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The 1976 NFL season was the 57th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 28 teams with the addition of Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This fulfilled one of the conditions agreed to in 1966 for the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, which called for the league to expand to 28 teams by 1970 or soon thereafter.
For this season only, the Seahawks played in the NFC West while the Buccaneers played in the AFC West. The Seahawks would return to the NFC West with the realignment prior to the 2002 season, on the other hand, the Buccaneers did not return to the AFC in 2002. The Buccaneers became the first NFL team to finish a season 0–14. The Buccaneers lost their first 26 games as they also lost their first 12 games in 1977.
The season ended with Super Bowl XI when the Oakland Raiders defeated the Minnesota Vikings 32–14 at the Rose Bowl. The Raiders were the first original AFL team to win a Super Bowl in the post-merger era.
NFL MVP – Bert Jones – Baltimore Colts
Offensive Player of the Year – Bert Jones – Colts
Defensive Player of the Year – Jack Lambert (Pro Football HOF)
Super Bowl MVP – Fred Biletnikoff – Raiders (Pro Football HOF)
Significant Rookie Debuts by: Pro Football Hall of Famers – Harry Carson, Lee Roy Selmon, Mike Haynes, Steve Largent, Jackie Slater
Other Rookie Star Debuts include: Randy Cross, Gary Fencik, Brian Fryer, Tony Galbreath, Archie Griffin (2 X Heisman Winner – College FB HOF), Pat Haden, Mike Kruczek, Vince Papale (of the movie “Invincible” fame), Dewey Selmon, Richard Todd, Danny White, and Jim Zorn
This pass is made out to Jack Fette who spent 23 years of his illustrious career as a line judge in the NFL, where he worked 5 Super Bowls along with 16 other playoff games.
Item: 13665
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