Former Steelers QB Kordell Stewart now often comes up as a player ahead of his time, and his highlights remind us of why that is. In today’s game, the dual-threat running quarterback is commonplace, Lamar Jackson being the quintessential example. Back in the ‘90s, though, Stewart was an aberration—but an alluring one. The things he could do on the field were rarely seen in the NFL from the quarterback position. Even his teammates could hardly believe it, as long-time Steelers LT John Jackson recalls.
At the end of the 1996 season, the Steelers sailed to an AFC Central title. Even while losing three of their last four games, they advanced with a one-game advantage over the Jacksonville Jaguars. They were, however, competing with the New England Patriots for the No. 2 seed. Even in a loss to the Carolina Panthers, though, John Jackson saw Stewart do something he’d never seen before.
“The best thing I ever saw was, we did a bootleg down in Charlotte, and he had four guys that had the angle”, Jackson told Josh Jackson on The Fitted Club podcast about Kordell Stewart. “And he blew right by them, and scored. As a player, you’re sitting there going, ‘Man, he’s about to get killed’. And I’m thinking, ‘Oh, he’s gone!’”.
This is a play we have talked about before. It is essentially as Jackson described, ending 80 yards later in the end zone. Stewart’s remarkable play—he first play after the Steelers forced a punt—gave Pittsburgh the lead. Unfortunately, the Panthers took it back, winning 18-14.
At that time, Mike Tomczak was still the Steelers’ starter, but they started giving Kordell Stewart the opportunity to play quarterback. Of his 30 pass attempts in his second season, he threw 21 in that game. Granted, he only completed eight, and threw two interceptions.
But he did finish that year with eight offensive touchdowns, five rushing and three receiving. Kordell Stewart also scored two rushing touchdowns in the Steelers 42-14 Wild Card win over the Colts a week later. By 1997, HC Bill Cowher made him his starting quarterback. Even today, he and others still wonder whether he could have thrived in today’s game. Well, he doesn’t wonder—he knows.
Of course, whether he grew up and developed as a quarterback in today’s era and actually excelled is a debate that will never have a resolution. Stewart had accuracy issues, and made poor decisions. Could he be better today? Sure, but to what extent?
“People have to understand that Kordell [Stewart] had a strong arm. Stronger than I’ve ever been around”, Jackson said. “For him, the running part came natural. He could juke you, but he [had] a lot of elusiveness as far as his speed. You didn’t know how fast he was until you actually got on the field”.
In his best season as a runner in 1997, Stewart only recorded 88 attempts, gaining 476 yards with 11 touchdowns. He recorded a successful play more than 60 percent of the time. Lamar Jackson has never recorded fewer than eight rushing attempts per game in a season, for comparison. The Ravens exploit his greatest asset, his sheer speed. Stewart had that, too—best seen up close. “You just didn’t know how fast he was until you got up on him”, Jackson said.
