Playing the "what-if" game, the San Francisco 49ers might be shooting for seventh heaven right about now.
As Super Bowl XLVIII approaches, media covering the 49ers are daydreaming about what might have happened had free-agent quarterback Peyton Manning signed with San Francisco instead of the Denver Broncos in 2012.
Would both the Niners' and Manning's legacy be secured? San Francisco owns five Super Bowl titles and Manning has one with the Indianapolis Colts. The 49ers reached the Super Bowl last season and the NFC championship game this season. Would San Francisco be aiming for Super Bowl win No. 7 and Manning Super Bowl No. 3 on Sunday if he had originally chosen to play in the Bay Area?
In 2012, the 49ers, who had just come off a surprising 13-3 season with Alex Smith at quarterback, made a hard push at then-free agent Manning. Some in the media criticized the Niners for disrupting their team chemistry by revealing they thought they could do better than Smith at quarterback.
After it was apparent Manning was going to sign with the Denver Broncos, ESPN's Jemele Hill blasted San Francisco's failed pursuit.
"... They effectively dissed (Smith) as soon their pursuit of Manning began," Hill wrote. "And now that Manning reportedly will sign with the Denver Broncos, they're left to handle the fallout. That is, if they have the opportunity. Smith spent several hours on Sunday talking with the Miami Dolphins' coaching staff.
The collateral damage in San Francisco from the Manning pursuit is a glowing, neon sign that says this: The 49ers had no business being involved in the Manning sweepstakes in the first place."
Of course, Smith didn't even make it through the next season as San Francisco inserted Colin Kaepernick when Smith got injured in 2012, and Smith ended up in Kansas City this season.
ESPN.com columnist Mark Kreidler and Press Democrat reporter Lowell Cohn weighed in on the Manning effect in San Francisco on Yahoo! Sports Talk Live, according to Yahoo! Sports.
Would the 49ers be gunning for their seventh Super Bowl if Manning had been their quarterback the last two years?
"I doubt it," Kriedler said. " ... Nobody plays defense in the AFC. I'm not sure he would have stayed upright for two seasons for the 49ers in the NFC. I mean it."
Cohn, however, responded how most would expect the question to be answered.
"I think he would have been protected on the 49ers," Cohn said. "I think they would have won the Super Bowl last year. Are you kidding? I'm all in. And I think they'd be in the Super Bowl this year. That pathetic pass that (Seattle Seahawks defender) Richard Sherman knocked down and (49ers wide receiver Michael) Crabtree never got a hand on -- they would have had a successful play and they would have scored.
""Nobody in his right mind would compare Colin Kaepernick to Peyton Manning; that includes Colin Kaepernick and (49ers coach) Jim Harbaugh. There is absolutely no discussion. ..."
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