The Pittsburgh Steelers have drafted and developed two Hall of Fame quarterbacks. There was Terry Bradshaw in 1970 and Ben Roethlisberger in 2004. Frankly, they should have a third. The team surprisingly passed on hometown kid Dan Marino in the 1983 draft and in Yahoo Sports Frank Schwab’s list of the biggest “woes” and regrets by each team, missing on Marino made the list.
He called it the biggest mistake in the organization’s history, writing:
“The Steelers needed to replace Terry Bradshaw, who was near the end of a great career. Aware of drug rumors with Marino, the Steelers took Texas Tech defensive tackle Gabriel Rivera. Head coach Chuck Noll admitted in an interview nearly a decade later that the rumors, which were unsubstantiated, influenced the Steelers’ draft decision.”
Marino was also coming off a down 1982 season, ending the year with more interceptions than touchdowns after exploding the year before, finishing 1981 with 37 touchdowns. Still, the expectation was the team would look for Bradshaw’s replacement even after drafting Mark Malone in the first round of the 1980 draft.
Instead of Marino, the team took DT Gabe Rivera. Known as Senor Sack, he was a talented player whose career was cut far too short. Mid-way through his rookie year, he drove drunk and crashed his car, leaving him paralyzed and ending his football career.
Marino would go on to become a Hall of Famer for the Miami Dolphins, a nine-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, though he never won a Super Bowl in his career. Had he been around Pittsburgh’s talent, often a playoff and competitive team in the 80s even without good quarterback play, he might’ve gotten himself a ring.
The late Dan Rooney tells a story in his autobiography about the team planning on taking Marino until Rooney let it slip then-reporter John Clayton helped encourage Rooney to take him. The front office turned up their nose at the idea, not wanting to be swayed by the media, and chose Rivera. Regardless of reason, the Steelers passed on Marino and took Rivera instead.
Not taking Marino is right up there as one of the Steelers’ biggest regrets. But it might not be even the biggest quarterback-related one. The team infamously cut Johnny Unitas shortly after drafting him. All he did was go on to become one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. They also traded away rights to Sid Luckman and dealt away Len Dawson. It’s safe to say the team’s track record when it comes to quarterbacks is spotty but when Pittsburgh has hit, they’ve hit big. They’ve also missed big, too.
