1977 NFL season

Player movement

Transactions

• May 2, 1977: Earl Morrall, the oldest player on the 1972 Miami Dolphins championship roster announced his retirement from professional football.

Draft

The 1977 NFL draft was held from May 3 to 4, 1977, at New York City's Roosevelt Hotel. With the first pick, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected running back Ricky Bell from the University of Southern California.

New referees

Tommy Bell retired after the 1976 season. His line judge, Jerry Markbreit (an NFL rookie in 1976), was named his successor. Bell worked two Super Bowls, III and VII. Markbreit would work four Super Bowls, and is (as of 2025) the only referee to achieve this.

Major rule changes

• The head slap is outlawed. This change is referred to as the "Deacon Jones Rule"; the Los Angeles Rams' defensive end frequently used this technique.
• Any shoe worn by a player with an artificial limb must have a kicking surface that conforms to that of a normal kicking shoe. Informally referred to as the "Tom Dempsey Rule". Dempsey was a record-breaking placekicker whose modified shoe (having a flattened and enlarged toe area) on his deformed kicking foot generated controversy during his career.
• Defenders are only permitted to make contact with receivers once.
• Defenders are not allowed to make contact with an opponent above the shoulders with the palms of their hands, except to ward him off the line.
• Offensive linemen are not allowed to thrust their hands to a defender's neck, face, or head.
• Wide receivers are not allowed to clip defenders.
• This was the first season in which time of possession was recorded.

Deaths

• October 17 - Cal Hubbard, age 76. Former Offensive and Defensive Tackle for the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers. Elected to the hall of fame in 1963. Also an umpire in the American League from 1936-51, and an AL supervisor from 1952-69.
• November 18 - Davey O'Brien, age 60. Played tailback and quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1939-1940. 1938 Heisman Trophy winner. Award for best college quarterback is named for him.

Division races

Tampa Bay and Seattle continued as "swing" teams that did not participate in regular conference play. Every other NFL team played a home-and-away series against the other members in its division, two or three interconference games, and the remainder of their 14-game schedule against other conference teams. Tampa Bay switched to the NFC and played the other 13 members of the conference, while Seattle did the same in the AFC. The teams met in Week Five, with Seattle winning 30–23.

Starting in 1970, and through 2001, except for the strike-shortened 1982 season, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. This was the final season in which the winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.

National Football Conference

• other teams with same W-L record

American Football Conference

• other teams with same W-L record

Regular season

Highlights of the 1977 season included:

• Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 24:

1. The first featured Chicago at Detroit. Chicago would prevail by a 31–14 final margin
2. In the second the Miami Dolphins visited St. Louis to play the Cardinals, defeating them by a 55–14 mark. Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese would throw for six touchdown passes, while the Dolphins would set a franchise record for most points scored in one game with 55(which was broken when they scored 70 points against the Denver Broncos on September 24th, 2023). Of note, the Dolphins would score eight touchdowns and accumulate 34 first downs.

Final standings

Tiebreakers

• Baltimore finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on better conference record (9–3 to Dolphins' 8–4).
• N.Y. Jets finished ahead of Buffalo in the AFC East based on better point-differential in head-to-head competition (1 point).
• Houston finished ahead of Cincinnati in the AFC Central based on better point-differential in head-to-head competition (2 points).
• Minnesota finished ahead of Chicago in the NFC Central based on better point-differential in head-to-head competition (3 points).
• Chicago won the NFC Wild Card over Washington based on better net points in conference games (48 to Redskins' 4).
• Philadelphia finished ahead of N.Y. Giants in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).

Playoffs

Main article: 1977–78 NFL playoffs

Awards

Coaching changes

Offseason

• Atlanta Falcons: Leeman Bennett was named permanent head coach. Marion Campbell was fired after a 1-4 start to the 1976 season. General manager Pat Peppler served as interim for the rest of that season.
• Buffalo Bills: Jim Ringo was named permanent head coach. He was named interim head coach when Lou Saban resigned after the fifth game of the 1976 season.
• Denver Broncos: John Ralston was replaced by Red Miller.
• Detroit Lions: Tommy Hudspeth began his first full season as head coach. He replaced Rick Forzano, who left after the team lost three of its first four games in 1976.
• New York Giants: John McVay began his first season as head coach. He replaced Bill Arnsparger, who was fired after the team lost its first seven games in 1976.
• New York Jets: Walt Michaels became the Jets' new head coach. Lou Holtz resigned prior to the last game of the 1976 season, and Mike Holovak served as interim for the team's final game.
• San Francisco 49ers: Ken Meyer replaced the fired Monte Clark.

In-season

• Cleveland Browns: Forrest Gregg was fired before the last game of the season. Defensive coordinator Dick Modzelewski served as interim during the team's final game.
• Kansas City Chiefs: After an 0–5 start, Paul Wiggin was fired. Defensive backs coach Tom Bettis was named interim.

Uniform changes

• The Buffalo Bills changed from gray to blue face masks.
• The Pittsburgh Steelers changed from gray to black facemasks.
• The Tampa Bay Buccaneers changed the color scheme of the numbers on their white jerseys. In 1976, the numbers were orange with red trim; in 1977, they became red with orange trim to increase visibility.

Television

This was the fourth and final year under the league's broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, and NBC to televise Monday Night Football, the NFC package, and the AFC package, respectively. All three networks renewed their deals for another four years. Don Meredith returned to ABC after spending three seasons at NBC, while Alex Karras returned to his acting career. John Brodie was promoted to replace Meredith as NBC's lead color commentator, while Merlin Olsen replaced Brodie on the network's #2 team. NBC also renamed its pregame show, referring to it as NFL '77 to start and updating the program's title every new season.

References

• NFL Record and Fact Book ()
• NFL History 1971–1980 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League ()
• 1977 Regular season Standings (Last accessed April 24, 2014)

References

1. [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/NFL/scoring.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com: NFL Season By Season Scoring Summary]
2. 100 Things Dolphins Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Armando Salguero, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2020, {{ISBN. 978-1-62937-722-3, p.49
3. (June 16, 1977). "NFL restricts line blocks, outlaws defensive head slap". Chicago Tribune.
4. 100 Things Dolphins Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Armando Salguero, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2020, {{ISBN. 978-1-62937-722-3, p.44
5. 100 Things Dolphins Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Armando Salguero, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2020, {{ISBN. 978-1-62937-722-3, p.176
6. Brulia, Tim. "A CHRONOLOGY OF PRO FOOTBALL ON TELEVISION: Part 2".