Steelers Once Had A Hall Of Fame Quarterback Desperate To Don The Black And Gold

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a history of great quarterbacks with Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger. Bradshaw won four Super Bowls and already has his spot in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame, and Roethlisberger is expected to join him when he becomes eligible in 2027. Bradshaw retired in 1983 and Roethlisberger wasn't drafted until 2004. There's a lot of glory during each of their careers, but the 21 years in between were mostly dark years for the Steelers and the quarterback position.

Bradshaw was going into his final season when a litany of elbow issues arose for the veteran quarterback. Had the Steelers known about them ahead of time, they would have known to draft either Dan Marino or Jim Kelly during the 1983 NFL Draft. Both players were from Pittsburgh, and had obvious ties to the community. Pittsburgh passed on Marino in the draft, and Kelly was selected before the Steelers' pick.

Kelly went on the Green Light Podcast With Chris Long on Thursday, where he shared who he was hoping to play for in the NFL before being drafted by the Buffalo Bills. 

"I wanted to either play in Pittsburgh or play in LA, I was a big Raiders fan and Steelers fan growing up. Ralph Wilson, the owner at the time, said you don't play for the Bills, you're not going to play."

Kelly's football journey is complicated. He was drafted by Buffalo in 1983, but this was the year John Elway was making a bunch of noise because he refused to play for the team who ended up selecting him with the first overall pick - the then-Baltimore Colts. During his contract negotiations with the Bills, Kelly was approached by several teams in the USFL. He wound up playing in that league until the 1986 NFL season.

The USFL would eventually crumble, which led Kelly back to the Bills ahead of the 1986 season. Buffalo still held his draft rights, and he was warned by Owner Ralph Wilson that he would play with the Bills and the Bills only. Had Kelly of had his own way, he would have chose the Steelers or the then-Los Angeles Raiders. 

Things worked out for Kelly in Buffalo, as he wound up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It is hard not to think about what would have happened had Wilson given Kelly permission to seek out opportunities elsewhere. Pittsburgh still hadn't found their next franchise quarterback after Bradshaw, and Kelly wound up playing through the 1996 season. Pittsburgh would have had a better chance to compete in the league during that time, and perhaps could have had a few more Lombardi Trophies.

Kelly went on to have plenty of experience playing in Super Bowls with the Bills. Unfortunately, he ended his career ringless. The Bills made four consecutive Super Bowls with Kelly at the helm, but he performed miserably in the games throwing two touchdowns to seven interceptions.

Steelers Nearly Had A Chance To Land Two Of The Top Quarterbacks In The 1983 NFL Draft

Marino was drafted by the Miami Dolphins with the 27th overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft, and the Steelers famously passed on him as they selected a different player with the 21st overall pick. Pittsburgh didn't know about Bradshaw's impending retirement at the time, but they still could have thought about a backup plan. 

Bradshaw was clearly on the tail end of his career, and the Steelers had an opportunity to draft a Pittsburgh native who even played his college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers. Obviously, hindsight is 20/20. It was hard to tell that Marino would turn into a future MVP and Hall of Famer. Passing on Marino in the draft itself and then missing out on Kelly due to Wilson refusing to allow him to explore other opportunities potentially caused the Steelers to miss out on more championships.