You can’t tell the story of the NFL without Pittsburgh, and I’m not just talking about the Steelers. Quarterbacks are the face of the league, everyone knows that.
But before the likes of Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes carried the shield, it was Joe Namath, Dan Marino, and Joe Montana who did the honors. Any guesses where these and a handful of other Hall of Fame quarterbacks came from? That’s right, the Steel City.
Earlier today on the Pat McAfee Show, Montana, a four-time Super Bowl champion, was asked why the city seemed to churn out so much talent at quarterback back in the day.
“I think that it’s such a blue-collared area, hard-working,” Montana said. “You were taught to work hard and at that point in time… I don’t know, maybe it was Iron City beer. I don’t really have an answer on how it came that all those quarterbacks came out of there.”
Quite the interesting theory by “Joe Cool.” I imagine he and the other greats powered up with Iron City just like Bugs Bunny did in Space Jam with “Michael’s Secret Stuff.”
On a more serious note, Western Pennsylvania was a hotbed for the quarterback position. Of the 36 quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame, six are from the Pittsburgh area:
- Joe Montana
- Joe Namath
- Johnny Unitas
- George Blanda
- Jim Kelly
- Dan Marino
Among them they made 41 Pro Bowl appearances, won six Super Bowls, and captured six MVP awards. While three players on this list never won a Super Bowl, Kelly and Marino were always firmly in the mix and made trips to the big game. Blanda captured gold in the AFL for the Houston Oilers in 1960 and 1961.
Famously, the Steelers could’ve had runs with Marino and Unitas, but it wasn’t to be. Marino, the quarterback of the University of Pittsburgh, was available to Chuck Noll’s bunch in the 1983 NFL Draft, but he decided to go in a different direction, selecting Texas Tech DT Gabe Rivera with the Steelers’ first-round pick — six slots before the Miami Dolphins took Marino. Sadly, Rivera would play just six games for the Steelers after his career tragically came to an end after he was paralyzed in a car accident.
According to Noll himself, the team was nervous about Marino and his rumored drug use throughout college. Here’s famed Steelers broadcaster Myron Cope interviewing Noll about it in 1992.
“The rumor was a big part of it, Myron, there’s no question about it. Because I think at that stage, there wasn’t anybody who had a clue as to what drugs were all about,” Noll said. “That was a real problem. That’s why he lasted as long as he did. There was no question about his ability, but that was the thing that was shaky.”
Unitas, on the other hand, was actually with the Steelers after they selected him in the ninth round of the 1955 NFL Draft. At the time, Pittsburgh was not the savviest franchise and ultimately cut the future NFL legend before he ever played a snap.
Despite never playing for the Black and Gold, Montana credits the area for giving the group a competitive edge when playing and says he is still close friends with all of the esteemed quarterbacks.
