Of course. I realized my mistake when I remembered Dawg Pound Dynasty had a POD in 1999 so it wouldn’t have been soon enough for that. (The author being a stand-up dude for stopping Columbine and Sandy Hook still stands, though.)
Sports What Ifs.
- Thread starter Dave
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Of course. I realized my mistake when I remembered Dawg Pound Dynasty had a POD in 1999 so it wouldn’t have been soon enough for that. (The author being a stand-up dude for stopping Columbine and Sandy Hook still stands, though.)
I would love to see these turned into TLs!
What if Dan Marino was drafted by the Steelers?
Touchdown Steelers explored this, but it only reached 4 pages. The last post was in December 2014, and the author got banned in January 2019 for breaking the “no current politics outside of chat” rule.
Touchdown Steelers explored this, but it only reached 4 pages. The last post was in December 2014, and the author got banned in January 2019 for breaking the “no current politics outside of chat” rule.
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The trouble is that I don’t remember the Steelers being much of anything in the 1980s, so until the mid-90s, Marino doesn’t have much of a shot at a Super Bowl. I suppose he could have made a difference in SB30, the one they lost to the Cowboys; as I recall, the Cowboys capitalized on two huge mistakes by then-Steelers QB Neil O’Donnell, and if Marino could keep his nose clean, the Steelers could win.
That why i think he have a shot in the jets, with the NYSE he have a golden chance a ring or two
It’s possible, though the Jets were pretty inconsistent in the 80s and 90s, so it would probably be a few good seasons.
I still remember a scenario.
Colts did take Elway Warning..and trade #1...for buffallo both 1st rounder and other picks...Elway is not thrilled but Wilson Convice him to play for buffalo as is not Colts. Without their favorite target, Broncos break the crystal...plan b seems was dan marino and they took him without second doubts..Miami did react..and trade for Jim Kelly was he is thriller to play in a tropical zone.
So Elway is on Buffalo, Marino in Denver and Kelly is on miami...how that play out?
Same here to be honest.
Also, was thinking about this earlier but... What if the NHA managed to not fall apart and the owners (except the idiot owner who caused this to happen) ousted him after he finally sell his team?
Sorry if the name escape me for the idiot owner and his Toronto based team. I honestly think the NHA would have a totally different path in the sports landscape.
The Steelers have always been at the very least a decent team since the merger. They've never gone more than 4 years between playoff wins and have only finished with less than 6 wins once since 1970. There's a reason that Chuck Noll lasted into the 90's.
Honestly you probably don't have very far into the future to see the effects of Marino going to the Steelers. Marino actually faced Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship game for the 1984 season, you better believe that the Steelers team is going to be a lot better with 5,000 yard Marino instead of Mark Malone under center. I still don't Pittsburgh gets past the buzzsaw of the 49ers, but that's still a vast performance of what the Steelers did OTL. But I guess there's a question of if Marino would have been allowed to be unleashed like he was with Don Shula. If Noll isn't willing to stray away from the traditional pound the rock culture of the team, then I'm not sure how large of an improvement Marino would provide
Oh, Marino would provide a good improvement. In OTL, the Steelers had Mark Malone in the 80's, who was terrible. Even if he isn't competely unleashed, he still does way better than Malone did.
Bear in mind the AFC in the 80s wasn’t great - there’s a reason the NFC ripped off a bunch of Super Bowl wins in a row. So there’s a possibility that Marino helps the Steelers get over the hump once or twice, but don’t count on a win in the Big One.
Marino on the 84 Steelers could have defeated the 49ers, who I consider overrated. Now, if they made it back against the Bears the next year, they may have had less of a chance. The Steelers didn't play Chicago until 1986 (they did give them a good game), so they don't get the confidence-building win that Miami got.
I mean, judging from how Marino played against the 85 Bears OTL, they might have a better chance than they would against the 49ers.
Yeah, but you have to remember that the Steelers beat the 49ers. In 1984. With Mark Freaking Malone at QB. In San Francisco. Marino with a more balanced offense and a better D on his side (even though the 84 Steelers weren't that great of a team, they still had a better run game and D than Miami had that year) could do it if Malone could.
ESPN has on their website the top 150 coaches of all-time in college football. This gives quite a few good what ifs. I'll list one due to time limit.
What if Knute Rockne isn't killed in that plane crash? Presuming he has 20 more years, which is possible, and even more is but let's just give him 20, that keeps Frank Leahy at Boston College. Does he stay at that Catholic school where he did so well? He had recently signed a contract extension before Notre Dame became available, so my guess is that Boston College becomes a big force in the late forties. Perhaps a rivalry develops with Notre Dame that didn't in our timeline.
Does it become a Powerhouse enough that some other Catholic coach decides to rebuild it when it falls on Hard Times? Might there be a conference that develops with it and some other Eastern schools? Maybe a Big East in the 1950s? If so, what does the addition of another major conference due to college football? Maybe Syracuse wines up dominating that conference then after Leahy retires and then to the sixties. Perhaps Penn State never going to the Big Ten but is in that Big East and the compromise made with all the other schools is that they will never tie themselves to one Bowl.
What if Knute Rockne isn't killed in that plane crash? Presuming he has 20 more years, which is possible, and even more is but let's just give him 20, that keeps Frank Leahy at Boston College. Does he stay at that Catholic school where he did so well? He had recently signed a contract extension before Notre Dame became available, so my guess is that Boston College becomes a big force in the late forties. Perhaps a rivalry develops with Notre Dame that didn't in our timeline.
Does it become a Powerhouse enough that some other Catholic coach decides to rebuild it when it falls on Hard Times? Might there be a conference that develops with it and some other Eastern schools? Maybe a Big East in the 1950s? If so, what does the addition of another major conference due to college football? Maybe Syracuse wines up dominating that conference then after Leahy retires and then to the sixties. Perhaps Penn State never going to the Big Ten but is in that Big East and the compromise made with all the other schools is that they will never tie themselves to one Bowl.
What if Seminoles QB and Heisman winner Chris Weinke stuck to baseball instead of going back to FSU to play football? He was a step away from making it to the majors with the Blue Jays in OTL, but in 1996, he decided to go to Tallahassee and play on his scholarship that Bobby Bowden promised he could keep should he decide to play football.
EDIT: Added more info
EDIT: Added more info
I like the idea. That suggests that in the late '30s onward, Notre Dame would have multiple rivalry games in a season: back then, Navy was one such game; so was Penn (yes, the one that's now an Ivy League fixture). Throw in a Notre Dame / Boston College rivalry and that could get fascinating, especially in the Catholic community (said mostly tongue in cheek).
Seems like a heavy hitter in the form of Boston College could lead to a true eastern conference (BC; Syracuse; Rutgers; Temple; Pitt; Penn State; West Virginia; maybe Virginia Tech, Maryland, Cincinnati).
And yes, I know this is a departure from the topic, but if that plane crash hadn't claimed Will Rogers as well, imagine what he could have done for comedy and US politics well into the 1940s and early 1950s...I don't think Joe McCarthy would have gotten nearly to the point he did with Will Rogers watching and commenting.