The NFL world predicted in 1979 what the league would look like in the 21st century - some predictions are spot-on and others are hilarious

The NFL is entering its 98th season, and it 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.