The NFL preseason is the annual slate of exhibition games held before the regular season, currently kicking off with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in early August and comprising three weekends of play. Exhibition contests have existed since the sport's origins, with early teams often "barnstorming" against college or amateur squads before rule changes in the 1920s clarified what counted as an official game. Following the AFL–NFL merger in 1970, a Sherman Anti-Trust Act exemption allowed owners to expand the schedule, peaking at six exhibition games per team (1970-1977) before settling at four games from 1978 to 2019. The 2020 preseason was scrapped entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2021, with the regular season expanding to 17 games, the league cut the preseason to three games (four for Hall of Fame participants) and abolished overtime in exhibitions for the first time since 1973. That same year, the Baltimore Ravens and head coach John Harbaugh set a record for consecutive preseason wins, notching their 20th straight victory.