2012 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament
The 2012 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament was played at the end of the 2012 NCAA Division III baseball season to determine the 37th national champion of college baseball at the NCAA Division III level. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wisconsin for the championship. Eight regional tournaments were held to determine the participants in the World Series. Regional tournaments were contested in double-elimination format, with four regions consisting of six teams, and four consisting of eight, for a total of 56 teams participating in the tournament, up from 55 in 2011. The tournament champion was Marietta, who defeated Wheaton (MA) for the championship.


2012 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament, Regionals, New York Regional
Farmingdale State Baseball Stadium-East Farmingdale, NY (Host: State University of New York at Farmingdale)


2012 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament, Regionals, Midwest Regional
Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium-Whitewater, WI (Host: University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)


2012 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament, Regionals, West Regional
Roy Helser Field and Jim Wright Stadium-McMinnville, OR (Host: Linfield College)


2012 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament, World Series
Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium-Grand Chute, WI (Host: University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh/Lawrence University/Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau)


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2012 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament was a single-elimination tournament to determine the men's collegiate basketball national champion of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. It involved 62 teams, beginning on March 1, 2012 and concluded with the championship game on March 17, 2012, at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia.


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament
The UW-Whitewater Warhawks won their third Division III title, defeating the Cabrini Cavaliers in the championship game by a score of 63-60.


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament schedule and venues
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 2012 tournament:


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament, Qualified teams, Automatic qualifiers
The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2013 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the UAA, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament, Qualified teams, At-large qualifiers
The NCAA Selection Committee, by rule, must select one team from the conferences without automatic berths and non-affiliated schools (Pool B). The Selection Committee makes the remaining 19 selections at-large from all conferences (Pool C).


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament, Bracket
Unless otherwise noted, all times listed are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04)


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams
This is a list of qualifying teams for the 2012 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. A total of 62 teams entered the tournament. Forty-one of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the University Athletic Association, which does not conduct a postseason tournament, went to its regular season champion. The remaining twenty teams were granted at-large bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams, Qualifying teams, Automatic bids
Automatic bids to the tournament were granted for winning a conference championship tournament, except for the automatic bid of the University Athletic Association given to the regular season champion. Seeds listed were seeds within the conference tournaments. Runners-up in bold face were given at-large berths.


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams, Qualifying teams, Conferences with multiple bids
All other conferences have only one bid (see Automatic Bids)NOTE: Teams in bold represent the conference's automatic bid.


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2012 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 2011–12 season, the 29th such tournament in NCAA history. It concluded with St. Norbert defeating Oswego State in the championship game 4-1. All First Round and Quarterfinal matchups were held at home team venues, while all succeeding games were played at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York.


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
This tournament is notable for the fact that no team scored more than 1 goal in any losing effort.


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Qualifying teams
The following teams qualified for the tournament. Automatic bids were offered to the conference tournament champion of eight different conferences. Three at-large bids were available for the highest-ranked non-conference tournament champions (overall seed in parentheses).


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
The tournament featured four rounds of play. All rounds were Single-game elimination. The top four ranked teams received byes into the quarterfinal round  and were arranged so that were they all to reach the national semifinal, the second seed would play the third seed.


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
Because the top four ranked teams were all eastern teams, all four western participants were placed in the same quarterfinal bracket. The teams were arranged to that the top western seed would play the fourth western seed while the second western seed would play the third western seed all in the first round. The winners would advance to the same quarterfinal match and the winner would advance to play the winner of the eastern quarterfinal that possessed the top eastern seed.


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
The remaining three quarterfinal brackets were arranged as follows: the two lowest ranked eastern teams would play in the first round with the winner advancing to play the top eastern seed, the second eastern seed would play the fifth eastern seed and the third eastern seed would play the fourth eastern seed in the quarterfinals.


2012 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
In the First Round and Quarterfinals the higher-seeded team served as host.


2012 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2012 NCAA Women's Division III Ice Hockey Tournament involved 8 schools in single-elimination play that determined the national champion of women's NCAA Division III college ice hockey. The Frozen Four will be contested in the arenas of the teams with the better record.


2012 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Tournament, Background
The automatic qualifiers for the tournament include the postseason tournament champions from the following conferences: ECAC East, ECAC West, MIAC, NCHA and NESCAC. The Division III committee consists of the following members: Renee Hellert, New England College athletic director; Michael Letzeisen, ECAC administrator; Brad Marshall, head coach at St. Catherine; Jodi McKenna, head coach at Wesleyan; Steve Nelson, Wisconsin-Superior athletic director.


2012 NCAA Division III football season
The 2012 NCAA Division III football season, part of the college football season organized by the NCAA at the Division III level in the United States, began in August 2012, and concluded with the NCAA Division III Football Championship, also known as the Stagg Bowl, in December 2012 at Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia. The Mount Union Purple Raiders won their eleventh Division III championship by defeating the St. Thomas (MN) Tommies, 28−10.


2012 NCAA Division III football season
The Gagliardi Trophy, given to the most outstanding player in Division III football, was awarded to Scottie Williams, running back from Elmhurst (IL).


2012 NCAA Division III football season, Postseason
The 2012 NCAA Division III Football Championship playoffs were the 40th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division III college football. The championship Stagg Bowl game was held at Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia for the 20th time.


2012 NCAA Division III football season, Postseason, Qualification
Twenty-four conferences met the requirements for an automatic ("Pool A") bid to the playoffs. Besides the NESCAC, which does not participate in the playoffs, two conferences (the SAA and UAA) had no Pool A bid, neither meeting the seven-member requirement.


2012 NCAA Division III football season, Postseason, Qualification
Schools not in Pool A conferences were eligible for Pool B. The number of Pool B bids was determined by calculating the ratio of Pool A conferences to schools in those conferences and applying that ratio to the number of Pool B schools. The 24 Pool A conferences contained 214 schools, an average of 8.9 teams per conference. Fifteen schools were in Pool B, enough for one bid.


2012 NCAA Division III football season, Postseason, Qualification
The remaining seven playoff spots were at-large ("Pool C") teams.


2012 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete together as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889.


2012 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
The 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans are honorary lists that include All-American selections from the Associated Press (AP), the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), the Sporting News (TSN), and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. All selectors choose at least a first and second 5-man team. The NABC, TSN and AP choose third teams, while AP also lists honorable mention selections.


2012 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
The Consensus 2012 College Basketball All-American team is determined by aggregating the results of the four major All-American teams as determined by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since United Press International was replaced by TSN in 1997, the four major selectors have been the aforementioned ones. AP has been a selector since 1948, NABC since 1957 and USBWA since 1960. To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors based on a point system computed from the four different all-America teams.


2012 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
The point system consists of three points for first team, two points for second team and one point for third team. No honorable mention or fourth team or lower are used in the computation. The top five totals plus ties are first team and the next five plus ties are second team.


2012 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
Although the aforementioned lists are used to determine consensus honors, there are numerous other All-American lists. The ten finalists for the John Wooden Award are described as Wooden All-Americans. The ten finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award are described as Senior All-Americans. Other All-American lists include those determined by Fox Sports, and Yahoo! Sports. The scholar-athletes selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) are termed Academic All-Americans.


2012 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, 2012 Consensus All-America team
The following players are recognized as the 2012 Consensus All-Americans:


2012 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, Academic All-Americans
On February 23, 2012, CoSIDA and Capital One announced the 2012 Academic All-America team, with Tyler Zeller headlining the University Division as the men's college basketball Academic All-American of the Year. The following is the 2011–12 Capital One Academic All-America Men's Basketball Team (University Division) as selected by CoSIDA:


2012 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, Senior All-Americans
The ten finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award are called Senior All-Americans. The 10 honorees are as follows:


2012 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2012 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Tournament involved eight schools in single-elimination play that determined the national champion of women's NCAA Division I college ice hockey. The Frozen Four were hosted by the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minnesota.


2012 NCAA Rifle Championships
The 2012 NCAA Rifle Championships were contested at the 33rd annual NCAA-sanctioned competition to determine the team and individual national champions of co-ed collegiate rifle shooting in the United States.


2012 NCAA Rifle Championships
The championship was hosted by Ohio State University at the Lt. Hugh W. Wylie Range in Columbus, Ohio.


2012 NCAA Rifle Championships
TCU won the team championship, the Horned Frogs' second NCAA national title in rifle.


2012 NCAA Rifle Championships, Qualification
With only one national collegiate championship for rifle shooting, all NCAA rifle programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of eight teams contested this championship.


2012 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship
The 2012 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship were held in the Gwinnett Center, at Duluth, Georgia on April 20–22, 2012. Twelve teams from the six regional meets advanced to the NCAA Division I national team and individual titles.


2012 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship, Regional Championships
Regional Championships were held on April 7, 2012 at the following six sites:


2012 NCBA Division I World Series
The 2012 National Club Baseball Association (NCBA) Division I World Series was played at Golden Park in Columbus, GA from May 25 to May 31. The twelfth tournament's champion was Utah State University.


2012 NCBA Division I World Series, Format
The format is similar to the NCAA College World Series in that eight teams participate in two four-team double elimination brackets. There are a few differences between the NCAA and the NCBA format. One of which is that the losers of Games 1-4 move to the other half of the bracket. Another difference is that the NCBA plays a winner take all for its national title game while the NCAA has a best-of-3 format to determine its national champion.


2012 NCBA Division II World Series
The 2012 National Club Baseball Association (NCBA) Division II World Series was played at Golden Park in Columbus, GA from May 18 to May 22. The fifth tournament's champion was Hofstra University.


2012 NCBA Division II World Series, Format
The format is similar to the NCAA College World Series in that eight teams participate in two four-team double elimination brackets. There are a few differences between the NCAA and the NCBA format. One of which is that the losers of Games 1–4 move to the other half of the bracket. Another difference is that the NCBA plays a winner take all for its national title game while the NCAA has a best-of-3 format to determine its national champion. Another difference which is between NCBA Division I and II is that Division II games are 7 innings while Division I games are 9 innings.


2012 NCBA Division II World Series, Participants
† denotes school also fielded an NCBA Division I team that season


2012 NEAFL season
The 2012 NEAFL season was the second season of the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL).


2012 NEAFL season, League structure
The league is split into two divisions called the Northern Conference and the Eastern Conference.


2012 NEAFL season, League structure
In 2012 two new teams were added to the Eastern Conference from the AFL Sydney competition - Sydney Hills and Sydney University. With the admission of Greater Western Sydney to the AFL, the club's NEAFL side became a reserves team and played under the name of University of Western Sydney.


2012 NECBL All-Star Game
The 2012 NECBL All-Star Game will be the 19th exhibition game between all-stars from the New England Collegiate Baseball League's East and West Divisions. The game will be held at Montpelier Recreation Field in Montpelier, Vermont, the home field of the West Division's Vermont Mountaineers.


2012 NECBL All-Star Game, Rosters
The following is a list of the rosters of both the East and West Division All-Star teams, announced on July 16, 2012.


2012 NECBL All-Star Game, Game summary
The game began scoreless through one inning as Mountaineers pitcher Alex Haines and Newport's Daniel Wright each tossed shutout first innings for their respective teams. In the top of the second inning, the East jumped out to a 1–0 lead as the Gulls Yale Rosen hit a solo shot over the left center field wall off of Keene's Kevin McAvoy. The Western division then manufactured a run in the bottom of the frame when Danbury's Zach Shank scored on a wild pitch to tie the contest.


2012 NECBL All-Star Game, Game summary
It would remain tied at 1–1 until the bottom of the fourth when Holyoke's Paul McConkey hit a two out single to plate Vermont's Rob Kelly. From that moment the West's offense would take over scoring three runs in the fifth including a two-run home run from Kelly to make the lead 5–1 after five. The East looked to make a comeback plating two runs in the sixth thanks to a Jordan Betts (Sanford) homer to cut the lead to two.


2012 NECBL All-Star Game, Game summary
However, Vermont's Logan Pierce added to the Mountaineer RBI total with a single prior to Johnny Mishu driving in another giving Mountaineers hitters four straight runs batted in and pushing the West's lead to 7–3. In the seventh, Cole Peragine hit the second long ball of the night for the West on a solo shot to left field off Newport's Mitch Horacek.


2012 NECBL All-Star Game, Game summary
Trailing 8–3, the Eastern Division cut the margin once again with three runs on two errors. Laconia's Will Leathers trotted home when Sanford's Anthony Hajjar hit a single. Hajjar would be thrown out at the plate as his teammate Betts singled to put one runner on with two outs. After an error by Danbury's Matt Boulter allowed New Bedford's Zack Graczyk to reach, two runs would score on single from Newport's Brett Winger and a throwing error from Keene's Fran Whitten in right field.


2012 NECBL All-Star Game, Game summary
The bottom of the eighth saw the West again regain control when Mishu cleared the bases with a three-RBI triple off Sanford's Rohn Pierce to make the score 11–6. North Adams' Tom Bamman and Laconia's Nic Manuppelli each tossed scoreless ninths to finish the game.


2012 NECBL All-Star Game, Game summary
Danbury's Brett Houseal was credited with the win for the West pitching a no-hit fourth inning with one walk and striking out two while New Bedford's Jonathan Massad took the loss for the East giving up a run on a hit and two walks in the fourth.


2012 NECBL All-Star Game, Game summary
Vermont's Johnny Mishu was named the games Most Valuable Player going 2-for-2 with four RBI in the contest. It was the third award reeled in by the Mountaineers during the festivities. Prior to the game, Austin Green was named the winner of the catcher's throwing competition while Aaron Barbosa won the 60 yard dash with a time of 6.45 seconds. Danbury's Zach Shank won the outfield throwing competition while Laconia's Danny Collins was crowned 2012 Home Run Derby champion after launching seven in the first round to advance to the finals and then hit five more to take the title.


2012 NECBL All-Star Game, Game summary
Over 40 MLB scouts were in attendance and the league and the host Vermont Mountaineers received kudos from the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau.


2012 NECBL season
The 2012 NECBL season was the 19th season of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, a wood bat collegiate summer baseball league. Changes for 2012 included two of the league's East Division franchises from the 2011 season, the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide and one of the NECBL's charter franchises, the North Shore Navigators leaving the NECBL to join the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. As a result, the league has been reduced to 10 teams, with the Mystic Schooners moving to the East Division.


2012 NECBL season
In the postseason, eight teams (4 from the NECBL East and West Divisions) qualified for the playoffs. In the quarterfinals, Newport defeated Sanford (2 games to 1), New Bedford defeated Laconia (2 games to 0), Keene defeated Vermont (2 games to 0), and Danbury defeated North Adams. In the semifinals, Newport defeated New Bedford (2 games to 0) to advance to their eighth championship series in Newport (9 overall). Also, the Danbury Westerners defeated the Keene Swamp Bats (2 games to 0) to advance to their fourth championship series. In 2 games, the Newport Gulls defeated the Westerners (G1: 9-2, G2: 8-1) to win their fifth Fay Vincent Sr. Cup.


2012 NECBL season, Regular season standings, Team vs. team grid
Each team plays their other divisional teams 8 times (4 home, 4 away) and their non-division opponents twice (1 home, 1 away).


2012 NECBL season, All-star game
The NECBL's 2012 All-Star Game will be hosted by the West Division's Vermont Mountaineers at Montpelier Recreation Field in Montpelier, Vermont.


2012 NECBL season, Playoffs, Bracket
Seedings:EAST(1) Newport Gulls (31-10)(2) New Bedford Bay Sox (25-16)(3) Laconia Muskrats (17-24)(4) Sanford Mainers (16-25)WEST(1) Keene Swamp Bats (29-13)(2) Danbury Westerners (23-18)(3) North Adams SteepleCats (22-20)(4) Vermont Mountaineers (18-23)


2012 NECBL season, League leaders
Wins Daniel Wright (Newport Gulls) and Brett Houseal (Danbury Westerners) 6


2012 NECBL season, League awards, Weekly awards
WEEK 1 (week ending June 9) HITTER: Conor Biggio (North Adams SteepleCats) PITCHER: Nolan Snell (Vermont Mountaineers)


2012 NECBL season, League awards, Weekly awards
WEEK 2 (week ending June 16) HITTER: Danny Collins (Laconia Muskrats) PITCHER: Drew Duncan (Holyoke Blue Sox)


2012 NECBL season, League awards, Weekly awards
WEEK 3 (week ending June 23) HITTER: Jeramy Matos (Mystic Schooners) PITCHER: Kevin McAvoy, Ryan Horstman, and Tyler Gauthier (Keene Swamp Bats)


2012 NECBL season, League awards, Weekly awards
WEEK 4 (week ending June 30) HITTER: Frank Schwindel (Keene Swamp Bats) PITCHER: Brian Derner (New Bedford Bay Sox)


2012 NECBL season, League awards, Weekly awards
WEEK 5 (week ending July 7) HITTER: Yale Rosen (Newport Gulls) PITCHER: Alex Haines (Vermont Mountaineers)


2012 NECBL season, League awards, Weekly awards
WEEK 6 (week ending July 14) HITTER: Danny Collins (Laconia Muskrats) PITCHER: Matt Longfield (North Adams SteepleCats)


2012 NECBL season, League awards, Weekly awards
WEEK 7 (week ending July 21) HITTER: Grant Kay (Keene Swamp Bats) PITCHER: Steven Rice (Sanford Mainers)


2012 NECBL season, League awards, Weekly awards
WEEK 8 (week ending July 28) HITTER: Anthony Hajjar (Sanford Mainers) PITCHER: Brian Derner (New Bedford Bay Sox)


2012 NFC Championship Game
The 2012 NFC Championship game was played on January 20, 2013. It featured the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons. The 49ers won 28-24, but lost to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII.


2012 NFL Draft
The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City from April 26–28. The Indianapolis Colts, who compiled the league's worst record in the 2011 season with a 2–14 record, had the right to the first selection.


2012 NFL Draft
On April 17, Indianapolis general manager Ryan Grigson announced that the team would take Andrew Luck as their first pick, saying it was "the right thing to do" in anticipation of the "media gauntlet" Luck would face in the days leading up to the draft. Luck, being highly regarded as one of the best quarterback prospects in years, had been the subject of the "Suck for Luck" campaigns by fans hoping their teams would end up with the worst record in the 2011 season so they would have the chance to draft Luck. Something rare occurred when the first and last picks in the draft were both quarterbacks and were taken by the same team. Chandler Harnish, chosen with the final pick of the draft by the Colts, made him Mr. Irrelevant for 2012.


2012 NFL Draft
Even at a relatively early stage, the strength of the quarterbacks in the 2012 class had been noted. For the first time since the 1970 merger, five rookie quarterbacks would start during opening week – first-round draft picks Luck, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill, and Brandon Weeden, as well as third-rounder Russell Wilson. By season's end, three more rookie quarterbacks would start their first games – third-round draft pick Nick Foles, fourth-rounder Kirk Cousins, and sixth-rounder Ryan Lindley.


2012 NFL Draft
Undrafted quarterbacks Austin Davis, Case Keenum, and Kellen Moore, who were each signed to teams following the draft, as well as second-round draft pick Brock Osweiler, would each eventually start at quarterback in one or more NFL games during later seasons. Luck, Griffin, and Wilson would be named to the Pro Bowl following the conclusion of the regular season, while Foles, Cousins, and Tannehill would be recognized as Pro Bowlers later on in their careers. Wilson, Osweiler, and Foles have each been a part of a Super Bowl winning team, with Nick Foles eventually becoming the MVP of Super Bowl LII.


2012 NFL Draft
In the draft, a record 5 players not from the United States were drafted, being Canadians Tyrone Crawford (drafted 81st overall by the Dallas Cowboys) and Philip Blake (drafted 108th overall by the Denver Broncos), Angolan Christo Bilukidi (drafted 189th overall by Oakland Raiders), Englishman Jack Crawford (drafted 158th overall by Oakland), and German Markus Kuhn (drafted 239th overall by the New York Giants).


2012 NFL Draft
The following is the breakdown of the 253 players selected by position:


2012 NFL Draft, Early entrants
A record 65 underclassmen announced their intention to forgo their remaining NCAA eligibility and declare themselves eligible to be selected in the draft. Of the 65 eligible underclassmen, 44 (or 67.7%) were drafted.


2012 NFL Draft, Early entrants
The selection of Luck, a junior, marked the fourth straight draft where the first overall selection was an underclassman. Since non-seniors were first eligible to be drafted in 1990, fifteen first overall picks (including seven of the last eight) have been players who have entered the draft early. Eight of the first ten players chosen in this draft were non-seniors, which matched the record set in the previous draft. Mark Barron and Ryan Tannehill were the only two seniors among the first ten draftees.


2012 NFL Draft, Determination of draft order
The draft order is generally based on each team's record from the previous season, with teams who qualified for the postseason selecting after those which failed to make the playoffs.


2012 NFL Draft, Supplemental draft
A supplemental draft was held on July 12, 2012. For each player selected in the supplemental draft, the team forfeits its pick in that round in the draft of the following season. 8 players were available, but only 1 was selected.


2012 NFL Draft, Trades
In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft.


2012 NFL referee lockout
The 2012 NFL referee lockout was a labor dispute between the National Football League (NFL) and the NFL Referees Association that resulted in the use of replacement officials through Week 3 of the 2012 NFL season. The lockout began in June 2012 after both sides failed to reach consensus on a collective bargaining agreement. 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, culminating in the infamous "Fail Mary" game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Timeline
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 exercise a contract clause to reopen negotiations a year early, but this failed to occur due to the 2011 NFL lockout.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Timeline
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. On June 4, 2012, the NFL announced it would begin hiring replacement officials.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Timeline
After being locked out, the NFL Referees Association accused the league of planning to lock them out all along rather than negotiate a new contract. The union contended that the lockout would jeopardize the safety of the players and the integrity of the game, citing the fact that none of the replacement officials would come from the top college divisions and thus would not have enough experience to adjust to the speed of the NFL game or enforce the various players' safety rules. The NFL denied these claims, saying that they negotiated in good faith.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Timeline
In July 2012, the NFL Referees Association filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the league of unfair labor practices.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Timeline, Agreement
On September 26, 2012, an agreement was reached between the NFL and the NFL Referees Association to end the lockout after mounting criticism of the NFL and the performance of the replacement officials. The agreement was assisted by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and was ratified by the NFL Referees Association. Carl Johnson, the NFL's former vice president of officiating, was announced as the league's first full-time, on-field game official on December 12, 2012.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Timeline, Agreement
The new eight-year agreement covers the 2012–2019 seasons and stipulates that current officials will retain their defined benefit plans until 2016 or until an official earns 20 years of service. Beginning in 2017, all officials and new hires will switch to 401(k) plans with an average current league contribution of $18,000 up to an average of $23,000 by 2019. In addition, compensation for officials will increase from an average of $149,000 a year in 2011 to $173,000 in 2013, then up to $205,000 in 2019.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Timeline, Agreement
Beginning in 2013, the NFL will have the option of hiring a to-be-determined number of full-time officials to work year-round, including on the field. The NFL will have the option to hire additional officials for training and development and assign them to work NFL games.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Timeline, Agreement
The lockout was temporarily lifted by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell so that Gene Steratore's crew of regular officials could work the Thursday Night Football game between the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens on September 27. In an open letter, Goodell told fans "you deserve better" than games being officiated by replacements. He regretted an agreement not being reached sooner and the "unfortunate distractions to the game".


2012 NFL referee lockout, Timeline, Agreement
The agreement was voted on by officials on September 28–29 in Dallas, Texas, and had to be ratified by 51 percent of the union's 121 members.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Timeline, Agreement
On September 29, 2012, it was announced that officials approved the new eight-year contract with the NFL on a 112–5 vote that officially ended the lockout. NFL officials and referees gathered in Irving, Texas then left straight to their game sites. Scott Green, president of the referees' association, said


2012 NFL referee lockout, Timeline, Agreement
It was pretty much 'Come on in and vote'.... We're going to talk football now. We're going to stop talking about CBAs and lockouts and now we're going to talk about rules and video and getting ourselves ready to work football games.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Issues
The officials' union said that all of its demands amounted to a $3.2 million annual cost to the NFL, roughly four hundredths of a percent of the $9 billion in revenue generated by the league.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Issues, Retirement plan
The main issue behind the dispute was the retirement plan. Under the previous contract, NFL referees received a defined benefit plan, where retired workers would be guaranteed a fixed amount of income based on the length of their employment. The league wanted to switch to a defined contribution 401(k) plan, under which benefits would depend on the performance of the plan's investments, and would not be guaranteed.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Issues, Retirement plan
The referees opposed this change, calling the 401(k) plan "inferior" because it would have reduced the league's funding obligation by 60%, while at the same time shifting additional investment risk to the employees. The referees said they would be willing to accept the change, as long as it only applied to new hires. The NFL initially rejected this stipulation, insisting that all referees switch to the new plan, but conceded to allowing current officials to retain their defined benefit plans until 2016.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Issues, Salaries
Under the previous labor agreement, referees were paid from a shared pool of $18 million per year, which works out to an average of about  $149,000 per employee for each of the 121 referees (with the exact amount higher or lower depending on certain factors). The league claimed it was offering to increase average salaries from $149,000 to $189,000 by 2018, with average annual increases of between five and 11 percent. The referees disputed that claim, saying that the league's proposal actually only increases salaries by 2.82% per year.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Issues, Additional crews
The NFL currently employs 17 officiating "crews"—one for each of the 16 games played, plus one extra. The league wanted to hire three additional crews, bringing the total to 20 crews. The league claimed this would improve the quality of officiating, since they would have a larger pool of qualified officials to choose from, rewarding the best performing crews, and giving them more flexibility to "sideline" or "bench" poor performing ones.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Issues, Additional crews
The union indicated that they believed the NFL was using the issue to distract from the core issues in the negotiations, due to the fact that the proposition was introduced so late in the negotiating process, and because a provision for adding officials already existed in the previous CBA. However, referees felt that making it easier to "bench" them undermined their job security, and since officials are paid based on the number of games worked, increasing the number of officials would invariably reduce the number of games worked per official, thereby reducing each official's average pay for a full season.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Issues, Full-time officials
The current group of officials are classified as part-time workers, with 90% of NFL referees holding other full-time jobs. The league wanted seven referees to work as full-time employees— one for each officiating position (referee, umpire, head linesman, etc.). The full-time officials would work with the league year-round on issues like safety, rule interpretations, training and scouting. The union was not opposed to this idea per se, but wanted assurances that full-time officials would be fairly compensated.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials
On June 4, 2012, the NFL began hiring replacement officials for the start of the 2012 season, most of whom were officials from high schools or lower college divisions. Some were from professional leagues such as the Arena Football League and the Legends Football League. However, following poor on-field performances, the Legends Football League issued a statement indicating that they had previously fired some of the replacement referees due to "incompetent officiating." Unlike the previous lockout in 2001, none of the replacements were Division I college officials.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials
The NFL, in a memo detailing what it wanted in replacement referees, suggested that scouts target officials "who have recently retired from a successful career in College officiating and is still physically able to officiate at a high level of competency", or "lower division college officials, professional league officials and semi-professional league officials whose window of opportunity for advancement has pretty much closed but who have the ability to work higher levels but just got overlooked."


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials
Many Division I officials were effectively barred from serving as replacements, as current and former NFL officials serve as conference officiating supervisors, who would not have allowed their officials to cross the picket line. According to Mike Florio of Profootballtalk.com, "the more accurate explanation is that the Division I conferences refused to allow moonlighting in 2012."


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials, Officiating incidents
Games officiated by the replacement officials were often marred by poor officiating, slow pace and lack of discipline. Notable instances included:


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials, Officiating incidents, Week 1
In the fourth quarter of the Seattle Seahawks – Arizona Cardinals game, the officials incorrectly awarded an extra timeout to Seattle. Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin was injured on a play with only 46 seconds left in the game. By rule, an injury that requires a stop in play requires that a timeout should be charged. The officials incorrectly did not charge the Seahawks their final timeout as they believed that if an injury happens while the clock is stopped that no timeout is charged. The error did not impact the result of the game, with the Cardinals winning 20–16.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials, Officiating incidents, Week 1
Late in the fourth quarter, Eagles quarterback Michael Vick fumbled and then recovered the football. The Browns challenged the call. The play required six minutes of consultation to determine that the play was not eligible for review. The play proved costly, as the Eagles scored late and won the game 17–16.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials, Officiating incidents, Week 2
Hours before the start of the week 2 game between the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers, the league pulled replacement side judge Brian Stropolo after being notified that Stropolo's Facebook page showed he is a Saints fan.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials, Officiating incidents, Week 2
Three plays were overturned in the game after replays. After a fumble in the first quarter, scuffles broke out between the two teams and the game was delayed for six minutes. Some players and coaches left the sidelines and yelled at the officials. Ray Edwards of the Atlanta Falcons bumped a referee, leading to a penalty but no ejection. Broncos head coach John Fox was fined $30,000 and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio was fined $25,000 for verbal abuse of the officials.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials, Officiating incidents, Week 3
The San Francisco 49ers were mistakenly awarded two extra replay challenges in the fourth quarter of their 24–13 loss. San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh challenged that the 49ers had recovered a fumble by the Minnesota Vikings' Toby Gerhart, which should have been denied since the team was out of timeouts. The call was overturned and the 49ers gained control of the ball and were given another timeout. They later challenged another fumble by Gerhart, but the play was upheld.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials, Officiating incidents, Week 3
In overtime, Detroit Lions defender Stephen Tulloch received a 15-yard penalty for a helmet-to-helmet hit on the Tennessee Titans' Craig Stevens. Stevens' catch was reviewed and correctly overturned and ruled an incomplete pass, as the ball had hit the ground. However, the officials errored when they enforced the penalty on Tulloch from the Detroit 44 instead of the Titans' 44, effectively increasing the penalty from 15 to 27 yards. On the same drive, Rob Bironas kicked a 26-yard field goal to win the game for the Titans.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials, Officiating incidents, Week 3
During the second quarter, Dallas Cowboys receiver Kevin Ogletree slipped on an official's hat in the end zone while he was trying to catch a pass from Tony Romo. The official in the end zone tossed his hat well into the field of play after another Cowboys receiver went out of bounds in the end zone.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials, Officiating incidents, Week 3
No penalty was called against Steelers safety Ryan Mundy for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Raiders wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey. Heyward-Bey (who ironically later signed with Pittsburgh in 2014 and became a special teams standout) was knocked unconscious by the hit, got carted off the field, and spent the night in the hospital with a concussion and a strained neck. The NFL later fined Mundy $21,000 for the hit.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials, Officiating incidents, Week 3
In the fourth quarter, multiple penalties which were viewed by some as questionable went against the Ravens on subsequent plays. Head coach John Harbaugh was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for yelling at an official, although he claimed that he was trying to call a timeout. After this penalty, the crowd at M&T Bank Stadium began a chant repeating the word "bullshit". This chant was sustained for over a minute and was clearly audible (and uncensored) on the nationally televised Sunday Night Football broadcast, leading to NBC announcer Al Michaels to say "That's the loudest manure chant I've ever heard".


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials, Officiating incidents, Week 3
On the final play of the game, Ravens kicker Justin Tucker hit a game-winning field goal that sailed over the right upright. The kick was ruled "good", giving the Ravens a 31–30 victory. On replay, the ball appeared to come "very close" to flying outside the right upright. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick unsuccessfully lobbied the officials to review the call, at one point grabbing the arm of one of the officials as they exited the field. Belichick was fined $50,000 by the NFL, which strictly forbids physical contact with officials. Belichick was apparently unaware that the play was unreviewable.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials, Officiating incidents, Week 3
On the final play of the week 3 Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson threw a Hail Mary touchdown pass to wide receiver Golden Tate that officials ruled was simultaneously caught by Packers safety M. D. Jennings. Prior to the catch, Tate shoved a defender with both hands, which the NFL later acknowledged should have drawn an offensive pass interference penalty that would have negated the touchdown and resulted in a Packers victory.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Replacement officials, Officiating incidents, Week 3
The contentious nature of the replacement officials' decision at the end of this nationally televised game is widely considered to have been the tipping point that finally led to an agreement being reached to end the lockout. Goodell acknowledged that the game "may have pushed the parties further along" in negotiations.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, NFL
During the preseason, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated that he believed that the replacement officials would "do a credible job", while both Dallas Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones and Houston Texans' owner Bob McNair each said that they did not notice any difference in the officiating by the replacement officials. The league has said it hopes to reduce these mistakes by having an alternate official on the sidelines at each game, who would be in constant communication with league supervisors, similar to what is normally done during playoff games.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, NFL
During the lockout, four NFL coaches were fined by the league for disorderly conduct towards the replacement officials. On September 24, the league fined Denver Broncos coaches John Fox and Jack Del Rio for insulting the replacement officials, while fining New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick for pulling a replacement official's arm and Washington Redskins assistant coach Kyle Shanahan for berating officials on September 26.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Players
Prior to the preseason, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) expressed concern with the replacement officials, saying in a statement, "In 2011, the NFL tasked officials with increased responsibilities in protecting player health and safety, and its search for scabs undermines that important function. Professional athletes require professional referees, and we believe in the NFL Referees Association's trained first responders."


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Players
Chicago Bears' center Roberto Garza told the Chicago Tribune that there is a familiarity with the regular referees on what they will and will not call, and so players "might be able to get away with more" when dealing with the replacement officials. After playing the first preseason game with the replacement officials, New York Giants' receiver Victor Cruz expressed his discomfort with the situation, saying, "I actually heard one of the refs, he'd only reffed glorified high school games which I don't even know what that means essentially."


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Players
A Sporting News poll of 146 players made during the middle of preseason then found that 90.4 percent of them thought that games would be negatively impacted. Kevin Seifert of ESPN wrote that with the inexperienced replacement referees working the regular season, it is likely that games "will be impacted not by a judgment call—which happens every week of every season—but by an official who either doesn't know all of the NFL's rules or misapplies them."


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Players
After Week 2 of the regular season, the NFLPA sent a message to team owners urging them to end the lockout, making a reference to Goodell's power to fine players for illegal hits:


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Players
It is lost on us as to how you allow a Commissioner to cavalierly issue suspensions and fines in the name of player health and safety yet permit the wholesale removal of the officials that you trained and entrusted to maintain that very health and safety. It has been reported that the two sides are [now] apart by approximately $60,000 per team. We note that your Commissioner has fined an individual player as much in the name of "safety." Your actions are looking more and more like simple greed ... You cannot simply switch to a group of cheaper officials and fulfill your legal, moral, and duty obligations to us and our fans.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Players
After the controversial ending of the week 3 Packers–Seahawks game, many players expressed their frustration with the replacement referees via Twitter. A tweet by Packers guard T. J. Lang—"Fuck it NFL.. Fine me and use the money to pay the regular refs. "—was retweeted more than 98,000 times and, as of November 2012, was the third most retweeted of all time. Lang also raised the possibility of the players taking a knee on every play or engaging in a strike action against the league if the situation was not resolved.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Journalists
Mike Florio of Profootballtalk.com expressed a cynical opinion about the league's position after Week 1:


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Journalists
From the NFL's perspective, [the replacements' mistakes] doesn't matter. The replacement officials look the part, act the part, and sound the part. That's what the league was looking for when locating potential replacement officials. ... It's all about how the games look on TV. If the officials look and act the same, fans won't care. The league also has identified the perfect P.R. strategy for dealing with mistakes: "The regular officials make mistakes, too." ...


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Journalists
So unless and until the replacements ... screw up—and if the mistake directly affects the outcome of a game—it will be hard for the locked-out officials to gain any leverage. Even then, it may not happen. The NFL has become very good at circling the wagons. The NFL will only alter its formation if/when arrows are being fired from inside the circle. And if the NFL successfully keeps a muzzle on its key personnel, we'll never even know that's happening.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Journalists
Michael David Smith of Profootballtalk.com defended the replacements' performance after Week 1:


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Journalists
Plenty of people have complained about the replacement refs today after watching them make mistakes on Sunday, but it's important to remember that plenty of people complain about the regular refs after every NFL Sunday. ... There's no doubt that the replacement officials have made mistakes, but the regular officials make mistakes, too. ... Many of the fans and members of the media who have bashed the replacement officials have actually been wrong themselves and criticized the replacements for calls they got right. ...


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Journalists
I only saw two officiating mistakes on Sunday that I felt confident the regular officials wouldn't have made. ... If the replacement officials made two more mistakes than the regular officials would have, that's two too many. But it's not the officiating debacle that some are making it out to be. I'd like to see the lockout end because I'd like to see the best officials on the field, but I'm not going to pretend the replacement officials are all a bunch of incompetent buffoons, because they're not. They're mostly doing solid work.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Journalists
However, Smith was more critical after the Monday Night Football game during Week 2, saying that the replacement referees were "an embarrassment to Roger Goodell and the NFL owners, who are allowing underqualified and unprepared people to tarnish a great league."


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Journalists
One of the replacements was Shannon Eastin, the first female to ever officiate an NFL game, but writers such as Darin Gantt of Profootballtalk.com and Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times lamented the fact that she broke this gender barrier as one of the strikebreakers.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Journalists
After the controversial ending to the week 3 Packers-Seahawks game, the NFL and the replacement officials were widely criticized. ESPN writer Mike Sando wrote:


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Journalists
... The final play was also highly questionable, obviously. And even though officials declared the game over and the field cleared, they eventually brought back the teams for a point-after try, without explanation. Ridiculous.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Journalists
In all, it was one of the most disorganized and embarrassing scenes you'll ever see on an NFL field. At least, so far.


2012 NFL referee lockout, Reactions, Journalists
After the game, ESPN Monday Night Football commentator Jon Gruden called the conclusion of the game "tragic" and "comical".


2012 NFL season
The 2012 NFL season was the 93rd season of the National Football League and the 47th of the Super Bowl era. It began on Wednesday, September 5, 2012, with the defending Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants falling to the Dallas Cowboys 24–17 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.


2012 NFL season, Referee labor dispute
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.


2012 NFL season, Referee labor dispute
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.


2012 NFL season, Referee labor dispute
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.


2012 NFL season, Player movement
The 2012 NFL League year and trading period began at 4pm EST on March 13 2012, which marked the start of the league's free agency period. The per-team salary cap was set at US$120,600,000, marginally increased from US$120,000,000 the previous year.


2012 NFL season, Player movement, Trades
The following notable trades were made during the 2012 league year:


2012 NFL season, Player movement, Draft
The 2012 NFL Draft was held from April 26 to 28, 2012 at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. With the first pick, the Indianapolis Colts selected quarterback Andrew Luck from Stanford.


2012 NFL season, Referee change
Bill Vinovich returned to the field as a substitute referee, working several games during the season. He was originally promoted to referee in 2004, but had to leave the field in 2007 because of a heart condition. During his recovery, he served as a replay official.


2012 NFL season, Rule changes
The following rule changes have been approved by the competition committee for the 2012 season:


2012 NFL season, Rule changes, Other changes
On August 30, 2012, the owners and NFLPA agreed to the following changes regarding player movement:


2012 NFL season, Regular season, Late Sunday doubleheader kickoff time change
The league announced on June 28 that all late Sunday doubleheader games will be moved ten minutes later from 4:15 p.m. ET to 4:25 p.m. Late games broadcast on the single game network will still remain at 4:05 p.m. The league cited 44 early games from the 2009 to 2011 seasons in which part of the audience had to be switched immediately to the kickoff of their home team's doubleheader game, and thus miss the end of the first game. The 4:15 p.m. late doubleheader kickoff time dates back to the 1998 season when the NFL moved it from 4:05 p.m. for the same reason.


2012 NFL season, Regular season, Matchups
As per the NFL's scheduling formula, the intraconference and interconference matchups were:


2012 NFL season, Regular season, Other highlights
The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game was played August 5 and featured a match-up between the Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints. New Orleans last appeared in the game in 2007; former Saints offensive tackle Willie Roaf was inducted as part of the Hall of Fame ceremonies. The Cardinals played there for the first time since 1986, when the franchise was still located in St. Louis.


2012 NFL season, Regular season, Other highlights
As with the originally announced 2011 game, this matchup broke from the game's usual tradition of featuring two teams from opposing conferences (the 2011 Hall of Fame Game would've featured the Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams, but the game was canceled due to the 2011 NFL lockout). The game, normally airing on NBC, instead aired this season on NFL Network due to NBC airing the 2012 Summer Olympics, as it had done in 2007. The Saints defeated the Cardinals, 17–10. The remainder of the 2012 preseason matchups were revealed on April 4.


2012 NFL season, Regular season, Other highlights
The November 11 game between the San Francisco 49ers and the St. Louis Rams ended in a rare tied game, with each team scoring 24 points, none in the overtime period. Prior to this, the last tie game had been in 2008.


2012 NFL season, Regular season, Other highlights
The 2013 Pro Bowl was held in Hawaii on January 27, 2013, after New Orleans was briefly considered as a site. Originally, the NFL delayed announcing a date or venue for the game, and even considered eliminating the game altogether due to the NFL's displeasure with the quality of play in the 2012 Pro Bowl.


2012 NFL season, Regular season, Scheduling changes
The following games were rescheduled by the NFL using flexible scheduling to promote what the NFL deems to be its best games, typically because of their playoff implications:


2012 NFL season, Postseason
Within each conference, the four division winners and the two wild card teams (the top two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1 through 4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5 and 6. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round.


2012 NFL season, Postseason
In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosts the sixth seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference then receive a bye in the first round. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the worst surviving seed from the first round (seed 4, 5, or 6), while the number 2 seed will play the other team (seed 3, 4, or 5).


2012 NFL season, Postseason
The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games then meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the fourth and final round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference.


2012 NFL season, Controversies, Saints bounty scandal
In 2012, the New Orleans Saints were discovered to have run a "slush fund" under former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, that paid out bonuses, called "bounties", to purposely injure offensive players that the Saints were playing against. The system was known to have operated during Williams's time in Buffalo and Washington. Rumors started in 2009 during the Saints Super Bowl XLIV run in the 2009 NFC Championship game against the Vikings, where the Saints defense was allegedly trying to hurt Vikings quarterback Brett Favre.


2012 NFL season, Controversies, Saints bounty scandal
Other than the Vikings, the Saints also allegedly targeted Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers players, and the program became even more notorious in the 2011 NFL Divisional Playoff Game against the San Francisco 49ers, when filmmaker Sean Pamphilon released audio tapes of Williams telling his players to injure a select group of 49ers, with one of them being running back Kendall Hunter, and to knock him out, as well as going after Kyle Williams because of his past history of concussions. Williams also told them to injure Vernon Davis' ankles and tear wide receiver Michael Crabtree's ACL.


2012 NFL season, Controversies, Saints bounty scandal
According to Pamphilon, Williams also appeared to put a bounty on quarterback Alex Smith after he told his men to hit Smith in the chin, "then he rubs his thumb against his index and middle fingers – the cash sign – and says, I got the first one. I got the first one. Go get it. Go lay that [expletive] out."


2012 NFL season, Controversies, Saints bounty scandal
Ultimately, Goodell handed down one of the harshest penalties in league history, by suspending Williams indefinitely, head coach Sean Payton for the entire 2012 season, interim head coach Joe Vitt for the first 6 games, and general manager Mickey Loomis for 8 games. Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma was also suspended for the season, as well as defensive linemen Anthony Hargrove (now with Green Bay) and Will Smith for 8 and 4 games, respectively. Former Saints and current Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita was also suspended for 3 games. The player's suspensions were later thrown out on appeal.


2012 NFL season, Controversies, Chargers Stickum
During the Monday Night Football game on October 15 between the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos, officials checked the hands of Chargers players, under the suspicion that players were using Stickum or a similar banned adhesive on players' towels to gain a competitive edge. Chargers' head coach Norv Turner strenuously denied the accusations. The towels were revealed to have Gorilla Gold Grip Enhancer. The Chargers were fined $20,000 by the NFL for failing to immediately surrender team towels when requested, but were cleared of illegal substance use. Gorilla Gold was subsequently banned from use by the NFL.


2012 NFL season, League averages
There were a total of 11,651 points scored during the 2012 NFL regular season. The average points scored among all the teams in the NFL was 22.8 points per game.


2012 NFL season, League averages
The New England Patriots had the highest point differential, scoring an average of 14.1 points more than their opponents. The Kansas City Chiefs had the lowest point differential scoring an average of 13.4 points less than their opponents.


2012 NFL season, Awards, Players of the Week/Month
The following were named the top performers during the 2012 season:


2012 NFL season, Awards, Season awards
The 2nd Annual NFL Honors, saluting the best players and plays from 2012 season, was held at the Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans, Louisiana on February 2, 2013.


2012 NFL season, Coaching changes, Pre-season changes
Mularkey, previously the head coach of the Buffalo Bills from 2004–2005, had most recently been offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons. Tucker remains on the Jaguars staff.


2012 NFL season, Coaching changes, Pre-season changes
Crennel was the defensive coordinator for the Chiefs when he was promoted, and had previously served as head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 2005–2008.


2012 NFL season, Coaching changes, Pre-season changes
The Dolphins intended on hiring someone from outside the organization in the 2012 offseason and followed through on that intent by hiring Philbin, the former offensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers.


2012 NFL season, Coaching changes, Pre-season changes
Fisher, who had spent the previous season out of football, had coached the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise from 1994–2010.


2012 NFL season, Coaching changes, Pre-season changes
Schiano had spent the previous 11 seasons in college football, as head coach of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team.


2012 NFL season, Coaching changes, Pre-season changes
Allen had previously served as the defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos.


2012 NFL season, Coaching changes, Pre-season changes
Pagano had previously served as the defensive coordinator of the Ravens.


2012 NFL season, Coaching changes, Pre-season changes
Vitt and general manager Mickey Loomis were also suspended, for six and eight games respectively, and Gregg Williams, the defensive coordinator at the time who allegedly oversaw the bounties, was banned indefinitely from the league (at the time of the ban Williams was the defensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams).


2012 NFL season, Coaching changes, Pre-season changes
Vitt served as head coach through training camp and the preseason, at which point he began serving his six-game suspension and Kromer (the team's offensive line coach) took over as interim coach until Vitt's suspension ended.


2012 NFL season, Media changes
On December 14, 2011, the NFL announced that it had extended all of its broadcasting contracts through 2022. There were some changes to the contracts, with the most immediate change being the Thanksgiving night game being promoted from the Thursday Night Football package to the Sunday Night Football package, and moving to NBC as a result. In 2014, flexible scheduling would be expanded to allow the shifting of AFC and NFC games between CBS and Fox, and NBC traded one of its two wild card playoff games in exchange for a divisional round game.


2012 NFL season, Media changes
ESPN made a cut to its Monday Night Football broadcasts, removing Ron Jaworski from the broadcast booth and moving to a two-man announcing crew; Mike Tirico will continue on play-by-play while Jon Gruden continues as the sole color commentator. One year prior, the network had switched from two sideline reporters to one.


2012 NFL season, Media changes
The 2013 Pro Bowl was televised by NBC; although the game was normally assigned to the Super Bowl's broadcaster, CBS declined.


2012 NFL season, Media changes
The NFL authorized a new rule loosening the league's blackout restrictions during the 2012 offseason. For the first time in NFL history, the new rule no longer requires a stadium to be sold out to televise a game; instead, teams were allowed to set a benchmark anywhere from 85 to 100 percent of the stadium's non-premium seats. Any seats sold beyond that benchmark will be subject to heavier revenue sharing. Four clubs opted to set the lower TV threshold: the Miami Dolphins, the Minnesota Vikings, the Oakland Raiders, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.


2012 NFL season, Media changes
At least four other teams expressly refused to lower their threshold; one case, that of the Buffalo Bills, was particularly controversial, as Buffalo congressman Brian Higgins had lobbied for the loosening of the blackout restrictions only for the Bills to rebuff his efforts, saying such a move would threaten the team's revenue.


2012 NHK Trophy
The 2012 NHK Trophy was the final event of six in the 2012–13 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Sekisui Heim Super Arena in Miyagi on November 22–25. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final.


2012 NHK Trophy, Eligibility
Skaters who reached the age of 14 by July 1, 2012 were eligible to compete on the senior Grand Prix circuit.


2012 NHK Trophy, Eligibility
Prior to competing in a Grand Prix event, skaters were required to have earned the following scores (3/5 of the top scores at the 2012 World Championships):


2012 NHK Trophy, Entries
Withdrawals included Mary Beth Marley / Rockne Brubaker of the United States due to the end of their partnership, Japan's Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran in order to undergo surgery on Takahashi's repeatedly dislocating shoulder, China's Sui Wenjing / Han Cong due to an injury to Sui, Russia's Polina Shelepen due to worsening of a long-standing ankle injury (she was replaced by the United States' Mirai Nagasu), the United States' Alissa Czisny to continue her recovery from surgery, Caitlin Yankowskas / Joshua Reagan due to Reagan's rib injury, and Germany's Mari Vartmann / Aaron Van Cleave due to Van Cleave's broken cheekbone.


2012 NHK Trophy, Overview
The competition took place in Miyagi, one of the regions severely affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, with the arena used as a temporary morgue. The Japan Skating Federation said it selected the location to "send a message about our recovery, in response to support from around the world." Moderate tremors occurred during the weekend of the event but did not affect the competition.


2012 NHK Trophy, Overview
Skating in his hometown, Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu won the men's short program with a world record score of 95.32 points – slightly surpassing the record he set at the 2012 Skate America (95.07) – while his teammate Daisuke Takahashi and Spain's Javier Fernández rounded out the top three. Daisuke Murakami attempted to continue after partially dislocating his right shoulder in a fall but eventually withdrew. In the free skating, Hanyu maintained his lead and won the second GP gold medal of his career, Takahashi took silver, and the United States' Ross Miner rose from fourth after the short to take the bronze.


2012 NHK Trophy, Overview
Japan's Mao Asada won the ladies' short program ahead of the United States' Mirai Nagasu and China's Li Zijun. Akiko Suzuki of Japan won the free skating by over nine points and finished with the silver medal, Asada was second in the segment but finished first overall by 0.05 points, and Nagasu took the bronze.


2012 NHK Trophy, Overview
Meryl Davis / Charlie White of the United States placed first in the short dance, followed by their teammates Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani and Russia's Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov. Ilinykh fell ill with food poisoning before the free dance. Davis / White also placed first in the free dance and won the gold medal, Ilinykh / Katsalapov the silver, and the Shibutanis the bronze.


2012 NHK Trophy, Overview
Russia's Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov won the pairs' short program, slightly ahead of Canada's Kirsten Moore-Towers / Dylan Moscovitch, with the United States' Marissa Castelli / Simon Shnapir in third. The top three remained the same after the free skating and Bazarova / Larionov won their first gold medal on the Grand Prix series.


2012 NHL Entry Draft
The 2012 NHL Entry Draft was the 50th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held June 22–23, 2012, at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first time that Pittsburgh hosted the draft since the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. The top three picks were Nail Yakupov going to the Edmonton Oilers, Ryan Murray going to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Alex Galchenyuk going to the Montreal Canadiens.


2012 NHL Entry Draft, Eligibility
Ice hockey players born between January 1, 1992, and September 15, 1994, were eligible for selection in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Additionally, un-drafted, non-North American players over the age of 20 are eligible for the draft; and those players who were drafted in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but not signed by an NHL team and who were born after June 24, 1992, were also eligible to re-enter the draft.


2012 NHL Entry Draft, Draft lottery
The NHL draft lottery enables a team to move up to four spots ahead in the draft. Thus, only the bottom five teams were eligible to receive the number one draft pick. Beginning with the 2013 NHL Entry Draft all fourteen teams not qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs will have a "weighted" chance at winning the first overall selection. The Edmonton Oilers won the 2012 draft lottery that took place on April 10, 2012, thus moving them up from the second pick to the first pick.


2012 NHL Winter Classic
The 2012 NHL Winter Classic (known via corporate sponsorship as the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic) was an outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game, part of the Winter Classic series, played on January 2, 2012, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The game, the League's fifth Winter Classic, matched the New York Rangers against the Philadelphia Flyers, two Atlantic Division rivals; the Rangers won by a score of 3–2.


2012 NHL Winter Classic
The original plan was to have the contest at the Philadelphia Eagles' home, Lincoln Financial Field; however, the Eagles played there the day before, and the NHL needed at least a week of preparation time to build the ice rink onto the field. The game was broadcast by NBC in the United States and by CBC and RDS in Canada. NBC's announcers were Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk, with Pierre McGuire handling sideline duties and Bob Costas as the studio host.


2012 NHL Winter Classic
The game returned to its original daytime time slot, with the Rangers-Flyers game beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (two hours behind its originally scheduled start time of 1:00 p.m.). This marked the first time the Winter Classic was not played on New Year's Day; to follow the precedent of bowl games—which do not play on January 1 if it falls on a Sunday out of respect for the National Football League, and the observed New Year's Day holiday being legally floated to Monday in these scenarios, the game was instead played on January 2.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Game summary
The game was delayed two hours from its originally scheduled start time due to the expectations of warm temperatures and sun glare. The 3:20 p.m. puck drop provided more ideal conditions, with a temperature around 45 °F and overcast skies. Rain fell for a short time during the second period. Ice conditions were mostly excellent with few delays to repair the playing surface, and they compared favorably to last year's game according to Michael Rupp, who played for the Penguins in the 2011 NHL Winter Classic. The Rangers entered the game on top of the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference with 50 points, with the Flyers trailing the Rangers by two points and having the chance to tie for first place with a win.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Game summary
The first period was scoreless, with neither team sustaining much offensive pressure. The Flyers had the edge in play, and it was reflected on the scoreboard with their 12–9 lead in shots on goal. Each team was assessed a penalty late in period, resulting in short power plays for both. In the second, shadows were becoming prevalent on the rink as the sun set behind the stadium and the lights took full effect.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Game summary
Despite the ice conditions getting slightly worse, as well, the game became more fast-paced, and the Flyers scored two goals in less than two minutes in the second half of the period. Brayden Schenn's first career goal was scored following an offensive-zone face-off and Claude Giroux scored on an odd-man rush. On the Rangers' first shift following Giroux's goal, Rupp scored his second of the season on a wrist shot. The Flyers again outplayed the Rangers in this period and had a 14 to 8 edge in shots on goal.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Game summary
The Rangers came out with more energy to start the third, and Rupp tied the game on his first shift of the period, beating Sergei Bobrovsky from a bad angle. Less than three minutes later, Brad Richards gave the Rangers a 3–2 lead when he hit an open side of the net following a rebound. The final period had the most end-to-end action of the game and sustained pressure, and it was played evenly by both teams. The Flyers had the only power play of the period, recording one shot.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Game summary
With Bobrovsky pulled from the net for an extra attacker, the Flyers and Rangers were assessed matching minors, so the Flyers had more room to skate with a five to four skater advantage rather than six to five. As they sustained more pressure and the puck was sliding through the crease, Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh slid in an attempt to block the net but was called for covering the puck in the crease. Daniel Briere was chosen to take the ensuing penalty shot, which was stopped by Henrik Lundqvist with 19.6 seconds remaining, sealing the win for the Rangers. With the loss the Flyers became the first team to lose in two Winter Classics. Prior to this game, the Flyers had a record of 18–0–1 when leading after two periods. The win moved the Rangers into first overall in the league standings.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Broadcasting
The game was telecasted on NBC in the United States, CBC (English) and RDS (Français) in Canada. Local radio broadcasts were provided by WIP/WIP-FM in Philadelphia and WEPN in New York City, while Sirius XM Radio carried the game on satellite radio.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Documentary
HBO aired a four-part documentary chronicling the preparation of the two teams for the game as part of its award-winning sports series 24/7. The first episode aired on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 10 p.m. ET, with three additional episodes following each subsequent Wednesday. The series chronicled each team's seasons leading up to the Winter Classic, and emphasized the physical nature and intensity of the Rangers–Flyers rivalry. The episodes focused notably on the fiery coaching approaches of John Tortorella and Peter Laviolette, the odd and comical personality of Ilya Bryzgalov, and the ups and downs that each team underwent before the Winter Classic.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Ratings
The 2012 Winter Classic had relatively low ratings compared to the previous four events. The game earned a 2.4 rating and 3.74 million viewers; it is the first Winter Classic to fall short of the benchmark set by Wayne Gretzky's final game in 1999 (2.5 rating/6 share) that had stood as the most-watched post-1975 NHL regular season game prior to the Winter Classic. In Philadelphia, the game had a rating of 11.9. The other highest rated markets were Buffalo (7.8), Boston (5.1), and Pittsburgh (4.4).


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Ratings
New York's home market finished with a 4.3 rating, the first time that the host markets did not finish both first and second in the individual market ratings.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Ratings
Some critics' reasons as to why the ratings were low were due to the fact that the game was moved back two hours from 1pm EST to 3pm EST; the game was played a day later than normally (January 2 opposed to January 1) because of the NFL last regular season games; it was played during the daytime on a day not universally recognized as a holiday (thus more people would have been at work and missed the game); the fact it had to compete with two college bowl games (Outback Bowl and Rose Bowl, although previous Winter Classics also had to compete with bowl games); and overexposure of the New York-Philly matchup.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Alumni game
An alumni game between former Flyers and Rangers players was played on December 31. The game was broadcast live by Versus, CBC Television, and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, with a tape-delay broadcast on MSG Network. The start time was rescheduled to 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time from the original start time of 1:00 PM, due to weather concerns, but garnered a near sellout crowd nonetheless.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Alumni game
Two storylines built headlines in anticipation of alumni game. One was Bernie Parent participating in the game at the age of 66. Parent decided to participate despite his age due to requests by fans. The return of Eric Lindros also grabbed headlines. Lindros was a very popular and successful player for the Flyers, but left the franchise amidst controversy and bad blood. The Flyers players all wore a small number "10" on top of their shoulders in memory of former Flyers defenseman Brad McCrimmon, who died in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash earlier in the year.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Alumni game
The game began with a ceremonial faceoff between Flyer captain Bob Clarke and Ranger captain Mark Messier, dropped by Flyers chairman Ed Snider, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder, and a recent inductee in the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. The game started with a total of seven members of the Hockey Hall of Fame on the ice: Clarke, Parent, Messier, Bill Barber, Mark Howe, Mike Gartner and Brian Leetch. Glenn Anderson, another Hall of Fame Member, also participated in the game. Parent started the game and earned ovations by several saves, most notably one on a breakaway by Ron Duguay, but was replaced with Mark LaForest by his request five minutes into the game. Early in the game, Jeremy Roenick committed a rare alumni game hit on Darren Turcotte.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Alumni game
The first goal of the game was scored by John LeClair on a pass by Eric Lindros, showing shades of the Legion of Doom. Mikael Renberg, the third member of the Legion, was invited to the game but was unable to participate due to prior commitments. Instead, Lindros and LeClair were joined by Mark Recchi, who retired less than 6 months earlier after winning the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins at the age of 43.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Alumni game
Recchi played with Lindros early in Lindros' career, forming the Crazy 8s line with Brent Fedyk before being traded for LeClair and Eric Desjardins, who also participated in the game. Shortly after Lindros scored, Shjon Podein cleaned up a rebound to put the Flyers up 2–0. The first penalty was committed by Eric Lindros, resulting in a penalty shot (as did all penalties in the game) for Nick Kypreos. Kypreos' attempt was however stopped by LaForest.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Alumni game
Rangers goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck was replaced by Dan Blackburn to start the second period. Blackburn would keep the net clean for the entire period, also stopping a penalty shot by Podein after Podein was slashed by Nick Fotiu. Flyers goalie LaForest was replaced by Neil Little halfway through the game without surrendering a goal. Little gave up a goal to a deflection by Glenn Anderson late in the 2nd period, cutting the Flyers lead to 2–1. The goal was originally credited to Brian Leetch before being changed.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Alumni game
After the first five minutes in the third period, recent Hall of Fame inductee Mark Howe extended the lead to 3-1 by converting a penalty shot against Blackburn. Neil Little stopped another penalty shot by Glenn Anderson after Anderson was slashed by Bob Clarke. With both goaltenders shutting the door for the rest of the game, the game ended in a 3–1 Flyers win. Following the game, the two teams took part in a traditional handshake line. Afterwards, team photographs were taken, one of each team individually, and one with both teams together.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Alumni game
The game was officiated by retired NHL referee Kerry Fraser and his son, current AHL referee Ryan Fraser. Former NHL referee Harry Dumas, who is also Kerry Fraser's son-in-law, with retired NHL linesmen Kevin Collins, who is currently and NHL Supervisor of Officials, served as linesmen for the game. Bernie Parent had a special mask painted for the occasion to be auctioned off for charity, but in the game wore the familiar plain white shell mask with two Flyer logos that was his trademark during most of his playing career.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Alumni game
The alumni teams were coached by Pat Quinn (Flyers) and Mike Keenan (Rangers) who had also faced each other in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals won by Keenan's Rangers over Quinn's Vancouver Canucks in seven games (Collins was one of the linesmen in the game the Rangers clinched the Stanley Cup title). Both had also previously coached the Flyers to three appearances in Stanley Cup finals in 1980 (Quinn), 1985, and 1987 (both Keenan).


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Alumni game
New York RangersCoaches: Mike Keenan, Emile Francis, Colin Campbell and Mike RichterAmbassadors: Rod Gilbert, Eddie Giacomin, Vic Hadfield, and Harry Howell


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Alumni game
Philadelphia FlyersCoaches: Pat Quinn, Mike Nykoluk, Terry Crisp and Keith Primeau. Ambassadors: Gary Dornhoefer, Ron Hextall, Don Saleski and Dave Schultz.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Associated events
As the final event of the Winter Classic, the American Hockey League (AHL) played an outdoor game at Citizens Bank Park on January 6 featuring the Adirondack Phantoms, the Flyers' AHL affiliate which was formerly based in Philadelphia, and the Hershey Bears. The game, which drew an all time AHL record crowd of 45,653, was won by the Phantoms, 4–3, in overtime.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Associated events
On December 30, 2011, the Philadelphia Police Department Ice Hockey Club hosted the Boston Police Emerald Society in a rematch from their January 6, 2010, game at Fenway Park.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Associated events, Collegiate Games
On January 4, 2012, Neumann University Knights (Division III) and Penn State met during the Icers' final year as an ACHA D1 program, prior to moving to the NCAA. Neumann won 6–3 in front of a crowd of 6,800. A second game was held on Thursday, January 5 between ACHA Division I rivals, Drexel University and Villanova University. Drexel won the game 7–3.


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Anthems/Entertainment
The anthems were performed by Melanie Fiona (O Canada) and Philadelphia native Patti LaBelle (The Star-Spangled Banner)


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Anthems/Entertainment
During the first intermission the Flyers' anthem singer Lauren Hart performed God Bless America (and also at the Alumni Game)


2012 NHL Winter Classic, Anthems/Entertainment
During intermission, Philadelphia-based hip-hop band The Roots performed "The Fire", but replaced the word "Flyers" instead of "Fire" just for the occasion of supporting the team during the game.


2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season
The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Season was announced on September 8, 2011. The schedule was revised on October 12, 2011, with the events at Maple Grove Raceway and Gateway International Raceway swapping dates.


2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season
There were 23 Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock car events, and 16 Pro Stock Motorcycle events scheduled.


2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season, Schedule
1 The rules for the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 4 Wide Nationals differ from other races:


2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season, Schedule
2 Finals postponed to Monday. Pro Stock Motorcycle competed at Reading, but the finals were not held because of rain. The two finalists raced for the title during one of the qualifying session at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's Big O Tires Nationals on October 27. Eddie Krawiec was declared the winner of Reading.


2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season, Notable events
Gateway Motorsports Park has reopened with former IndyCar Firestone Indy Lights driver Curtis Francois as the track owner, rejoining the NHRA schedule with the Midwest Nationals and featuring all four Professional race categories.


2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season, Notable events
Top Fuel driver Hillary Will announced a return to the Full Throttle racing series, beginning at the Gatornationals on March 8. She will pilot the Dote Racing top-fuel dragster.


2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season, Notable events
Pro Stock driver Jeg Coughlin announced he will return to Pro Stock category in 2012 with Fiat's Mopar brand of auto parts along with JEGS in a 2012 Dodge Avenger.


2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season, Notable events
The 2012 Chevrolet Camaro Pro Stock will be legal as of the 2012 Tire Kingdom Gatornationals.


2012 NIS public opinion manipulation scandal
The 2012 NIS public opinion manipulation scandal saw members of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) of South Korea accused of interfering in the South Korean presidential election, 2012. First, an agent of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) was alleged to have manipulated public opinion to help Park Geun-hye's presidential election under the command of the NIS. Second, the director of the agency commanded an NIS agent to manipulate public opinion. Suspicions were raised before the election, but were not verified until afterwards.


2012 NIS public opinion manipulation scandal
On April 30, prosecutors raided the headquarters of the South Korean National Intelligence Service. On June 12, the head of the NIS Won Sei-hoon and the head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Kim Yong-pan were prosecuted for interfering in the election. In 2015 Supreme Court acquitted Kim of charges of abusing his power to manipulate the investigation. In 2016, a prosecutors' investigation had turned up evidence that the NIS had effectively been orchestrating the activities of conservative groups since the administration of former president Lee Myung-bak (2008–2013).


2012 NIS public opinion manipulation scandal
The evidence shows that the NIS has been involved not only in political advertisements that conservative groups have run in newspapers but also in their plans to hold one-person protests and to hand out pamphlets. "An agent surnamed Park who was on the NIS's psychological warfare team supported and supervised right-wing conservative organizations and right-wing youth organizations.”


2012 NIS public opinion manipulation scandal, Aftermath
In 2013, prosecutor Yoon Seok-youl led a special investigation team that looked into the National Intelligence Service (NIS)'s involvement in the scandal. Yoon sought the prosecution of the former head of the NIS, Won Sei-hoon for violating the Public Official Election Act for his role in the case. Yoon accused Park Geun-hye's Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn of influencing his investigation. In February 2015, Won was convicted on charges of instructing NIS officials to manipulate internet comments and sentenced to three years in prison. However the conviction was overturned on appeal, leading to a retrial.


2012 NIS public opinion manipulation scandal, Aftermath
In a second trial, Won was sentenced to four years in prison in 2017. The Supreme Court upheld the sentence in April 2018. When Moon Jae-in won the 2017 election, his administration pursued nine additional charges of political interference against Won, resulting in a subsequent 7 year jail sentence in 2020.


2012 NIS public opinion manipulation scandal, Aftermath
In August 2017, the NIS formally acknowledged that it was involved in the election manipulation after an internal inquiry. In December 2020, the National Assembly passed reforms curbing powers of the NIS, explicitly banning the agency and its employees from interfering in domestic politics.


2012 NLL season
The 2012 National Lacrosse League season, the 26th in the history of the NLL, began on January 8, 2012 and ended with the Championship game on May 19, 2012. The Rochester Knighthawks won their third NLL Championship, and first-ever in Rochester, defeating the Edmonton Rush 9-6 in the final game.


2012 NLL season
Mid -way through the off-season, the Boston Blazers announced that they would not be participating in the 2012 season due to problems in securing a facility in which to play. A dispersal draft was held and Dan Dawson, for the third time in his career, was the first overall pick, heading to the Philadelphia Wings. Kyle Rubisch was taken second by the Edmonton Rush, and the Minnesota Swarm chose Anthony Cosmo and Josh Sanderson with the third and fourth picks. The Swarm immediately traded Sanderson to the Toronto Rock. Casey Powell, after a knee injury in the MLL Championship game, wasn't chosen until the second round when the Rochester Knighthawks took a chance. Powell did not play in 2012 at all.


2012 NLL season
Both defending division champions got off to rough starts in 2012, as the Toronto Rock lost their first two and the Washington Stealth lost their first three. The Rock recovered and won their next three, eventually finishing atop the East division, but the Stealth had their worst season in franchise history, finishing 4-12 and the only team out of the playoffs.


2012 NLL season
The Buffalo Bandits won their first two games but then went on a franchise-record six-game losing streak, during which head coach and GM Darris Kilgour called the team "stupid" and "pathetic", and said "I totally question the hearts of basically everybody but about four guys on our team". The Bandits won three of their last four games to finish in fourth place in the East and getting a first-round playoff game against the Toronto Rock.


2012 NLL season
The Colorado Mammoth only won 5 games in 2011 but in 2012, they had surpassed that total before losing a game. The Mammoth began the year winning 6 in a row and finished with an 11-5 record, good for second in the west behind the 12-5 Calgary Roughnecks. Despite having a league-high 12 rookies playing on the roster, the Minnesota Swarm surprised many finishing third with a 9-7 record.


2012 NLL season
The 2012 season will be known as a record-breaking year in the NLL. John Grant, Jr. was named league MVP for the second time in his career after scoring 116 points, breaking John Tavares' eleven-year-old single-season scoring record. Grant also scored his 500th career goal and 1000th career point during the season. Toronto Rock forward Garrett Billings finished only two points back of Grant but amassed 82 assists, breaking the old record of 74.


2012 NLL season, Team movement
The Boston Blazers announced in September 2011 that they would not participate in the 2012 season. A dispersal draft was held on September 9, 2011, as the Philadelphia Wings took Blazers captain and top scorer Dan Dawson first overall.


2012 NLL season, Final standings
x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games PlayedW: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowedDifferential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game


2012 NLL season, Media Coverage
Beginning with the 2012 NLL season, U.S. broadcast rights shifted to CBS Sports Network, which carried eight regular season games, all of them live.


2012 NLL season, Media Coverage
A new weekly one-hour radio show called "Toronto Rock Total Access" about the Toronto Rock began on January 2, 2012 on TSN Radio. Rock Communications and Public Relations Coordinator Mike Hancock hosts the show, which airs at 8pm on Monday nights. The Rock also announced that 11 of their games would be televised on TSN or TSN2.


2012 NLL season, Media Coverage
The Edmonton Rush and Calgary Roughnecks announced on January 19, 2012 that their four "Battle of Alberta" games would be televised on Sportsnet.


2012 NLL season, All-Star game
The 2012 All-Star Game was held at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo on February 25, 2012. The West came back from a 9-2 deficit in the second quarter to win the game 20-18. The Calgary Roughneck's Geoff Snider was named Game MVP, scoring 4 goals and 2 assists, and winning 22 of 26 faceoffs.


2012 NLL season, All-Star game, All-Star teams
* - Not playing due to injury** - Not playing due to holdout status


2012 NLL season, Awards, Weekly awards
The NLL gives out awards weekly for the best offensive player, best transition player, best defensive player, and best rookie. The "Best Overall Player" award is no longer being given out.


2012 NLL season, Awards, Monthly awards
Awards are also given out monthly for the best overall player and best rookie.


2012 NLL season, Statistics leaders
Bold numbers indicate new single-season records. Italics indicate tied single-season records.


2012 NPF Draft
The 2012 NPF Draft is the ninth annual NPF Draft. It was held March 7, 2012 5:00 PM CST in Memphis, TN at the Peabody Hotel for the 2012 season. It was streamed live on the NPF's website. The first selection was LSU's Brittany Mack, picked by the USSSA Pride. Athletes are not allowed by the NCAA to sign professional contracts until their collegiate seasons have ended.


2012 NPF Draft, 2012 NPF Draft
Position key: C = Catcher; UT = Utility infielder; INF = Infielder; 1B = First base; 2B =Second base SS = Shortstop; 3B = Third base; OF = Outfielder; RF = Right field; CF = Center field; LF = Left field;  P = Pitcher; RHP = right-handed Pitcher; LHP = left-handed Pitcher; DP =Designated playerPositions are listed as combined for those who can play multiple positions.


2012 NPSL season
The 2012 National Premier Soccer League season is the 10th season of the NPSL.


2012 NPSL season, Changes From 2011, Name Changes/Rebrands
The Santa Ana Winds' NPSL side is now affiliated with the Fullerton Rangers. The Lancaster Rattlers have moved to become FC Santa Clarita.


2012 NPSL season, Changes From 2011, New Franchises
13 franchises were announced as joining the league this year:


2012 NPSL season, Changes From 2011, Folding
Chicago Fire NPSL  ILHollywood United Hitmen  CAMinnesota Kings  MNNew Jersey Blaze  NJ


2012 NPSL season, Standings
As of 7/22/12Purple indicates division title clinchedGreen indicates playoff berth clinched


2012 NPSL season, Playoffs, Format
NORTHEASTThe top two finishers in the Keystone and Atlantic Conference play in a crossover playoff.


2012 NPSL season, Playoffs, Format
WESTThe top two finishers in the North and South place in a crossover playoff.


2012 NPSL season, Playoffs, Format
MIDWEST-GREAT LAKESTop four teams are playing in a playoff tournament.


2012 NPSL season, Playoffs, Format
SOUTHEASTEast and West Division winners play each other for Championship.


2012 NRL Grand Final
The 2012 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2012 NRL season. Played on Sunday, 30 September at Sydney's ANZ Stadium between the minor premiers Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the second-placed Melbourne Storm. Melbourne won the match 14–4 in a tight contest to claim their second premiership title after their 2007 and 2009 titles were stripped due to major salary cap breaches.


2012 NRL Grand Final, Background
This was the fourth time the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs and Melbourne Storm have faced each other in a finals series and the first in a grand final. It was the fifth time in the past seven seasons the Melbourne Storm featured in a grand final, although they were playing for their second official title. The Bulldogs played in their first decider since 2004 when they defeated the Sydney Roosters to win their last premiership. It was also the third time coaches Craig Bellamy and Des Hasler oversaw their sides in a premiership decider after each claimed grand final success in their 2007 and 2008 meetings.