alternatehistory.com

Here is another sports thread that goes back to my days at the All Time Sports forum.

A few years ago, I conceived of a league in which all 32 National Football League franchises picked their best players and squared off in a regular season and postseason to determine the greatest franchise in NFL history. Since I could find no simulation games or software, I used my sense of intuition to pick a winner of each matchup and then the winners of all 11 playoff games. Here were the standings and playoff results:

AFC East
1. Miami Dolphins - 11-5
2. New England Patriots - 9-7
3. Buffalo Bills - 8-8
4. New York Jets - 6-10

AFC North
1. Pittsburgh Steelers - 13-3
2. Cleveland Browns - 9-7
3. Cincinnati Bengals - 5-11
4. Baltimore Ravens - 5-11
Bengals ranked higher on basis of head-to-head sweep

AFC South
1. Indianapolis Colts - 12-4
2. Tennessee Titans - 8-8
3. Jacksonville Jaguars - 3-13
4. Houston Texans - 2-14

AFC West
1. Oakland Raiders - 11-5
2. Kansas City Chiefs - 10-6
3. Denver Broncos - 9-7
4. San Diego Chargers - 7-9

NFC East
1. Dallas Cowboys - 13-3
2. New York Giants - 11-5
3. Washington Redskins - 10-6
4. Philadelphia Eagles - 8-8

NFC North
1. Green Bay Packers - 11-5
2. Chicago Bears - 10-6
3. Minnesota Vikings - 7-9
4. Detroit Lions - 5-11

NFC South
1. Atlanta Falcons - 9-7
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 8-8
3. Carolina Panthers - 4-12
4. New Orleans Saints - 3-13

NFC West
1. San Francisco 49ers - 12-4
2. St. Louis Rams - 7-9
3. Seattle Seahawks - 6-10
4. Arizona Cardinals - 4-12

AFC playoffs
Wild card - Miami 23, Kansas City 13; Cleveland 16, Oakland 14
Divisional round - Pittsburgh 24, Cleveland 3; Indianapolis 27, Miami 24 (OT)
Championship - Pittsburgh 24, Indianapolis 13

NFC playoffs
Wild card - Green Bay 30, Chicago 10; NY Giants 24, Atlanta 10
Divisional round - Green Bay 27, San Francisco 23; Dallas 20, NY Giants 7
Championship - Dallas 34, Green Bay 28

"Super Super Bowl" - Dallas 34, Pittsburgh 31 (OT)
Ultimate Pro Bowl - NFC 20, AFC 13

________________________________________________________________________________________

When I devised the league, I picked rosters from a pool of those who played in the NFL from its beginning in 1920 to the end of the 2005 season. So for this thread, that's the point of departure.

  • The NFL shut down its usual play for one season. Those who were active at the time went to one of three places:
  • Some were picked for one of the all-time rosters and continued their careers on those teams.
  • Others signed with a minor league that had six teams and was organized by the NFL Players Association. (The NFL had another such league, NFL Europe, at the time.) They included Jason Witten, the Cowboys tight end who in 2016 became the first player I didn't pick for a "dream team" to exceed 1,000 career receptions.
  • Some found rosters on high-school or community college teams.
  • Finally, there was a parallel "All-American Season" with collegiate all-time teams. The NFL had all of those players treated as college seniors and subject to a re-draft in which their draft rights were re-allocated.

This is what this timeline is all about. I will detail which teams selected which players for their "returns" to the NFL and how the league's last decade-plus might have been changed by those picks. I will also take you inside the intrigue and strategy that makes the NFL Draft such a unique event.

________________________________________________________________________________________
Here are the rules for the re-draft:
  • As mentioned, all players who participated in college games during the All-American Season are subject to the re-draft.
  • Teams can select players on their rosters at the end of the 2005 season, if they wish.
  • Selection order was based on the reverse of the All-Pro Season, with ties broken by strength of schedule. (SOS is defined as the total record of all opponents, with opponents within the division counting twice.) If SOS is tied, then head-to-head results are used if applicable. If not, then a coin toss determined who picked earlier in the first round. Teams with the same records alternate picks in each successive round.

In the first round, New Orleans (121-135) will pick ahead of Jacksonville (133-125); Arizona (119-137) is ahead of Carolina (123-133); Cincinnati (108-148) goes in front of Baltimore (113-143) which is in front of Detroit (140-116); Seattle (119-137) is ahead of NY Jets (135-121); St. Louis (121-135) is ahead of San Diego (126-130) which is ahead of Minnesota (139-117); a four-way tie has Tampa Bay (122-134) picking ahead of Tennessee (127-129), then a tie between Buffalo and Philadelphia (132-124), after which the Bills won the toss; Denver (132-124) will select ahead of New England (146-110); Kansas City (121-135) will pick ahead of Chicago (139-117); and Miami (133-123) will select ahead of NY Giants (135-121).

Finally, I will reference the real teams and lineups from the 2005 and '06 seasons as the bases of my timeline. However, all 2006 information would carry over into 2007.
Top