1990 NFL season


The 1990 NFL season was the 71st regular season of the National Football League. To increase revenue, the league, for the first time since, reinstated bye weeks, so that all NFL teams would play their 16-game schedule over a 17-week period. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 10 teams to 12 teams by adding another wild card from each conference, thus adding two more contests to the postseason schedule; this format was modified with realignment in 2002 before the playoffs expanded to 14 teams in 2020.
During four out of the five previous seasons under the 10-team format, at least one team with a 10–6 record missed the playoffs, including the 11–5 Denver Broncos in 1985; meanwhile, three years later, the 10–6 San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowl XXIII, leading for calls to expand the playoff format to ensure that 10–6 teams could compete for a Super Bowl win. Ironically, the first sixth-seeded playoff team would not have a 10–6 record, but instead, the New Orleans Saints, with an 8–8 record, took the new playoff spot.
The season ended with Super Bowl XXV when the New York Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills 20–19 at Tampa Stadium. This would be the first Super Bowl appearance for Buffalo, who would represent the AFC in the next three Super Bowls as well.

First full season under NFL Commissioner Tagliabue

This was the first full season for Paul Tagliabue as the league's Commissioner, after taking over from Pete Rozelle midway through the previous season. On October 8, the league announced that the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award would be named the Pete Rozelle Trophy in the former commissioner's honor.

Player movement

Transactions

Trades

  • On September 25, 1990, the [1990 1990 Dallas Cowboys season|Dallas Cowboys season|Dallas Cowboys] traded Steve Walsh to the New Orleans Saints for the Saint's first and third round picks in the 1991 NFL draft and a second round pick in the 1992 NFL draft.

Retirements

Draft

The 1990 NFL draft was held from April 22 to 23, 1990, at New York City's Marriott Marquis. With the first pick, the Indianapolis Colts selected quarterback Jeff George from the University of Illinois. Selecting seventeenth overall, the Dallas Cowboys would draft Emmitt Smith, who would retire as the NFL's all-time leading rusher.

Officiating changes

Dick Jorgensen, who had been the referee in the previous season's Super Bowl XXIV, was diagnosed in May during the offseason with a rare blood disorder. He died five months later on October 10. For the remainder of the 1990 season, NFL officials wore a black armband on their left sleeve with the white number 60 to honor Jorgensen.
Ben Dreith and Fred Wyant, were demoted to line judge. Dreith later filed a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after the league fired him after the 1990 season, citing age discrimination as the reason for both his demotion to line judge and his dismissal. Dreith and the NFL would later agree in 1993 to a $165,000 settlement, plus court costs and attorney fees.
Gerald Austin, the side judge for Super Bowl XXIV, and Tom White, were promoted to referee. White became the first official to be promoted to referee after only one season of NFL experience since Jerry Markbreit in 1977 and Brad Allen. After one season with having 16 officiating crews in 1989, it was reduced back to 15 crews in 1990 to handle the weekly workload of 14 games.
Ed Hochuli was hired as a back judge and assigned to Howard Roe's crew. Hochuli was promoted to referee two years later.

Major rule changes

  • The rule for unnecessary roughness penalties is clarified so that any player who butts, spears, or rams an opponent risks immediate disqualification.
  • The penalty for an illegal forward pass beyond the line of scrimmage is enforced from the spot where any part of the passer's body is beyond the line when the ball is released.
  • The following changes are made to try to speed up the game:
  • * the time interval on the Play Clock after time outs and other administrative stoppages has been reduced from 30 seconds to 25 seconds ;
  • * whenever a player goes out of bounds, other than in the last two minutes of the first half and the last five minutes of the second half or overtime, the game clock immediately starts when the ball is spotted for the next play and the Referee signals it is ready for play; and
  • * other than in the last two minutes of the first half and the last five minutes of the second half or overtime the game clock also starts following all declined penalties.
  • This was the first season in which NFL teams officially had a bye week; the last time was in 1966, when the league had an odd number of teams at 15.

1990 deaths

Members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Preseason

American Bowl

A series of National Football League pre-season exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States, a total of four games were held in 1990.
DateWinning teamScoreLosing teamScoreStadiumCity
August 5, 1990Denver Broncos10Seattle Seahawks7Tokyo Dome

Regular season

Scheduling formula

Highlights of the 1990 season included:
  • Porkchop Bowl: A third game in the heated rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, following the Bounty Bowl of 1989, took place in 1990. Known as the "Porkchop Bowl". The game got its name because Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan choked on a pork chop in the week leading up to the game, Philadelphia won this game as well, 21–20.
  • Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 22, featuring Denver at [1990 1990 Detroit Lions season|Detroit Lions season|Detroit] and Washington at Dallas, with Detroit and Dallas winning.

Tiebreakers

  • Cincinnati finished ahead of [1990 1990 Houston Oilers season|Houston Oilers season|Houston] and [1990 1990 Pittsburgh Steelers season|Pittsburgh Steelers season|Pittsburgh] in the AFC Central based on best head-to-head record.
  • Houston was the third AFC Wild Card based on better conference record than Seattle and Pittsburgh.
  • Philadelphia finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on better division record.
  • Tampa Bay was second in NFC Central based on best head-to-head record against Detroit, [1990 1990 Green Bay Packers season|Green Bay Packers season|Green Bay], and [1990 1990 Minnesota Vikings season|Minnesota Vikings season|Minnesota].
  • Detroit finished third in the NFC Central based on best net division points against Green Bay.
  • Green Bay finished ahead of Minnesota in the NFC Central based on better conference record.
  • The L.A. Rams finished ahead of Atlanta in the NFC West based on net points in division.

Notable events

Records, milestones, and notable statistics

;Week 3
;Week 6
  • October 14, 1990 – Joe Montana set a 49ers record by throwing for 476 yards in one game and throwing six touchdown passes. Jerry Rice set a 49ers record with 5 touchdown receptions and 30 points in one game.
  • October 14, 1990 - Barry Word of the Kansas City Chiefs rushes for a team-record 200 yards against the Detroit Lions at Arrowhead. Kansas City won 43–24.
;Week 10
  • November 11, 1990: Derrick Thomas set the NFL single game record of seven quarterback sacks, a feat which occurred against Seattle's Dave Krieg on 1990 Veterans Day. Despite this feat, Krieg eluded a blitzing Thomas on the game's last play and threw a touchdown pass to Paul Skansi, which gave the Seahawks a 17–16 win, their first at Arrowhead Stadium since 1980. The record came close to being matched with three occasions of players reaching six sacks, once by Thomas himself in 1998.
;Week 15
  • December 16, 1990: Warren Moon threw for 527 yards against Kansas City on December 16, 1990, the second-most passing yards ever in a single game.

Coaching changes

Offseason

In-season

Stadium changes

With New England Patriots founder Billy Sullivan no longer owning the team, having it sold to Victor Kiam in 1988 and Sullivan Stadium being taken over by Robert Kraft, the venue was renamed Foxboro Stadium.

Uniforms changes

Individual teams

  • The Atlanta Falcons unveiled new uniforms, switching both their primary jerseys and helmets from red to black. This was the first time the Falcons wore black jerseys since 1970, and the first time they had ever worn black helmets.
  • The New York Jets added black trim to their logo, numbers, and stripes on their pants, and changed their face masks from white to black. They also added green pants to be worn with their white jerseys.
  • The Phoenix Cardinals began wearing red pants with their white jerseys at the request of coach Joe Bugel.
  • The San Diego Chargers began wearing navy pants with their white jerseys.
In Week 16 with the Gulf War looming closer, American flag decals were added to the back of the helmets of all players.

Deaths

January

February

March

April

  • April 1- Vince Pacewic, age 69. Played receiver for the Washington Redskins in 1943. Returned to team in 1947 after completion of military service.
  • April 8- Tom Roberts, age 74. Played offensive guard from 1943 to 1945 for the New York Giants and Chicago Bears.
  • April 9- Bill Bailey, age 73. Played both offensive and defensive end for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1940 to 1941.
  • April 17- Jim Eiden, age 88. Eiden's NFL career consisted of one game starting at tackle for the Louisville Colonels in 1926.
  • April 27- Chuck Weimer, age 85. Played tailback and place kicker for the Buffalo Bisons, Brooklyn Dodgers, and Cleveland Indians from 1929 to 1931.
  • April 29- Jake Fawcett, age 70 Played offensive guard for the Los Angeles Rams and Brooklyn Dodgers.
  • April 30- Charley Ewart, age 74. Head coach for the New York Bulldogs in 1949, leading the team to a 1-10-1 record in his only season as an NFL head coach.

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Television changes

This was the first season under a new four-year deal with TNT to televise Sunday night football games during the first half of the season. ABC, CBS, NBC, and ESPN also each signed four-year contracts to renew their rights for Monday Night Football, the NFC package, and the AFC package, and Sunday Night Football during the second half of the season, respectively. ABC was also given the rights to televise the additional Saturday AFC and NFC wild card playoff games.
TNT's initial broadcast team consisted of Skip Caray on play-by-play and Pat Haden as color commentator. Fred Hickman became the host of TNT's pregame show, The Stadium Show. ESPN continued to air NFL Primetime during those Sunday nights when TNT aired games, going head-to-head with TNT's pregame show.
After CBS fired Brent Musburger on April 1, 1990, the network decided to overhaul the talent lineup on The NFL Today. Irv Cross was demoted to the position of game analyst, Dick Butkus returned to acting, and Will McDonough moved on to NBC's NFL Live!. Greg Gumbel became the new host of The NFL Today. Terry Bradshaw became the new analyst, while Pat O'Brien, Lesley Visser, and Jim Gray as the new reporters/contributors.
Late in the 1990 season, Pat Summerall was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer after vomiting on a plane following his calling a Chicago Bears-Washington Redskins game and would not return to the booth until the 1990 NFC Divisional Playoff Game between the Bears and New York Giants. In Summerall's absence, CBS teamed John Madden with Dick Stockton for one week before teaming him with Verne Lundquist until Summerall was well enough to work, while Jack Buck, the lead voice of NFL coverage on CBS Radio and CBS' Major League Baseball coverage, was added as a fill-in broadcaster.