1996 NFL season

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, in which the Indianapolis Colts defeated the New Orleans Saints 10–3, was played on July 27, and held at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio, the same city where the league was founded.

The 1996 Hall of Fame Class included Lou Creekmur, Dan Dierdorf, a former offensive lineman with the St. Louis Cardinals and a member of the Monday Night Football broadcast team, Joe Gibbs, a three-time Super Bowl winning coach with Washington, Charlie Joiner and Mel Renfro.

One of the most memorable aspects of the 1996 season was that the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars, each in just their second year of existence, both advanced to their respective conference championship games.

For that, and his excellent performance on kick-off and punt returns throughout the game, Howard was named Super Bowl MVP, the first and only time that a special teams player has earned that award.

This documentary evidence led to the league awarding the Patriots multiple draft picks in compensation for the "tampering" by the Jets,[3] which is but a continuation of one-upmanship that has gone on for years between the heated rivals.

With Jimmy Johnson leaving Fox NFL Sunday to become the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, Ronnie Lott was brought in to replace him.