History of the position: Steelers quarterbacks

The 1980s

The 1980s was a decade that saw a turnover from the dominant 70s and future Hall of Famer, Terry Bradshaw, to lesser skilled players at the position. Other quarterbacks would try to steer the Steelers offense in the right direction after Bradshaw’s retirement. The other three quarterbacks during this decade were Cliff Stoudt, Mark Malone, and Bubby Brister.

The 1980s were a struggle for Pittsburgh throughout the entire decade after Bradshaw decided to hang up the cleats, these other three listed above were bad. To say bad is putting it nicely as their seasons saw more interceptions than touchdowns on their stat sheets and therefore the Steelers struggled throughout the 1980s to form any kind of semblance to the decade before them.

The best season for quarterback play came in 1981 as Bradshaw was still running the offense and before the three backups took over the position. Bradshaw put up 2,887 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and two rushing touchdowns. Bradshaw was still the best quarterback of the decade even though he only played three years in the 1980s before he called it quits and moved onto another career path. Bradshaw was done and the Steelers struggled to find a signal-caller to replace him throughout the decade.