NFL Network today aired a look back at a classic game, the Lions-Packers playoff game of 1993 that turned out to be Brett Favre’s first playoff victory. Aside from it being a classic game, the broadcast showed a clip of Barry Sanders in 1989 at his press conference right after the Lions took him third overall in the draft.

As my focus turns toward April’s draft (and it’s a limited focus; as I’ve stated before, I don’t go crazy over the draft like some other NFL fans), and after blogging about busts earlier, watching Sanders reminded me of the perhaps the biggest whiff in NFL draft history: The Packers drafted Tony Mandarich ahead of Sanders.

Of course, it’s easy to second-guess drafts years later. And Mandarich-ahead-of-Sanders ranks up there with Sam Bowie-ahead-of-Michael Jordan. But think about the fortunes of the Packers and Lions following this turn events. The Lions made the playoffs a few times during the 1990s, mostly thanks to the amazing play of Sanders. Without him, their last few decades would even be sadder. Had the Packers drafted Sanders, then traded for Favre (remember, he started his career with the Falcons, and Green Bay GM Ron Wolf was impressed enough to trade for him in a deal that at the time seemed insignificant), then signed Reggie White, they might have been the dominant team of the 1990s instead of winning just one Super Bowl.

Revisionist history, at least when it comes to the NFL, can be fun. Who from this year’s draft will teams regret they passed over? And who will turn out to be the great bust of 2009?

With April just a day away, NFL draft hype is in full swing. The Lions are looking at quarterback Matthew Stafford as a possible No. 1 overall pick. With Stafford’s big payday looming, I can’t help but think about another overall No. 1 pick — 49ers quarterback Alex Smith.

After four seasons, Smith is almost officially a bust, and part of the lack of success might not be entirely his fault. He’s been through four offensive coordinators and three coaches in four years and was quarterbacking a team with marginal talent, at best. It makes you wonder how many busts become busts for circumstances beyond their control. Sure, some draft busts bust themselves, but is it Smith’s fault his team has been through so much upheaval? Was it David Carr’s fault he was sacked so often behind the Texans’ terrible offensive line? Will it be JaMarcus Russell’s fault if his career sputters with the chaotic Raiders?

Smith, to his credit, restructured his contract with the hopes he can prove himself with the 49ers, who might finally settle down with Mike Singletary as coach. And Singletary will give Smith that chance. But it all makes you wonder if Stafford’s future in the NFL might not be as much in his hands as it should be.

OK, this will be my last complaint about the preseason until, well, the actual preseason. Looking at the tentative schedule the NFL released (and is trying to tout, I might add), the last round of preseason games will be played Sept. 3-4. Maybe I’m a purist, but I think that once September arrives, NFL games should count. Granted, maybe the league is giving college football a one-week head start. But that doesn’t mean a September preseason NFL game is any less obnoxious. Just another thing that would be fixed if the NFL went to an 17- or 18-game season.

The NFL announced that Arizona will play at Pittsburgh for the preseason Monday Night Football opener on Aug. 13. The game will match up last year’s Super Bowl opponents … for one quarter.

Yep, because this rematch is in the preseason, we instantly yawn “Who cares?” Even when the starters play early in the preseason, there is less intensity than a Week 10 matchup between the two worst teams in the NFL. It’s nice that this rematch was arranged, but seriously, who cares? All the more reason the NFL should shorten the preseason and lengthen the regular season.

Titans coach Jeff Fisher said Sunday that beleaguered quarterback Vince Young will have to earn his starting job back if he wants to play in 2009.

With the Titans re-signing starter Kerry Collins to a two-year deal in the offseason, Fisher’s declaration seems to be slamming the door shut on Young’s tenure as a Titan. I doubt Young will catch Collins, and it’s doubtful Tennessee will shell out so much money for a somewhat unproven young quarterback.

Young and his psyche need a fresh start somewhere else. He has proved he can win and lead an offense in the NFL. There are teams that need a QB — imagine Young as a Buccaneer. I think Fisher will ever be confident in Young again; it’s time for the Titans to cut their losses and let Young restart his career with another team.

I really wanted to get through this spring without blogging about Terrell Owens. I ignored the fact he skipped Buffalo’s first voluntary workouts because I didn’t think it was a big deal. I figured we’d get a quiet spring, he’d say something moronic in the summer, be annoyed with a teammate in the fall, and by that time I’d be willing to express my blogging opinion.

Nope, he couldn’t wait. Owens is claiming Cowboys owner Jerry Jones assured him he’d have a job in Dallas this year, and that his release blindsided him.

T.O., why can’t you just be quiet? The Cowboys made their decision, and even if you weren’t happy with it, have you not learned anything in the past decade? Just let it go and move on. Don’t make me blog about you again until September.

I started watching NFL games (and collecting football cards) around 1977 at age 6. Tonight I was thinking about how I never got to see Jim Brown play live. Yes, I’ve seen video of his greatness, but never got to see it week after week like I have the stars of the past 30 years. That got me to thinking of a list of players I missed out on simply because I was born too late. The list of players I would have loved to witness:

Jim Brown
Gayle Sayers
Mike Ditka
Dick Butkus
Ray Nitschke
Bob Hayes
Johnny Unitas
Deacon Jones
O.J. Simpson
Fran Tarkenton

Simpson and Tarkenton were winding down their careers right as I was discovering the NFL — I missed them both in their prime. Yes, there are three Bears on the list, sue me — but at least I was able to witness almost all of Walter Payton’s career. It was something else.

With the MLB season set to start, my thoughts naturally have turned to … 2009 fantasy football!

Part of me thinks it’s too early to start compiling draft lists for next season. After all, the NFL draft is still a month away, no one knows where Jay Cutler or Torry Holt might end up, and well, I still have a fantasy baseball draft I probably should prepare for …

On the other hand, maybe you can’t be too early — that’s why you make adjustments as the weeks and months before the season pass. So look for pre-pre-preseason positional lists in the coming weeks. I’ll probably update after the NFL draft, and then a couple times during the summer.

The NFL is adopting several rule changes this week, many with players’ safety in mind. But one adopted today will not only appeal to teams who are ahead in games, but to annoyed fans: Onside kicks that go out of bounds won’t get re-kicked.

How obnoxious in the past was it to see an onside kick go out of bounds — essentially, the kicking team failed — only for that team to get another chance, albeit after a penalty. Onside kicks are supposed to be rare and difficult; teams should only get one shot at it. With the new rule, the receiving team gets the ball if it goes out of bounds, just as it would on a normal kick.

Onside kicks are exciting, mainly because they have to be executed perfectly. With the new rule, that execution demands more perfection, and in turn, will be more exciting when one is successful.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday that the NFL is getting serious about trimming the preseason and adding a game or two to the regular-season schedule. Any such change wouldn’t happen until at least 2011, but at least the league is looking ahead. Expanding the regular-season seems like a no-brainer: Better ratings and more fan interest for the replaced preseason games; an earlier start to the season (Sunday of Week 1 in 2009 is Sept. 13!); and more revenue for the teams. The union would have to approve, but wouldn’t you think rosters would have to increase by a few players with the change? Coaches might not like the shorter preseason, and long-shot free agents might have less of a chance of making an opening-day roster, but those are minor negatives compared with the interest a 17- or 18-game season will produce.

Oh, one more positive with this plan: The fantasy season will be one or two weeks longer.