2002 NFL season

Expansion and realignment

• The Indianapolis Colts from the AFC East, Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans from the AFC Central, and expansion Houston Texans were placed into the newly formed AFC South. The owners of the Jaguars, Titans, and Texans tried to convince Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga for the Dolphins to take the 4th spot in the AFC South instead of the Colts but Huizenga ultimately decided for the Dolphins to remain with their longtime rivals in the new AFC East.
• The Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, and New Orleans Saints from the NFC West and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from the NFC Central were placed into the newly formed NFC South.
• The teams in the AFC Central and NFC Central were placed in the new AFC North and NFC North respectively, apart from the Titans, Jaguars, and Buccaneers.
• The Seattle Seahawks became the first team since 1977 to switch conferences, and the only team to do it twice, returning from the AFC West to the NFC West, where they had played in their first season, 1976.
• The Arizona Cardinals moved from the NFC East to the NFC West. Owner Bill Bidwill was publicly disappointed by the decision but said he would accept it.

Player movement

Draft

Expansion draft

Major rule changes

• A player who touches a pylon remains in-bounds until any part of his body touches the ground out-of-bounds.
• Continuing-action fouls now become dead-ball fouls and will result in the loss of down and distance.
• Any dead-ball penalties by the offense after they have made the line to gain will result in a loss of 15 yards and a new first down. Previously, the 15 yard penalty was enforced but the down was replayed.
• The act of batting and stripping the ball from a player is officially legal.
• Chop-blocks are illegal on kicking plays.
• Hitting a quarterback helmet-to-helmet anytime after a change of possession is illegal.
• After a kickoff, the game clock will start when the ball is touched legally in the field of play. Previously, the clock started immediately when the ball was kicked.
• Inside the final two minutes of a half/overtime, the game clock will not stop when the player who originally takes the snap is tackled behind the line of scrimmage.

• The home team must determine whether their retractable roof is to be opened or closed 90 minutes before kickoff.
• If it is closed at kickoff, it cannot be reopened during the game.
• If it is open at kickoff, it cannot be closed during the game unless the weather conditions become severe.

2002 deaths

• Johnny Unitas who died on September 11, 2002, from a heart attack. On Week 2 of the season, each game played held a moment of silence pre-game tribute to Unitas.
• Dick "Night Train" Lane
• Mike Webster
• Al Lerner, owner of the Cleveland Browns died during the 2002 season from brain cancer. The Browns wore a patch on their uniforms to commemorate Lerner.

Milestones

Head coach/front office changes

• Houston Texans – Dom Capers was hired as the Texans’ first head coach on January 19th, 2001.
• Carolina Panthers – [John NFL on Fox|Fox (American football)|John Fox] replaced George Seifert, who was fired following the 2001 season
• Indianapolis Colts – Tony Dungy replaced Jim Mora, who was fired following the 2001 season
• Minnesota Vikings – Mike Tice replaced Dennis Green, who was fired before Week 17 of the 2001 season. Tice served as interim coach for the final game and officially became the new head coach three days later.
• Oakland Raiders – Bill Callahan replaced Jon Gruden, who was traded to Tampa for two 1st round draft picks, two 2nd round draft picks and cash.
• San Diego Chargers – Marty Schottenheimer replaced Mike Riley, who was fired following the 2001 season
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Jon Gruden replaced Tony Dungy, who was fired following the 2001 season
• Washington Redskins – Steve Spurrier replaced Marty Schottenheimer, who was fired following the 2001 season

• Houston Texans – Charley Casserly was hired as the first executive vice president/GM of the Texans on January 19th, 2000.
• Carolina Panthers – Marty Hurney replaced George Seifert, who was fired following the 2001 season
• Denver Broncos – Ted Sundquist was promoted to replace Neal Dahlen, who became the team's director of football administration.
• Minnesota Vikings – Rob Brzezinski replaced former head coach Dennis Green as de facto general manager.
• Washington Redskins – Vinny Cerrato was rehired as vice president of football operations following the firing of Marty Schottenheimer. Cerrato had previously been the director of player personnel in 1999 and 2000 before being fired by the incoming Schottenheimer in 2001.
• New Orleans Saints – Mickey Loomis replaced Randy Mueller, who was unexpectedly fired on May 9th, 2002, not even a week after owner Tom Benson had offered him a contract extension.
• Atlanta Falcons – Head coach Dan Reeves became de-facto general manager after the resignation of Harold Richardson on May 9, 2002.
• Cleveland Browns – Head coach Butch Davis replaced Dwight Clark, who resigned from his position on May 14, 2002.
• Baltimore Ravens – Ozzie Newsome was named the first general manager of the Ravens on November 22, 2002.

Stadium changes

• Baltimore Ravens: PSINet Stadium reverted to Ravens Stadium after naming rights holder PSINet filed for bankruptcy
• Chicago Bears: The Bears temporarily played at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois, while Soldier Field underwent a major renovation
• Dallas Cowboys: Texas Stadium's AstroTurf was replaced with new RealGrass turf surface by week 5 of the season.
• Detroit Lions: The Lions moved from the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, to Ford Field in Downtown Detroit, with the Ford Motor Company acquiring the naming rights
• Houston Texans: The expansion Texans began playing at Reliant Stadium, the league's first stadium with a retractable roof, with Reliant Energy acquiring the naming rights
• New England Patriots: The Patriots moved from Foxboro Stadium to CMGI Field, with the tech company CMGI acquiring the naming rights
• St. Louis Rams: The former Trans World Dome was renamed the Edward Jones Dome after Edward Jones Investments acquired the naming rights
• Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks moved from Husky Stadium to Seahawks Stadium
• Tennessee Titans: Adelphia Coliseum reverted to The Coliseum after naming rights holder Adelphia Communications Corporation filed for bankruptcy

New uniforms

Reebok becomes official provider

Uniform changes

• The Arizona Cardinals wore white pants with white jerseys for two games, and red pants with red jerseys for one game. It was the first time they wore all-white since 1989, and first time they ever wore all-red.
• The Buffalo Bills introduced new uniforms featuring, among others, a darker shade of blue, nickel gray as an accent color, and red side panels on both the home and away jerseys
• The Carolina Panthers added blue third alternate uniforms
• The Cleveland Browns added orange third alternate uniforms
• The Denver Broncos added orange third alternate uniforms
• The Houston Texans expansion team introduced dark blue helmets; dark blue and white jerseys, both with red trim; and white pants to be worn with the blue jerseys and blue pants with the white jerseys. The new helmet logo features a bull head colored and shaped in such a way to resemble the flag of Texas and the state of Texas.
• The Jacksonville Jaguars added black third alternate uniforms, and introduced new black pants with home uniforms for selected games.
• The New Orleans Saints returned to wearing gold pants with their black jerseys, and with their white jerseys for selected games. They introduced a gold alternate jersey but only wore it for one game.
• The New York Jets began wearing green pants with either their green or white jerseys
• The San Diego Chargers switched back to navy pants with white jerseys, also brought back throwback powder blue uniforms for one game.
• The Seattle Seahawks introduced new uniforms featuring, among others, a lighter "Seahawks Blue", a darker "Seahawks Navy" and lime green piping. The helmet was changed from silver to the darker navy color. The helmet logo was also modified, re-colored accordingly to the new team colors, and the eyebrows and eyes redrawn to make it a more aggressive bird.
• The St. Louis Rams removed the side panels from their jerseys.
• The Washington Redskins introduced replicas of their 1960s design as a third alternate uniform.

Television