The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the most storied franchises in NFL history, and when looking at them in the Super Bowl era, it is arguable they are the most successful. One of the reasons for this is good quarterback play. Great quarterback play in the NFL is hard to come by, yet in the Super Bowl era, the Steelers have had two all-time greats in Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger, who have combined to win six Super Bowls.
Recently, NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal compiled a ranking of every quarterback to start in a Super Bowl, and it is broken down into seven tiers based on their careers, not just Super Bowl performances. Pittsburgh’s two Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, Bradshaw and Roethlisberger, fell into the third tier, which feels a little low compared to some names above them in the second tier, such as Bart Starr, Drew Brees, and a man Bradshaw out-dueled twice in the Super Bowl, Roger Staubach.
The third tier is titled “In (or should be in) the Hall of Fame.” Roethlisberger, with a 2-1 record in the Super Bowl, was ranked 15, while Bradshaw, 4-0 in the Super Bowl, landed at 17.
Writing about Roethlisberger and Bradshaw, Rosenthal offered high praise for them as both were easily top five quarterbacks in their primes.
“Roethlisberger was a top-five quarterback for the better part of his career, especially after his second Super Bowl triumph (following the 2008 season),” wrote Rosenthal. “I’m not going to ding him for not being Brady in his late 30s…Bradshaw wasn’t great in the seasons preceding his first two Super Bowl wins (1975-76), but he wound up being a league MVP (in 1978) and finishing in the top five in yards per attempt five times.”
The two were a combined 6-1 in Super Bowls, showing that they could get it done in the big game as well as during the regular season. Without Bradshaw and Roethlisberger the Steelers’ legacy would be very different.
However, there is one more Steelers quarterback who made a Super Bowl: Neil O’Donnell. He finished in the sixth tier, titled “Middle of the Pack,” at number 53. O’Donnell is maybe best known for throwing back-breaking interceptions in Super Bowl XXX, which has tarnished his Steelers legacy.
Because he was listed so low, Rosenthal didn’t write anything about him. O’Donnell didn’t have a bad career by any means, making the Pro Bowl in 1992 and throwing for 21,690 yards and 120 touchdowns to 68 interceptions over 13 seasons. But, as said earlier, his career will forever be defined by his Super Bowl XXX performance, in which he threw for 239 yards and tossed one touchdown and three interceptions.
Maybe Pittsburgh will add another name to Rosenthal’s list soon. Maybe it will be QB Kenny Pickett or Mason Rudolph, or it can be an outside name. Hopefully, though, the Steelers won’t have to go 16 years and a litany of different quarterbacks without making a Super Bowl like the wait from 1979 to 1995.
