[QUOTE=Mike P;554056]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie
His stats are as good as Aikman's. And he had a bigger impact on the game. The merger was agreed upon, but the structuring of the league wasn't settled. If the AFL hadn't shown it could compete with the big boys, the 9 AFL teams would have been scattered around the NFL divisions. The Pats wouldn't be playing in the AFC east--they'd be playing in the eastern division of the NFL, along with the Jets and Bills, joining the Giants, Eagles, Redskins, and whatever other original eastern division NFL team that would be left in that division. He allowed the AFL to retain its basic identity as the new AFC.
Just as an FYI--he threw for roughly the same number of yards, and slightly fewer TDs, as Stabler in a shorter career. Without a Warren Wells, or a Fred Bilitnikoff, or a Dave Casper to throw to. Don Maynard was a good receiver, but his other targets were guys like George Sauer Jr and Richard Caster. He never had a speed merchant WR to throw to. And he missed more than half of 4 seasons due to injuries. Imagine what he could have done with only one good knee, let alone two.
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Aikman threw for over 5,000 more yards than Joe on a run oriented team. Aikman was also very accurate completing over 61% of his passes while Joe was around 50%. And I think Namath threw alot more INT's than TD's. Aikman is one of those guys who made the HOF on the fact that he has 3 rings.