Warm-Up Round: NFL Legends and Their Teams
Start here. Nine players and six franchises, and every one of these men spent his entire career in a single city - something that has become rare since free agency arrived in 1993.
If your group clears this round quickly, that is the point: it sets a baseline before the questions get harder.
Q1.Terry Bradshaw won four Super Bowls as the quarterback of which team?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Pittsburgh Steelers
Bradshaw started in Pittsburgh from 1970 to 1983 and was named MVP of Super Bowls XIII and XIV.
Q2.Which team did Troy Aikman quarterback to three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Dallas Cowboys
Aikman was the first overall pick in 1989 and won Super Bowls XXVII, XXVIII and XXX - the last of them under a different head coach.
Q3.Middle linebacker Dick Butkus spent his entire pro career with which team?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Chicago Bears
Butkus played nine seasons, from 1965 to 1973, with 22 interceptions and 27 fumble recoveries - and the Bears never once reached the playoffs while he was there.
Q4.John Elway was the starting quarterback for which team from 1983 to 1998?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Denver Broncos
Elway lost his first three Super Bowls, then won the last two games he ever played, Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII.
Q5.Bob Griese was the quarterback of which franchise?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Miami Dolphins
A two-time All-American at Purdue, Griese started the Super Bowl that completed the only perfect season in NFL history, 17-0 in 1972 - although a broken leg meant his backup started most of that year.
Q6.Lawrence Taylor played his entire career for which team?Tap to reveal
Answer: The New York Giants
Named All-NFL in each of his first nine seasons, Taylor was the 1986 NFL MVP and is still the most recent defensive player to win that award.
Q7.Wide receiver Lynn Swann won four rings with which team?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Pittsburgh Steelers
A USC All-American and Pittsburgh's first-round pick in 1974, Swann was MVP of Super Bowl X and later ran for governor of Pennsylvania.
Q8.Walter Payton played from 1975 to 1987 for which team?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Chicago Bears
Payton won five straight NFC rushing titles from 1976 to 1980 and retired as the NFL's all-time leading rusher, a mark that stood until Emmitt Smith passed him in 2002.
Q9.In his rookie season Dan Marino started at quarterback for which team?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Miami Dolphins
In his second year, 1984, Marino became the first quarterback to throw for more than 5,000 yards in a season.
Quarterback Trivia: From Unitas to Brady
No position in American sport has a stranger history of near-misses. Three of the men in this round were cut, benched or drafted so late that nobody expected anything, and two of them ended up on the short list of the greatest ever.
This round rewards anyone who knows the draft as well as the highlight reel.
Q1.Which quarterback from the University of Louisville was cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers before he became the face of the Baltimore Colts?Tap to reveal
Answer: Johnny Unitas
Pittsburgh released him in 1955 and he played semi-pro ball for the Bloomfield Rams at six dollars a game before Baltimore signed him in 1956. His streak of 47 straight games with a touchdown pass stood for 52 years, until Drew Brees passed it in 2012.
Q2.The San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants both had a quarterback whose real first name was Yelverton. What was his surname?Tap to reveal
Answer: Tittle - Y.A. Tittle
Yelverton Abraham Tittle came out of LSU and was named NFL MVP for the 1963 season, the year he turned 37. He is also the subject of one of sport's most famous photographs: bloodied, helmetless and on his knees after a hit in 1964.
Q3.Which Baltimore backup took over for an injured Johnny Unitas in 1968 and was named NFL MVP?Tap to reveal
Answer: Earl Morrall
Morrall went 13-1 and led the league with 26 touchdown passes, then threw three interceptions and was benched for Unitas as the Colts lost Super Bowl III. Four years later he won nine straight starts filling in for Bob Griese on the undefeated Dolphins.
Q4.Which quarterback and kicker played 26 professional seasons, more than anyone in the sport's history?Tap to reveal
Answer: George Blanda
George Halas signed him to the Bears in 1949; he finished with the Raiders in 1975 and is still the oldest man ever to play in an NFL game, at 48.
Q5.Who was named MVP of the first two Super Bowls?Tap to reveal
Answer: Bart Starr
A 17th-round pick out of Alabama, Starr went 9-1 in the postseason for Green Bay and later coached the Packers for nine seasons.
Q6.Which quarterback was MVP of Super Bowl XXIX after throwing six touchdown passes?Tap to reveal
Answer: Steve Young
Young spent years waiting behind Joe Montana. His six touchdowns against San Diego in January 1995 is still the Super Bowl record for one game.
Q7.Which team drafted Tom Brady, and in which round?Tap to reveal
Answer: The New England Patriots, in the sixth round of the 2000 draft
He went 199th overall, behind six other quarterbacks, and retired in 2023 with seven Super Bowl rings - more than any single franchise has won.
Q8.Which quarterback did the New Orleans Saints take with the second overall pick of the 1971 draft?Tap to reveal
Answer: Archie Manning
Manning made two Pro Bowls for mostly losing teams. His sons Peyton and Eli won four Super Bowls between them.
Q9.Which Washington quarterback won Super Bowl XVII and had his career ended by a broken leg on Monday Night Football?Tap to reveal
Answer: Joe Theismann
Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson brought him down on November 18, 1985, and the compound fracture ended it. Theismann moved into the broadcast booth; the franchise he starred for is now the Washington Commanders.
Runners and Receivers Who Changed the Job
The ball carriers are where NFL trivia gets genuinely strange. One of them quit at 30 to make a war film, one was traded for most of a starting lineup, and one arrived from an Olympic final with speed that pushed defenses toward the zone coverage they still use.
Twelve questions, roughly in order of difficulty, running from the 1950s to the modern record book.
Q1.Which running back retired at 30, after just nine seasons with Cleveland, to make movies?Tap to reveal
Answer: Jim Brown
Brown led the league in rushing in eight of his nine years, never missed a game, and announced his retirement in July 1966, at 30, from the set of The Dirty Dozen.
Q2.Which Green Bay fullback interrupted Jim Brown's run of rushing titles by leading the NFL in 1962?Tap to reveal
Answer: Jim Taylor
The LSU product ran for 1,474 yards and 19 touchdowns that season - the only year of Brown's career in which Brown was not the rushing leader. Taylor also scored the first rushing touchdown in Super Bowl history.
Q3.Which San Francisco 49ers fullback, nicknamed 'The Jet', was the first player to rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons?Tap to reveal
Answer: Joe Perry
He did it in 1953 and 1954. Quarterback Frankie Albert gave him the name after watching him hit the hole faster than the handoff could reach him.
Q4.Which Chicago Cardinals star did the Los Angeles Rams acquire in 1959 for most of a starting lineup?Tap to reveal
Answer: Ollie Matson
It is one of the biggest hauls ever surrendered for a single man - accounts of the package run from eight players plus a draft choice to nine players outright. Matson had already won two Olympic medals in 1952, a bronze in the 400 metres and a silver in the 4x400 relay, before he ever carried the ball in the NFL.
Q5.Which Chicago Bears halfback was known as 'The Kansas Comet'?Tap to reveal
Answer: Gale Sayers
Born in Wichita, Sayers scored six touchdowns in a single game against the 49ers as a rookie in 1965. Injuries ended his career after seven seasons, and he entered the Hall of Fame at 34 - still the youngest man ever enshrined.
Q6.Which Hall of Fame running back played for the Rams, the Colts, the Raiders and the Falcons?Tap to reveal
Answer: Eric Dickerson
Dickerson's 2,105 rushing yards in 1984 is still the NFL single-season record. Eight other backs have run for 2,000 yards without catching him; Adrian Peterson came closest in 2012, eight yards short at 2,097.
Q7.Which running back was named MVP of Super Bowl XXV for the New York Giants?Tap to reveal
Answer: Ottis Anderson
Anderson carried 21 times for 102 yards to keep the ball out of Buffalo's hands. New York won 20-19 when Scott Norwood's last-second kick went wide right.
Q8.Who caught the Immaculate Reception?Tap to reveal
Answer: Franco Harris
On December 23, 1972, Harris scooped a deflected pass off his shoetops and ran it in to beat the Raiders - the play that launched Pittsburgh's dynasty. He came out of Penn State, where Lydell Mitchell was the featured back.
Q9.Which Dallas Cowboys receiver won the Olympic 100 metres before he ever played an NFL down?Tap to reveal
Answer: Bob Hayes
Hayes took gold in the 100 m and the relay at Tokyo in 1964, then won a ring with Dallas in Super Bowl VI. He is the only athlete to hold both an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring.
Q10.Which Los Angeles Rams end was nicknamed 'Crazy Legs'?Tap to reveal
Answer: Elroy Hirsch
A Chicago sportswriter wrote that his legs seemed to gyrate in six different directions at once. In 1951 Hirsch caught 17 touchdown passes in a 12-game season.
Q11.Which receiver, nicknamed 'Bambi', was the first player from the American Football League inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?Tap to reveal
Answer: Lance Alworth
San Diego teammates named him for a baby face and a deer's stride. He went into Canton in 1978 and scored the opening touchdown of Super Bowl VI for Dallas.
Q12.Which Seattle Seahawks receiver retired holding the NFL records for career catches, receiving yards and touchdown catches, then went to Congress?Tap to reveal
Answer: Steve Largent
His 819 catches, 13,089 yards and 100 touchdowns all led the record book when he stopped in 1989. He represented Oklahoma's first district from 1994 until he resigned in 2002 to run for governor.
Defense, Kickers and the Dirty Work
Defensive trivia is harder for a simple reason: the league did not keep an official sack total until 1982, so much of what these men did survives only in stories and film. The oldest record in this round was set in 1952 and has never been touched.
Six questions on the men hired to ruin someone else's highlight.
Q1.Which rookie cornerback intercepted 14 passes in a 12-game 1952 season, a record that has never been broken?Tap to reveal
Answer: Dick 'Night Train' Lane
A teammate played the record 'Night Train' constantly in camp and the name stuck. Lane was such a violent tackler that the league eventually outlawed his neck-high clothesline, known as the Night Train Necktie.
Q2.Which Los Angeles Rams defensive end anchored the Fearsome Foursome and made the head slap famous?Tap to reveal
Answer: Deacon Jones
Born David Jones, he lost a South Carolina State scholarship after joining civil rights protests. He is also the man usually credited with naming the quarterback sack, and he lined up alongside Merlin Olsen, Lamar Lundy and Rosey Grier.
Q3.Which defensive end, an ordained minister, was nicknamed 'The Minister of Defense'?Tap to reveal
Answer: Reggie White
White spent eight seasons in Philadelphia and six in Green Bay, where he won Super Bowl XXXI. He finished with 198 career sacks, second all time behind Bruce Smith's 200.
Q4.Which Raiders defensive end entered the Hall of Fame in 2000 and then built a second career in action movies?Tap to reveal
Answer: Howie Long
Long won Super Bowl XVIII with the Raiders, played opposite John Travolta in Broken Arrow, and settled into a Sunday studio job on television.
Q5.Which undrafted cornerback out of Grambling sealed Super Bowl XI with a 75-yard interception return?Tap to reveal
Answer: Willie Brown
Brown picked off Fran Tarkenton late in the third quarter of Oakland's 32-14 win. No team drafted him in 1963; he went into Canton in 1984 in his first year of eligibility.
Q6.Which pair of Hungarian-born brothers brought the soccer-style place kick to professional football?Tap to reveal
Answer: Pete and Charlie Gogolak
Their family left Budapest after the 1956 uprising. Pete's jump from the AFL's Bills to the NFL's Giants in May 1966 broke the unwritten truce between the leagues and helped force the merger agreement signed weeks later. Pete was the first soccer-style kicker in the pro game; the style had already appeared in college football in the 1950s.
Coaches, Crossover Athletes and NFL Firsts
The last round is the hard one. It covers the men who built the institution rather than the highlight reel - the owner who coached his own team for 40 seasons, the coach with two franchises to his name, and the handful of athletes who were great at a second sport as well.
If somebody in the room gets the Cal Hubbard question without help, buy them a drink.
Q1.Who was a player, a coach and the owner of the same NFL franchise?Tap to reveal
Answer: George Halas
Halas played end for the Decatur Staleys, moved them to Chicago and renamed them the Bears, coached them across four separate stints totalling 40 seasons, and owned them until his death in 1983.
Q2.Which coach founded two different NFL franchises, one of which was named after him?Tap to reveal
Answer: Paul Brown
He started the Cleveland Browns, who carry his name, and later the Cincinnati Bengals. Brown came out of Miami University in Ohio, the school nicknamed the Cradle of Coaches, and the men who played or coached under him include Weeb Ewbank, Don Shula, Chuck Noll and Bill Walsh.
Q3.Which Green Bay coach won the first two Super Bowls and five NFL championships in seven years?Tap to reveal
Answer: Vince Lombardi
The championship trophy was renamed for him after he died in September 1970 and first presented as the Vince Lombardi Trophy that January. The maxim usually attached to him, 'Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing', was in fact borrowed from UCLA coach Red Sanders.
Q4.Which coach earned a master's degree in English history at Harvard and then lost four straight Super Bowls with Buffalo?Tap to reveal
Answer: Marv Levy
Levy's Bills reached Super Bowls XXV through XXVIII and lost all four. He coached until he was 72 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001.
Q5.Which New York Giant was named NFL MVP in 1956 and made Pro Bowls at defensive back, halfback and flanker?Tap to reveal
Answer: Frank Gifford
The USC man played both ways in an era when rosters were small enough to demand it, then spent 27 years on ABC's Monday Night Football.
Q6.Who was the first athlete named an All-Star in both Major League Baseball and the NFL?Tap to reveal
Answer: Bo Jackson
Jackson was MVP of the 1989 MLB All-Star Game for Kansas City and a Pro Bowl pick for the Raiders in 1990, and he is still the only one. A hip injury in a January 1991 playoff game ended his football career at 28.
Q7.Which charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame won Olympic gold in both the pentathlon and the decathlon?Tap to reveal
Answer: Jim Thorpe
Thorpe swept both events at Stockholm in 1912, played six seasons of Major League Baseball, and served as the first president of the association that became the NFL.
Q8.Who is the only person enshrined in both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Baseball Hall of Fame?Tap to reveal
Answer: Cal Hubbard
Hubbard was a tackle for the Packers and Giants, then umpired in the American League from 1936 to 1951. Football took him in 1963, baseball in 1976.
Q9.Which Raiders Hall of Fame tackle became, in 1989, the first Black head coach of the modern NFL?Tap to reveal
Answer: Art Shell
Shell played 15 seasons on the Raiders' offensive line and won two Super Bowls there before Al Davis promoted him in October 1989. Fritz Pollard had been a player-coach for the Akron Pros in the 1920s, which is why Shell's hiring is described as the first of the modern era.
Q10.Which team was the first to win back-to-back Super Bowls under two different head coaches?Tap to reveal
Answer: The San Francisco 49ers
Bill Walsh won Super Bowl XXIII and retired. George Seifert took over, went 14-2 in his first season and beat Denver 55-10 in Super Bowl XXIV.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many NFL trivia questions are on this page?
46, split into five rounds: a warm-up on legends and their teams, then quarterbacks, runners and receivers, defense and special teams, and finally coaches and crossover athletes. The rounds get harder in that order.
What are good NFL trivia questions for a party?
Use the warm-up round first so nobody sits out, and save the coaches round for the end. For a tiebreaker, ask a number rather than a name: 'How many yards did Eric Dickerson rush for in 1984?' The answer is 2,105, and closest guess wins.
What is the hardest question here?
Cal Hubbard, the only man in both the football and baseball Halls of Fame - almost everyone guesses Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders. The Ollie Matson trade is a close second, because the size of the package sounds made up.
Are these NFL trivia questions still accurate?
Yes. Every record claim was rechecked in September 2026, after the 2025 season: Eric Dickerson's 2,105 rushing yards (Adrian Peterson's 2,097 in 2012 is still the closest anyone has come), Dick Lane's 14 interceptions, George Blanda's 26 seasons and Tom Brady's seven rings all still stand, and questions whose answers had gone stale were rewritten or cut.
Can I play NFL trivia online for free?
Yes. This page is free to read, print and host from, and the Trivio.NET app runs sports packs as live head-to-head trivia battles if you would rather play than read the answers out loud.
