Inside The Pocket #001: Al Davis & The Oakland Raiders
By Sam Akroyd
Beginning in 2018 and running through 2021, the Collapsing Pocket launched a new series of podcasts looking back at the iconic characters and biggest moments in the NFL, and what makes football the most beautiful – and sometimes the ugliest – sport that we all know & love.
Known as the ‘Inside The Pocket’ series, The Touchdown will be relaunching these twenty episodes as part of the buildup to the 2023 season. The original creators Sam Akroyd, Simon Carroll and Rob Ward look back and offer their thoughts on how these legends and eras shaped the league we see today.
ITP #006: Quarterback Controversy - Joe Montana v Steve Young
First aired 2nd July 2019
Some fans can wait a lifetime for their team to field anything approaching a hall of fame quarterback. So their sympathies must have been threadbare for San Francisco at the turn of the 90’s, as the 49ers found themselves managing a QB room containing Joe Montana and Steve Young. These two stars would both go on to Canton and inspire endless debate about who was the better player, as their two careers would become forever entwined during a contest for a starting place that would split fans and commentators in two.
A nice problem to have is still a problem, and the way San Francisco negotiated the greatest quarterback controversy of all time speaks much to the oversized importance of the position to the game – and the difficulties in the NFL of evolving a team and extending a dynasty.
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SAM AKROYD
NFL/CFB ANALYST
AVID NEW ORLEANS SAINTS FAN SAM IS CO-FOUNDER AND RESIDENT FUNNY MAN ON THE COLLAPSING POCKET PODCAST. BE SURE TO HIT HIM UP ON TWITTER @SAMJUSTSAMYEAH FOR ALL THINGS BLACK AND GOLD, SERVED WITH A HEALTHY DOSE OF SARCASM