Terry Bradshaw was a Hall of Fame quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In his post-playing career, he’s also become rather adept at putting his foot in his mouth and unwelcomingly inviting himself into conversations that don’t involve him, injecting his at times uninformed opinions into the debate.
That is, of course, his job. At least to a certain extent. But he does it all the same. And the latest beehive he’s stuck his neck into is up in Wisconsin. There are rifts between the Green Bay Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Those reportedly go beyond the fact that they drafted a quarterback last year. But when Bradshaw weighed in, that’s the only angle he was interested in.
“Him being that upset shows me how weak he is,” he said earlier this week on Moose and Maggie on WFAN. “Who the hell cares who you draft? He’s a three-time MVP in the league and he’s worried about this guy they drafted last year at No. 1?
“For him to be upset, my god, I don’t understand that,” he added, while interjecting his own experiences. “Pittsburgh drafted Mark Malone No. 1, Cliff Stoudt in the third or fourth round. I had them coming at me from all angles. I embraced it, because when we went to practice, I wasn’t worried about those guys. They didn’t scare me a bit. So I don’t understand why he’s so upset at Green Bay.”
He would add that the Packers should “let him gripe, let him cry,” adding, “retire, you’re 38, go ahead and retire, see you later.”
Bradshaw was selected by the Steelers with the first overall pick in the 1970 NFL Draft following a season in which the team went 1-13. He only started eight games his rookie year, and would have some struggles staying in the starting lineup in 1973-74.
Malone was not drafted until a decade later with the 28th pick in the first round in 1980, a year after winning the Super Bowl. He would ultimately go on to start 46 of 60 career games in Pittsburgh. His first extended starting period came after Bradshaw retired.
Stoudt was drafted in the fifth round in 1977. Like Malone, he would not have an extended look in the starting lineup until after Bradshaw retired. I will note that it’s easy for him to say in hindsight that he didn’t feel anything about the Steelers’ decision at the time. I’m sure he’s conveniently forgetting something.
For some reason, he would also go on to continue to critique Rodgers later on, making an appearance with Colin Cowherd, and taking shots at the future Hall of Famer’s footwork, calling it “the worst I’ve ever seen for a starting quarterback.” He also accused Rodgers of being coddled and bought into the report that he wanted the Packers to fire their general manager, which as of this time is unsubstantiated.
Frankly, I’m not really sure what he was looking to accomplish, unless it was just to get in the headlines.
