Steelers Now
The biggest draft miss by the Pittsburgh Steelers in franchise history is widely considered to be Dan Marino in the 1983 NFL Draft. It’s the ultimate “what if” story. Every team has draft misses, but when it’s a player in your own backyard. It hurts even more.
Instead, Marino starred in Miami for 17 years, reaching one Super Bowl but ended up on the losing end to the San Francisco 49ers in 1984.
Marino believes he would have a couple of Super Bowl rings if he landed with his hometown team.
“Well, looking back at their teams, I’d probably have won a couple Super Bowls. I really do, because of the defense they had,” Marino recently said on the Not Just Football with Cam Heyward podcast. “We beat them to go to the Super Bowl in the AFC Championship Game (in 1984). Mark Malone was on that team, and I got to play against Jack Lambert, which when I’m growing up … and then I see Jack Lambert playing and Donnie Shell, and so that was huge. That was huge for me. But, I feel like I’d have been pretty good in Pittsburgh.”
Marino said on the Pat McAfee Show earlier this month that Steelers passing on him was the best thing that happened to him, however.
“I thought about it many times during my career,” Marino said. “I think at the time, though. it’s probably the best thing that happened to me, because I played four years of high school right there at Central Catholic, then played at Pitt right there in Oakland. To leave, I think made me mature a lot quicker and be able to play quicker than maybe if I would’ve stayed in Pittsburgh. But it would’ve been fun. It would have been a lot of fun.”
Instead of selecting the hometown kid and Pitt product, the Steelers drafted defensive tackle Gabriel Rivera out of Texas Tech at 21st overall in 1983. Head coach Chuck Noll wanted to rebuild the Steel Curtain and thought Rivera could be the centerpiece. Unfortunately. Rivera was tragically paralyzed in a car wreck on Oct. 20, 1983. Driving while drunk, he crossed into another lane and collided with another vehicle.
A recurring elbow injury ended Terry Bradshaw’s Hall of Fame career on Dec. 10 in Shea Stadium. It was the only game that he played in 1983. Marino would have been the perfect replacement, and most likely would have led the Steelers to a couple Super Bowl titles in the 1990s. The Steelers had an elite defense in the 1990s, but lacked star power on offense, especially at quarterback.
Marino actually nearly signed with the Steelers for his final season of football after 17 years with the Dolphins, but decided to walk away from the game instead. He talked about the decision on the Sports Seriously podcast in September of 2022.
Marino had the option of his contract declined by the Dolphins in the 2000 offseason, and the team, under new...
