NFL / Facts & Stats

NFL facts, stats and rules

Field sizes, scoring, final scores and player numbers for the National Football League, each with its source and the date it was checked.

American football quarterback holding a football under stadium lights (AI-generated image)AI
AI-generated image

How the league is organised

The National Football League has 32 teams, split evenly between the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference with 16 teams in each. Each team plays 17 regular-season games over 18 weeks, which gives a schedule of 272 games, and one bye week for every team.

The game is played on a rectangular field 360 feet long and 160 feet wide. Goal lines sit 10 yards inside each end line, so the stretch between the goal lines, the field of play, is 100 yards. Under the playing rules a touchdown is worth 6 points, a field goal 3 points and a safety 2 points, and a try after a touchdown is worth 1 point when kicked and 2 points when it is a touchdown.

The pages below use those rules and the league's published game data. Each page states the seasons it covers, names its source and shows the date the figures were last checked. Rule figures come from the official NFL playing rules, and results come from the open nflverse data.

NFL pages

Are NFL games riggedThe safeguards written into the NFL rulebook, the league's grading of officials, instant replay, the league's gambling policy and federal sports bribery law.Average career length of an NFL playerHow many seasons NFL players last, from 4,889 players who debuted between 2000 and 2012, with the breakdown by position.Average height of an NFL playerAverage height by position, how it changed since 1999 and how it compares with the average American man.Average lifespan of an NFL playerWhy there is no single average lifespan for NFL players, and what studies of tens of thousands of players found about death rates, position and age at entry.Average weight of NFL playersAverage weight by position, the change since 1999 and the comparison with the average American man.Ball after a missed field goalWhere the receiving team takes over after a missed field goal under the 2026 NFL rules, with the 20-yard line rule and the exceptions.C patch on an NFL jerseyWhat the C on an NFL jersey means, how many captains a team may have, what the stars mean and what the rulebook lets a captain do.Can a punt become a field goal?Why a punt cannot score a field goal, how a punt differs from a drop kick and a place kick, and what the 2026 NFL rules allow.Can NFL games end in a tie?How regular-season overtime can end in a tie, why the playoffs cannot, and all 15 ties from 1999 to 2025.Does a field goal count if it bounces?What the 2026 NFL rules say about a kick that hits the ground, the crossbar or an upright, and when a field goal is good.Does a quarterback have to say hike?What the NFL playing rules require for a legal snap, why no word is needed, and the false start and delay of game rules around the snap.Field goals without a holderHow the NFL rules define a place kick and a drop kick, what a holder does and where a tee is allowed.Full dimensions of a football fieldField size, end zones, yard lines, hash marks, border, goal posts and the ball, all from Rules 1 and 2 of the NFL playing rules.How many acres a football field coversThe area of an NFL field in acres, with and without the end zones, and how many football fields fit in an acre.Is a blocked field goal a live ball?Why a blocked field goal stays live, who can recover it, and how a missed field goal is spotted under the 2026 NFL rules.Most common NFL scoresThe most common final scores since 1999, the average football score and why a few totals keep repeating.Most sacks in a football gameThe NFL record for sacks in a game, and from the nflverse tables the top individual games, the most by a team, and the season leaders from 1999 to 2025.NFL clock rules and out of boundsWhen the NFL game clock stops, when it restarts after a runner goes out of bounds, and the length of a game, from the 2026 playing rules.NFL players and glovesWhat the NFL rulebook allows for gloves: tacky surfaces, the color rule and the ban on adhesive or slippery substances.NFL players wearing number 0Which positions may wear 0 under the 2026 NFL rules, the full table of number ranges and what changes when a player switches position.NFL stadiums with domesFixed-roof, retractable-roof and outdoor NFL stadiums, with how often the roofs were closed in 2021 to 2025.Point shaving in the NFLWhat federal law says about influencing a game by bribery and what the NFL's gambling policy prohibits for players, from the statute and the league's 2025 reminder.What position is edge in footballWhat the word edge means in football: the outside defenders who rush the passer, how it relates to defensive end and outside linebacker, and why teams use hybrids.Who can a quarterback throw to?Which players may catch a forward pass under the 2026 NFL rules, what makes a receiver ineligible and the penalty for illegal touching.