Many think of success when they describe the history of the Steelers franchise as a whole. That success has not been as long lasting as many might presume. They have been in different playoff hunts and seasons of struggles in the past. They have been blessed with two Hall of Fame caliber quarterbacks throughout their 90 years of operation.
Terry Bradshaw was the first franchise guy for the black and gold during the team’s historic dynasty in the 1970s. Between that time and when Pittsburgh drafted Ben Roethlisberger in 2004, there was a lot of turnover and bad play at the quarterback position. It is not easy to find a franchise guy, and many try to forget how hard it was to find a quality quarterback after Bradshaw retired.
Terry Bradshaw retires in 1984 after an elbow injury ended his career
In reality, Bradshaw's career ended early into the 1983 season after he suffered a crippling injury to his throwing elbow. It required surgery to fix, but it was never the same after that. He would have to retire that following summer since he could not get back to the level that he was once at. it left the team scrambling to find a replacement since the draft had already passed.
To add salt to the already fresh wound of the Steelers being without a legit quarterback in 1984, Dan Marino could have been drafted that offseason leading into that year. The club wanted to try and build their defense to allow Bradshaw to lead the offense allegedly. They passed on Marino and Bradshaw retired a couple of months later.
Cliff Stoudt becomes a steady force for the Steelers with Bradshaw out
Although Bradshaw was still with the team in 1983 and didn't retire until the summer of 1984, his career was over. His elbow issue was never fixed with surgery and that caused him to call it a career. We will include the 1983 season as it marked the beginning of the era between the Bradshaw and Roethlisberger runs.
Cliff Stoudt jumped into the starting role that season once Bradshaw was forced out of the lineup. He was with the team for three years to that point and was finally thrust into a starting spot even though some didn't know for how long. He would actually have an alright year with the Steelers as they went on to go 9-6 with him as the starter.
Most of the team's success that season came from the defensive side of the ball. They carried the team and Stoudt was not a quality starter for the club. He would throw nearly double the interceptions compared to his touchdowns that year. That would be his only season with Pittsburgh that saw him get nearly a season full of starts.
Despite his lackluster year, the club would win their division and make the playoffs. They started off hot and slowed down towards the end of the schedule. The black and gold would lose in their first playoff game that season against the LA Raiders. Stoudt did alright in 1983, but it showed how much of a steep decline it was from Bradshaw to him.
Mark Malone signaled the start of an overall dark period for the team
Mark Malone was drafted at the tail-end of the first round in 1980. Many speculated that Terry Bradshaw might have been pushed out sooner rather than later because of this move. It was also a different era at that time and many rookies took a year or more until they gained significant playing time, especially at the quarterback position.
After Bradshaw officially retired in 1984, there was a quarterback competition open between Malone and David Woodley for the top job. They would end up nearly splitting those duties for that season before Malone would become the main starter following the 1985 campaign. It was not all rainbows and butterflies for this starting quarterback, but it wasn't all bad either.
Other than a couple of average to above-average records with Malone at the helm, the Steelers were mostly an unsuccessful franchise during his time. He produced a lot of turnovers that went against the team with 68 interceptions that he threw during his time in Pittsburgh. He was mostly a backup who was asked for too much of a role in this club.
His best moment as the starter for the black and gold was the playoff upset that he helped pull off against the Denver Broncos and John Elway in the 1984 playoffs. Malone just wasn't good enough to be a starter in the NFL and should not have commanded that title in Pittsburgh for as long as he did. The Steelers were mostly losers during his era.
A few short stinted starters for Pittsburgh make some competition
David Woodley (1984-1985, started 13 games)
As mentioned in the previous part of this article about Malone, David Woodley was brought in to provide competition. He was mostly a backup, but he did start a good chunk of games during his two years in Pittsburgh. He did nothing spectacular, but he did have a similar starting win percentage over Malone during those two seasons when they were teammates.
Malone was the starter for the most part as he did gain most of the starts during those two seasons. Woodley did play a significant role at quarterback for the Steelers during that same span, but both failed at having positive impacts on the game. It was the start of a dark era for the Steelers as they had to constantly decide between two subpar signal callers.
Scott Campbell (1984-1986, started 2 games)
Scott Campbell spent six years in the National Football League before he called it a career. He spent most of his career with the black and gold before he went to the Atlanta Falcons during the 1986 season. He was the bottom of the barrel for the Steelers during his time there as he could not outperform two poor quarterbacks in front of him.
He did have a slight "hometown" effect on him as he was from Hershey, PA. He might have been born in chocolate world, but there was no sweet ending to his career in the NFL. Campbell would start only 13 games throughout his career and would finish with only two wins as a starter. He was a backup who had to fill the shoes of a starter because of circumstances.
Bubby Brister was not a great quarterback in team history but he helped with minor success
Most fans do not have fond memories of the Bubby Brister era of the Pittsburgh Steelers. This was the near peak point of the club's irrelevance before they started to get more competitive. Both Brister and Malone would have different roles at quarterback while both were on the roster from 1986-1987. From there Brister would take on the starting role for a few seasons.
After his first couple of years as a backup, it seemed like it was appropriate for him to become the starter for the black and gold. The issue with Brister at quarterback was his lack of awareness to keep turnovers at a minimum. He was careless with the football, and it did not help that the team around him was not good enough to bail him out.
His best season as a starter in Pittsburgh came in 1990 where he was able to put up some decent numbers for a run of the mill starter in the league. That was his last real hurrah as the team’s starter as his starting snaps started to deteriorate, especially after Neil O'Donnell showed up to town. That caused Brister to revert to a backup role with the club.
It was not all failure with Brister as the starter as he was able to help the club upset the Houston Oilers in a playoff upset in 1989. He was not a big reason as to why the Steelers were able to pull off the upset, but he did start that game. Other than that lone playoff win, Brister was nothing more than a bridge guy who could never get it together.
Backups who are forced into action for the black and gold
Steve Bono (1987-1988, started 3 games)
Steve Bono was mostly a journeyman quarterback throughout his lengthy NFL career. He was the backup for the Steelers during the 1987 season and was ahead of Bubby Brister at the time. Mark Malone was the starter and did get dinged up for a few weeks that year. That forced Bono into a starting role for three games, which he played well in.
He was mostly a backup his entire career which spanned 14 years and with seven NFL teams. His best season would come in 1995, his first season as a bonified starting quarterback where he was able to produce quality numbers. That was just a flash in the pan, and he was nothing more than a guy who could come off the bench if needed.
Todd Blackledge (1988-1989, started 5 games)
There were high hopes for Todd Blackledge coming out of college in the 1983 NFL Draft. He was the seventh overall pick by the Kansas City Chiefs. He was coming off back-to-back national championships at Penn State and won the Davey O'Brien Award, which is given to the best quarterback in college football. He was a bust with the Chiefs before signing in Pittsburgh.
He was nothing more than a backup with the Steelers as they hoped maybe they could access some untapped potential. Nothing worked out for Blackledge as a quarterback in the pros and he only started five games for the black and gold. He was only with the club for two years and he threw double the interceptions compared to touchdowns.
Neil O'Donnell will always be remembered for his terrible performance in Super Bowl 30
Perhaps the most toxic name in the Steelers lore of starting quarterbacks in their history. Neil O'Donnell might even make some fans of the team somewhat queasy. He was a third-round pick by the club back in 1990 and was able to finally become the starter after a slow start during his rookie year.
It took some time, but Bubby Brister was finally gone as the starting quarterback the following year and it was O'Donnell that helped start uplifting the quarterback position. He might not have been the best quality starter in the NFL, but he was someone that the club could use to help them win football games and get into playoff runs.
Most remember O'Donnell for his faults, which are spearheaded by his terrible performance in Super Bowl 30. He will always be known for that since he threw two careless interceptions that put the Steelers in a bad position to even have a fighting chance to win the game. He played in a different era of the NFL, and some might forget that.
O'Donnell had a lot of issues, but he was also one of the better quarterbacks that the club had in some time when he became the lead guy. He will always be remembered for his failures and that is what history does. He was a good enough starter to keep Pittsburgh in the championship conversation, even though he ended up costing them one.
Mike Tomczak was able to help the team transition as a bridge quarterback
Mike Tomczak was a career backup quarterback around the NFL who was seen as a potential bridge option when he joined the Steelers. He was already getting older after his signing as he was over 30 years old at the time. Neil O'Donnell would remain in Pittsburgh for another three seasons after Tomczak signed with the club.
Eventually, O'Donnell signed with the New York Jets after the 1995 season and Pittsburgh turned towards Tomczak to be their starter for the 1996 campaign. The team had success with him at quarterback as they were able to reach the playoffs that season. The issue was that Tomczak was more of a liability than someone who helped the team win.
Pittsburgh won the division that year and even got past the first round of the playoffs. That was the furthest the club ever got with Tomczak as their lead quarterback. He would return to the backup role just a year later where he would stay for the remainder of his career. The rest of his playing days were only significant if he had to hop into the game and start here or there due to injuries.
Kordell Stewart would be the starting signal caller for Pittsburgh during Tomczak's remaining days in the NFL. He was nothing more than a bridge guy between O'Donnell and Stewart during a successful year in 1995. Other than that flash in the pan, which did not provide much singular success, he did not do a ton during his starting time in the Steel City.
The Steelers started a couple veterans to try and get them bye
Jim Miller (1995-1996, started 1 game)
Barely making this article here is Jim Miller as he mostly rode the bench during his entire time with the black and gold. He would only start one game and he did not account for much of the offense during that game. Miller played it safe during his one start and his stats had little to show because of it. Not much was expected from him.
Miller was a sixth-round selection by the Steelers in the 1994 NFL Draft. The team wanted him to develop into a reliable backup option as he learned behind Mike Tomczak and Kordell Stewart. That never happened and Miller would end up with the Chicago Bears after only two years in Pittsburgh. He had a couple of respectable years with the Bears before he was out of the game.
Kent Graham (2000, started 5 games)
Kent Graham was brought to challenge Stewart for his starting job at quarterback during the 2000 season. He started five games for the Steelers that season after he won the job over Stewart coming out of the preseason. That did not last long as he led a stale passing attack that saw the offense relying on Jerome Bettis to move the ball.
Graham was nothing more than a backup quarterback who was a fringe starter at best during his lone year in Pittsburgh. Eventually, Stewart gained his starting role back and the club started to win more football games. Graham would leave the Steelers and join the Washington organization and hold a backup spot for one more year before retiring.
Kordell Stewart played a style of quarterback that was before its time
Kordell Stewart was a second-round pick by the Steelers in the 1995 NFL Draft. He joined the Steelers as they still had Neil O'Donnell as the starter. He would leave only a year later and that left Pittsburgh with a quarterback dilemma. Stewart and Mike Tomczak would battle in the preseason for the right to be the starting quarterback.
Stewart would not win the opening as the coaches believed that he needed more time to develop at the position. Stewart became a fan favorite as he was able to play receiver and quarterback that allowed the offensive play calling to get more open and exciting. His nickname was Slash, and everyone seemed to love his explosive play style.
Eventually, Stewart gained the starting quarterback role and that era of Steelers football never ended in a happy fashion. Stewart was not careful with the ball and forced a lot of turnovers to occur. That caused Pittsburgh to lose plenty of high-profile games both in the regular and postseason. He had some strong seasons and some that had you scratching your head.
The playoff failures are something that many fans cannot get past when they think of Stewart's legacy with Pittsburgh. He was an explosive playmaker both as a runner and a passer at certain times of his career. He was someone who played a brand of football that was well before his time. Without Stewart, there might not be players like Lamar Jackson nowadays.
Tommy Maddox had one solid season with the Steelers before regressing
Kordell Stewart was seen as someone running out of time in Pittsburgh by the time the 2001 season rolled around. He had one of his best statistical seasons of his career that year, but the Steelers wanted to go in another direction. Tommy Maddox was an interesting signing in the offseason of 2001. He was coming off an MVP season for the XFL.
No one knew if that success could transfer over, especially since Maddox had time in the NFL before he jumped into the XFL. After being a backup for the entire 2001 campaign, it was an all-out competition for the starting spot in 2002. The Stewart experiment ran its course and the coaching staff seemed to have had enough that year.
They switched to Maddox, and he lit a spark on offense that season which led to only losing three of his 11 starts. He was totally different than Stewart was as he had a good pocket presence and threw more touchdowns than interceptions. The offense had a strong passing game now that could take some pressure off Jerome Bettis and the run game.
Maddox only had good success in that 2002 stretch of games when he finally took over for Stewart. After that, he had another solid year regarding his passing yardage, but everything else started to fizzle. The Steelers started to struggle again and were in the neighborhood looking for another quarterback to become a starter for them long-term.
Ben Roethlisberger finally arrives in Pittsburgh in 2004 for his Hall of Fame career
We have finally reached the point where the crazy quarterback carousel comes to a close. Going from the Terry Bradshaw era to the Ben Roethlisberger time frame saw lots of different players try to take the heal over the years. It took two decades and 13 different quarterbacks to start for this team before they were able to land Roethlisberger.
It takes a long time to get the most important position right in the game of football and sometimes it takes much longer than two decades, look at the Cleveland Browns for example. After Maddox lost confidence in the franchise as their starting quarterback, they had a high draft choice the following year. There were plenty of young talented quarterbacks coming out of that class.
They were lucky enough to have Roethlisberger slip to them and they were able to select the future Hall of Famer. He was the perfect guy for the job, and he would hold the title of starting quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers for 18 years. He leads most statistical record for the organization for his position and will probably be the best that the team ever sees.
He helped the team win two Super Bowls and got to another one that they lost. Roethlisberger had his fair share of issues throughout his career, but he was truly great on the field with all of the accomplishments that he brought to the team. He is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game, but he will always be a legendary Steeler first.