL logo above the needle bladder hole, the conference names between the hole, and the words "National Football League" in gold. As per the custom, specially branded balls were used for the first week of the 2006 season (the "Opening Kickoff") as well as for the Thanksgiving Day, conference championships, Super Bowl XLI and Pro Bowl games.




2006 deaths






= Death of Lamar Hunt

=
Lamar Hunt died in Dallas, Texas on December 13 from complications from prostate cancer at the age of 74. He is credited with challenging the NFL with the formation of the American Football League, which led to the subsequent merger of the two leagues.




= Death of two Broncos

=
At 3 a.m. on January 1, 2007, Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was shot and killed in Denver, within hours after the last regular season game against the San Francisco 49ers. Less than two months later, on February 24, 2007, Broncos running back Damien Nash collapsed and died after a charity basketball game at a high school. Both players died at the age of 24.




Regular season






= Schedule formula

=
Based on the NFL's scheduling formula, the intraconference and interconference matchups for 2006 were:
Intraconference

AFC East vs. AFC South
AFC North vs. AFC West
NFC East vs. NFC South
NFC North vs. NFC West
Interconference

AFC East vs. NFC North
AFC North vs. NFC South
AFC South vs. NFC East
AFC West vs. NFC West




= Flexible scheduling added to regular season

=

This was the first season that the NFL used a "flexible-scheduling" for the last few weeks of the season, allowing the league flexibility in selecting games to air on Sunday night, in order to feature the current hottest, streaking teams. This was implemented to prevent games featuring losing teams from airing during primetime late in the season, while at the same time allowing NBC to rake in more money off the higher ratings from surprise, playoff-potential teams that more fans would enjoy watching.
Under the flexible-scheduling system, all Sunday games in the affected weeks tentatively had the start times of 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT, except those played in the Pacific or Mountain time zones, which will have a tentative start time of 4:05 p.m. ET/1:05 p.m. PT (or 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT if it is on the doubleheader network). On the Tuesday 12 days before the games, the league moved one game to the Sunday Night Football slot, and possibly one or more 1 p.m. slotted games to the 4:05/4:15 p.m. slots. During the last week of the season, the league could reschedule games as late as six days before the contests so that all of the television networks will be able to broadcast a game that has playoff implications.
Week 10: The Chicago–New York Giants game was flexed into Sunday Night Football at 8:15 p.m. ET on NBC and the New Orleans–Pittsburgh game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.
Week 11: The San Diego–Denver game was flexed into SNF and the Indianapolis–Dallas game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on CBS.
Week 12:

The Philadelphia–Indianapolis game was flexed into SNF.
The Chicago–New England and New York Giants–Tennessee games were flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.
Week 13:

The Seattle–Denver game was flexed into SNF.
The Jacksonville–Miami game was flexed to 4:05 p.m. ET on CBS.
The Dallas–New York Giants and Tampa Bay–Pittsburgh games were flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.
Week 14: The New Orleans–Dallas game was flexed into SNF and the Buffalo–New York Jets game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on CBS.
Week 15: The Kansas City–San Diego game was flexed into SNF and the Philadelphia–New York Giants game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.
Week 17:

The Green Bay–Chicago game was flexed into NBC Sunday Night Football at 8:15 p.m. ET.
The Buffalo–Baltimore and Miami–Indianapolis games were flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on CBS
The Atlanta–Philadelphia game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.




Regular season standings






= Division

=




= Conference

=




Playoffs



Within each conference, the four division winners and the top two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1–4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5–6. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosts the sixth-seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference received a first-round bye. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the worst-surviving seed from the first round (seed 4, 5, or 6), while the number 2 seed will play the other team (seed 3, 4, or 5). The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games met in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference.




= Bracket

=

* Indicates OT victory




= Pro Bowl

=
2007 Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii: AFC 31, NFC 28




Milestones


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




Regular season statistical leaders






= Team

=




= Individual

=




Awards



All-Pro Team




= Team superlatives

=



Offense

Most points scored: San Diego, 492
Fewest points scored: Oakland, 168
Most total offensive yards: New Orleans, 6,264
Fewest total offensive yards: Oakland, 3,939
Most total passing yards: New Orleans, 4,503
Fewest total passing yards: Atlanta, 2,371
Most rushing yards: Atlanta, 2,939
Fewest rushing yards: Detroit, 1,129



Defense

Fewest points allowed: Baltimore, 201
Most points allowed: San Francisco, 412
Fewest total yards allowed: Baltimore, 4,225
Most total yards allowed: Tennessee, 5,915
Fewest passing yards allowed: Oakland, 2,413
Most passing yards allowed: Cincinnati / Minnesota (tie), 3,818
Fewest rushing yards allowed: Minnesota, 985
Most rushing yards allowed: Indianapolis, 2,768




Head coach/front office changes


Head coach
Buffalo Bills – Dick Jauron replaced Mike Mularkey, who resigned after the 2005 season.
Detroit Lions – Rod Marinelli replaced interim head coach Dick Jauron who replaced Steve Mariucci who was fired following Thanksgiving Day during the 2005 season.
Green Bay Packers – Mike McCarthy replaced Mike Sherman, who was fired after the 2005 season.
Houston Texans – Gary Kubiak replaced Dom Capers, who was fired after the 2005 season.
Kansas City Chiefs – Herm Edwards replaced Dick Vermeil, who retired following the 2005 season. Edwards was acquired from the New York Jets for a fourth-round draft pick.
Minnesota Vikings – Brad Childress replaced Mike Tice, who was fired after the 2005 season.
New Orleans Saints – Sean Payton replaced Jim Haslett, who was fired after the 2005 season.
New York Jets – Eric Mangini replaced Herm Edwards, who was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs for a fourth-round pick in the 2006 NFL draft.
Oakland Raiders – Art Shell replaced Norv Turner, who was fired after the 2005 season.
St. Louis Rams – Scott Linehan replaced interim head coach Joe Vitt who replaced Mike Martz who was not allowed to coach due to health problems during the 2005 season.
Front office
Buffalo Bills – Marv Levy replaced Tom Donahoe, who was fired after the 2005 season.
Houston Texans – Rick Smith replaced Charley Casserly, who left the organization following the 2006 NFL draft.
Minnesota Vikings – Rick Spielman replaced Fran Foley, who had been hired as vice president of player personnel and de facto general manager on January 26, 2006. Foley was fired on May 3rd, 2006, just three months into his tenure and mere days following the 2006 NFL draft. Spielman was hired in the same role on May 30, 2006.
New York Jets – Mike Tannenbaum replaced Terry Bradway, who resigned after the 2005 season.
Philadelphia Eagles – Tom Heckert Jr. was promoted from vice president of pro personnel to general manager.
St. Louis Rams – Jay Zygmunt replaced Charley Armey, who retired following the 2005 season.




Stadium changes


Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals moved from Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe to University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, with the University of Phoenix acquiring the naming rights
Miami Dolphins: Dolphins Stadium was renamed to the singular Dolphin Stadium
The New Orleans Saints returned to their home at the Louisiana Superdome in Week Three. Due to damage by Hurricane Katrina, the Saints' first 2005 home game against the New York Giants was moved to Giants Stadium. The Saints then played their remaining 2005 home schedule at Baton Rouge's Tiger Stadium for four games and at San Antonio's Alamodome for three games.
Tennessee Titans: The Coliseum was renamed LP Field after the manufacturing company Louisiana-Pacific (LP) acquired the naming rights




Uniform changes


The Minnesota Vikings added trim lines to the outside shoulders and sleeves, and the jersey sides and pants. The horn on the helmet was also modified to be slightly more defined. Purple pants were also worn at selected games.
The New Orleans Saints began wearing black pants at selected games.




Ticket sellouts


Through week 11 of the season, all NFL games had been sold out, and for the 24th time, all blackout restrictions had been lifted. The streak was ended by the Jacksonville at Buffalo game in Week 12.




Television



This was the first season that NBC held the rights to televise Sunday Night Football, becoming the beneficiaries by negotiating the new flexible-scheduling system (it also marked NBC's return to carrying NFL games for the first time since the end of the 1997 season). ESPN became the new home of Monday Night Football. Disney-owned corporate sibling ABC had lost millions of dollars on televising MNF during the late 1990s and 2000s despite generating high ratings, and with the NFL wanting Sunday night to be the new night for its marquee game, ABC preferred to protect its Desperate Housewives franchise rather than move the comedy-drama show to another night. By September 2006, ABC began using the ESPN on ABC brand after ABC Sports was fully integrated into ESPN (ABC would not air NFL games again, whether exclusive or a simulcast from ESPN, until they began simulcasting a Wild Card playoff game in 2016, and began simulcasting select MNF games in 2020). Meanwhile, CBS and Fox renewed their television contracts to the AFC and the NFC packages, respectively. ESPN's new deal was for eight seasons through 2013, while the new agreements with NBC, CBS, and Fox were initially for six seasons through 2011.
Initially, NBC was able to hire color commentator John Madden, MNF lead producer Fred Gaudelli, and MNF director Drew Esocoff from ABC. However, play-by-play announcer Al Michaels remained under contract with ABC/ESPN, and plans were originally for him to be teamed with Joe Theismann, who would be coming over from ESPN Sunday Night Football. In February 2006, the two networks' parent companies, The Walt Disney Company and NBCUniversal, agreed to a multi-asset trade that, among others, allowed Michaels to sign with NBC, while Disney took ownership of the intellectual property of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (a cartoon character developed by Walt Disney himself in the 1920s) from NBCUniversal. ESPN then opted to go with Mike Tirico on play-by-play, and Theismann and Tony Kornheiser as analysts.
For its new pregame show Football Night in America, NBC gained the exclusive rights from ESPN's NFL Primetime to show extensive highlights of Sunday afternoon games prior to Sunday Night Football. ESPN responded by moving its show to Mondays. Bob Costas became the host of Football Night in America, while Cris Collinsworth, Jerome Bettis, and Sterling Sharpe became its studio analysts.
The league-owned NFL Network was given an eight-game package, consisting of five Thursday Night Football games and three Saturday game that began airing from Thanksgiving to the end of the regular season. The NFL Network hired HBO Sports' Bryant Gumbel as play-by-play announcer, NBC's Collinsworth as the color commentator for the Thursday telecasts, and Dick Vermeil replacing Collinsworth for Saturday telecasts.
James Brown moved from Fox to CBS, replacing Greg Gumbel as host of The NFL Today. Gumbel then replaced Dick Enberg as the network's #2 play-by-play announcer, and Enberg was demoted to #3.
Fox announced that Joe Buck would replace Brown as lead host on Fox NFL Sunday. Because Buck was already serving as Fox's lead play-by-play announcer, the pregame show was primarily broadcast from the site where Buck was calling the game, and Curt Menefee hosted the halftime and postgame segments. Menefee substituted for Buck as the full-time host when Buck was calling the Major League Baseball playoffs.
Beginning this season and continuing until 2012; CBS would not use sideline reporters for regular season coverage.




External links


Football Outsiders 2006 DVOA Rankings




References



2006 NFL Schedule (Last accessed April 6, 2006)
NFL curtails end-zone celebrations from NFL.com, March 29, 2006 (Last accessed March 29, 2006)
Process of game-time decisions will eliminate TV duds, create chaos by Michael Hiestand, USA Today, April 5, 2006 (Last accessed November 6, 2006)
2007 NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 978-1-933821-85-6)

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