NFL Network's Top 10 What-Ifs: Number 10

What if Bo Jackson hadn't gotten hurt?

NFLN speculates that Bo might have been a big enough star to keep the Raiders in Los Angeles, with the Rams moving to Oakland and the Chargers eventually going to Las Vegas. I don't see it; he would have only played half of a given season at most, since his first love had always been and still was baseball.

A more interesting question might be: What would have happened to Bo in MLB? Kansas City was way too small of a market for him to stay in, so might he have decided to go to the Dodgers, which may have allowed him to be more available for football as well? Might George Steinbrenner and the Yankee pinstripes have come calling? What about the Mets, whom he may have put over the top, although not quite into dynasty territory?

Feel free to discuss. I'll post the next one of these once the discussion on this one gets rolling.
 
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The problem is the raiders waster a pick with Todd Marionovich...when they could have get brett favre instead, the duo of favre and jackson would have been brital.

As you say Bo might help but enough for a new stadium? if they get QB and playoff runs that will tip the scale. You knew, Bo would be terrific in NFL if the 1994 strike still happen.

Bo will goes in baseball whatever the team push him or hire him if the royals cut him, so anyone is a possible option
 
Favre in LA opens up a whole other block of cheese, so to speak. He's the gunslinger type of QB that's right down Al Davis's alley.

Bo possibly saving the Raiders for LA by having a big year while baseball's on strike in '94 is yet another interesting twist, much more than anything NFLN came up with.
 
Bo possibly saving the Raiders for LA by having a big year while baseball's on strike in '94 is yet another interesting twist, much more than anything NFLN came up with.
They forgot that little detail..that is a massive point itself, as bo will have all the time of the world for football. Yeah that could be the year tip the scale for plans a stadium for 1997-1998(in the same place as staple center was vacant at the time).

So depend the butterflies but the raiders need a QB too.
 
Another Bo "what if": What if Marcus Dupree went to Texas out of HS instead of OU, and he was a superstar all four years?

He could have been at the top of that 1986 draft with Bo.

Since the Bucs were having problems with Jackson (because of baseball), the Bucs decide to draft Marcus Dupree #1 overall instead.

The Falcons and the Oilers have the #2 and #3 picks that year. Does one of them take Bo? Or does someone trade up?
 
Wow, that's a good one. It depends on which team would allow Bo to pursue baseball. My guess is that the Oilers would see Bo as the next Earl Campbell and take him third, but how would Bud Adams feel about him being gone half the year?

Here's another: What if Bo agreed to play in Tampa? Would Vinny Testaverde and him be enough to make the Bucs a perennial contender?

Also, to Nivek's point earlier, what if Brett Favre ended up with the Raiders? Who would replace him in Green Bay? Ty Detmer wouldn't have been enough, given his real-life career trajectory.
 
I just looked it up: the two teams most likely to trade up to get Bo were the two other teams to draft pure running backs (as opposed to fullbacks) in the first round: Buffalo and New England. Bo knows Buffalo, anyone? Whither Thurman Thomas?
 
Does one of them take Bo? Or does someone trade up?
If neither team screw his final year at Auburn baseball, bo would sign and play any team full time and part time baseball ( or be a deion Sanders both Sports as much he can) No HATED Tampa with all his soul after they tricked him with a plane ride killed his college egibility , have Tampa play Fair they could have bo full time since Say 1.

What if Bo agreed to play in Tampa?
See above how Tampa would have get Bo

Bo knows Buffalo,
Imagine those four superbowl
 
I forgot to mention that Bo playing for the Bucs means that Hugh Culverhouse never tried to screw him out of his college baseball career. Obviously, once that happened there's no plausible universe where Bo dons the creamsicles
 
I forgot to mention that Bo playing for the Bucs means that Hugh Culverhouse never tried to screw him out of his college baseball career. Obviously, once that happened there's no plausible universe where Bo dons the creamsicles
Yeah that was i was telling, Tampa played fair, ie we expect you end your final baseball season at auburn and hope not injure, if hat happen, Bo hapilly will be a buc for life(or before being traded)
 
What if Bo Jackson hadn't gotten hurt?

NFLN speculates that Bo might have been a big enough star to keep the Raiders in Los Angeles, with the Rams moving to Oakland and the Chargers eventually going to Las Vegas. I don't see it; he would have only played half of a given season at most, since his first love had always been and still was baseball.

A more interesting question might be: What would have happened to Bo in MLB? Kansas City was way too small of a market for him to stay in, so might he have decided to go to the Dodgers, which may have allowed him to be more available for football as well? Might George Steinbrenner and the Yankee pinstripes have come calling? What about the Mets, whom he may have put over the top, although not quite into dynasty territory?

Feel free to discuss. I'll post the next one of these once the discussion on this one gets rolling.

Are you going to cover all 10 from the NFL Network's list?
 
I intend to, although the posts may be a little irregular because of my work on the various Pythagorean threads I'm doing. I'll try for one a week.
 
In semi-related news, I'm probably not going to do an NFL Pythagorean thread. There are too many variables that the theorem doesn't take into account: draft order being affected by finish and positional scheduling, to name two. I wouldn't want to ignore basic stuff like that; I'm too much of a fan and, if I say so myself, a student of the game.

The good news is, I have another idea in mind: What if the Super Bowl was played on home fields? What if the '74 Steelers had to go for their first championship in the cold of the Twin Cities? Could the Bills have won a Super Bowl or two at home in Buffalo? How about the '72 Dolphins going for perfection at RFK, or the '07 Patriots doing the same in front of the home folks? These questions and more will be answered in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that, plus more Top 10 What-Ifs!
 
If Bo stays healthy, perhaps the Raiders draft wisely enough to get him a decent QB and stay good throughout the 90s. They probably steal an SB appearance from the Bills (but not the first; the Bills played with their hair on fire and were winning that game no matter what, much to my dismay since I was a Raiders fan because of Bo...and I was 8.)

One minor butterfly: I stick with the Raiders.
 
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