No NFL strike - effects on 1983 NFL draft and beyond

Though a lot of the sports what-ifs are one-shots and dont' inspire a *lot* of discussion, since this is broader and would involve a lot of teams (and since pigskin-fever.com has so little discussion, period) I thought it best for a separate thread to consider the vast changes that could have occurred in this draft.

I haven't seen the ESPN "30 for 30" special on it but have heard it hyped like crazy on the radio. Obviously, some GMs are going to be set on certain players, but there are teams which could do higher or lower, of course.

Now, I'm going to predume the Redskins still win the Super Bowl to avoid even more butterflies, as I think if they lose '82 they're not overconfident going into '83. But, it's possible, and some might say someone else wins; I just remember John Riggins being on an incredible roll that year in the postseason and think that would happen anyway. Also they were winning close games and I'd expect that would continue in the regular season. I'd say they'd be 12-4, maybe 11-5.

Who would the MVP be that year? I doubt it'd be a kicker like OTL :) perhaps Freeman McNeil? Ken Anderson is also possible if he'd keep his great completion percentage up.

How far west did Elway want to go? He accepted Denver so obviously he wasn't insisting on being right on the West Coast. Would he have accepted Houston or Kansas City?
 
Though a lot of the sports what-ifs are one-shots and dont' inspire a *lot* of discussion, since this is broader and would involve a lot of teams (and since pigskin-fever.com has so little discussion, period) I thought it best for a separate thread to consider the vast changes that could have occurred in this draft.

I haven't seen the ESPN "30 for 30" special on it but have heard it hyped like crazy on the radio. Obviously, some GMs are going to be set on certain players, but there are teams which could do higher or lower, of course.

Now, I'm going to predume the Redskins still win the Super Bowl to avoid even more butterflies, as I think if they lose '82 they're not overconfident going into '83. But, it's possible, and some might say someone else wins; I just remember John Riggins being on an incredible roll that year in the postseason and think that would happen anyway. Also they were winning close games and I'd expect that would continue in the regular season. I'd say they'd be 12-4, maybe 11-5.

Who would the MVP be that year? I doubt it'd be a kicker like OTL :) perhaps Freeman McNeil? Ken Anderson is also possible if he'd keep his great completion percentage up.

How far west did Elway want to go? He accepted Denver so obviously he wasn't insisting on being right on the West Coast. Would he have accepted Houston or Kansas City?

Here is a little teaser from the documentary, which will air tomorrow night at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11uUFTL-5zo

Marvin Demoff, John's agent, said that Elway didn't want to play for the Colts (although, particularly, it was Kush and Irsay that he didn't want to play for), but the West Coast excuse was made up so Irsay and Kush wouldn't be blamed publicly.

Demoff admits that the excuse wasn't well thought out, and it made Elway look like a punk California surfer boy.

What I don't understand, though, is why they had to do that with Kush. Just tell the public that you don't want to play for him, if that's what he really felt.

People knew that Frank was an over-driving disciplinarian who got fired four years earlier at Arizona State for punching a player.

And, if what Accorsi says is true, he was also a major tool.

Allegedly, Accorsi did talk to Elway a few days or so after the draft, and John did agree to play in Baltimore. However, Ernie admitted to Irsay how much it may cost to sign John, and Robert was looking to trade him.

Accorsi told Kush that they needed to stick together, and he agreed. Shortly after, though, they walked into Irsay's office. Irsay (who was trying to trade John to the Pats) asked Frank how he felt about getting John Hannah. Frank said, "Sounds good, boss" or something.

After that, Accorsi said that the tough guy image Kush had was overblown. If that was true, I think that Frank was a tool who could push around young, impressionable 18-22 year olds, but was a wimp when dealing with management (and probably his wife as well).

I could understand why Elway didn't want to play for him. The Colts shouldn't have hired him. If someone else was the coach, and if Ernie didn't tell Robert how much John may cost, things may have been different.
 
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