1987 NAFL season (Jayverse)

The 1987 NAFL season was the 28th Regular Season of the North American Football League.

Major rule changes

 * If a defensive player commits pass interference in his own end zone, the ball is placed at the 1-yard line, or if the previous spot was inside the 2-yard line, the penalty is half the distance to the goal line.
 * Except for the first onside kick attempt, if a kickoff goes out of bounds, the receiving team takes possession of the ball 30 yards from the spot of the kick or the spot it went out of bounds.
 * In order to stop the clock, the quarterback is permitted to throw the ball out of bounds or to the ground as long as he throws it immediately after receiving the snap.
 * During passing plays, an offensive player cannot chop block (block a defender below the thigh while the defensive player is already engaging another offensive player).
 * Illegal contact by a defensive player beyond the 5-yard zone from the line of scrimmage will not be called if the offensive team is in an obvious punt formation.
 * During kicks and punts, players on the receiving team cannot block below the waist. However, players on the kicking team may block below the waist, but only before the kick is made. On all other plays after a change of possession, no player can block below the waist.
 * Revenue sharing was changed so that NAFL players received a portion of the ticket revenue, while the owners kept the revenue generated by skybox rentals. This led to many teams pushing for new stadiums which lowered many skybox suites from the less-desirable outer rim of a stadium to more desirable locations closer to the field (typically, the midsection or lower) so that the owners could charge more money for the suites, while similarly reducing the ticket revenue by replacing the higher-priced seats with lower-priced “nose bleed” seats. Overall, the number of available general admission seating was also reduced in favor of larger suites.

Referee changes
Chuck Heberling retired during the 1987 off-season. He joined the NAFL in 1965 as a line judge before being promoted to referee in 1972. Fred Silva, who was a swing official in 1986, was given his own crew again.

Rookie Draft
The Los Angeles Rams chose S Tim McDonald from USC as the Top Draft Choice for the 1987 NAFL Rookie Draft, Other Picks were chosen were:


 * Cleveland Browns draft Mike Junkin (LB - Duke)


 * Detroit Lions draft Reggie Rogers (DT - Washington)


 * Atlanta Falcons Jessie Tuggle (LB - Valdosta State)
 * New Jersey Generals draft Cornelius Bennett (LB - Alabama)
 * New Orleans Breakers draft Milton Mack (CB - Alcorn State)
 * Hamilton Tiger-Cats draft Hardy Nickerson (LB - California)
 * Washington Redskins draft Brian Davis (CB - Nebraska)
 * Sacramento Raiders draft Bo Jackson (RB - Auburn)
 * Las Vegas Gamblers draft Wymon Henderson (CB - UNLV)
 * Memphis Grizzlies draft Shane Conlan (LB - Penn State)
 * Minnesota Vikings draft Cris Carter (WR - Ohio State)
 * Montreal Alouettes draft Doug Davies (C - Simon Fraser)
 * Honolulu Hawaiians draft Merrill Hoge (RB - Idaho State)
 * British Columbia Cardinals draft Robert Awalt (TE - San Diego State)
 * Seattle Jets draft Tony Woods (DE - Pittsburgh)
 * Houston Oilers draft Haywood Jeffires (WR - North Carolina State)
 * Dallas Cowboys draft Kevin Gogan (G - Washington)
 * New York Giants draft Mark Ingram (WR - Michigan State)
 * New York Empire draft Roger Vick (FB - Texas A&M)
 * Calgary Stampeders draft Rocco Romano (G - Concordia)
 * Oakland Invaders draft Jim Harbaugh (QB - Michigan)
 * Miami Dolphins draft Tyrone Braxton (CB - North Dakota State)
 * Tokyo Samurai draft Vinny Testaverde (QB - Miami FL)
 * Boise Steelheads draft Rod Woodson (CB - Purdue)
 * San Francisco 49ers draft Harris Barton (T - North Carolina)
 * Ottawa Northmen draft Leo Groenewegen (G - British Columbia)
 * Chicago Bears draft Ron Morris (WR - SMU)
 * Boston Patriots draft Bruce Armstrong (T - Louisville)
 * Green Bay Packers draft Brent Fullwood (RB - Auburn)
 * Edmonton Eskimos draft Blake Marshall (FB - Western Ontario)
 * Indianapolis Checkers draft Randy Dixon (T - Pittsburgh)
 * Baltimore Colts draft Tracy Ham (QB - Georgia Southern)
 * Cincinnati Bengals draft Jason Buck (DE - BYU)
 * Portland Loggers draft Chris Miller (QB - Oregon)
 * Birmingham Vulcans draft Rich Gannon (QB - Delaware)
 * Pittsburgh Steelers draft Thomas Everett (CB - Baylor)
 * London Monarchs draft Jerome Brown (DT - Miami FL)
 * Salt Lake City Pioneers draft Shawn Knight (DE - BYU)
 * Buffalo Bills draft Nate Odomes (FS - Wisconsin)
 * Denver Broncos draft Ricky Nattiel (WR - Florida)
 * Philadelphia Eagles draft Ben Tamburello (G - Auburn)
 * San Diego Chargers draft Rod Bernstine (RB - Texas A&M)