National Football Conference facts for kids
The National Football Conference (NFC) is one of the two main groups of teams in the National Football League (NFL). The other group is called the American Football Conference (AFC). Each year, the team that wins the NFC Championship Game gets the George Halas Trophy. This team then plays against the winner of the AFC Championship Game in the Super Bowl, which is the NFL's biggest game!
How the NFC Season Works
Every year, each team in the NFC plays a full schedule of games. They play the other teams in their own division twice, once at home and once away. This helps decide who is the best in their division. Teams also play other games against teams from different divisions. These games are chosen by the NFL each year.
At the end of the regular season, the best teams in the NFC move on to the playoffs. Six teams from the NFC make it to the playoffs. These include the four teams that won their divisions. The other two teams are called "wild cards". They are the teams with the best win-loss records that didn't win their division. The NFC playoffs lead up to the NFC Championship Game. The winner of this game becomes the NFC Champion and gets to play in the Super Bowl!
The Story of the NFC
The NFC was created in 1970. This happened when the NFL joined together with another football league called the American Football League (AFL). This big event was known as the AFL-NFL Merger.
When the leagues merged, all the teams from the old AFL joined the AFC. Three NFL teams also moved to the AFC. The remaining 13 NFL teams then formed the NFC. It was a bit tricky to decide how to put these 13 teams into divisions. So, the NFL commissioner at the time, Pete Rozelle, had his secretary pick the final plan out of a glass bowl!
Since then, the NFC has grown bigger. Three new teams have joined the conference. This means the NFC now has 16 teams in total. The Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976. They were in different conferences for a short time before the Seahawks moved back to the NFC in 2002. The Carolina Panthers joined the NFC in 1995.
