| Year: | 2002 |
| Nflchampion: | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Regular Season: | September 5 – December 30, 2002 |
| Playoffs Start: | January 4, 2003 |
| Afcchampion: | Oakland Raiders |
| Afcrunner-Up: | Tennessee Titans |
| Nfcchampion: | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Nfcrunner-Up: | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Sb Name: | XXXVII |
| Sb Date: | January 26, 2003 |
| Sb Site: | Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California |
| Pb Date: | February 2, 2003 |
The 2002 NFL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Football League (NFL).
The league went back to an even number of teams with the addition of the Houston Texans; the league has remained static with 32 teams since. The clubs were realigned into eight divisions, four teams in each. Also, the Chicago Bears played their home games in 2002 in Champaign, Illinois, at Memorial Stadium because of the reconstruction of Soldier Field.
The NFL title was won by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they defeated the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, on January 26, 2003. It is the last Super Bowl held in January and the last to be hosted in San Diego.
This was the first season to feature the "Equipment NFL" logo on the Yoke of the jerseys.
On November 10, during Week 10, a game between the Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field ended in a 34-34 tie, the first NFL tie game since November 23, 1997, when the New York Giants and Washington Redskins ended in a 7-7 draw. No more games would end in a tie until 2008.
With the Houston Texans joining the NFL, the teams were realigned into eight divisions: four teams in each division and four divisions in each conference. The league tried to maintain historical rivalries from the old alignment while organizing the teams geographically. Legally, three teams from the AFC Central (Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh) were required to be in the same division as part of any realignment proposals; this was part of the NFL's settlement with the city of Cleveland in the wake of the 1995 Cleveland Browns relocation controversy.[1]
The major changes were:[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Additionally, the arrival of the Texans meant that the league could return to its pre-1999 scheduling format in which no team received a bye during the first three weeks or last seven weeks of the season. From 1999 to 2001, at least one team sat out each week (including the preseason) because of an odd number of teams in the league (this also happened in 1960, 1966, and other years wherein the league had an odd number of teams). It nearly became problematic during the previous season due to the September 11 attacks, since the San Diego Chargers had their bye week during that week and the league considered cancelling that week's slate of games before ultimately rescheduling them after Week 17.
The league also introduced a new eight-year scheduling rotation designed so that all teams will play each other at least twice during those eight years, and play in every other team's stadium at least once. Under scheduling formulas in use from 1978 to 2001, there were several instances of two teams in different divisions going over 15 seasons without playing each other.[7] [8] Under the new scheduling formula, only two of a team's games each season are based on the previous season's record, down from four under the previous system. All teams play four interconference games. An analysis of win percentages in 2008 showed a statistical trend upward for top teams since this change; the top team each year then averaged 14.2 wins, versus 13.4 previously.[9]
The playoff format was also modified from the one first used in : the number of playoff teams remained the same at 12, but four division winners and two wild cards from each conference advanced to the playoffs, instead of three division winners and three wild cards. In each conference, the division winners were now seeded 1 through 4, and the wild cards were seeded 5 and 6. The only way a wild card team could host a playoff game was if both teams in the conference's championship game were wild cards. This 2002 revised format lasted until . In, the number of playoff teams expanded to 14, and the number of wild card teams went back to three.
The 2002 NFL draft was held from April 20 to 21, 2002 at New York City's Theater at Madison Square Garden. With the first pick, the Houston Texans selected quarterback David Carr from Fresno State University.
The 2002 NFL expansion draft was held on February 18, 2002. 155 players were left unprotected by their teams for the Houston Texans to select to fill their initial roster. With the first overall pick, the Texans selected offensive tackle Tony Boselli from the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Also, with the opening of the NFL's first stadium with a retractable roof, Reliant Stadium, the following rules were enacted:
This rule was amended in to allow a roof to be opened or closed at halftime, at the home team's discretion.[10]
See main article: 2002–03 NFL playoffs.
The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the season:
| Record | Player/team | Date/opponent | Previous record holder[11] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most pass receptions, season | Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis (143) | December 29, vs. Jacksonville | Herman Moore, Detroit, 1995 (123) | |
| Longest return of a missed field goal | Chris McAlister, Baltimore (107 yards) | September 30, vs. Denver | Aaron Glenn, N.Y. Jets vs. Indianapolis, November 15, 1998 (104) | |
| Yards from scrimmage, career | Jerry Rice, Oakland (21,284) | September 29, vs. Tennessee | Walter Payton, 1975–1987 (21,264) | |
| Most rushing yards gained, career | Emmitt Smith, Dallas | October 27, vs. Seattle | Walter Payton, 1975–1987 (16,726) | |
| Most rushing yards by a quarterback, game | Michael Vick, Atlanta (173) | December 1 vs. Minnesota | Tobin Rote, Green Bay vs. Chicago, November 18, 1951 (150) | |
| Most first downs by both teams, game | Seattle (32) vs. Kansas City (32) [64 total] | November 24 | Tied by 2 games (62 total) | |
| Fewest fumbles by a team, season | Kansas City (7) | N/A | Cleveland, 1959 (8) | |
| Fewest fumbles lost by a team, season | Kansas City (2) | N/A | Tied by 2 teams (3) | |
| Most punts by a team, season | Houston (116) | N/A | Chicago, 1981 (114) |
| Points scored | Kansas City Chiefs (467) | |
| Total yards gained | Oakland Raiders (6,237) | |
| Yards rushing | Minnesota Vikings (2,507) | |
| Yards passing | Oakland Raiders (4,475) | |
| Fewest points allowed | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (196) | |
| Fewest total yards allowed | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4,044) | |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | Pittsburgh Steelers (1,375) | |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2,490) |
| Scoring | Priest Holmes, Kansas City (144 points) | |
| Touchdowns | Priest Holmes, Kansas City (24 TDs) | |
| Most field goals made | Martin Gramatica, Tampa Bay (32 FGs) | |
| Rushing | Ricky Williams, Miami (1,853 yards) | |
| Passing | Rich Gannon, Oakland Raiders (4,689 yards) | |
| Passing touchdowns | Tom Brady, New England (28 TDs) | |
| Pass receiving | Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis (143 catches) | |
| Pass receiving yards | Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis (1,722) | |
| Punt returns | Jimmy Williams, San Francisco (16.8 average yards) | |
| Kickoff returns | MarTay Jenkins, Arizona (28.0 average yards) | |
| Interceptions | Brian Kelly, Tampa Bay (8) | |
| Punting | Todd Sauerbrun, Carolina (45.5 average yards) | |
| Sacks | Jason Taylor, Miami (18.5) |
Reebok took over the contract to be the official athletic supplier to the NFL for all 32 teams' uniforms. Previously, all teams had individual contracts with athletic suppliers. American Needle, which had a contract with a few teams before the Reebok deal, challenged the NFL in court over Reebok's exclusive deal, with the NFL effectively stating that it was a "single-entity league" instead of a group consisting of various owners. The case eventually went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 2009, the Supreme Court agreed to hear American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League. In 2010, the court ruled that the NFL is not a single entity.[12] Reebok remained the league's athletic supplier through the 2011 NFL season, when Nike took over the contract for the 2012 NFL season.[13]
Reebok had initially announced when the deal was signed in 2000 that aside from the expansion Texans, all NFL teams would be wearing new uniforms for the 2002 season. However, after protests from several owners—most vocally Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney[14] —Reebok later rescinded the proposal. Reebok did, however (by player request to reduce holding calls), shorten the sleeves on the jerseys for teams that hadn't done so already (most players had been for the previous decade tying the sleeves tight around their arms to prevent holding) and made the jerseys tighter-fitting. This is perhaps most noticeable on the Indianapolis Colts jerseys, where the shoulder stripes, which initially went from the top of the shoulders all the way underneath the arms, were truncated to just the top portion of the shoulders.
Although Reebok rescinded the idea of all NFL teams wearing new uniforms for the 2002 season, the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks did redesign their uniforms, with the Seahawks also unveiling an updated logo in honor of their move to Seahawks Stadium and the NFC.
This was the fifth year under the league's eight-year broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, Fox, and ESPN to televise Monday Night Football, the AFC package, the NFC package, and Sunday Night Football, respectively.
This was the first season since 1980 without a Pat Summerall–John Madden lead broadcast team. Although Summerall had previously announced his retirement as a full-time NFL broadcaster after the 2001 season ended, he continued to call selected games for Fox in 2002. Meanwhile, ABC hired Madden from Fox to join Al Michaels in a two-man booth, dropping the network's experiment with Micheals, Dan Fouts, and comedian Dennis Miller on MNF.
Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Cris Collinsworth replaced Summerall and Madden as Fox's new lead broadcast team. The network opted to leave Dick Stockton and Daryl Johnston as Fox's #2 team in a two-man booth, and not find a replacement for Aikman there. To replace Collinsworth on Fox NFL Sunday, the network initially used a rotating series of guest analysts before Jimmy Johnson took over the seat permanently midway through the season.
Boomer Esiason and Dan Marino joined The NFL Today as analysts, while Randy Cross went back to color commentating for CBS, Mike Ditka left the program, and Jerry Glanville was a reserve color commentator from 2002 to 2003.