Let Alabama Play a Bad NFL Team So Everyone Can Shut Up

Let’s set a baseline for sanity here. A college football team could not beat an NFL team. Even the very best, like Alabama, would be outclassed by the very worst, like the Buffalo Bills. The hypothetical scenario gets new breath far too often and nothing is accomplished. But what if there was a resolution? What if we could — and here me out on this — see it with our own eyes so everyone could shut up?

I say this as someone not particularly enamored with the topic. It seems obvious that it wouldn’t be a competitive game. It seems obvious there’s plenty of evidence and critical thinking to draw on to reach this conclusion.

For instance, Clemson’s national title season a few years ago featured a loss to Pitt, who started Nathan Peterman at quarterback. That’s a thing that happened. Yet the conversation persists, perhaps because people know they can never be proven wrong.

We deserve to see what would happen. Not because there’s great intrigue, but because it’s the right thing to do. This debate needs to have an answer. There needs to be some debate shed on if this is a worthwhile debate or not.

As of now, a hypothetical line would be Buffalo -17. That is not exactly an embarrassing blowout. That said, it would be incredibly risky to put one’s money on Alabama in that situation, knowing full well that 55-0 could be on the table.

Now, you’re probably thinking that there’s no way this would ever happen. And you’re right. It won’t. There’s no incentives for either side. You might be surprised to learn that NFL champions played an All-Star team of college seniors from 1934-1976 in the Chicago Charities College All-Star Game. The NFL won 31, lost nine, and two ended in a tie. The average margin of victory was 17 in favor of the NFL over the final decade of the game being played.

This is obviously an apples-to-oranges comparison. The gulf between professional players now and professional players in the 1950s and 1960s is obvious. The point is that it happened. For charity!

No matter what happened, it would be wildly entertaining and draw an obscene number. A six-touchdown blowout would serve an important public service. A tight game would be bananas, with everyone pulling for the underdog Crimson Tide.

I want to see it. You want to see it.

Sixty minutes and it’d all be over. The action on the field and — hopefully — the discussion.

A guy can dream.