Sometimes you have to get bold and defy what history suggests.
Having lived most of my life in the Northern part of the San Francisco
Bay Area, I recently put together an all-time San Francisco 49ers and
soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders team. In case you have lived in an
igloo, the Raiders called Oakland home for two stints (1960-1981;
1995-2019) and Los Angeles from 1982-1994.
The columns were a revised version of what I wrote for the Napa
Valley Register, 1998 for the 49ers and 2000 for the Raiders, in my
previous career. I constructed the team on the basis of creating a
two-deep depth chart. Whereas, if I did so in a 53-man roster format,
more players would have made the list.
Before I go into further criteria, here are the two columns:
Before selecting the teams, I had to establish some rigid criteria: 1)
You had to play for the franchise for at least four years, 2) If you are
in the Hall of Fame, and fit Criteria No. 1, you are on the team.
Period. No further debates allowed. 3) All Pro or Pro Bowl seasons,
especially the former are top consideration. 4) Statistics are a
consideration but not a huge one.
To expound on these points. For No. 1, since free agency has been
so volatile, you have to draw the line. While Deion Sanders is in the
Hall of Fame and played a significant role in the 49ers 1994 Super
Bowl championship, he does not make the team because he was
only a 49er for one season. Eric Dickerson is also in the Hall of
Fame but just because he was a Raider for 42 minutes, he’s not on
this team.
For No. 2, don’t come at me with any nonsense of how Player A
played in a different era and would have done X, Y, or Z had he
played in the same era as Player B, who had a better supporting
cast. Just stop. And please, don’t come at me with the, “it’s the
system” garbage either. You do not luck your way into a Hall of
Fame career. That’s not to suggest that you don’t take those factors
into account but to convolute the discussion is inviting paralysis by
analysis.
For No. 3, I put more credence into All Pro because it takes into
account all 32 NFL teams rather than 16 per conference. In addition,
Pro Bowls are such that many players get selected either a year too
late or keep getting selected four years too late.
For No. 4, this is one area where you must take into account the eras
in which someone played because of the evolution of the rules of the
game benefitting offenses. For example, 4,000 yards passing in 1985
is like 5,500 yards in 2020. Eras will skew numbers.
Most of all, the purpose of constructing these teams is to recognize
every era, not just the Golden Age or the era which you have affinity.
Every franchise is sports has Golden Ages and Dark Ages, some
more golden or dark than others. However, just because a player
was on the team during the Golden Age, does not guarantee a spot
on the team. Also, just because a team was bad during the Dark Ages
does not mean there were not good players.
You can also speculate which players would or would not have
performed well in this era or that era. There are valid points to be
had for both the current era and from say 30-plus years ago. This
may be blasphemous for Chicago Bears or Green Bay Packers fans
to hear but Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke would have limiting playing
time, depending on opponents. Why? More teams employ 3-5 wide
receivers along with a tight end in the slot. When that happens,
receivers along with a tight end in the slot. When that happens,
more defensive backs come on the field and substitute for
linebackers. Butkus and Nitschke’s game was built to play between
the tackles, not in space like today’s game. However, if I comprise an
all-time Bears or Packers team, there are still on it.
You can also take any random great quarterback from the modern era
and ask how they might have done 20-plus years ago when
quarterbacks were more protected by the rules. Again, fair point but
Tom Brady is still my all-time New England Patriots quarterback.
Though I have watched the Bay Area teams up close, who knows I
may go through some of the other 32 teams and do an all-time one
in two-deep format.
No comments:
Post a Comment