For most of my time watching football, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the top franchises in the league. It’s somewhat interesting to look back at their history and see that their success can mostly be tied to two quarterbacks. The Steelers made one playoff appearance before Terry Bradshaw arrived in town. They found some success after Bradshaw left, but it wasn’t until Ben Roethlisberger showed up that the Steelers became the Steelers again.

So who else was there? Let’s find out!

5. Tommy Maddox

At one point, Maddox was seen as the heir apparent to John Elway in Denver. That didn’t happen, and after being drafted with the 25th overall pick in 1992 Maddox was out of football by 1997. Fortunately, the Arena Football League came calling, and Maddox spent 2000 with the New Jersey Red Dogs. Then he got a spot with the L.A. Xtreme of the XFL, and that’s when Maddox’s career took off. He led the XFL in passing yards & touchdowns, led the Xtreme to the league championship, and became the first & last XFL season MVP.

After the XFL folded, Maddox signed with the Steelers to back up Kordell Stewart. He got his chance in 2002 when Stewart struggled at the start of the season, and led the Steelers to a playoff berth & a comeback victory over the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card round. Maddox would serve as starter until getting injured early in the 2004 season, and would be released after their Super Bowl season in 2005, where he served as a backup for Ben Roethlisberger.

4. Kordell Stewart

SLASH! That was Kordell Stewart’s nickname because we were told he could throw touchdown passes and catch touchdown passes. The Steelers ran him out there as a WR with Mike Tomczak as a QB, because they bought into the hype that somebody with Kordell’s skin color couldn’t be a QB. My sincerest apologies to Steeler fans that thought their organization was progressive in 1996, but yeah, y’all totally started Tomczak over Kordell Stewart because of his superior talent, right? .

Stewart still had a productive career in Pittsburgh. Made it to a couple of AFC Championship Games. He’s third in most statistics in Steeler history. One just wonders what he could have done if the Steelers didn’t try to make him a wide receiver. The fact he was the cover athlete for NFL Blitz just plays in his favor. He did well with the time he had, but we’ll never know what he could have really done.

3. Neil O’Donnell

If there’s one thing you can say about Neil O’Donnell, it’s that the man did not throw interceptions. When he was retired, he had the lowest interception percentage of any quarterback. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, the one time he turned the ball over was during Super Bowl XXX, when he threw two interceptions to Larry Brown, who was not in San Antonio showing a Jim Rome Show caller his crank. I wonder if anybody reading this will get that joke.

O’Donnell took the Steelers QB1 slot in 1991, and led the Steelers to four straight playoff appearances culminating in the aforementioned appearance in the Super Bowl. He was Bill Cowher’s first starting quarterback, and helped that regime get off to a good start. Unfortunately, O’Donnell’s decision to sign with the Jets after the 1995 season didn’t go well for him. After failed stints in New Jersey & Cincinnati, O’Donnell spent the last five seasons of his career as a backup in Tennessee. It seemed like more was heading his way, but it never happened.

2. Terry Bradshaw

Bradshaw has seemingly been on television talking about pro football longer than any analyst in the history of the world. A lot of people don’t particularly like his takes on the sport, but since he won four Super Bowls, he kind of gets to say whatever he wants. Going back to his time as a player, Terry had a reputation of being not too smart, but he would use that to his advantage.

Bradshaw could sneak up on people. After five seasons in the NFL, he sure didn’t look like a quarterback that would win multiple championships. Threw a ton of interceptions, but at least the rest of the team was good enough to let him develop. Bradshaw was the focal point of arguably the two most memorable plays of his era: the Immaculate Reception in 1972, and a 64 yard touchdown pass to Lynn Swann in Super Bowl X. Bradshaw was selected to three Pro Bowls, was named MVP in 1978, and made it into the Hall of Fame pretty easliy. It took Pittsburgh just over twenty years to find a proper replacement.

Honorable Mention: Bubby Brister

To be honest, I just like the name. Pretty sure his full name is Bubbert, but I could be wrong.

1. Ben Roethlisberger

I read an online article where the writer went on for several pages comparing Big Ben & Tenacious Terry’s statistics. He made compelling arguments for both, but the conclusion was a bit simplistic as he just ignored everything he’d said and decided that Bradshaw was better since he won more Super Bowls. To be fair, most would arrive at this conclusion. A closer look has me taking Roethlisberger, and here’s why:

Ben has more career touchdowns. Fewer career interceptions. More passing yards. A better QB rating. While the Steelers were all about the running game during Bradshaw’s career, they’ve become about the passing game during Roethlisberger’s. He’s more durable than Bradshaw was, which a lot of people would credit to his playing in an era where QBs are more protected. Does anybody think that NFL referees have gone out of their way to protect Roethlisberger? He’s one of those guys that the refs tend to let defend themselves since they’re as big as most of the people chasing them around. Some of today’s QBs are certainly babied, but we can’t say Roethlisberger is.

Yes, Bradshaw won more titles. Bradshaw also had more Hall of Famers around him. Guys on the offensive line. Guys catching the ball. Guys running with the ball. Ben’s had some, but not as many. I don’t see Roethlisberger ever catching Bradshaw in Super Bowl titles, but he’s passed him up as best quarterback to don a Steeler uniform. Six-time Pro Bowler, threw for a silly 5,129 yards in 2018, and still won two Super Bowls, which is impressive even if it isn’t four. He’ll join Bradshaw in the Hall of Fame one of these days, if he ever feels like retiring.

Man, that was painful. Join me next time, when we break down the greatest…San Francisco 49ers? Oh boy.