The NFL instituted a new "free agent" system for this season, Plan B, which allowed teams to have the first chance on re-signing 37 of their players. If a team did not make a deal and that player signs elsewhere, the team would receive compensation; it would be used until 1992.[1][2]
March 27: The Kansas City Chiefs sign Defensive Tackle Dan Saleaumua as a free agent.
March 28: The Washington Redskins sign Tight End Ken Whisenhunt as a free agent. Whisenhunt would become an NFL head coach, leading the Arizona Cardinals to an appearance in Super Bowl XLIII.
March 31: The San Francisco 49ers sign Wide Receiver Mike Sherrard as a free agent.[3]
April 13: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers sign Kicker John Carney as a free agent.[4]
June 13: The 49ers sign quarterback Steve Bono as a free agent.[5]
Fred Silva retired during the 1989 off-season. He joined the NFL in 1968 as a line judge before being promoted to referee in 1969. Games that he officiated include Super Bowl XIV and the Freezer Bowl.
Dale Hamer, the head linesman for Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XXII, and Howard Roe were promoted to referee. In addition to replacing Silva, an extra 16th officiating crew was added to help handle the weekly workload of 14 games.
Walt Coleman was hired as a line judge. He was promoted to referee in 1995 and was a crew chief through 2018.
After a foul that occurs inside the last two minutes of the first half and inside the last five minutes of the second half or overtime, the game clock will start at the snap, instead of when the ball is spotted and the referee signals it is ready to be played.
New rules were enacted, including loss of timeouts or five-yard penalties, to handle the problem of crowd noise when it becomes too loud for the offensive team to hear its signals.
If a receiver and a defender eventually establish joint control of a pass, the ball will be awarded to whoever was the first player to establish control of the ball.
While not a rule "change" per se, the "hurry up offense" was recognized as fully legal, and penalties for delay of game would be called against teams whose defenders faked injuries in order to slow down the tempo, unless those teams called for timeouts.
Carl Monroe: On April 26, 1989, Monroe, a member of the San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl XIX championship team, was found dead at his home at 7:58 a.m.[12]
Steve Moore: Moore, a New England Patriots 1983 NFL Draft selection, was shot and killed in October 1989, following a robbery outside a convenience store in Memphis.[13]
Wayne Moore: A member of the 1972 Miami Dolphins Super Bowl VII championship team; Moore suffered a heart attack at his home in Miami on August 19, 1989, and was pronounced dead at Coral Reef Hospital that afternoon.[14]
Sherman Plunkett: A member of the Baltimore Colts' NFL championship teams in 1958 and 1959, Plunkett died on November 18, 1989.
Frank Sinkovitz: Having served as an NFL umpire from 1958 to 1983, Sinkovitz also played for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1947 to 1952. An official for Super Bowl XV, he died on August 6, 1989.
Stumpy Thomason: A former quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, Thomas died on April 30, 1989.
Tommy Thompson: A quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles during the World War II era, died on April 22, 1989.
Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 23, featuring Cleveland at Detroit and Philadelphia at Dallas, with Detroit and Philadelphia winning.
Note: The San Francisco 49ers (the NFC 1 seed) did not play the Los Angeles Rams (the 5 seed) in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division.
Los Angeles Raiders: Mike Shanahan was fired after the first four games. Assistant coach Art Shell served as interim for the last 12 games. Shell was given the position permanently and held it through 1994, then returned for one season in 2006.
Phoenix Cardinals: Gene Stallings was fired after the first 11 games after announcing he would resign at the end of the season, and Hank Kuhlmann served as interim for the final five games. Stallings became coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he won the 1992 national championship.
The Dallas Cowboys removed the elliptical blue circles with the player's number from the hip area of the pants.
The Green Bay Packers removed the "G" helmet monogram from the striping of the jersey sleeves.
The Kansas City Chiefs began wearing their white pants with their white jerseys, discontinuing their red pants. It was the first time the Chiefs wore white pants with their white jerseys since 1967. The red pants returned in 2000.
The Miami Dolphins introduced aqua pants to be worn with their white jerseys. They were not worn again in 1989 after a 39–7 loss at Houston in week four, but returned full-time in 1990.
This was the third and final year under the league's broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, NBC, and ESPN to televise Monday Night Football, the NFC package, the AFC package, and Sunday Night Football, respectively. O. J. Simpson was named as the sole studio analyst for NBC's NFL Live!, joining host Bob Costas. NBC also hired the then-recently retired head coach Bill Walsh to join Dick Enberg on the network's lead broadcast team, replacing Merlin Olsen as the network's lead color commentator; Olsen left for CBS after this season.[17]
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