Footbal PODs and What-Ifs?

Inspired by the Baseball thread and by the thread on Michael Vick, I think it's about time to create a thread that deals with American Football PODs. Here are a few to consider:

-John Elway decides to play with the Colts
-Drew Bledsoe is never injured
-Michael Vick dosen't fight dogs
-Al Davis hands over final say on front office moves following the 2002 Super Bowl loss
 
Inspired by the Baseball thread and by the thread on Michael Vick, I think it's about time to create a thread that deals with American Football PODs. Here are a few to consider:

-John Elway decides to play with the Colts
-Drew Bledsoe is never injured
-Michael Vick dosen't fight dogs
-Al Davis hands over final say on front office moves following the 2002 Super Bowl loss

Elway-Colts likely don't leave Baltimore, and work out the Baltodome. So the Colts don't get a team until either the Browns leave for Indy or there's an expansion.

Bledsoe-No Brady for the 01 Pats, so they don't make the Super Bowl. Eventually, there's a QB controversy, and either Bledsoe or Brady is traded. No Patriots dynasty either (Maybe the *Indianapolis* Colts take over as the new dynasty?)

Vick-Most unlikely scenario. Dogfighting seemed to be fairly integrated in his life. Maybe the Falcons don't draft Matt Ryan, which raises a question of where he goes, and if/when they rebuild.

Davis-Ok, this is the most unlikely scenario. Davis is too much of a control freak. But maybe he has a stroke, is incapacitated, and forced to hand over control of the team to someone.
 
Walsh

Bill Walsh was almost given the Ram head job in 1978, but Carroll Rosenbloom changed his mind. He wanted someone that could win right away, so he went with George Allen(who ended up resigning later that year or something).

If he hires Walsh, that would have had some big butterflies. The Rams had a real good team, and I don't see Walsh having to do much rebuilding like he did in San Francisco. He still would have implemented his system, though, which would have made the Rams a better offensive team than they already were. I see Walsh drafting Clark and Montana in 79 like he did in San Fran. I see Walsh winning a few SB's in Los Angeles, and maybe things work out so well for them that they never move to St. Louis.
 
Here's an odd one: What if Jamarcus Russell comes back to LSU for his senior season? For this argument let's say that he wins the Heisman Trophy and the Tigers win the National Championship.

I could see the Dolphins taking Russell, which would be interesting today with the likes of Brandon Marshall and Ronnie Brown. Maybe Russell has a far better career, as in he's still in the NFL until the codine bust really hurts him. It would be interesting to see Russell flinging the ball downfield to Marshall and playing in the wildcat.
 
Contract negotations between Emmitt Smith and the Cowboys fall through and he winds up signing with Miami (or somewhere else) during the 1993 season.
 
Emmitt

Contract negotations between Emmitt Smith and the Cowboys fall through and he winds up signing with Miami (or somewhere else) during the 1993 season.

Could he have done that? Wouldn't he have had to sit out the season if he didn't get anything worked out?

Here are a few more:

1. The Bears get Bradshaw in the 1970 coin flip instead of Pittsburgh.

2. The Bills don't trade away their 85 first round supplemental pick for Chip Banks(who didn't report, so they got Cleveland's 85 first rounder instead), and they keep their 86 #1, which turned out to be first overall, and in prime position for Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson.

3. Csonka, Kiick, and Warfield wise up, and they realize that they have a good thing going with Miami, so they stay there for the 75 season.
 
Could he have done that? Wouldn't he have had to sit out the season if he didn't get anything worked out?

Here are a few more:

1. The Bears get Bradshaw in the 1970 coin flip instead of Pittsburgh.

2. The Bills don't trade away their 85 first round supplemental pick for Chip Banks(who didn't report, so they got Cleveland's 85 first rounder instead), and they keep their 86 #1, which turned out to be first overall, and in prime position for Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson.
Bears with Bradshaw-Always an interesting one since it was merely a flip of a coin, but I don't know if this helps either the Bears or Bradshaw. Bradshaw certainly would have been better than any of the starters the Bears troted out during the 70s in Concannon, Douglass, Huff, Avelleni, etc. That said I don't know if Bradshaw is a Hall of Famer throwing to George Farmer, Bo Rather, James Scott as opposed to Lynn Swann and John Stallworth. Bradshaw would have made the Bears better during the early to mid 70s, which in all honesty, might have been a bad thing because with a slightly better record in '74 perhaps they can't snag Payton at fourth overall. No Sweetness might mean no Super Bowl in '85, even with how good that defense was.

Bo in Buffalo-Interesting to imagine the K-Gun with how dangerous Bo Jackson was. However, if the Bills took Bo first you would have to imagine that they would have wanted him to commit to football. The Bucs made those demands in 86 and it resulted in Jackson sitting out the entire year. He was drafted by the Raiders the following year in the 7th round. So interesting to imagine the hurry-up with Bo, but not sure how likely that was to happen.
 
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No NFL

The POD is in the near future. The National Football League gos on strike. It is lengthy and damaging. The public tires of poor play by replacement players. Only the Canadian League and UFO are left.
 
How about the Bucs don't screw up and get Bo Jackson suspended by NCAA from baseball, so he agrees to be drafted by them.
 
Noll

Here are a few more that I just heard about:

1. Al Davis was considering Chuck Noll when John Rauch resigned as Raider head coach in 1969 because of Al's meddling. What if Al hired Noll?

2. What if John Madden accepted the offer in 69 to be one of Noll's assistants after he took over the Steelers?
 
Football

Inspired by the Baseball thread and by the thread on Michael Vick, I think it's about time to create a thread that deals with American Football PODs. Here are a few to consider:

-John Elway decides to play with the Colts
-Drew Bledsoe is never injured
-Michael Vick dosen't fight dogs
-Al Davis hands over final say on front office moves following the 2002 Super Bowl loss

Here is my take on these subjects:

1. Elway with Colts: Frank Kush decides to meet with Elway and his dad to iron out their differences, and they reluctantly agree to do it. As a result, Elway decides to stay in Baltimore, and leads the Colts to the playoffs in his first year. The following spring, Baltimore police catch Robert Irsay as he is trying to move the Colts out of town in the middle of the night. The legislation is approved to seize the Colts via Eminent Domain, and Irsay has to sell to the highest Baltimore bidder. Eventually, a new, open air stadium is built. As for Elway, he threatens to leave after him and Kush have a rift, and Kush is fired in 86. Buddy Ryan takes the job, and eventually Elway leads the Colts to the SB by 89, where they lose to San Fran.

As for the Broncos, they still draft Hinton in the first round of the 83 draft and hold on to him since they don't trade for Elway. With their 1984 first rounder, they select QB Boomer Esiason, and since they are picking a lot higher in 85 without Elway, they take a WR named Jerry Rice in the first round. Other building blocks are added, like Thurman Thomas and Shannon Sharpe, and they eventually win a SB or two in the early-90's.

2. Bledsoe is never injured: What people forget is that Bledsoe signed a 10-year, 103-million dollar contract in March of 2001. So, with that kind of money, there was no guarantee that Brady was going to take over, even though people like to say that after what happened. I heard that Brady was outperforming Bledsoe in the preseason, but it is preseason. If Bledsoe doesn't get hurt that year, he leads New England to a 7-9 or 8-8 finish. I also see him still leading the team in future years as long as he is healthy, and he probably would have led them to the playoffs again around 02-06. I don't think that he would have led them to the Super Bowl, though. As for Brady, either he rides the bench for a lot of those years, or he plays good when Drew misses a game in that span, and is traded to another team. He does well, but he isn't considered one of the best QB's in the league.

3. Vick doesn't fight dogs: He probably remains Atlanta's QB to this day, and Matt Ryan would probably be with the Chiefs or Jets. If the Falcons still get Michael Turner, he and Vick would have been a good tandem. Also, I still see them hiring Mike Smith as coach in 2008. Petrino would have deserted them no matter what Vick did. Also, with Vick in Atlanta, do the Eagles hold on to McNabb?

4. Al Davis hands over personnel moves to Front office after losing SB 37: Depends on who he hands them to.

Here are some others:

1. The Chiefs give Marv Levy another chance in 1983, and Joe Delaney mentions his inability at swimming to a teammate, who decides to teach him how. Also, with Levy on board, they draft Dan Marino instead of Todd Blackledge.

2. The Buffalo Bisons are admitted into the NFL in 1950 from the AAFC.

3. The Eagles don't win their final two games of the 1968 season, and draft O.J. Simpson #1 overall in 69.
 
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