Looking back at history is fun. It is especially fun when taking a deeper dive in Pittsburgh Steelers history given the amount of success the storied franchise has had. There have only been two times, however, a future Hall of Fame quarterback retired after 12 years or more and left the team with questions at the signal-caller position. Most recently, of course, with Ben Roethlisberger hanging up his cleats. The other was Terry Bradshaw back in 1983. Bradshaw barely played in the '83 season due to elbow concerns, but he officially retired after the season.
The Steelers went 10-6 in '83 with Cliff Stoudt at quarterback, but he left for the USFL, and with Bradshaw retiring, the quarterback position was in question. The team faces a similar situation heading into the 2022 regular season with Roethlisberger's retirement, Joshua Dobbs signing with the Cleveland Browns and Dwayne Haskins Jr.'s unexpected, tragic passing.
The two eras of football are drastically different, but let's take a look at what happened back then and if we can draw some comparisons to the 2022 team in lieu of Roethlisberger's departure. It is important to note a quarterback means a completely different thing to a team in terms of skill set and ability than they once used to.
Mark Malone Project Not Necessarily Successful
Mark Malone took over for Bradshaw and played the majority of snaps from 1984-1987 after sitting behind Bradshaw and Stoudt for three plus years. The most similar situation to this year's Steelers team would be Mason Rudolph winning the starting job and being the go to guy. He was drafted and has been waiting for the opportunity behind Roethlisberger. With that said, Malone was just 23-28 after Bradshaw retired and the team's only playoff appearance was an inherited team from Bradshaw's Steelers in '84. Safe to say, many Steelers fans would expect this, or even worse with Rudolph at the helm.
Mark Malone (#16). | Photo: USA Today Sports Images
Both '84 and This Year's Teams Made Off-Season Moves at QB
The team uncharacteristically traded a third round pick for Miami Dolphins' quarterback, David Woodley in '84 to challenge Malone. Woodley went on to start 13 games in '84 and '85 while posting a 7-6 record. He only was a member of the organization for two years and wasn't worth the draft capital spent looking back. But, at the time he was an intriguing prospect who finished third in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting in 1980.
The 2022 Steelers were extremely even more aggressive this off-season than the '84 team at the quarterback position. No draft picks were wasted, General Manager, Kevin Colbert and Head Coach, Mike Tomlin signed Mitch Trubisky and drafted both Kenny Pickett and Chris Oladokun. Trubisky is signed for two years and will certainly start some games, but will he be a two-and-done guy similar to Woodley? If the goal is for Pickett to be the guy for years to come, Trubisky may follow in Woodley's footsteps. The Malone-Rudolph and Woodley-Trubisky situations have the potential to be eerily similar.
'84 Team Also Had Offensive Coordinator Heading Into Second Season
Similar to Matt Canada in 2022, Tom Moore was beginning his second season as offensive coordinator in '84. His tenure for seven years was far from a successful one as the team finished with a winning percentage of .486 during his time running the offense. Moore is still, however, the longest tenured offensive coordinator in the organization's history.
The task of an offensive coordinator is much different in today's NFL and the job is much tougher. One major difference here is that Canada won't have that long though if he doesn't show a significant improvement in play calling with new weapons this fall. The luxury of Moore hanging around was both because coordinators weren't easily given up on and head coaching jobs weren't readily available. Canada won't be getting any offers to be a head guy any time soon, so he is on thin ice heading into his second season.
If history repeats itself, the Steelers won't be in the Super Bowl for another 12 years to even compete for a Super Bowl as the team did back in the 1995-96 season. The hope is the off-season moves, especially at quarterback, lead the 2022 and future teams to a much quicker path to success than the '84 team and beyond after Bradshaw's retirement.
Although different eras of football, there are several similarities between the season following Bradshaw's retirement and now Roethlisberger's. Do you believe that history could repeat itself? Let us know in the comments below!
#SteelerNation
