FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NFL-9                        4/1/99

SUPER BOWL CHAMP DENVER HOSTS MIAMI IN MONDAY NIGHT OPENER AS SERIES RETURNS TO TRADITIONAL START TIME; EXPANSION BROWNS DEBUT SUNDAY NIGHT VS. STEELERS

The two-time defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos open defense of their title when they host the Miami Dolphins on Monday night, September 13 to cap "NFL Kickoff '99," the NFL announced today in releasing its 1999 regular-season schedule.

In the 30th year of ABC NFL Monday Night Football, the series will return to its traditional 9:00 PM ET start after moving to an 8:20 PM kickoff last year. Also highlighting the opening weekend of the NFL’s 80th season will be the return of the Cleveland Browns, the NFL’s 31st club, in the nationally televised ESPN Sunday-night opener versus the Pittsburgh Steelers at the new Cleveland Stadium.

For Denver, the opener will be the first of three Monday Night Football appearances. The Broncos also host the AFC Western Division-rival Oakland Raiders on Monday night, November 22, and visit the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night, December 13. It will be the second consecutive year the Broncos open the season on Monday night and the first time since 1976 for the Dolphins.

The NFC champion Atlanta Falcons kick off at home on Sunday, September 12 against the NFC Central Division champion Minnesota Vikings in a reprise of the ’98 NFC Championship Game won by the Falcons in overtime 30-27.

NFL Kickoff ’99 weekend features seven division matchups, including the Sunday night game in Cleveland.

The season premier on ESPN will present the rebirth of a franchise and rivalry. The Browns, returning in their familiar brown and orange uniforms for the first time since 1995, will host their longtime AFC Central Division rivals, the Steelers, at the new 69,000-seat Cleveland Stadium.

With the addition of the Browns as the league’s 31st franchise, there will be at least one team with a bye in all 17 weeks of the season, with three teams scheduled for byes in each of Weeks 3 through 9. The last time an odd number of teams in the NFL dictated a bye week throughout the schedule was in the 1960s (1960, 13 teams; 1966, 15 and AFL, 9; and 1967, AFL, 9).

The 248-game regular season kicks off one week later than usual – the week after Labor Day – to avoid conflicts with the traditional January 1 college football bowl games. The NFL also plays on Saturdays towards the end of each season, normally on the final two weekends. This year, Saturday games will be in Weeks 15 and 16. There will be no NFL games on January 1, 2000, the final Saturday of the regular season, in order to avoid collegiate bowl conflicts.

The playoffs begin with Wild Card Weekend on Saturday and Sunday, January 8-9. The Wild Card winners join the remaining AFC and NFC division champions in the Divisional Playoffs on Saturday and Sunday, January 15-16. The AFC and NFC Championship Games will be played on Sunday, January 23. The winners meet one week later -- not the usual two -- on January 30 in Atlanta for Super Bowl XXXIV. The postseason concludes with the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl on Sunday, February 6 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Fifty-eight regular-season games are designated for national television. CBS or FOX will televise a Sunday doubleheader game to most of the nation each week. CBS will televise nine Sunday doubleheader games and FOX eight.

ABC will broadcast 17 Monday night games. In addition to its Monday night package, ABC will televise a Wild Card playoff doubleheader on Saturday, January 8, and the Super Bowl. ABC concludes its NFL season with the Pro Bowl on February 6.

ESPN will televise Sunday night games, and, in addition, three Thursday night games (October 21, Kansas City at Baltimore; December 2, Pittsburgh at Jacksonville; and December 9, Oakland at Tennessee). CBS Radio will carry 41 regular-season games and 12 postseason contests, including the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl.

The traditional nationally televised Thanksgiving Day doubleheader on Thursday, November 25 will feature Chicago at Detroit (FOX) and Miami at Dallas (CBS). There will also be nationally televised NFL games on the first two days of the Christmas weekend. On Friday, December 24, Dallas will play at New Orleans (FOX). On Saturday, Christmas Day, Denver is at Detroit (CBS). It will be the seventh Christmas Day game in NFL history (1971 Divisional Playoffs, Dallas 20 at Minnesota 12 and Miami 27 at Kansas City 24; 1989, Cincinnati 21 at Minnesota 29; 1993, Houston 10 at San Francisco 7; 1994, Detroit 20 at Miami 27; and 1995, Dallas 37 at Arizona 13).

The Chicago-Detroit Thanksgiving game and the December 19 meeting of the two teams could spark heightened interest. Lions running back BARRY SANDERS could be attempting to break the NFL career rushing record of Bears Pro Football Hall of Famer WALTER PAYTON (16,726 yards) in those games. Sanders enters the season needing 1,458 yards to become the all-time leader.

CBS will televise the AFC, the AFC playoffs, and the AFC Championship Game. FOX will present NFC games, the NFC playoffs, and the NFC Championship Game. The 60 AFC-NFC interconference games (excluding primetime) are carried by CBS when the AFC team is the visitor and by FOX when the NFC is visiting. All postseason games are televised nationally.

By NFL policy, ESPN games also will be carried on free, over-the-air television in the city of the visiting team and in the city where the game is played if it is sold out 72 hours in advance of kickoff. The NFL remains the only sports league that carries all regular-season and postseason games on free, over-the-air television.