ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

History of the National Football League

Okay, so you know how when you play games with your friends you always have rules? Well, in 1920 a group of grown-ups who loved playing football decided they needed rules too, so they formed a group called the National Football League, or NFL for short.

At first there were only 10 teams, and they played each other to see who was the best. Over time, more and more teams joined the NFL and it became really popular. People loved watching football on TV, cheering for their favorite teams and players, and even going to see games in person at big stadiums.

The NFL also had some really famous players, like Joe Montana and Tom Brady, who won a lot of games and championships. They were so good that people started calling them the greatest quarterbacks ever!

Today the NFL has 32 teams and they still play by rules that everyone has to follow. Every year they have a big championship game called the Super Bowl, where the two best teams compete to see who will be the champion.

So basically, the NFL is a group of football teams that play games against each other and follow rules, and it's been around for almost 100 years!