Interesting ESPN 30 for 30 tomorrow night; Elway to Marino

[oldno82]

I need the older ones to enlighten me on how Steadman ran Eddie out of town? He was one of my favs next to Phil Jackman, and Cameron Snyder

Crav, Max is absolutely right. It really pissed me off that the media did that to Eddie just because of that. Murray should have been treated like a true Oriole hero.

[cravnravn]

I recall the rift between the media and Eddie, I just dont recall Steadman being part of it

[thundercleetz]

The reason Johnny didn't start was because Earl Morral had led them to a 13-1 record and the league championship while Unitas was hurt.

Interesting... I didn't even know who Earl Morral was. But league MVP that year, impressive record, I see why he played that game. Thanks for sharing.

 

Wow the 30 for 30 was a great watch! Blame Irsay all you want about how this situation was handled, Arcosi has to shoulder his share of the blame for dropping the ball. First he was asking for three first rounders (two in '83, one in '84) and two second rounders (one in '83, '84). Then Arcosi after drafting Elway told any team wanting Elway had to give up a top ten pick and another first rounder. Arcosi's plan was to gets the extra picks/players, then take Marino in the top ten. The Colts staff coached Marino at the Senior Bowl that year and got along great. SD was offering pick 20, 22, a player and a second rounder I believe, but would not give up the fifth pick so Acorsi said no deal. By the time pick 20 came the Chargers reached a contract extension with Dan Fouts.

 

Now here is where things get interesting. Arcosi told the Raiders if you get a top ten pick, you can have Elway. Note here, Al Davis is currently in a lawsuit with the NFL over having his move from Oakland to LA blocked (Raiders won that lawsuit and were awarded $29 million). The Raiders told the Colts they had a deal to move up to the Bears spot at pick six (Howie Long would have been traded to the Bears as part of the deal). The Raiders would have gotten Elway, Colts would have gotten Marino at six and other picks/players. Next thing you know the Raiders are told no deal by the Bears. Apparently the league office called the Bears to confirm the trade, not the other way around (Bears were on the clock). Conspiracy here because of the lawsuit? The agent for Elway and Marino thinks so, as does Arcosi.

 

Here's where Arcosi really dropped the ball. The Broncos asked him, if you were to have the fourth pick who would you like, just in case. He told them Northwestern guard Chris Hinton. That is why the Broncos took a guard, Hinton. Arcosi could have simply said Marino and he would have gotten what he wanted. Even as the draft went on and Marino fell, Arcosi could have made a deal. Of course Irsay goes on to blow the trade.

 

Other interesting notes:

- New England really wanted Jim Kelly. Irish guy in Boston was envisioned to be a big hit. Of course Buffalo took Kelly and Kelly didnt even want to go there initially (played in the USFL first; the league folding and $8M changed his mind).

- For our Steeler fans that lurk: Why did Pittsburgh pass on the hometown kid Marino? Apparently Art Rooney LOVED Marino. He told Noll we could draft Marino and trade back into the first round to draft defensive tackle Rivera also. Nolan and the front office asked where Rooney got the idea and he said a local beet writer. Noll said he was taking Rivera. Quote from Art Rooney "When I go to the pearly gates to meet my dad I'm scared the first thing he'll say is: 'why didn't you take Marino!'" Dolphins beat the Steelers in the '84 AFC Championship: imagine how many more Super Bowls the Steelers could have won with Marino?

- What is amazing is all these teams that wanted Elway passed on Marino (the Bears twice, the Chargers three times).

- George Steinbrenner's fascination with Elway was interesting. In '83 Steinbrenner called his GM into his office and unveiled his 1985 starting lineup, had Elway in RF and Mattingly at 1B. The GM asks "who's Mattingly?" George says don't worry he's pretty good.

 

 

http://www.milehighreport.com/2013/4/24/4260050/30-for-30-elway-to-marino-10-revelations

[cravnravn]

Acorsi shoulders no blame, he set the price tag high to call Elways bluff. he was doomed when Ursay but his nose into it. Idiot Bob knew less of managing an NFL team then I do.

 

Icing on the cake was making the riduculous trade and not even doing it publicly, Finalizing the trade on the tarmac, gimme a break ursay sucks

[thundercleetz]

Acorsi shoulders no blame, he set the price tag high to call Elways bluff. he was doomed when Ursay but his nose into it. Idiot Bob knew less of managing an NFL team then I do.

 

Icing on the cake was making the riduculous trade and not even doing it publicly, Finalizing the trade on the tarmac, gimme a break ursay sucks

I understand that but IMO Arcosi should have made a deal. It was his responsibility to know that he had a lunatic owner and honestly a hold out to call Elway's bluff was unrealistic. At the same time, Acorsi didn't want to be the guy that traded Elway, but from this documentary Acorsi said he had a plan. To me it sounded like Acorsi was unsure of his plan which is why he didn't pull the trigger. Acorsi said he wanted Marino, he could have easily had him. IMO, Acorsi should have simply resigned if he wasn't going to make a deal (which he said he would if Irsay traded Elway but didn't go through with it).

[cravnravn]

NO, Ursay should have kept his nose out of it..Ernie did right, force him to play Baseball if he had the balls to do so.

[thundercleetz]

NO, Ursay should have kept his nose out of it..Ernie did right, force him to play Baseball if he had the balls to do so.

I agree in an ideal world the Colts should have certainly called his bluff and waited it out. However, Irsay told Accorsi he had until April 19 to make a deal and if Accorsi did not Irsay would get involved. That's when Accorsi said he'd resign if Irsay delt Elway. Accorsi said he had a plan to trade the pick, but he also wanted to call Elway's bluff and wait it out. From watching this documentary it sounded to me Accorsi had cold feet and wasn't sure what to do. If he wanted to trade Elway, he had multiple opportunities to do so and get Marino and other picks/players but he did not. If Acorsi wanted to call Elway's bluff he should have simply resigned, because Irsay told him that was not an option. Remember, Acorsi was an inexperienced GM. Look at his previous drafts (now I'm not sure how much of that was Irsay's influence) but they were terrible drafts. I think Accorsi's inexperience really shined in this situation.

 

Yes Irsay screwed the pooch with the trade but Accorsi dropped the ball by not making a deal on draft day for the guy he wanted. Accorsi knew Elway was a sunk cost at that point but failed to savage the situation.

[borntodiebalmerfan]

My mom's family is from Baltimore, my father was in the Army, and retired out west. So I was always a fan looking in from the outside. When the Elway fiasco was going on I was in Palo Alto (home of Stanford). I was working at a Carl's JR and Budget Rent a car. I had no car, lived in a 1 room hotel room share bathroom and kitchen. To be living like that and have some guy flat out to refuse to play for the team I grew up with, in a game that I would have done just about anything to continue playing was hard to take. For all the years there was no Baltimore football, my favorite team became the team that was playing against Elway and Denver. Unfortunately, that time span also became the time I began to have kids and raise a family. Instead of my kids being raised to follow a team, they watched me week after week ranting and yelling like a maniac for the demise of one player and eventually the rage went towards Indianapolis when they became competitive. In my presence, Indianapolis is always referred to as Indianapolis and the c-word is never connected with Indy. My kids are adults now and have no loyalty to any teams or that much interest to watch football. So to me I feel like my family lost a generation of Baltimore football fans. This last years playoff run took a lot of that hate away as thundercletz pointed out about Denver/Elway and Indianapolis demons being exercised. I know that Baltimore teams have more super bowl wins than Indy, and both franchises (Colts and Ravens) have better winning percentages in Championship/ Super bowl games than Elway and Denver. Those two facts make me smile every time I think about it. I hope the Ravens open in Denver this next year with a big chip on their shoulders. I am pretty sure they will, isn't that the Raven way?

[vmax]