1978 NFL season

With the first pick, the Houston Oilers selected running back Earl Campbell of Texas, the Heisman Trophy winner.

[3] In 1977 – the last year of the so-called "Dead Ball Era" – teams scored an average of 17.2 points per game, the lowest total since 1942.

A change was also made to non-divisional opponents in a team's own conference, which became based on divisional positions from the previous season.

The teams of Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen and Curt Gowdy and John Brodie began the season as NBC's co-head crews, while Jim Simpson was demoted from #2 play-by-play.

Meanwhile, former Miss Ohio USA Jayne Kennedy replaced Phyllis George as reporter on The NFL Today.