That's possible, but there's also a pretty good chance that Rodgers starts from day 1 and really struggles (as Alex Smith did IOTL) - that 2005 49ers team was not good, and didn't improve much over the next few years. There were also questions around Rodgers' mechanics and the scheme that he had played in at Cal - would he be the same player without those three years as a backup giving him the opportunity to work on his game?
Sports What Ifs.
- Thread starter Dave
- Start date
The idea came to me when the Raiders were considering moving to San Antonio. I don't see this ever happening either. Even if Houston was on board 100%, there is no way Jerry Jones wouldn't fight it. He's not one to allow anything to interfere with the Cowboys brand and the revenue it generates. I think the OKC Outlaws from the USFL had a better chance to be incorporated into the NFL than Austin having a team.
Agreed. Now, Austin honestly would make a great pro sports market beyond just the MLS, but I have a very hard time seeing the NFL work there/be allowed by Jerry
What if Jerry Jones swallowed his pride and never fired Jimmy Johnson? First and only Superbowl Threepeat?
Very possible, though that 94 Niners squad was no slouch.
Agreed. Which was why the NFC Championship game was considered the ,"Superbowl before the Superbowl." Any time those two teams played each other, you knew it was going to be a slugfest. Those teams went to war with each other. The 49ers had the best WR, the best QB in the league and a top rated defense, the Cowboys had the best RB, the 2nd best WR and the 3rd best QB and also had a to 5 defense. The match up was akin to seeing Tyson vs. Ali in his prime. And they hated each other and I loved it. Best rivalry of the 90s for sure.
Possible but i think they could won the one won with Switzer and an extra one before JJ fully retires before the turn of Millenium(IIRC he wanted to go to Arkansas, jerry and his own alma mater to make it a power thanks to JJ booster money)
Right now, I am reading a preview of the book about the Montana and Steve Young rivalry called Best of Rivals.
In 1986, SF columnist Glenn Dickey suggested the day after Montana's surgery (he missed eight games that year after getting hurt in Week 1) that the 49ers trade for Steve Young.
Young wasn't available because Steve DeBerg was hurt. However, what if he was healthy, and the 49ers were able to trade for Young that September? And, what if Young goes undefeated while Montana was out? Do they even bring back Montana that year?
And, if Young plays well in the playoffs (I think they may do better than 10-6, but they still lose at the Giants in the divisional round), what becomes of Montana in 1987?
In 1986, SF columnist Glenn Dickey suggested the day after Montana's surgery (he missed eight games that year after getting hurt in Week 1) that the 49ers trade for Steve Young.
Young wasn't available because Steve DeBerg was hurt. However, what if he was healthy, and the 49ers were able to trade for Young that September? And, what if Young goes undefeated while Montana was out? Do they even bring back Montana that year?
And, if Young plays well in the playoffs (I think they may do better than 10-6, but they still lose at the Giants in the divisional round), what becomes of Montana in 1987?
Yeah, wasn’t it die to the fact that the Stl Browns owned sportsman’s park?
Never happening. Even then the bowls make too much money. Now if you kept the bowls and then had winners move on from the Big 4 or even make it big 5 as the Fiesta Bowl was becoming more important, that might work. The Big Ten and PAC 10 champs already met in the Rose Bowl and the Big 8 went to the Orange, and the SEC went to the Sugar and SWC to the Cotton Bowl. Maybe have the ACC get in on the Peach Bowl and the WAC in on the Fiesta Bowl and send the eastern independent/Big East champ to the Orange bowl and you got a 12 team playoff.
Edit- I meant WAC and not the mountain west. Sure the WAC wasn’t the best league but the ACC wasn’t a great football league either yet Clemson won a title in 81 and Georgia Tech got a title in 90, so BYU being a champ in 84 might get the WAC a shot. Plus Air Force and even Wyoming had okay teams in that era and maybe Fresno State gets added and that helps them a bit.
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The baseball Cardinals to Detroit after 1934 is interesting; I heard Buster Olney's podcast mentioning that, he was supposed to have a Phantom Frnchise each week but I haven't had time to listen since. Any others that are interesting; I'd never even heard of the Cardinals to Detroit and I thought I'd heard them all. (I had heard there was once talk of the Orioles playing some home games in Washington, sounded plausible since the're so close. The White Sox did it with Milwaukee.)
Was Jacksonville one fo the highest attendance teams in the old USFL? Is that how they got a franchise? It seemed odd to me, too; though the Austin talk makes me think of Birmingham. Alabama and Auburn have enough fans it seems like it'd be good for a team, or at least would have been before the Oriolers and Panthers entered the South. Not sure about now.
Was Jacksonville one fo the highest attendance teams in the old USFL? Is that how they got a franchise? It seemed odd to me, too; though the Austin talk makes me think of Birmingham. Alabama and Auburn have enough fans it seems like it'd be good for a team, or at least would have been before the Oriolers and Panthers entered the South. Not sure about now.
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Yeah, that is weird. Especially since by then they had a World Series by that point and this was in the middle of the gas house gang era. Plus could they take on the tigers at the gate? Sure Detroit was bigger than St Louis but the Tigers would be pretty established and the NL wouldn’t have the star power of the AL and eventually such a team would move out to the west coast or to a place like Kansas City, Milwaukee or Minnesota.
What surprises me is how neither league considered expansion or moving in the case of poor and lackluster teams like the St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia Phillies ( they got lucky as the A’s started to get really bad in the 50s iirc) and the Boston Braves, just loving them but keeping them in the east and Midwest. You had big cities like Baltimore, Milwaukee, and Buffalo without teams and even Minneapolis and Kansas City weren’t so far out. You could have easily expanded each league by two teams. Was MLB just not big on expansion or did league owners just not want to have more teams?
they weren't that is why they brutally murdered the PCL when a merger looked a real posibility.
talking about STL Browns..well
Today for sure not, even across multiple timelines where he survives I never see him racing at a full time level past 2005 unless a move from RCR to DEI is involved, and I feel that's pretty accurate all things considered. What would absolutely still exist today is the DEI team as a whole, and Dale Jr never goes to Hendrick which butterflies further into the future (Kyle Busch stays at Hendrick longer? Keselowski gets a shot at Hendrick?).
I think Senior knew his time was coming to an end and he didn't want to go out like Richard Petty who in his final couple of seasons were fairly sad. So I kind of agree he would had been retiring from fully time racing no later than the 2005 season. He still might be going out and doing part time racing but I think he would be more on taking on the Francis family to return NASCAR back to its roots and its fan base which was loyal to a fault but they got pissed with what NASCAR became.
I know, I keep meaning to check out the Olney podcasts witht he phantom franchises, I wonder if the PHillies ever were close to moving.
I know I've done a few timelines lately with the PHllies folding or moving (easy to look up, one is "Changing Sox," the other is my most recent ont he League Wars), and one years ago where the Browns move to L.A.. Sometimes it's just the luck of the draw - teams just get lucky at times. Plus for the Browns they'd need a 2nd team and I really didn't know, a year early, who would be willing so I figured the Braves swap leagues with the Indians and move west with them. (Should have said "spoiler alert," but I figure if you're interested enough you'll read anyway.)
He didn't get fired. Johnson planned to leave after 1993 no matter what.