The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006.
The season began with the reigning Super Bowl XL champion Pittsburgh Steelers defeating the Miami Dolphins in the NFL Kickoff game.
The NFL title was eventually won by the Indianapolis Colts, when they defeated the Chicago Bears 29–17 in Super Bowl XLI at Dolphin Stadium at Miami Gardens, Florida on February 4, 2007.
New NFL commissioner On March 20, 2006, Paul Tagliabue announced his plans to retire as NFL commissioner. During an NFL meeting in Northbrook, Illinois, on August 8, league team owners selected Roger Goodell, the NFL's then-current chief operating officer, as the new commissioner. Tagliabue continued to serve as commissioner until Goodell officially replaced him on Friday September 1.
Tagliabue became NFL commissioner on October 26, 1989. During his tenure, the league added four new teams; saw four franchises move (including two franchises—the Rams and Raiders—from Los Angeles, the second-largest television market in the United States); the construction of seventeen new stadiums; began its own in-house television specialty cable network, the NFL Network; greatly increased television rights fees with its broadcasters, including the addition of the Fox network and its NFL programming; and maintained labor peace with the players' union.
Draft The 2006 NFL draft was held from April 29 to 30, 2006, at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. With the first pick, the Houston Texans selected defensive end Mario Williams from North Carolina State University.
New referees Bernie Kukar and Tom White retired. Jerome Boger and Gene Steratore were promoted to referee.
Notable retirements Jerry Azumah Ahmed Plummer Jerry Rice (as a one day contract with the 49ers) Jimmy Smith Eddie George Peter Boulware Wayne Chrebet Tony Banks Dat Nguyen Charlie Garner Paul Grasmanis Jamaar Taylor Troy Hambrick Tony Boselli Brad Lekkerkerker Dorsey Levens Todd Washington Todd Peterson Richie Anderson Victor Green Tommy Maddox Jerome Bettis Dale Carter Doug Flutie Dewayne Washington Chris Mohr Deion Sanders Brady Smith Dez White Bob Hallen Calvin Branch Kordell Stewart
Major rule changes
End zone celebrations became more restricted. Players cannot celebrate by using any type of prop, or do any act in which they are on the ground. Players may still spike, spin the ball, or (until 2014), dunk it over the goal posts. Dancing in the end zone is also permitted as long as it is not a prolonged or group celebration. The Lambeau Leap, though, is still legal. Defenders were prohibited from hitting a passer in the knee or below unless they are blocked into him. This rule was enacted in response to the previous season's injuries to Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Brian Griese. Down-by-contact calls could now be reviewed by instant replay to determine if a player fumbled the ball before he was down, and who recovered it. Previously, these plays could not be reversed once officials blew the whistle. The "horse-collar tackle" rule enacted during the previous 2005 season was expanded. Players are now prohibited from tackling a ball carrier from the rear by tugging inside his jersey. Previously, it was only illegal if the tackler's hand got inside the player's shoulder pads. To reduce injuries, defensive players cannot line up directly over the long snapper during field goal and extra point attempts.
Officials' uniform makeover The 2006 season marked the debut of new officiating uniforms which are supposed to be more comfortable for officials to wear in extreme weather over the old polyester uniforms. The uniforms were designed by Reebok using a proprietary material technology to keep officials both warm and dry during the winter months of the season. On the shirt, the position and number are removed from the front pocket and the lettering and numbers on the back side were black-on-white and are smaller print and the sleeve shows the uniform number. Officials also wore full-length black pants with white stripe during the winter months to stay warm, which was criticized by media. Also, a black stripe was added to each side of the white knickers. This was the first major design overhaul since 1979, when the position name was added to the shirt, but later abbreviated in 1982.
Return of "The Duke" football
For the first time since Super Bowl IV at the conclusion of the 1969 season, the official NFL game ball was known as "The Duke" in honor of Wellington Mara, whose family owns the New York Giants. Son John is the current CEO of the team. The NFL first used "The Duke" ball in honor of owner Tim Mara (Wellington's father) made a deal with Wilson Sporting Goods to become the league's official supplier of game balls, a relationship that continued into its sixty-fifth year in 2006.
"The Duke" ball was discontinued after the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, and the merged league began using a different standardized ball made by Wilson. The only other time that "The Duke" ball name was used was during the two "Thanksgiving Classic" games in 2004.
One side of the new 2006 "Duke" football featured the NFL shield logo in gold, the words "The Duke", and the NFL commissioner's signature. The obverse side has a small NFL logo above the needle bladder hole, the conference names between the hole, and the words "National Football League" in gold. As per the custom, specially branded balls were used for the first week of the 2006 season (the "Opening Kickoff") as well as for the Thanksgiving Day, conference championships, Super Bowl XLI and Pro Bowl games.
2006 deaths Death of Lamar Hunt Lamar Hunt died in Dallas, Texas on December 13 from complications from prostate cancer at the age of 74. He is credited with challenging the NFL with the formation of the American Football League, which led to the subsequent merger of the two leagues.
Death of two Broncos At 3 a.m. on January 1, 2007, Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was shot and killed in Denver, within hours after the last regular season game against the San Francisco 49ers. Less than two months later, on February 24, 2007, Broncos running back Damien Nash collapsed and died after a charity basketball game at a high school. Both players died at the age of 24.
Regular season
Schedule formula Based on the NFL's scheduling formula, the intraconference and interconference matchups for 2006 were:
Intraconference
AFC East vs. AFC South AFC North vs. AFC West NFC East vs. NFC South NFC North vs. NFC West
Interconference
AFC East vs. NFC North AFC North vs. NFC South AFC South vs. NFC East AFC West vs. NFC West Highlights of the 2006 season included:
NFL Kickoff Game: The season began with the Kickoff Game on September 7, 2006, featuring the Super Bowl XL champion Pittsburgh Steelers defeating the Miami Dolphins. NFL on Thanksgiving: The 2006 season introduced a new Thanksgiving primetime game, which launched the new Thursday Night Football package. Unlike the traditional afternoon doubleheader, this game does not have tie-ins with specific home teams, and would feature the Denver Broncos at the Kansas City Chiefs.
Flexible scheduling added to regular season
This was the first season that the NFL used a "flexible-scheduling" for the last few weeks of the season, allowing the league flexibility in selecting games to air on Sunday night, in order to feature the current hottest, streaking teams. This was implemented to prevent games featuring losing teams from airing during primetime late in the season, while at the same time allowing NBC to rake in more money off the higher ratings from surprise, playoff-potential teams that more fans would enjoy watching.
Under the flexible-scheduling system, all Sunday games in the affected weeks tentatively had the start times of 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT, except those played in the Pacific or Mountain time zones, which will have a tentative start time of 4:05 p.m. ET/1:05 p.m. PT (or 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT if it is on the doubleheader network). On the Tuesday 12 days before the games, the league moved one game to the Sunday Night Football slot, and possibly one or more 1 p.m. slotted games to the 4:05/4:15 p.m. slots. During the last week of the season, the league could reschedule games as late as six days before the contests so that all of the television networks will be able to broadcast a game that has playoff implications.
Week 10: The Chicago–New York Giants game was flexed into Sunday Night Football at 8:15 p.m. ET on NBC and the New Orleans–Pittsburgh game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.
Week 11: The San Diego–Denver game was flexed into SNF and the Indianapolis–Dallas game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on CBS.
Week 12: The Philadelphia–Indianapolis game was flexed into SNF. The Chicago–New England and New York Giants–Tennessee games were flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.
Week 13: The Seattle–Denver game was flexed into SNF. The Jacksonville–Miami game was flexed to 4:05 p.m. ET on CBS. The Dallas–New York Giants and Tampa Bay–Pittsburgh games were flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.
Week 14: The New Orleans–Dallas game was flexed into SNF and the Buffalo–New York Jets game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on CBS.
Week 15: The Kansas City–San Diego game was flexed into SNF and the Philadelphia–New York Giants game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.
Week 17: The Green Bay–Chicago game was flexed into NBC Sunday Night Football at 8:15 p.m. ET. The Buffalo–Baltimore and Miami–Indianapolis games were flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on CBS The Atlanta–Philadelphia game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.
Thanksgiving changes
Beginning in 2006, a primetime game on Thanksgiving night would air between two random teams other than the Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys, and the teams who played them earlier in the day. It aired on NFL Network until 2012, when NBC took over.
Other notable changes Beginning in 2006, the Indianapolis Colts would begin starting games at the same local time with other teams in the Eastern Time Zone, as the State of Indiana began observing Daylight Savings Time earlier in the year.
Regular season standings Division
Conference
Playoffs
Bracket
Pro Bowl 2007 Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii: AFC 31, NFC 28
Milestones The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the regular season:
RecordPlayer/teamDate/opponentPrevious record holder Most points scored, career Morten Andersen, Atlanta December 16 vs. Dallas Gary Anderson, 1982–2004 (2,434) Most field goals, career Morten Andersen, Atlanta December 24 vs. Carolina Gary Anderson, 1982–2004 (538) Most passes completed, career Brett Favre, Green Bay December 17 vs. Detroit Dan Marino, 1983–1999 (4,967) Most touchdowns, season LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (31) December 10 vs. Denver Shaun Alexander, Seattle, 2005 (28) Most rushing touchdowns, season LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (28) December 10 vs. Denver Shaun Alexander, 2005 Priest Holmes, 2003 (27) Most points scored, season LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (186) December 17 vs. Kansas City Paul Hornung, 1960 (176) Most rushing attempts, season Larry Johnson, Kansas City (416) December 31 vs. Jacksonville Jamal Anderson, Atlanta, 1998 (410) Most kick returns for a touchdown, season Devin Hester, Chicago (5; 3 punts and 2 kickoffs) December 11 at St. Louis Tied by 9 players (4)
Regular season statistical leaders
Team