I couldn't help but think of how things might have been different had Peyton come out in 1997 when we had the #1 overall pick and Parcells onboard: (1) Our QB position is set through the next decade. (2) We'd have won a Super Bowl by now. (3) Keyshawn would be one of the top receivers in league history and still a NY Jet. (4) Parcells probably never leaves the Jets and a dominating QB like Peyton; he stays and maybe the Jets win multiple SB's. Or maybe he leaves and Belichick really does take over for him. Either way, Parcells or Parcells/Belichick with Peyton is probably this decade's dynasty, not New England. (5) Peyton, Curtis, and Keyshawn are this decade's Aikman-Smith-Irvin. If Parcells and/or Belichick could have managed the free agency situation and cap, we'd have a decade-long competitive team and maybe a chance at a dynasty (or whatever passes for one these days with all the turnover). Damn, Archie, why couldn't your son come out a year early !!!???
You have it wrong. If Manning came out in 97: 1) Parcells would have traded the pick for a bushel of picks, which is why Daddy Manning advised his son to stay in school. 2) If Manning couldn't win in college and hasn't even made it to a SB with the Colts, what makes you think he would have won with the Jets????? 3) Keyshawn Johnson would be the same asshole, Manning or no, and would have still demanded more money than he was worth with two years left on his contract and would have been traded. Don't forget, he was coming off a great year in 98 with Testaverde and then still had a good year in 99 with Testaverde out. Testaverde was coming back in 2000, but Johnson still wanted to be paid far too much for what he was, no matter who the QB is - a possession receiver with no YACs. 4) The QB situation would not have made a jerk like Parcells stay. He was leaving no matter what. He would have had more reason to leave if the Jets had won a SB. Either way, when Parcells wants to leave, he leaves. And Bellichick didn't quit because of the QB situation, He quit because he didn't want to be in Parcells' shadow and for some reason has an intense dislike of the Jet franchise even though Hess paid him more than some HCs when he was still DC. 5) Aikman, Smith and Irvin all played for Dallas before the free agency era. If you look at that team, it was only that troika that led to the 3 titles, but the best OL in football. As for the comparison, Aikman was a winner - Manning has only shown that he can't win the big game. Smith was one of the best RBs in NFL history - Martin, as good as he was, is a step below, and you have again overrated Johnson by a long shot.
I think you're dead wrong. I think Parcells takes Manning just like he took Bledsoe. I think Parcells stays alot longer or at worst Belichick takes over.
I think you're the one who is dead wrong, at least on the Super Bowl thing. We already beat Manning in the playoffs, and he's had a monster team for years now with the Colts. If he can't win a Super Bowl with the Colts, how could he possibly have won one with us? The only difference is we'd be hyped as a great team year in and year out, which might not be so bad.
He has a hell of a team for like 100 years now in INDY .. and yet not even a superbowl appearance. What makes you think that he will win here? I mean he is a good QB but he chokes better than Arod.
Why would we have won a SB by now? Manning hasn't been able to win a SB w/ teams more talented than any we have had so why would he have won one here?
I love it, every year somebody gets to rewrite history and hope more people have forgotten what happened. What's your reasoning, besides daydreaming?
You also fail to recognize that by now Manning would have probably been though 2 or 3 major surgeries, following the aftereffects of poor O-Line drafting a free agency moves. He wouldn't be the same QB here that he is there....That goes against "The Jet Way"
Wasn't there a rumor that Archie called to the tuna to see if he would've drafted Peyton in 97 and Parcells told him no?
Then why doesn't Parcells tell Manning he guarantees he doesn't trade the pick, which is all he needed to do to get Manning to come out. Yes, he was advised to stay in school because his dad didn't want him going just anywhere.
Just speculation....I really think that we'd have won a SB with Manning by now. But I think it's even more certain that Parcells would have stayed on longer....can't say he'd STILL be coaching the Jets, maybe Belichick would have run the team by now, who knows.....think of it as "Alternate History" from one of those sci-fi shows !
I don't think so....I can't believe even Parcells would have passed on Manning in 1997. Of course, he ended up trading the #1 pick for mediocre picks/players so you can never tell. Parcells has never been confused with a crack GM.
This thread should be re-labeled "The twilight zone meets never Nederland". First no QB can be herald as the next coming of god and counted on for the next decade. Second Keyshawn is not a Marvin Harrison type receiver (Fast) and all Peyton’s receivers are very fast, so there no way to know how that combination would have worked out! Third Parcels always leaves between 3-4 years so nothing would have stopped him, not even a super bowl! Your entire post is a fantasy so I won’t pick on it that much but your presumption on how things would have turned out IF this happened and IF that happened is a little annoying. If the ref's didn’t have their heads up their asses then we wouldn’t have lost in Cleveland! We are the JETS; all of the cosmic energy wouldn’t change our fate in the football Universe. But I guess it could if we lived in your universe...?
Considering we won the AFC East and went to the AFC title game in 1998, I can't complain about how things went in that period of time. Manning hasn't gotten any further than we have during his career and we beat his team the one time we met in the playoffs.
