PITTSBURGH — Art Rooney Jr. knew the challenge the Steelers faced when they had to replace Terry Bradshaw after the 1983 season.
"It was like trying to replace Babe Ruth," he said over the weekend from his winter home in Palm Beach, Fla. "Terry had it all. Size. Speed. Arm strength. Everything you want in a quarterback."
Rooney Jr. was in charge of the Steelers' personnel department at the time and had been one of the primary architects of their Super Bowl dynasty of the 1970s. Bradshaw's Hall of Fame career ended because of an elbow injury. Not even Myron Cope's magical Myna bird, which Cope placed on Bradshaw's bad elbow with what he called healing powers, could save him.
It would be 20 years before the Steelers found their next Hall of Fame quarterback. They selected Ben Roethlisberger with the 11th overall pick in the 2004 draft. You might have heard there is some uncertainty about his future with the franchise. He might be back for one more season. Or he might be done here.
It's fair to wonder if it will take the Steelers 20 more years to find another franchise quarterback.
"It'll be the same drill that we had," Rooney Jr. said with no envy in his voice.
The Steelers drafted Cliff Stoudt out of Youngstown State in the fifth round of the 1977 draft and Mark Malone out of Arizona State in the first round of the 1980 draft, thinking that one might be Bradshaw's successor. Stoudt started 15 games in 1983 when Bradshaw was hurt and led the team to the playoffs before leaving for the United States Football League after that season. Malone took the team to the AFC championship game after the 1984 season but was gone after the 1987 season. David Woodley, who had led the Miami Dolphins to the Super Bowl in 1982, came in a trade for draft choices after the 1983 season but wasn't the long-range answer.
"They weren't bad, but they weren't Bradshaw," Rooney Jr. said. "Few are."
Well, Dan Marino was.
The Steelers had a chance to take Marino in the 1983 draft when they picked 21st overall. He had dropped on draft boards because of rumors about drug use during his time at Pitt. Rooney Jr. said the Steelers investigated Marino and were convinced he wasn't doing hard drugs. Still, Chuck Noll was leery because of his experiences nearly a decade earlier with Joe Gilliam. Noll had picked Gilliam to start at quarterback over Bradshaw at the beginning of the 1974 season but watched Gilliam's career crumble because of alcohol, cocaine and heroin addiction. Gilliam died of a cocaine overdose on Christmas Day 2000, four days before his 50th birthday.
In his fascinating 2008 book, "Ruanaidh: The Story of Art Rooney and His Clan," Rooney Jr. said the Steelers' pick came down to Marino or Texas Tech defensive lineman Gabe Rivera.
"You know how I feel about Marino. He's a marvelous talent," Rooney Jr. quoted Noll as saying. "But, look, we're overloaded with quarterbacks. We have Bradshaw. We have Malone. We have Stoudt. ...
"Let's go the way we started."
That was a reference to Noll's first No. 1 pick with the Steelers, North Texas State defensive tackle Joe Greene in 1969. That choice worked out pretty well, right?
So Rivera it was.
"We thought he was going to be a great player," Rooney Jr. said.
Rivera — "Senor Sack," as he was known — played just six games for the Steelers before he was paralyzed from the chest down in an automobile accident on Babcock Boulevard in October 1983. He was driving drunk at the time. He died at 57 in July 2018.
Marino went to the Miami Dolphins with the 27th selection in the 1983 draft. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.
This was the second time the Steelers blew it with a local kid who went on to become a Hall of Fame quarterback. They drafted Pittsburgh native Johnny Unitas in the ninth round of the 1955 draft but released him before the season. They also drafted Len Dawson with their No. 1 pick in 1957, but he started just one game and threw a total of 17 passes for them in three seasons. He, too, made it to the Hall of Fame, spending most of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Bubby Brister, Neil O'Donnell and Kordell Stewart came in later Steelers drafts as the team continued its search to find Bradshaw's replacement. O'Donnell took the team to the AFC championship game in 1994 and to the Super Bowl in 1995. Stewart led the franchise to the AFC title game in 1997 and 2001. But like Stoudt, Malone and Woodley before them, they weren't Bradshaw.
Now — or at least very soon — the Steelers must find Roethlisberger's replacement. Maybe it will be Mason Rudolph, whom the team drafted in the third round in 2018. Maybe it will be another quarterback they draft or make a trade to acquire.
I just hope it doesn't take 20 years to find the next Roethlisberger.
.jpg?w=600)
