In the 1970s, the NFL world predicted what the sport would look like in the 21st century and their predictions were amazing

AP

The NFL, which is entering its 98th season, is clearly a different league now than it was 30 years ago.

In 1979, Sports Illustrated’s Frank Deford asked people around the NFL what the league might look like in 2000, from the rules to the personnel to the atmosphere. Looking back on those predictions is pretty eye-opening.

While some of the predictions look accurate today (growing fears of safety and more specialized positions) others look pretty funny (metals “flecks” in the football to see if it crossed the goal line).

We went back through the predictions and found a mix of guesses that were surprisingly on target and some that were wildly off the mark.