By Don Stokes-Senior Writer-Midwest Region-Football Reporters Online
Returning to the aforementioned Miami Dolphin dominance during the early part of the decade with 5 playoff seasons in a row and 3 straight Super Bowl appearances (1971- ’72 and ‘73). In the bright Oakland Coliseum sun the run finally concluded for the Fish. During the 1974 AFC Divisional round the two time defending champion Miami Dolphins lost a slugfest to the Oakland Raiders 28-26. When the Raiders QB Kenny Stabler fluttered an 8 yard pass to RB Clarence Davis in the end zone through the Miami “Sea of hands” with just 24 seconds remaining for the winning score, most football experts at the time stated the 1974 AFC Title game was just completed. The powerful Raiders had beaten the back to back Super Bowl Champions Dolphins surely they would easily beat their next opponent at home and go on to Super Bowl IX and become the NFL’s newest dynasty. Who was the “Silver and Black” opponent in that ‘74 AFC Championship game? The young and hungry Steelers of Pittsburgh, PA.
Pittsburgh did do one thing nearly better than any other team during that 1974 season. Their defense was proclaimed “The Steel Curtain” and played great football all season long. But they had a noticeable Achilles heel. For all of the teams who had made the NFL playoffs in 1974 everyone’s perceived strength was considered Pittsburgh’s biggest weakness. That was of course being the Quarterback position. The Steelers QB was in then his 5th year and still could not play with a level of consistency. Their now starting QB had actually lost his job to a 2nd year player early during that same season. Looking back if any one player had a right to have the preverbal “chip” on his shoulder during that time period it should be the Steelers Terry Bradshaw. Although because of his inconsistency at the position most of ills on the field was of his own accord. In telling Bradshaw’s account one must also mention another QB who just may have helped pushed Bradshaw to finally play up to his potential. The casual NFL fan born after 1970 may not recall the colorful name of one Jefferson Street Joe Gilliam, a lanky, rail thin man of color with a powerful arm. The tale of this duel began with Bradshaw joining an up and coming Steelers team in 1970.
Despite being the 1st pick of that year’s NFL draft the rocket armed University of Louisiana blond bomber Terry Bradshaw struggled the first 4 seasons of his career. Bradshaw still led Pittsburgh to 2 straight playoff appearances in 1972 and 1973 but his play at quarterback was continually erratic. By 1974 the Steelers knew were ready to seriously contend for an NFL Championship. But their 5 year quarterback unfortunately Bradshaw still was not. During the ’74 pre-season Steeler Head Coach Chuck Noll had enough of his gifted but frustrating passer. He also knew third year pro Joe Gilliam had the physical skills to compete against Bradshaw while the other vet on the roster (QB Terry Hanratty) did not. Joe beat out Bradshaw and won the starting job. Gilliam played well early. Beginning with the 1974 season opener, a 30-0 win against the Colts (257 yards) then a week 2 35-35 tie against the Broncos (348 yards) Joe Gilliam was the talk of the National Football League. But Gilliam’s success was short lived. An 8 for 31 passing performance for 106 yards during a week 3 (17-0) loss against the Raiders began the slide. Although the Steelers rebounded with wins against Houston, Kansas City and Cleveland Joe’s play was not impressive. Other factors (to be mentioned later in this piece) may have contributed to Joe Gilliam regression but he began to spiral out of control.
Coach Noll, who some later argued did not show the same patience with Jefferson Street Joe (4-1-1 in his starts)after 6 games as he did with the 4 seasons of unpredictable play with Bradshaw soon pulled the plug on the Joe Gilliam experiment. Terry was returned as the starter for the remainder of the season first beating the Raiders in the AFC Title game, then leading Pittsburgh to their 1st Super Bowl victory against Minnesota 16-6. Regarding the Jefferson Street Joe Gilliam story? It’s a sad one with a “What might have been” ending. Substance abuse dogged his brief career in Pittsburgh. After Gilliam received his 2nd Super Bowl ring Coach Noll, growing weary of his personal issues released him in 1975. His NFL career was over. With Gilliam athletic abilities and raw talent maybe Noll used him to push Terry to become a better quarterback in 1974.
By the 1975 season Terry Bradshaw had become a Pro bowl QB. After back to back championship seasons in 1974-’75 and 1978-’79 the Steelers impressive run had ended by 1980. The final total: 4 Super Bowls wins in 6 years. Terry Bradshaw by that time had become the 2 time Super Bowl MVP Hall Famer bound QB finishing his career at a still high level. Bradshaw most surely would have played a few more seasons if not for an elbow injury which hastened his retirement. Bradshaw played in but one game the entire 1983 season, the final one of the year. Terry started and threw the final two touchdown passes of his career during the Steelers 34-7 win against the Jets. A pop in his elbow after a 2nd quarter TD pass signaled the end of his playing career. With Bradshaw’s elbow being a season long problem it gave an opportunity for his back up 5th year pro Youngstown State’s Cliff Stoudt to show his skills. Stoudt played well enough to win 9 games and lead Pittsburgh to the AFC Central crown.
Terry Bradshaw’s 1978 NFL MVP (top) last winning Super Bowl season and Cliff Stoudt’s (bottom) 1983 best NFL season
Games Att Comp Pct% Yards TD INT Rating
16 368 207 56.3 2915 28 20 84.7
16 381 197 51.7 2553 12 21 60.6
As stated before Stoudt led the Steelers to a playoff berth in 1983 were they were soundly beaten by the eventual Super Bowl Champion LA Raiders in the AFC Divisional round 38-10. With both QB’s interceptions were a problem but in the case of Terry Bradshaw there was much more productivity than Stoudt via the TD passes. With any team success (especially in Steel Town) there is a harsh reality from fans when you follow a successful winner at the hot spot of QB, much is expected. In the case of Cliff Stoudt, after a 9-2 start struggled towards the end of the season losing 3 straight games. To right the ship a tender elbowed Bradshaw volunteered to play the regular season finale at Shea Stadium against the Jets. Sometimes great results by both the media and fans are expected and expected quickly. And, also sometimes for some players the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Or in the case of Cliff Stoudt the green was money from another league: The United States Football League. The USFL Birmingham Stallions signed Stoudt to play for them in 1984. For 2 seasons he played quite well for Birmingham throwing for 60 TD passes. But the league itself was unstable. Unfortunately the USFL took the NFL on in court. And congrats to them, they won their lawsuit. What was the USFL winning judgment? One single lonely buck. The new league was done and for the most part so was Stoudt’s career. After stops with the Cardinals and Dolphins it ended in Dallas on their practice squad in 1991.
As the mighty Steeler dynasty was ending by 1980, a new one began in the City by the Bay in San Francisco, CA by 1981. For many seasons before the San Francisco 49ers were called many different things. They were called also rans, bridesmaids all the like. But they were never crowned an NFL champion until the arrival of Bill Walsh. In the beginning no one would have believed this because the 49ers had fallen upon hard times. Everyone knows the story of Walsh coming from Paul Brown’s Cincinnati’s via Don Coryall’s Chargers and the 2-14 record during his 1st season as 49ers head coach in 1979. During that uneventful ’79 season new head coach Walsh was blessed with not just 1 but 2 young QB studs. The incumbent was the 2nd year starter Steve DeBerg, who started 15 of the 16 games in ’79 and threw for over 3600 yards and led the NFL in pass completions. The other quarterback was a rookie who started just one game that season, a week 14 loss against the NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams: A 3rd round pick from the University of Notre Dame, Joe Montana. By the 1980 NFL season both Steve DeBerg (9 starts) and Joe Montana (7 starts) were splitting time at QB with each having their ups and downs. Despite winning but 2 games as a starter in ’80 but still leading the NFL in completion percentage with 64.5% the decision made to keep Montana over DeBerg. After the 1980 season the 49ers traded Steve DeBerg (to the Denver Broncos….. remember DeBerg’s name but that’s another story for later) before the start of the 1981 season and named Joe Montana the full time starter at quarterback.
Some possible reasons: Although not blessed with great foot speed or a rocket throwing arm, what Montana did bring to the table was an ability to find the open man and quick feet to avoid the pressure of a pass rush. Something the somewhat stationary Steve De Berg did not have. Another possible reason was the West Coast offense system that Walsh implemented which calls for a more mobile and accurate type of passer. A bigger reason may have been Montana’s ability to coolly bring his team back from seemly insurmountable odds. One of the two games Montana won that 1980 season was a 38-35 win against the Saints with the 49ers trailing 35-7 at the half that may have helped open Walsh’s eyes about Montana’s leadership skills for his very young team. By 1981 the San Francisco 49ers rise to the top was the surprise of the National Football League with a 13-3 mark. Leading the young 49ers into the NFC Playoffs, Montana led San Francisco over the Giants in the 1st round. Now “Americas Team” the battle tested Dallas Cowboys awaited. With a historic Dwight Clark pass from Montana (“The Catch”) now in NFL lore the San Francisco 49ers moved on to Super Bowl XVI. Joe Montana was voted Super Bowl MVP as the 49ers beat Cincinnati 26-2I. A Super Bowl type layover hit the 49ers in 1982 crashing with a 3-6 strike shortened record.
But by 1984 the 49ers again were back on top of the football world by beating the Dan Marino led Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX 38-16. However by the ’86 campaign Joe Montana, after numerous injuries was feeling the effects of years of lingering back pain and his continued excellent play was at that point in question. With that in mind the 49ers made a steal of a deal that would allow them continued success far into the next decade. The victim of the theft: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs drafted their seemly new franchise QB with their 1st pick of the 1987 NFL draft: The University of Miami’s Vinnie Testaverde. Already on the Buccaneers roster at the end of the 1986 season was veteran QB Steve DeBerg (remember him?) and the extremely mobile but still raw University of Brigham Young QB Steve Young. Coach Walsh was so impressed with the athletically gifted Young he traded an 2nd and a 4th rounder for the USFL castoff. With the arrival of Steve Young by 1987 the 49ers had the QB necessary to remain a football dynasty for many more years to come. But Joe Montana by all means wasn’t finished just yet. Montana and the 49ers returned to the Super Bowl winning in back to back seasons in 1988 and 1989. By 1994 San Francisco with Steve Young finally entrenched under center as the starter won Super Bowl XXIX against the San Diego Chargers 49-26.
Here are the stats for Joe Montana’s (top) 1989 last Super Bowl winning NFL season and Steve Young’s (bottom) 1994 NFL Super Bowl winning season
Games Att Comp Pct% Yards TD INT Rating
13 386 271 70.2 3521 26 8 112.4
16 461 324 70.3 3969 35 10 112.8
Looking at both Hall of Famers stats in those Super Bowl winning seasons their numbers are eerily similar in productivity. Montana played just 13 games in 1989 and still averaged 270 passing yards per game. Young (who started slow because of a thumb injury) averaged 248 yards passing in 16 games in 1994. Their completion % is but .1 percentage point difference. And their passing rating is just .4 points apart. And both were voted the NFL MVP in their respective seasons. But as far as their careers were concerned they ended in very different ways. For Joe Montana a pre-season elbow tendon injury before the 1991 season caused him to miss all of 1991 and all but one game of the 1992 season. With Young’s growth and success on the field this effectively ended Joe’s time as a San Francisco 49er starting QB. Sensing the 49ers split in the locker room Joe requested a trade and found new life as a Kansas City Chief in 1993. Along with another reclamation project RB Marcus Allen, Montana led the surprising Chiefs to an AFC Title game appearance and for him another Pro Bowl. In 1994 the 38 year old Montana again led the Chiefs to another playoff berth. But just as in his very 1st NFL start Joe Montana’s NFL career ended with a loss this time in an AFC Wildcard game against the Dolphins 27-17.
While Montana was traded from Candlestick to Arrowhead in the spring of 1993 Steve Young’s career took off. Only the Dallas Cowboys ended their seasons in both the 1992 and 1993 NFC Championship games. By 1994 as Joe’s career was winding down, Steve Young’s was on the rise. He finally overcame the Cowboys for the NFC Title. A Super Bowl record 6 TD passes by the game’s MVP Young soon followed. He like his QB rival Joe Montana had now become both a 49er and NFL icon. The following years for Steve Young were successful statistically for him as he led the NFL in passing in 1996 and 1997. But not for the 49ers team in general, for they have not returned a Super Bowl since the 1994 season. With Young the injuries began to mount up as the years went by. Being an athletic running type of passer Young suffered numerous concussions through out his career. The final career ender for Steve occurred on a Monday Night Football game week 3 encounter against the Cardinals in 1999. Young was forced to retire with post-concussion syndrome. Just like Montana before him, the doors of Canton opened wide for Steve Young making the San Francisco 49ers one of the few teams in NFL history to have two Super Bowl winning QB’s in the Pro Football’s Hall Of Fame.
Coming soon Part 3: Troy Aikman, Aaron Rodgers and ……… The happy sack play in the desert.
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