Neil O’Donnell
O’Donnell joined the team after Pittsburgh selected him 70th overall in the 1990 NFL draft. The team had high hopes that O’Donnell or some other quarterback on their team could propel them out of the 80s slump and back into contention in the 90s, O’Donnell did just that.
Now, O’Donnell was not the most amazing quarterback, nor was he highly respected during his career but he put up decent numbers for Pittsburgh. He helped Pittsburgh achieve their goals of being contenders again and getting back to the Super Bowl – even though he played very poorly in that Super Bowl against the Dallas Cowboys.
O’Donnell played with great teams and defenses that helped keep his team afloat throughout his Steelers career, but the offense was no slouch either while O’Donnell held the reigns. Much like Stewart, big games were not O’Donnell’s strong suit as many of those games came as losses to the team during this time.
Part of that blame was put on O’Donnell and for good reason as his playoff record was 3-4 and his touchdown-interception ratio was 9-8. His career record while playing with Pittsburgh was 39-22-0.
O’Donnell did have a nice career with Pittsburgh and was able to bring the team back to actual contention, even if the team did not win any rings with him starting. His stat line with the Steelers included 12,867 passing yards, 68 passing touchdowns, and one Pro Bowl nomination.