Alternative History: A Favre-less Green Bay Packers

[brody]

culturecrossfire.com/sports/what-if-brett-favre-never-became-a-green-bay-packer/

With the NFL season painfully close, I wanted to temper my anticipation a bit by digging into football history. The Packers rebuilding under Mike Holmgren began in an era where free agency had yet to exist, so building a team had to come from drafting well and making crafty trades. With Holmgren inheriting a quarterback roster of struggling young veterans, what options would he and Ron Wolf have sought out had the team doctors negative report on Favre's health been followed up with rebuking the trade with Atlanta that landed the Packers a future hall-of-famer?

The draft of 1992 offered some interesting prospects and a few hidden gems, plus future years saw the Packers draft further pro bowl caliber talent. There was also some intriguing veteran talent for the taking over those years that could have held down the fort as Holmgren and Wolf built their army.

Does the team win the Super Bowl with Brunell or another under center? Is there even a strong enough roster to do so if Reggie White chooses not to sign with the Packers since their QB situation is unsettled given that White convinced other talent to come in? Does Kurt Warner become a Midwestern hero a little further north?

I laid out my vision in the link above. What do you think?

[BRV]

Jul 21, 2018 3:16:50 GMT -5 brody said:

culturecrossfire.com/sports/what-if-brett-favre-never-became-a-green-bay-packer/

With the NFL season painfully close, I wanted to temper my anticipation a bit by digging into football history. The Packers rebuilding under Mike Holmgren began in an era where free agency had yet to exist, so building a team had to come from drafting well and making crafty trades. With Holmgren inheriting a quarterback roster of struggling young veterans, what options would he and Ron Wolf have sought out had the team doctors negative report on Favre's health been followed up with rebuking the trade with Atlanta that landed the Packers a future hall-of-famer?

The draft of 1992 offered some interesting prospects and a few hidden gems, plus future years saw the Packers draft further pro bowl caliber talent. There was also some intriguing veteran talent for the taking over those years that could have held down the fort as Holmgren and Wolf built their army.

Does the team win the Super Bowl with Brunell or another under center? Is there even a strong enough roster to do so if Reggie White chooses not to sign with the Packers since their QB situation is unsettled given that White convinced other talent to come in? Does Kurt Warner become a Midwestern hero a little further north?

I laid out my vision in the link above. What do you think?

I think Reggie White still signs with the Packers in the 1992-93 off-season with or without Brett Favre because, honestly, it's not like everyone knew what Brett Favre was about to become. Favre in 1992 threw for 3,227 yards with 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He followed that up with 24 interceptions to 19 touchdowns in 1993. He was erratic, unpredictable, and every negative that the "gunslinger" stereotype comes with.

With Mark Brunell as their quarterback in the mid-1990s, I don't know if they make it past those loaded Cowboys or 49ers teams. Brunell proved he's a very talented quarterback, as seen by his lengthy NFL career, but he wasn't Brett Favre. Both the '96 Cowboys and Niners were on the back nine of their respective dynasties but Dallas suffered from self-inflicted wounds, while San Francisco's legacy ended because of age. But I still think either of those teams would have defeated a Favre-less Packers.

[cabbageboy]

Without Favre the Packers probably wouldn't even be a playoff team at that point, or would have remained a marginal 9-7 type team lucky to get in. So what would the NFC look like with a Favre-less Packers during that time? Oddly we might have had the Panthers in the 1996 Super Bowl and probably the first Pats championship there, and with that I doubt Parcells goes anywhere and thus Belichick may not end up in NE later. Kinda wild to think about it. In 1997 without the Packers we would have gotten Niners/Broncos in the Super Bowl, but I doubt anything really changes since the Broncos would have won that anyway. The Niners were hardly in this massive decline that people think. They remained a quality club until Steve Young retired, and still a decent playoff team with Garcia. From 1996-98 SF was 12-4, 13-3, and 12-4.

As far as 1995, I guess about all the changes is we get another Dallas/SF NFC title game but the Cowboys likely win again.

[brody]

I'm a little more bullish on the Packers prospects without Favre. Most of the Super Bowl team was composed of Wolf draft picks and trades. The main concern is the Reggie White deal. If he's not there, Sean Jones and Keith Jackson are probably not there and maybe Santana Dotson as well, so the Defensive line position is in rough shape.

That's taking absolutely nothing away from Brett, who absolutely made plays that no one else would or could. I absolutely adore him to this day. Just tossing out speculation.

Of course, if it takes the Packers another year or 2 to develop Brunell, their window may close if everything else plays out the same.

[Deleted]

If they still had a double-headed threat in the backfield (Edgar Bennett & Dorsey Levins), they could still be the team under Brunell.

When it seemed like Brett was doing it all, opening up that backfield was what the Packers needed to take the heat off of the QB. They weren't a one-trick pony; this team was gonna hit you with everything they had.

Once the team started to run the ball more, it was just a matter of getting the right guys.

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but the Packers went almost 20 years without a 1,000 yard rusher. That's instant death in the 1980s NFC Central. You can't run, you don't beat Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota. (And you might win one in Tampa.)

[Kevin Dunn]

They would be the Jacksonville packers right now

[brody]

Jul 29, 2018 18:14:18 GMT -5 Kevin Dunn said:

They would be the Jacksonville packers right now

Around 1988, Sports Illustrated wrote an article on how the scandal plagued Packers, deep into their mediocre run of seasons, should sell the team back to the city and start a college team in their place.