As Super Bowl 50 is coming up, I think we should compare the past and the present state of the NFL. It has been fifty years since the NFL-AFL merger and a lot has changed.Things that have changed range from the money to the teams themselves. The three main things that have changed is the economy of the game, the playing style, and the dynasties.

The money in the game of football had changed drastically. The prices of tickets have changed a lot in the past fifty years. For example the tickets at Super Bowl I were on average $12 per ticket, now it is on average of $5134 a major difference. The players also get paid way more than fifty years ago. Back then NFL players still had to have a second job to pay the bills. The average salary in 1966 was $25,000 now it is close to $1.9 million. The NFL teams are worth a lot more than they were in 1966. On Average an NFL team is worth about 2 billion dollars, back then they were worth around one million dollars.

?The playing style of the game has also changed a lot. In 1966 the game was a lot more physical then it is now. The things they did would get them fines these days. Most of the time they mainly ran the ball because their wasn’t a pass interference rule. Now if you don’t have a passing game you probably won’t be that good. Most people back then didn’t care about head injuries, but now people have to be worried because of diseases like CTE and ALS that are caused by head trauma. They also games that didn’t score that much, while these days it is uncommon to have a game that is 10-7.

In the past 50 years here have been many dynasties. The first dynasty team was the Green Bay Packers in the sixties. Out of the 4 Super Bowls in the sixties they won two, mainly due to the many Hall of Famers and the great coach, Vince Lombardi. The next dynasty was the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventies. They were the first and only team to win four championships in six years and to repeat twice. The next team were the San Francisco 49ers in the eighties. They were led by hall of fame quarterback, Joe Montana, and visionary coach, Bill Walsh. The Dallas Cowboys in the nineties were the next dynasty winning three Super Bowls. This team was led by the triplets: Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Emmitt Smith. The team of the 2000s were the New England Patriots after winning three. This team was packed with stars including then rising star Tom Brady. So far there has not been a dynasty in the 2010s, but it isn’t over yet.

As the years have gone by the NFL has changed a lot. Personally, I think they have been primarily good changes. Super Bowl 50 has given us time to reminisce about the past and future of the NFL. So, I leave you with this who do you think the NFL will change in the next 50 years and who do you think will win the Super Bowl: Panthers or Broncos?