A sports debate that always seems to come up is whether players from past eras would be able to play today and vice versa. For the sake of this article, I’m going to imagine players from all eras playing together on one team, based on which NFL team they played for. So, in this hypothetical situation, Peyton Manning and Johnny Unitas will be competing for the Indianapolis Colts’ starting quarterback spot. Players like Reggie White, who was a great player for both the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers, will be included on the team that they had more productive years for. In White’s case, those years were with the Eagles.
One other factor that is worthy of pointing out is that players of now defunct teams, such as the Houston Oilers, will be absorbed by the teams that replaced them. That would be the Tennessee Titans in the Oilers’ situation. With these guidelines in mind, here are my record-free standing and playoff predictions as to what a season made up of All-Time NFL teams would look like. To gain some perspective, I have included a few key players each team would have.
AFC
East
1. New England Patriots (Tom Brady, John Hannah, Andre Tippett)
2. Buffalo Bills (Jim Kelly, O.J. Simpson, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith)
3. Miami Dolphins (Dan Marino, Larry Csonka, Jason Taylor, Nick Buoniconti)
4. New York Jets (Joe Namath, Curtis Martin)
North
1. Pittsburgh Steelers (John Stallworth, Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham)
2. Cleveland Browns (Otto Graham, Jim Brown, Bill Willis, Lou Groza)
3. Baltimore Ravens (Jonathan Ogden, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed)
4. Cincinnati Bengals (Ken Anderson, Anthony Munoz)
South
1. Indianapolis Colts (Peyton Manning, Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry, John Mackey)
2. Tennessee Titans (Warren Moon, Earl Campbell, Bruce Matthews, Mike Munchak)
3. Jacksonville Jaguars (Fred Taylor, Tony Boselli)
4. Houston Texans (Andre Johnson)
West
1. Oakland Raiders (Marcus Allen, Tim Brown, Jim Otto, Gene Upshaw, Art Shell)
2. Kansas City Chiefs (Len Dawson, Tony Gonzalez, Willie Lanier, Bobby Bell)
3. Denver Broncos (John Elway, Floyd Little, Shannon Sharpe, Champ Bailey)
4. San Diego Chargers (LaDanian Tomlinson, Lance Alworth, Junior Seau)
NFC
East
1. Dallas Cowboys (Roger Staubach, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Larry Allen, Bob Lilly)
2. Washington Redskins (John Riggins, Art Monk, Russ Grimm, Darrell Green)
3. New York Giants (Frank Gifford, Mel Hein, Michael Strahan, Lawrence Taylor)
4. Philadelphia Eagles (Steve Van Buren, Chuck Bednarik, Reggie White)
North
1. Green Bay Packers (Brett Favre, Don Hutson, Forrest Gregg, Ray Nitschke)
2. Chicago Bears (Walter Payton, Gale Sayers, Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary)
3. Minnesota Vikings (Cris Carter, Randy Moss, John Randle, Paul Krause)
4. Detroit Lions (Barry Sanders, Lem Barney, Dick Lane, Dick LeBeau)
South
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Warren Sapp, Lee Roy Selmon, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch)
2. New Orleans Saints (Drew Brees, Willie Roaf, Rickey Jackson)
3. Atlanta Falcons (Claude Humphrey, Deion Sanders)
4. Carolina Panthers (Steve Smith)
West
1. San Francisco 49ers (Joe Montana, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott)
2. Los Angeles Rams (Eric Dickerson, Marshall Faulk, Merlin Olsen, Deacon Jones)
3. Seattle Seahawks (Steve Largent, Walter Jones, Cortez Kennedy)
4. Arizona Cardinals (Charley Trippi, Larry Fitzgerald, Dan Dierdorf, Larry Wilson)
Playoff Teams
AFC
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
2. Oakland Raiders
3. New England Patriots
4. Indianapolis Colts
5. Cleveland Browns
6. Kansas City Chiefs
Colts over Browns
Patriots over Chiefs
Raiders over Patriots
Steelers over Colts
Steelers over Raiders
NFC
1. Dallas Cowboys
2. Green Bay Packers
3. San Francisco 49ers
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
5. Chicago Bears
6. Minnesota Vikings
Bears over Buccaneers
49ers over Vikings
Packers over 49ers
Cowboys over Bears
Packers over Cowboys
SUPER BOWL
Steelers will win over Packers
