Link: If Peyton had Left Tennessee a Year Earlier

Special K

All-American
Feb 8, 2008
2,801
1,279
187
2 thoughts:

1. Some people have WAAAAAYYYYY too much time on their hands.
2. A lot of people fantasize about Nick Saban being ANYWHERE but Alabama.
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
36,432
29,735
287
54
Never posted a link before, so forgive me if this looks off:

https://www.seccountry.com/sec/peyton-manning-declared-1997-nfl-draft-tom-brady-nick-saban

Thoughts???
Here's where he lost me (early in this Harry Smoking Pot fantasy):

Soon, all eyes shift to the New York Jets, who own the No. 1 pick. The Jets don’t particularly need a quarterback (starter Neil O’Donnell led Pittsburgh to the Super Bowl just 14 months prior), but Manning is too good to pass up, right?

There’s a red flag: New coach Bill Parcells never reaches out to Manning’s father, Archie, to inquire about Manning’s interest. Hired after a 1-15 season, Parcells is focused on several areas of need, and the No. 1 pick is more of a trade asset than a cure-all. After Manning’s announcement, the coach is unwilling to publicly commit to the Tennessee quarterback.


1) Neil O'Donnell missed ten games in 1996 AFTER the Super Bowl with a shoulder injury. Why is a game played 14 months earlier great evidence but all the games played after then irrelevant to this narrative?

2) I think the notion Parcells passes on Manning is fanciful, and this whole notion of 'he didn't reach out to Archie' is probably massively overblown.

And then there's the fatal flaw in the whole thing

This forces Saban to re-evaluate his recruiting class, and an assistant coach mentions an undervalued Texas passer who only has two notable offers, including one from Big Ten rival Purdue. Saban gives the film a look and makes a couple calls.

This follows the notion that Gus Ornstein's moving on would have affected Saban in any way.....but the problem is that Ornstein was the THIRD-STRING QB in 1997, not second (by the time of the season he was behind Todd Schultz and Bill Burke).....so why would Saban recruit Drew Brees? And what in God's name would make anyone think Brees - whose only two offers came from Purdue and Kentucky after he pitched himself to them - would have appealed to Saban anyway? (You don't get to historically impose his later NFL career backwards into high school).


I guess it makes the doophus who wrote it feel like he's writing alternative fact history, but it's not even overly entertaining.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
1,351
232
Tuscaloosa
Seems like an fanfic where a Tennessee fan or whatever gets to fantasize about Alabama not existing in history because of one cool trick
 

81usaf92

TideFans Legend
Apr 26, 2008
35,306
31,375
187
South Alabama
The only thing I see happening is Tennessee probably doesn't lose to Florida and Peyton the Choker isn't nearly as big of a thing since Martin would've gotten steamrolled by the huskers instead.
 
Last edited:

bamamc1

Hall of Fame
Oct 24, 2011
5,401
3,899
187
Haleyville, AL
The only thing I see happening is Tennessee probably doesn't lose to Florida and Peyton the Choker isn't nearly as big of a thing since Martin would've gotten steamrolled by the huskers instead.
If Manning had left a year earlier, Tee would've made more $.
 

NBF_Bama_Cavalry

All-American
Dec 2, 2002
2,565
68
72
66
Titus, Al, US
www.dixiebikers.com
Here's where he lost me (early in this Harry Smoking Pot fantasy):
...
I guess it makes the doophus who wrote it feel like he's writing alternative fact history, but it's not even overly entertaining.
I found it not even remotely entertaining. It's a good thing it's online and not printed because it would be a grievous waste of a perfectly good tree. And who cares about Peyton Manning anyway?
 

Latest threads

TideFans.shop : 2024 Madness!

TideFans.shop - Get YOUR Bama Gear HERE!”></a>
<br />

<!--/ END TideFans.shop & item link \-->
<p style= Purchases made through our TideFans.shop and Amazon.com links may result in a commission being paid to TideFans.