The Pittsburgh Steelers were blessed to have a Hall of Fame quarterback in Terry Bradshaw during the 1970s. Then in 2004, they drafted Ben Roethlisberger, who went on to win two Super Bowls and will join Bradshaw in Canton, Ohio. In 1983, they had a chance to add another eventual Hall of Famer at quarterback. However, they passed on drafting Pitt QB Dan Marino.
Not long after the conclusion of the 2024 NFL Draft, another Hall of Famer weighed in on that choice. Former NFL head coach Tony Dungy was on the coaching staff with the Steelers starting in 1981. He spoke about that choice with Sunday Night Football on NBC and the lesson he learned from the experience.
“Everyone in the building thinks he’s special,” Dungy said. “The owner loves Dan Marino. But we’ve got Terry Bradshaw. So does it make sense to take a quarterback when you’ve already got Bradshaw? We pass on him, he goes to Miami and plays lights out from Day 1, plays for a long time… It was 20 years the Steelers were trying to draft a quarterback after that until they got Ben Roethlisberger. And I learned that lesson there, and that’s what Bill Polian said: Don’t pass up special. If you think it’s special and you’ve got a chance to take it, take it.”
It isn’t just the fact that Marino was available in the draft that can rankles Steelers fans. It’s that he played at Pitt. The Steelers could not have been any closer to an elite quarterback prospect. Yet they did draft Marino not because of having Bradshaw. And Bradshaw is in the Hall of Fame for a reason. He was a very real part of the Steelers’ dynasty in the ’70s.
To further compound the problem, Bradshaw only played in one game in 1983 and retired due to an elbow injury after the season. The Steelers would be stuck searching for their next elite quarterback until they selected Roethlisberger in the 2004 NFL Draft.
Their unwillingness to address the most important position in all of football hurt the Steelers for two decades. It is the flipside to what the Green Bay Packers did with first Brett Favre then with Aaron Rodgers. The Packers took Rodgers in the first round while they still had Favre, which damaged the relationship between the two parties. Yet Rodgers went on to have an amazing career with the Packers. Then the franchise did the same thing by drafting Jordan Love. While the jury is still out on how successful Love will be, no one can fault the Packers for trying to make sure they are taking care of the quarterback position.
Unfortunately for the Steelers, they failed to address the position adequately as Roethlisberger’s career wound down. The Steelers attempted to surround Roethlisberger with talented players rather than draft a replacement and ultimately failed. Now general manager Omar Khan is trying to fix those mistakes by turning over the quarterback room and building up the offensive line.
All front offices should be taking the approach that Dungy outlined above. If you believe a quarterback is truly special, you take him regardless of the circumstances. It’s the most important position in football. If you’ve got an elite quarterback, you’ll have a shot regardless of the issues elsewhere on the roster.
The Steelers failed to do that with Dan Marino in 1983. Here’s hoping they never make the same mistake again.
