Starting on February 14, 2014, Sam Quinn and The Sports Post have decided to run down the 52 Greatest What Ifs in NFL History, one per week, for the next year. For a list of published What Ifs, as well as the introductory piece, click here.
Just look at Troy Aikman. If you were to match a quarterback and his school based solely on appearances, you’d put Aikman and UCLA together in a heartbeat, and rightfully so. After a legendary career with the Bruins Aikman went on to win three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys. End of story, right?
Wrong. In a detail lost to history, Aikman’s college career actually started at Oklahoma. Despite a promising start, Aikman was injured against the University of Miami and missed the rest of the season. The Sooners went on to win the national championship without him, and without a guaranteed starting job waiting for him, Aikman left. By delaying his junior season by a year, Aikman allowed himself a fifth year in college and therefore eligibility for the 1989 NFL Draft, where the Cowboys took him No. 1 overall.
So what if Aikman had stayed at Oklahoma?
Entrenched in a quarterback controversy with national champion Jamelle Holieway, Aikman starts only sparingly as a junior. The two trade shifts for much of the 1986 season before Holieway ultimately wins the job full-time after Aikman implodes against rival Oklahoma State. Frustrated with his lack of a full-time job, Aikman shocks the football world by declaring for the 1987 NFL Draft as a junior with limited experience.
Though his physical skills impress the scouts, his lack of experience worries scouts enough to bury Aikman behind Heisman trophy winner Vinny Testaverde and Oregon quarterback Chris Miller on most draft boards. In fact, leading up to the draft, many speculate that Aikman will go fourth, behind Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, but those doubts are squashed when Chicago gleefully grabs Aikman at No. 26. Declaring his day over, Mike Ditka walks out of the Bears’ draft room and doesn’t return.
Aikman quickly breathes new life into Chicago’s dead offense, throwing for over 3,000 yards as a rookie and leading the Bears to a 13–2 record, good for the NFC’s No. 1 seed. The Bears, led by the league’s best defense and their revitalized passing game, beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game before blowing out Denver to win their second Super Bowl in three years. Ditka is hailed as the game’s greatest coach, but many fans still question Aikman, even as the first rookie quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl. Could he win without his legendary defense?
That question isn’t immediately answered, as the Bears storm their way to another No. 1 seed in the NFC and stake their claim as the NFL’s next dynasty. Unfortunately for them, Aikman throws three interceptions in the NFC Championship Game against San Francisco as the Bears fail to defend their title and their home field. Joe Montana grabs his third championship, and Chicago’s aging defense begins a steady decline.
Meanwhile, in Dallas, the Cowboys spend most of the 1989 offseason panicking. Without a worthy quarterback in the draft, they are forced to look elsewhere with their No. 1 overall pick. Initially, they lean towards Michigan State’s Tony Mandarich, but after a personal plea from Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders in which he famously promises 2,500 yards per season with the right offensive, Dallas decides to take the Heisman Trophy winner and find a quarterback later. They do just that by taking Miami’s Steve Walsh in the supplemental draft, and the Cowboys look ready to compete with their new trio of Walsh, Sanders, and Michael Irvin.
San Francisco wins its second consecutive championship in 1989, but when Montana shows some vulnerability early in the season many pundits look to Dallas and Chicago as possible replacements atop the NFC. Though their defense isn’t what it used to be, the Bears go 13–3 thanks to a strong passing attack led by Aikman and young receiver Andre Rison, taken after moving up to No. 21 in the ‘89 draft. The Cowboys, meanwhile, heats up later in the year as they win their last nine games after a 3–4 start to snag the NFC’s No. 3 seed at 12–4 (winning a tie-breaker with the division rival Giants thanks to their head-to-head record).
The Giants shockingly knock off San Francisco in the second round, leading many to label the Bears-Cowboys second round clash as the real NFC Championship Game. The game absolutely lives up to its billing early on, as both Aikman and Walsh throw for three touchdowns in the first half. The Bears take control early in the second half, extending their lead to 34–24 with 11 minutes remaining. And that’s when Sanders takes over.
Sanders runs for 111 yards in the fourth quarter, including a 61-yard touchdown to tie the game at 34, as the Cowboys win the game on a last-second field goal. A week later, they go on to win the NFC a week later against the Giants. Sanders is hailed as the game’s greatest clutch player, and Dallas’ Super Bowl victory is practically preordained. Aikman, meanwhile, never wins another championship and is forced to spend the rest of his career deflecting unfair questions about how good he would be without a legendary defense.
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