This article is about the American football season in the United States. For the Gaelic football season in Ireland, see
2010 National Football League (Ireland).
Tom Brady, quarterback of the
New England Patriots, was named
NFL MVP for the 2010 season. In
Super Bowl XLV, the league's championship game played at
Cowboys Stadium in
Arlington, Texas, the
Green Bay Packers defeated the
Pittsburgh Steelers to win their fourth
Super Bowl, spoiling the Steelers' chance for a seventh title.[2] This season also marked the first full-length season in which a team with a losing record made the playoffs, when the
Seattle Seahawks won the NFC West with a 7–9 record. One week later, the Seahawks dethroned the defending champion New Orleans Saints in the wild-card round, to become the first ever sub-.500 playoff team to win a postseason game.
Labor issues
NFL owners voted in 2008 to opt out of their
collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the
National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) as of the end of the 2010 season. (The vote was 23 in favor, 9 against; the extension measure needed 24 to pass, which would have set the CBA to expire after the 2012 season). Since a new CBA was not reached with the NFLPA, 2010 was an uncapped season,[4] meaning that there was no
salary cap or salary floor between which teams had to operate.[5] Also, the uncapped season limited unrestricted free agency only to players with at least six years of experience, as opposed to four under a capped season.[5] The final eight teams alive in the
2009–10 NFL playoffs (Arizona, Dallas, Minnesota and New Orleans in the NFC; and Baltimore, Indianapolis, the New York Jets and San Diego in the AFC) were restricted in the free agents they could sign.[5]
The issue of a CBA continued into the
2011 NFL season, affecting most of the off-season.
The following notable trades were made during the 2010 league year:
March 5: Arizona traded WR
Anquan Boldin to Baltimore in exchange for Baltimore's third- and fourth-round selections in the
2010 NFL draft;[6]
March 5: San Diego traded CB
Antonio Cromartie to the N.Y. Jets in exchange for the Jets' second-round selection in
2011;[7]
March 6: N.Y. Jets traded S
Kerry Rhodes to Arizona in exchange for Arizona's fourth-round selection in 2010 and seventh-round selection in 2011;[8]
March 8: Atlanta traded CB
Chris Houston to Detroit in exchange for a sixth-round selection in 2010 and conditional seventh-round selection in 2011;[9]
March 14: Cleveland traded DE
Kamerion Wimbley to Oakland in exchange for a third-round selection in 2010;[10]
March 14: Cleveland traded QB
Brady Quinn to Denver in exchange for RB
Peyton Hillis and a sixth-round selection in 2011;[11]
March 16: Seattle traded DE
Darryl Tapp to Philadelphia in exchange for DE
Chris Clemons and a fourth-round selection in 2010;[12]
March 17: San Diego traded QB
Charlie Whitehurst to Seattle in return for a swap of second-round selections in 2010;[13]
April 2: Philadelphia traded CB
Sheldon Brown and LB
Chris Gocong to Cleveland in exchange for DE
Alex Hall and fourth- and fifth-round selections in 2010;[14]
April 4: Philadelphia traded QB
Donovan McNabb to Washington in exchange for a second-round selection in 2010 and conditional third- or fourth-round selection in 2011;[15]
April 4: Pittsburgh traded CB
Bryant McFadden to Arizona in exchange for a swap of fifth and sixth-round selections in 2010;
April 5: Seattle traded G
Rob Sims and a seventh-round selection to Detroit in exchange for DE
Robert Henderson and a fifth-round selection in 2010;[16]
April 12: Pittsburgh traded WR
Santonio Holmes to N.Y. Jets in exchange for a fifth-round selection in 2010;[17]
April 14: Denver traded WR
Brandon Marshall to Miami in exchange for Miami's second-round selections in 2010 and 2011;[18]
April 16: Miami traded
Ted Ginn Jr. to San Francisco in exchange for a fifth-round selection;[19]
April 19: in a three-way trade, Denver traded TE
Tony Scheffler to Detroit, Detroit traded LB
Ernie Sims to Philadelphia, Philadelphia sent its fifth-round selection in 2010 to Denver and Denver sent its seventh-round selection to Detroit;[20]
April 20: Tampa Bay traded QB
Byron Leftwich to Pittsburgh in exchange for a seventh-round selection in 2010;[21]
April 21: St. Louis traded DT
Adam Carriker to Washington in exchange for fifth- and seventh-round selections;[22]
April 24: Washington traded QB
Jason Campbell to Oakland in exchange for a fourth-round selection in
2012;[23]
April 24: Tennessee traded RB
LenDale White and DE
Kevin Vickerson to Seattle in exchange for a fourth-round selection and swap of sixth-round selections in 2010;[24]
April 24: Oakland traded LB
Kirk Morrison to Jacksonville in exchange for a swap of fourth- and fifth-round selections;[25]
September 15: New England traded RB
Laurence Maroney and a sixth-round selection in 2011 to Denver in exchange for a fourth-round selection;[30]
October 5: Buffalo traded RB
Marshawn Lynch to Seattle in exchange for a fourth-round selection in 2011 and a conditional pick in 2012;[31]
October 6: New England traded WR
Randy Moss and a seventh-round selection in 2012 to Minnesota in exchange for a third-round selection in 2011 and a seventh-round selection in 2012;[32]
October 11: Seattle traded WR
Deion Branch to New England in exchange for a fourth-round selection in 2011;[33]
October 19: Kansas City traded DE
Alex Magee to Tampa Bay in exchange for a fifth-round selection in 2011.[34]
The league's 75th annual selection meeting, more commonly known as the
NFL Draft, took place at
Radio City Music Hall in New York City from April 22–24, the first time that the draft was held over three days instead of the usual two.[35] In the draft with the first overall pick, the
St. Louis Rams chose quarterback
Sam Bradford from the
University of Oklahoma.
Officiating changes
Mike Pereira resigned as the league's Vice President of Officiating. He had led the NFL's officiating since 2001. Carl Johnson was named as Pereira's successor.
The following rule changes were passed at the league's annual owners meeting in March:
The
overtime procedure for postseason games has changed. Instead of a straight
sudden death period in which the first team to score by any method wins, the game will not immediately end if the team that receives the ball first scores a field goal on its first possession (the game will still end they score a touchdown or if the defense scores a touchdown or safety).[36] Instead, the other team gets a possession. If the second team on offense then scores a touchdown, it is declared the winner. If the score is tied after both teams had a possession, the game is played under sudden death. These changes were passed in response to recent statistics that show that since 1994, teams that win the coin toss have won overtime 59.8 percent of the time, and won 34.4 percent of the time on the first possession on a field goal.[36] In May, the league decided against applying these overtime rule changes to regular season games as well,[37] although this was adopted
two years later.
The definition of a "defenseless receiver" (in which a receiver cannot be hit in the head or neck area by an opponent who launches himself and makes contact with his helmet, shoulder, or forearm) will now apply to every defenseless player.[38]
A play will now immediately be whistled
dead if a ball carrier's helmet is removed.[38]
The position of the
umpire has been moved from behind the defensive linebackers (except in the last two minutes of the first half, the last five minutes of the second half/overtime, and anytime the offense is inside the defense's five-yard-line) to the offensive backfield opposite the throwing arm of the quarterback in order to reduce the numerous times that the official has been run over during plays.[39]
During field goal and extra point attempts, defenders cannot line up directly across from the
long snapper.[39]
Dead ball 15-yard personal fouls that are committed on the final play of either the second or fourth quarters will be assessed on the second half or overtime kickoff, respectively. Previously, such penalties during those situations were not enforced.[39]
Punt returners who make a
fair catch signal but then muff the ball are entitled the opportunity to catch the ball before it hits the ground without interference. If there is interference during such a scenario, the receiving team is awarded the ball at the spot of the foul, but no penalty yardage is assessed.[39]
The 2009 temporary modification[40] to the rules regarding balls in play that strike an object such as a video board or a guide wire has been made permanent.[39] Prior to 2009, only the down was replayed. The 2009 modification added resetting the game clock to the time when the original play was snapped.[40]
The replay system will now also be allowed to cover whether there was some sort of interference with the ball during a play.[39]
If the clock is stopped in the final minute of either half for a replay review, but would not have stopped without the review, there will be a 10-second runoff (similar to when the offensive team commits a penalty inside of one minute in order to preserve time). As with any other 10-second runoff, either team may take a time-out in lieu of the runoff.[39]
Crowd noise
The NFL relaxed all rules regarding crowd noise, citing the need to increase the in-stadium experience to lure more fans to attend games. In addition, the league cited the advances in the coach-to-quarterback radio communications, and more visiting teams using silent snap counts as an alternative to overcome crowd noise.[41]
The NFL's rules to "legislate the fans", and help visiting offensive players hear the snap count, have been controversial from the start. In one notorious example, then-
Cincinnati Bengals head coach
Sam Wyche and then-quarterback
Boomer Esiason "protested" the crowd noise rules during a 1989 nationally televised preseason game against the
New Orleans Saints by constantly complaining to the referee about the loud crowd noise inside the
Superdome.[42]
The league will still allow stadiums to post visual noise meters and other scoreboard messages to incite fans to make noise, but they must cease when the play clock is down to 15 seconds. However, home teams are still prohibited from pumping in
artificial crowd noise.[41]
Crackdown on illegal hits
After several violent hits throughout the NFL made the news in Week 3, the league announced that it would consider suspending players for illegal hits, such as helmet-to-helmet hits or other blows to the head.[43] (Previously, players could only be fined for such hits.) The league also instructed all officials and referees to have an even higher level of attention toward flagrant hits.[44] Game officials were also instructed to err on the side of safety, and throw flags even when in doubt.[45]
The crackdown has been controversial. Many defensive players have complained that the league is being too strict in their interpretation of what constitutes an "illegal hit", and that it forces them to behave significantly differently from how they were taught to play the game.[43][44] Another concern is the league's instructions to game officials to err on the side of caution, since questionable calls late in close games significantly affect their outcome. However, the medical community has supported the move, believing that it will help reduce concussions and other head injuries.[44]
The league did not end up suspending any players for violent or illegal hits, however several players were fined for these types of hits within the first few weeks of the crackdown.
2010 deaths
Gaines Adams: Having played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears, Adams died on January 17, 2010.
George Blanda: A member of the Oakland Raiders 1967 AFL championship team, Blanda died after a "short illness" on September 27, 2010.[48] He was 83 years old.[49] A moment of silence was held in Blanda's honor prior to the start of the September 27, 2010, game between the
Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, from
Soldier Field.[50]
The 2010 regular season was the first year that the league used a modified version of the scheduling formula that was first introduced in
2002, in which all teams play each other at least once every four years, and play in every other team's stadium at least once every eight years (notwithstanding the regular season games played overseas as part of the
NFL International Series). Under the original 2002 formula, since the pairings were strictly based on
alphabetical order, those teams scheduled to play the entire
AFC West had to travel to both
Oakland and
San Diego in the same season, while those teams playing the entire
NFC West had to make their way to both
San Francisco and
Seattle.[58] In
2008,
New England and the
New York Jets each had to make cross-country trips to all four of the aforementioned West Coast teams. In an effort to relieve east coast teams from having to travel to the West Coast multiple times during the same season, teams will only have to visit one West Coast team (
AFC West or
NFC West), plus one western team from the same division closer to the
Midwest, under the 2010 modified formula. Specifically, those teams traveling to Oakland (Las Vegas since
2020) will also play at
Denver, while those playing at San Diego (Los Angeles since
2017) will also play at
Kansas City. For teams scheduled to play the NFC West, those traveling to San Francisco will also go to
Arizona, while those scheduled to play in Seattle will then go to
St. Louis (this became moot in
2016 when the Rams returned to
Los Angeles).[58][59][60]
For the 2010 season, the intraconference and interconference matchups are:
The entire 2010 regular-season schedule was unveiled at 7:00 pm EDT on Tuesday, April 20. Additionally, schedule release shows aired on both the NFL Network and as a
SportsCenter special on
ESPN2.[61]
Opening weekend
The
NFL Kickoff Game, the first game of the season, took place on Thursday, September 9, starting at 8:35 pm
EDT, with the
Super Bowl XLIV champion
New Orleans Saints hosting the
Minnesota Vikings, in a rematch of the
2009NFC Championship Game, with New Orleans winning. Like in previous years, the opening week's prime-time games were expected to be announced at the NFL's annual owners meetings in late March, but that wasn't the case this year, with the schedule announced on April 20.[62]
The 2010 season featured one International game, played at
Wembley Stadium in London.[64] The teams for this game were confirmed on January 15, 2010, with the
San Francisco 49ers playing host to the
Denver Broncos on October 31, at 1:00 pm EDT (5:00 pm
GMT),[65] with San Francisco winning.
The entire Week 17 schedule, played on January 2, consisted solely of divisional contests, in an attempt to increase competition after several cases over the last few seasons of playoff-bound teams resting their regular starters and playing their reserves. This has continued since then.[68]
By way of
flexible scheduling, three game times were changed in Week 16: The Minnesota–
Philadelphia game, originally scheduled for 1:00 pm EST on
Fox, was flexed into the 8:20 pm time slot on
NBC's Sunday Night Football. The originally-scheduled NBC Sunday Night game between the
San Diego–
Cincinnati was changed to a 4:05 pm EST kickoff on
CBS. The
Seattle–Tampa Bay game was moved from 1:00 pm to 4:15 pm EST.[72]
The Minnesota-Philadelphia game was then postponed to Tuesday, December 28 at 8 pm due to public safety concerns resulting from
an anticipated snowstorm in Philadelphia, even though no snow had fallen at the time of the postponement. The resulting game was the first Tuesday NFL game since 1946.[73]
By way of flexible scheduling, the following Week 17 games were changed: The St. Louis-Seattle game, originally scheduled at 4:15 pm EST, was moved onto Sunday Night Football. Also, the Jacksonville-Houston, Tennessee-Indianapolis, Chicago-Green Bay, Dallas-Philadelphia and New York Giants-Washington matches were all rescheduled from 1:00 pm to the 4:15 pm slot.[74] Except for Cowboys-Eagles, all these games carried playoff implications. (Per its flexible scheduling rules for Week 17, the league had to commit to move these games a full six days in advance before the aforementioned Week 16 Vikings-Eagles game eventually played out on that Tuesday night. Had Philadelphia won that game instead of Minnesota, they would have still been in contention for a first round playoff bye.[75])
^
abPittsburgh clinched the AFC North title instead of Baltimore based on division record (5–1 to Baltimore's 4–2).
^
abIndianapolis clinched the AFC No. 3 seed instead of Kansas City based on a head-to-head victory.
^
abJacksonville finished ahead of Oakland based on head-to-head victory.
^
abHouston finished ahead of Tennessee in the AFC South based on division record (3–3 to Tennessee's 2–4).
^
abcDenver finished ahead of Buffalo and Cincinnati based on strength of victory.
^
abBuffalo finished ahead of Cincinnati based on head-to-head victory.
^When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.
^
abPhiladelphia clinched the NFC East title based on a head-to-head sweep over the NY Giants.
^
abSeattle clinched the NFC West title instead of St. Louis based on division record (4–2 to St. Louis' 3–3).
^
abcGreen Bay clinched the NFC No. 6 seed based on better strength of victory (.475) than the NY Giants (.400) and Tampa Bay (.344).
^
abcdeDetroit and Minnesota finished ahead of San Francisco, Dallas and Washington based on conference record (5–7 to 4–8).
^
abDetroit finished ahead of Minnesota in the NFC North based on division record (2–4 to Minnesota's 1–5).
^
abSan Francisco finished ahead of Dallas based on record versus common opponents (2–3 versus Dallas’ 1–4 against Philadelphia, New Orleans, Green Bay and Arizona).
^
abDallas finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on division record (3–3 to Washington's 2–4).
^When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division.
The 2010–11 NFL playoff tournament began January 8–9, 2011 with wild card weekend. Following that, the divisional playoffs set the matchups for the
NFC Championship Game, to be played at 3:00 pm EST on January 23, and the
AFC Championship Game, to be played at 6:30 pm EST.
The annual
Pro Bowl had previously been played in Hawaii for 30 consecutive seasons from 1980 to 2009.[80] However, the NFL and State of Hawaiʻi officials only agreed to a two-year deal to hold the Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium in 2011 and 2012.[80] This gives the option of playing the Pro Bowl in Hawaiʻi on a rotational basis with the mainland, so it both maintains the traditional ties of holding it on the islands and providing accessibility to fans when played in the contiguous 48 states.[80]
Super Bowl XLV, was held at
Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on February 6, 2011, and was the NFL's final event of the 2010 season.
Within each conference, the four division winners and the top two
non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are
seeded 1–4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5–6. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosts the sixth-seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference received a
first-round bye. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the worst-surviving seed from the first round (seed 4, 5, or 6), while the number 2 seed will play the other team (seed 3, 4, or 5). The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games met in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the
Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference.[81]
Starting with Super Bowl XLV, the template of all Super Bowl logos will virtually remain the same. The only differences from year to year will be the stadium backdrop and the Roman numerals for the game as well as colors of the area. For Super Bowl XLV,
Cowboys Stadium is featured and "XLV" signifying the forty-fifth Super Bowl game.[82]
The NFL also introduced new
Lamar Hunt and
George Halas trophies for the AFC and NFC Championship games. The trophies were changed from a brown base with an 'A' or 'N' on top of it surrounded by players layered on a
frieze upon a wall, to silver trophies in the make of a football.[82] Additionally, both the
NFC and
AFC logos were revamped and recolored to reflect the current shield adopted two years earlier and with four stars running down the inside on both logos top to bottom from left to right instead of the six surrounding the AFC and three down the side of the NFC logo as each conference has four divisions. In addition, all event and playoff logos have undergone a complete makeover in a new logo system.[83]
The
Tampa Bay Buccaneers became the first team since the merger to start 10 rookies and still complete a winning season (10–6). However, the Buccaneers missed the playoffs.[86]
Jauron was fired after nine games into the
2009 season after compiling a 24–33 (.421) record, including a 3–6 record at the time of his firing, in 3½ years. Fewell, the Bills' defensive coordinator, was the interim head coach for the rest of the season and went 3–4 (.429) in that capacity; he was hired to be defensive coordinator for the
New York Giants January 14. Jauron was hired as defensive backs coach for the
Philadelphia Eagles.
Gailey, whom previously served as head coach of the
Dallas Cowboys from
1998–
1999 and
Georgia Tech from 2002 to 2007, was last seen in the NFL as the Kansas City Chiefs' offensive coordinator before
Todd Haley fired him prior to the 2009 regular season, and was named the new Bills coach on January 19; he was recommended to the Bills by former Pittsburgh Steelers coach
Bill Cowher, whom Gailey served under from 1994 to 1997.
Zorn, who was first hired to be offensive coordinator but had never been a head coach before being given the coaching reins, went out to a 6–2 start in the first half of
2008, but fell dramatically afterwards, and in his two seasons went 12–20 (.375) as the Redskins coach before being relieved of his duties following the completion of the 2009 season.
On January 5, 2010, Shanahan, the former Super Bowl-winning head coach of
Denver Broncos from 1995 to 2008, was hired as the Redskins' new coach. Zorn was hired January 30, 2010, to be the quarterbacks coach for the
Baltimore Ravens.
Mora was fired after compiling a 5–11 (.313) record in his only season as head coach as the Seahawks lost the last four games of the 2009 season, being outscored 123–37. Mora wouldn't hold another coaching position until 2012, when he was hired as the head coach of
UCLA and 10 years later, the
UConn Huskies, both teams in the collegiate level.
Carroll had spent the past eight years as the head coach of
USC, having won a share of the
2003 and the outright
2004 national championships; however, many of Carroll's achievements at USC may be stricken from the record books due to improprieties involving
Reggie Bush. He had previously been the head coach of the
New York Jets in
1994 and
New England Patriots from
1997 to
1999, with a career 33–31 record.
Phillips, son of former NFL head coach
Bum Phillips, was fired on November 8 following a 45–7 Week 9 loss against the
Green Bay Packers. Garrett was their offensive coordinator and head-coach in waiting prior to being promoted. Phillips later was hired by the
Houston Texans as their defensive coordinator. Garrett was named the full-time head coach January 6, four days after the season ended.
Childress was fired on November 22 following a Week 11 loss against the
Green Bay Packers, 31–3. The Vikings entered week 12 with a 3–7 record, second-to-last in the NFC North. Childress also faced controversy by releasing
Randy Moss without the approval of owner Zygi Wilf and lost control over the locker room.[90] Frazier was given position full-time prior to the Vikings' regular season finale in Detroit.
McDaniels was fired on December 5, following a 10–6 loss to the
Kansas City Chiefs in Week 13. After a 6–0 start in the 2009 season, the Broncos lost 17 of their next 22 games, and became subject to a
videotaping scandal.[91]
Singletary was fired on December 26, following a 25–17 loss to the
St. Louis Rams in Week 16, which officially eliminated the 49ers from playoff contention. Heavily favored to win the
NFC West, the 49ers instead started the 2010 season with an 0–5 record. Singletary also faced controversy by switching between starting quarterbacks
Alex Smith and
Troy Smith at least three different times during the season,[92] and unsuccessfully trying to mold the team like the
1985 Chicago Bears.[93]
Arrowhead Stadium, home of the
Kansas City Chiefs since 1972, underwent a two-year $375 million renovation project which was completed and unveiled in July 2010. The stadium hosted the second game of the Monday Night Football opening weekend doubleheader when the Chiefs played the
San Diego Chargers.
M&T Bank Stadium, home of the
Baltimore Ravens, installed
FieldTurf prior to the 2010 season. The field had been Sportexe Momentum Turf since 2002 and grass before that.
Prior to Week 14, the inflatable roof of the
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, home of the
Minnesota Vikings, buckled and tore as a result of heavy snowfall in
Minneapolis, spilling snow onto Mall of America field and rendering the stadium unusable for the remainder of the Vikings' season.[94] The Vikings' scheduled home game against the
New York Giants was moved to Detroit's
Ford Field and postponed to a 7:20 pm EST kickoff on Monday. Though stadium workers were initially "optimistic" that the roof could be repaired before the Vikings faced the
Chicago Bears on December 20,[95] stadium officials determined that such a repair was not possible in that time frame and the game was moved to
TCF Bank Stadium.[96][97]
Two stadiums received new
naming rights: On January 20, LandShark Stadium, the home field of the
Miami Dolphins, was renamed
Sun Life Stadium. The Dolphins' home field, originally named Joe Robbie Stadium from 1987 to 1996, has undergone several name changes in its history, including Pro Player Stadium (1996–2005), Dolphin Stadium (2006–2009), and most recently, LandShark Stadium.[98] On July 27, Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, the home field of the
Jacksonville Jaguars, was renamed
EverBank Field.[99]
Uniforms
In the 2010 season, the
Washington Redskins were the only team who made a major change to their main uniforms, wearing gold pants with their burgundy jerseys, and except for a game against the Packers, wore them for home games instead of their white jerseys and red pants. The white pants were not abandoned entirely, and were worn together with the burgundy jerseys for the two away games (and one home game) in which their opponent wore white at home. This was made possible with a sleeve modification, in which the broad yellow and white stripes were severely shrunken on an elastic band (same for white jerseys) so that when wearing the gold pants, the team also wore the retro style socks that had a different stripe pattern matching the sleeves of the day, so there is no longer a stripe design conflict.
The
Green Bay Packers became the first team to officially unveil a third uniform for 2010, a
throwback uniform based on their 1929 uniforms when they won their first NFL championship. The throwbacks are as accurate as possible while complying with current NFL guidelines, with a brown modern-shell helmet in place of the leather helmets of 1929, along with blue jerseys and gold circles with the jersey numbers nested within the circles, and brown pants. Like throwbacks worn in recent seasons by the
San Diego Chargers,
Dallas Cowboys,
Buffalo Bills,
New York Jets, and the archrival
Minnesota Vikings, these throwbacks will be a permanent addition to the Packers uniforms, unlike throwbacks worn by the
Detroit Lions and
Pittsburgh Steelers that were intended as one-time deals but made permanent, as well as several one-shot throwbacks in recent years. The new Packers throwbacks replace the previous throwbacks (which comprised the current helmets with the "G" logo and stripes removed, white jerseys with plain green lettering, and tan pants) worn sporadically since the early 2000s (decade).
Also going the throwback route were the
Chicago Bears, who harkened back to the
Sid Luckman era with a 1940s set, replacing the pumpkin orange third jerseys, and the
Indianapolis Colts, who will wear
1955 throwbacks as well. Since the Colts only have two colors, they only have previously worn a throwback jersey once in their history, in
2004. The difference between the 2004 throwback and the 2010 throwback is the helmet color, which reverses the 2004 scheme.
The
Arizona Cardinals, who were the only team to not wear a third jersey in any form since the NFL allowed third jerseys in
2002, unveiled a black third jersey to be worn in 2010.
The
Philadelphia Eagles have adopted their
1960 championship uniforms that were worn September 12 against the Packers, the team they beat to win their last championship in celebration of the 50th anniversary of that game.
The
Tennessee Titans returned to using navy blue jerseys as their third jersey, after a one-year hiatus in which they wore light blue Houston Oilers throwback jerseys in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the
American Football League, but did not wear them for any game in 2010.
The Pittsburgh Steelers wore their throwbacks against the
Cleveland Browns on October 17 and against the New England Patriots on November 14.[100]
The
Seattle Seahawks have retired the neon green uniform worn for one game in
2009 against Chicago, which was in turn an offshoot from an
April Fools' Day joke written about by Uni Watch founder Paul Lukas that year.[101]
This is the fifth season under the
television contracts with the league's television partners:
CBS (all AFC Sunday afternoon away games and one
Thanksgiving game),
Fox (all NFC Sunday afternoon away games and one Thanksgiving game),
NBC (17 Sunday night games and the kickoff game),
ESPN (17 Monday night games over sixteen weeks),
NFL Network (eight late-season games on Thursday and Saturday nights, including one Thanksgiving game), and
DirecTV's
NFL Sunday Ticket package. These contracts ran through at least 2013.
In national radio, this is the second year on
Westwood One's most recent contract extension. The network also agreed to a four-year extension on December 23, 2010.
Nielsen Ratings for the fall 2010 television season have shown viewership increases of up to 10 percent for most of the NFL's broadcast partners; eighteen of the twenty most watched television broadcasts of the season have so far been NFL games.[102]