The game
The 2026 rulebook sets the game at 60 minutes, in four periods of 15 minutes. It is played by two teams of 11.
NFL
NFL
Four 15-minute periods, four downs to gain 10 yards, and a 2026 regular-season board of 272 games.
History · Teams · Vince Lombardi Trophy · Contact
A short history
NFL.com’s NFL 100 page says that in 1920, ten football teams gathered in Canton, Ohio to create the American Professional Football Association, now the NFL. Four more teams joined later that year.
The same page says the first NFL game was October 3, 1920, when the Dayton Triangles beat the Columbus Panhandles 14–0 at Triangle Park in Dayton.
Current teams
32 clubs from the published list. Open a club for its desk.
Vince Lombardi Trophy
After the 1920 season, the NFL 100 page says the Akron Pros were awarded the APFA championship and the Brunswick-Balke Collendar Cup, and calls that cup the league’s first championship trophy.
NFL.com says the game now called Super Bowl I was played in January 1967 as the First AFL-NFL World Championship Game. In 1970 the Super Bowl trophy was renamed the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The same note says Lombardi won the first two Super Bowls with the Green Bay Packers.
Contact
League office
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New York, NY 10154
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Support
support.nfl.com
support@nfl.com
1-800-635-5300
How the league plays
The field
The field is 360 feet by 160 feet. Goal lines sit 10 yards in from each end line, so each end zone is 10 yards deep.
A series
The offense gets four charged scrimmage downs to reach a line 10 yards ahead. If the goal line is closer than 10 yards, that is the line to gain.
Scoring
A touchdown is 6. A field goal is 3. A safety is 2. The try after a touchdown is 1 for a field goal or safety, or 2 for a touchdown.
Overtime
Regular-season overtime is one 10-minute period, and the game can end tied. Postseason overtime is 15-minute periods and continues until there is a winner. Both are in Rule 16.
The season
The 2026 regular-season scoreboard used on this site lists 272 games. The rulebook’s abbreviation table lists 32 clubs. The standings feed groups them into the AFC and the NFC.
Sources
2026 NFL Official Playing Rules
2026 NFL rulebook on NFL Football Operations