2012 NFL season
| Regular season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | September 5 – December 30, 2012 |
| Playoffs | |
| Start date | January 5, 2013 |
| AFC Champions | Baltimore Ravens |
| NFC Champions | San Francisco 49ers |
| Super Bowl XLVII | |
| Date | February 3, 2013 |
| Site | Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Champions | Baltimore Ravens |
| Pro Bowl | |
| Date | January 27, 2013 |
| Site | Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii |
The 2012 NFL season, the 93rd regular season of the National Football League, began on Wednesday, September 5, 2012, with the defending Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants hosting the Dallas Cowboys in the 2012 NFL Kickoff game at MetLife Stadium, and ended with Super Bowl XLVII, the league's championship game, on Sunday, February 3, 2013, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, with the Jim Harbaugh-coached San Francisco 49ers facing the John Harbaugh-coached Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens won 34-31. Super Bowl XLVII marked the first time two brothers were head coaches for opposing teams in the championship game.
In 2005, the NFL and NFL Referees Association agreed to a contract that would last through the 2011 season. In 2011, the officials' union had planned to use a contract clause to reopen negotiations a year early, but this failed to occur due to the 2011 NFL lockout.
By June 2012, the league and the officials' union had not yet come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement, thus failing to resolve the labor dispute. The main issues between the union and the league were changes to the retirement plan, salaries, and personnel. On June 4, 2012, the NFL announced it would begin hiring replacement officials.
On September 26, 2012, an agreement was reached to end the lockout after increasing criticism of the NFL and the performance of the replacement officials. The contentious nature of the replacement officials' decision at the end of the Green Bay Packers–Seattle Seahawks game two days earlier was widely considered to have been the tipping point that finally led to an agreement. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged that the game "may have pushed the parties further along" in negotiations.
...
Wikipedia