The Pittsburgh Steelers have had a vaunted franchise history, that few organizations around the league can match.
Just look at the all-time draft we did here at Steelers Depot. The fact that we had six teams, and all six had legit rosters top to bottom is saying something serious about the quantity and quality of talent that have sported the black and gold.
In that draft, we saw our own Joe Clark take Ben Roethlisberger number one overall, over Terry Bradshaw. It’s probably the right pick when considering how much more the league is focused on passing in the modern era.
Ian Valentino over at 33rdteam agrees with Clark and named Roethlisberger as the “best” quarterback in team history.
“For as meaningful as Terry Bradshaw was for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Steel Curtain dynasty, Ben Roethlisberger evolved from a successful game manager as a rookie to a feared big-play hunter who drove elite offenses throughout his prime.” Valentino said. “Bradshaw won two more Super Bowls than Big Ben but barely finished his career by completing over half his passes and with more touchdowns than interceptions. Roethlisberger had over 36,000 more yards, 216 more touchdowns, and only one more interception in 81 more games.”
This so often becomes the debate when talking about players from different eras. Are you talking about the best, or talking about the greatest?
Think of all the advances we’ve made since the 70s. Players start training earlier, their diets are curated, and their sleep is optimized. Even something like weightlifting is taken so seriously now. Anything that can be done to maximize human performance is done.
So obviously the players are going to get better over time. Throw someone like Joe Milton in 1970; they’d think he was an alien. Now, he might not even make the Patriots roster.
That becomes the case study with Roethlisberger and Bradshaw. Roethlisberger is more talented and has better numbers, I think it’s hard to deny that.
But I think there needs to be some consideration of the eras they both played here. Terry Bradshaw was voted as the MVP of the league, something Roethlisberger never even came close to doing. Bradshaw was named to the 1970s Hall Of Fame team, while Roethlisberger always seemed to fall behind the Bradys and Mannings of the world.
Sure, if you said let’s win one game, and you get either in prime in today’s NFL, I’d take Big Ben. But I think resume-wise, you can’t pick against Bradshaw.
