Forgotten Steelers Hall Of Famer Bobby Layne Is The Clearly The 3rd Best Quarterback In Franchise History

Once upon a time, the Detroit Lions were the class of the NFL and the Pittsburgh Steelers were hopeless doormats. The Lions won their third NFL championship in four tries in 1957 and dominated the 1950s. The Steelers were 31-41 during the same period from 1952-1957 and had managed to finish with six wins and six losses twice. Pittsburgh had only been to the playoffs once in twenty-five seasons and was shut out, 21-0, in the 1947 Divisional round by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Art Rooney was determined to change the team's fortunes after 25 years of losing. In 1957, he hired Buddy Parker, who suddenly quit the Lions before their final championship season. Parker inherited Earl Morrall, Jack Kemp and Len Dawson as his quarterback depth chart. Dawson won a Super Bowl (in which he was the MVP) and three AFL Championships. Morrall was a future league MVP and three-time Super Bowl champion while Kemp only managed to win two AFL championships.

The Steelers Notorious History Of Evaluating Quarterbacks

After going 6-6, Parker convinced Rooney that all the quarterbacks on the current depth chart were not good enough to get the Steelers to the playoffs. Parker insisted that his former quarterback Bobby Layne was the right solution for the Steelers at quarterback. Layne had led the Lions to a couple championships in 1952 and 1953. He was injured during the 1957 season, and Tobin Rote took over the team and led the 1957 Lions to their final title.

Layne was a legendary quarterback by the time 1957 rolled around. He had been an All-American for the Texas Longhorns and his number 22 was retired by the school after Cotton Bowl and Sugar Bowl victories. The Steelers drafted Layne after a decorated college career in 1948. In a preview of what was to come in the NFL, Layne refused to play in Pittsburgh and was traded to the Chicago Bears.

After one season of sitting on the bench, Layne tried to force a trade out of Chicago to the Green Bay Packers. Eventually, he left Chicago, and George Halas traded him to the soon-to-be-defunct New York Bulldogs. After one season of 1-11 football, the Detroit Lions saw significant value and traded for Layne. It changed Detroit’s NFL fortunes for the better part of the 1950s.

After leading them to two championships in 1952 and 1953, Detroit thought Layne’s career was over in 1958. Layne had been arrested for drunk driving during the 1957 season and was acquitted the same week he broke his ankle and gave way to Rote, who would go 6-1 down the stretch to win the Lions third championship of the decade. The Lions were ready to move on, and Parker was all too willing to take his former quarterback in Pittsburgh.

Layne had spurned the Steelers a decade earlier in the original draft power move. John Elway, Deion Sanders and Eli Manning's moves decades later were nothing compared to Layne’s gamble. The Steelers could have refused to trade him, changing NFL history forever. The NFL did not have free agency in the 1950s, and it was difficult to change teams. Layne would have been forced to join the Baltimore Colts in the AAFC without a trade, which could have led to a very different league history.

The Lions fell to 4-7-1, and the curse associated with the trading of Layne was born. The irate signal-caller was not happy with his trade to Pittsburgh. Before rejoining Parker, he put the hex on Detroit football. Allegedly, Layne was angry and supposedly said the Lions wouldn’t win a championship for another 50 years. According to Carlos Monarrez from the Detroit Free Press, the quote is only hearsay and was never recorded by anyone. Layne never acknowledged the curse publicly, but the Lions have only won one playoff game since 1957.

Layne took over for the last 10 games of the 1958 season, and the Steelers played the best stretch of football in their history. Pittsburgh went 7-2-1 under Layne’s leadership, finishing third behind the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns. Optimism was high after the Steelers posted back-to-back winning seasons in 1959, finishing 6-5-1. The following two seasons saw Pittsburgh fall below .500 as Layne suffered multiple injuries.

Layne’s final season was 1962, and until the Immaculate Reception, it was the high point of Steelers football. Pittsburgh finished 9-5 and second in the NFL East division behind the 12-2 New York Giants. Layne started 11 games for the Steelers and ended his career going 7-4.

Layne was named to the 1950s Hall of Fame team and was elected to Canton in 1967 during his first year of eligibility. He played five seasons in Pittsburgh and, until Terry Bradshaw, was the only Steelers signal-caller elected to the Hall of Fame who played at least five seasons in Pittsburgh. Ben Roethlisberger will likely join him in the next few years, but Layne is often left out in the discussion of who the third-best quarterback in Steelers history is behind Bradshaw and Roethlisberger.

Layne was 27-19-2 in Pittsburgh as the starter. The achievement loses its magnitude in 2023 with six Super Bowl victories and only seven losing seasons since the Steelers drafted Bradshaw in 1970. Layne’s near superhuman efforts at lifting the Steelers into relevance fell short on the gridiron and are just a footnote in the dark ages of Pittsburgh’s football history.

Modern fans crush Bradshaw for his efficiency, ignoring how football was played in the 1970s. Analytics fans would have even less respect for Layne’s career. The Hall of Fame quarterback raised Rooney's expectations of what Steelers football could be. The Steelers allowed Layne to retire with dignity after five years of excellent service. If you think that is inconsequential, ask the fans in Detroit.

What do you think, Steeler Nation? Is Layne's service to the Steelers lost to the dark ages? Let me know what you think. Please comment below or on my TwitterX: @thebubbasq. 

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