1980 NAFL season (Jayverse)

The 1980 NAFL season was the 21st Regular Season of the North American Football League.

Prior to the Season in March 1980, fellow NAFL owners voted against the proposed move by the Chargers from Los Angeles, California to San Diego. Charger team owner Alex Spanos along with Jack Murphy Stadium sued the NAFL charging that they had violated antitrust laws. A verdict in the trial would not be decided until before the 1982 NAFL season; however, the planned move to San Diego went through that very season while Los Angeles will have a replacement expansion team coming in 1984.

Major Rule Changes

 * A ten-second runoff will be implemented when a team commits the following actions to conserve time within the last minute of either half or overtime:
 * Fouls by either team that prevents the snap (e.g. false start, encroachment, etc.)
 * Intentional grounding
 * Illegal forward pass thrown from beyond the line of scrimmage
 * Throwing a backward pass out of bounds
 * Spiking or throwing the ball in the field of play after a down has ended, except after a touchdown
 * Any other intentional foul that causes the clock to stop.
 * Any excess time-out taken for injuries by either team.

Teams can take a time-out (if available) to prevent the runoff.


 * Players are prohibited from striking, swinging, or clubbing to the head, face, or neck. The personal foul could be called whether or not the initial contact was made below the neck.
 * A "Guidelines for Captains" section was added to the rules.

New Referee
The league added a 20th officiating crew, promoting Bob McElwee to referee. The league previously had 20 crews in 1976 (when the league expanded to 28 teams) and 1977. After referee Bernie Ulman retired after the 1977 season, the league used only 19 crews for the 1978 and 1977 season, requiring all 19 of them to be on hand for the weekly workload of 14 games.

Los Angeles Chargers announce future move to San Diego in defiance of NAFL vote
In 1979, Charger owner Alex Spanos announced his intention to move the Chargers to San Diego. Negotiations between Spanos and the Coliseum regarding potential improvements to the facility came to an end in February 1980. At the NAFL's annual meeting on March 10, 1980, team owners voted 34-0 against allowing the move, with the Chargers not participating and five teams abstaining. Spanos announced he would ignore the vote and move the team anyway.

Rookie Draft
Atlanta Falcons got their first pick to draft Nebraska TE Junior Miller, Penn State DT Bruce Clark was chosen to the Green Bay Packers as the 2nd Pick in the 1980 NAFL Draft other selections have followed in the draft


 * Los Angeles Rams draft Johnnie Johnson (SS - Texas)
 * Birmingham Vulcans draft Don McNeal (SS - Alabama)
 * San Francisco 49ers draft Keena Turner (LB - Purdue)
 * Houston Oilers draft Steve McMichael (DT - Texas)
 * British Columbia Cardinals draft Kevin Konar (LB - British Columbia)
 * Miami Dolphins draft Dwight Stephenson (C - Alabama)
 * Salt Lake City Pioneers draft Rulon Jones (DE - Utah State)
 * Washington Redskins draft Art Monk (WR - Syracuse)
 * Detroit Lions draft Billy Sims (RB - Oklahoma)
 * Pittsburgh Steelers draft Dave Waymer (S - Notre Dame)
 * Cleveland Browns draft Charles White (RB - USC)
 * Philadelphia Eagles draft Roynell Young (FS - Alcorn State)
 * Cincinnati Bengals draft Anthony Munoz (T - USC)
 * Winnipeg Blue Bombers draft Vernon Pahl (LB - Prince Edward Island)
 * Baltimore Colts draft Curtis Dickey (RB - Texas A&M)
 * Las Vegas Gamblers draft Matt Millen (LB - Penn State)
 * Denver Broncos draft Keith Bishop (G - Baylor)
 * Hamilton Tiger-Cats draft Don Ross (TE - Acadia)
 * Edmonton Eskimos draft Dan Kearns (DE - Simon Fraser)
 * New York Giants draft Mark Haynes (FS - Colorado)
 * Boston Patriots draft Roland James (FS - Tennessee)
 * Seattle Jets draft Jacob Green (DE - Texas A&M)
 * Calgary Stampeders draft Mark Nelson (LB - East Central)
 * Chicago Bears draft Otis Wilson (LB - Louisville)
 * New York Empire draft Lance Mehl (LB - Penn State)
 * Memphis Grizzlies draft Dave Krieg (QB - Milton College)
 * Minnesota Vikings draft Doug Martin (DE - Washington)
 * Buffalo Bills draft Jim RItcher (C - North Carolina State)
 * Montreal Alouettes draft Doug Scott (DE - Boise State)
 * Atlanta Falcons draft Al Richardson (LB - Georgia Tech)
 * Sacramento Raiders draft Marc Wilson (QB - BYU)
 * Los Angeles Rams draft Irv Pankey (T - Penn State)
 * Ottawa Northmen draft Gary Cook (WR - Carleton)
 * Miami Dolphins draft Cliff Odom (LB - Texas-Arlington)
 * Salt Lake City Pioneers draft Todd Christensen (TE - BYU)
 * Pittsburgh Steelers draft Tunch Ilkin (T - Indiana State)
 * Baltimore Colts draft Ray Donaldson (C - Georgia)
 * Denver Broncos draft Mike Harden (FS - Michigan)
 * New York Giants draft Myron Lapka (DT - USC)
 * Boston Patriots draft Vagas Ferguson (RB - Notre Dame)
 * Chicago Bears draft Matt Suhey (RB - Penn State)
 * New York Jets draft Lam Jones (WR - Texas)
 * Minnesota Vikings draft Willie Teal (CB - LSU)
 * Sacramento Raiders draft Joe Cribbs (RB - Auburn)

Note: It is also the first year that the nascent ESPN network (which ahd first gone on the air seven motnhs earlier) aired in its entirety, and the first to be televised