This NFL trivia quiz covers the pro football basics every fan should know, plus a few deep cuts from league history. You'll work through scoring rules, the stories behind team names and hometowns, a famous playoff moment and the league's earliest days. It's a fun pregame challenge for Sunday afternoons, tailgates or a friendly rivalry with the person sitting next to you on the couch.
Professional football started out as a scrappy small-town game. In the early 1900s, factory and mill towns in the Midwest fielded teams of paid players, and many of those clubs folded within a few seasons. The league that survived grew slowly, competed with rival leagues for decades, and eventually became the most-watched sport in the United States. Several of today's teams date back to that early era, while others arrived much later through expansion.
Team nicknames are a fun way into the history. Many reflect local industry, landmarks, wildlife or a bit of civic pride, and some were picked by fans in naming contests. Learning why a team has its name is one of the easiest ways to remember where it plays. The rules have a history too. Scoring values, field markings and the way games are timed were all tweaked over the years to make the sport safer and more exciting to watch.
To get better at football trivia, pair each rule with a picture of it happening on the field, and pair each team with one fact about its hometown. Television also shaped the modern game, which is why big broadcast traditions are worth knowing as well.