Steelers Ken Anderson: Bengals legend wears black and gold now
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SPORTS / STEELERS & NFL
Steelers Ken Anderson: Bengals legend wears black and gold now
Sunday, September 27, 2009
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Lake Fong/Post-Gazette
Ken Anderson and Ben Roethlisberger at work on the South Side this week.
He was known among his teammates, simply, as "Freddy Franchise." The owner, who is the oldest son of the man who
founded the franchise, called him the most important player in Cincinnati Bengals history. On a team that has only one
player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he remains their most deserving candidate to be inducted.
Especially because there aren't many quarterbacks already in the Hall of Fame who have better numbers than Ken Anderson.
"In our book, he's already in the Hall of Fame," Bengals owner Mike Brown said. "He always will be."
It has been 23 years since Anderson put up some of the NFL's most remarkable passing numbers with the Bengals, the team
that drafted him on the third round in 1971 -- a year after Terry Bradshaw -- from tiny Augustana College in Illinois. And it
has been three years since he joined the Steelers as their quarterbacks coach, the man who works most closely with Ben
Roethlisberger.
But, to the people in Cincinnati, it's almost unfathomable that Anderson would return to the city in which he played 16 years
wearing the black-and-gold of the Steelers. To them, it is the equivalent of Bradshaw coming back as the quarterbacks coach
of the Oakland Raiders, Mario Lemieux returning as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Anderson returns to face his former team today when the Steelers (1-1) play the Bengals (1-1) at 4:15
p.m. in the stadium named for Paul Brown, the man who drafted him 38 years ago.
To many, it still seems strange.
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"When I look at all the rivalry games we had, the game when he went 20 of 22 against them, getting his
facemask ripped off [by former defensive end Keith Gary], all those games we played against the Steel
Curtain, it was so strange to see him come back to Cincinnati wearing the Steelers garb," said former Bengals guard Dave
Lapham, Anderson's friend and former roommate. "And this year he comes back wearing a Super Bowl ring, which is even
more of a twist of irony."
Anderson never won a Super Bowl with the Bengals, but he guided them to Super Bowl XVI during the 1981 season, where
they lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 26-21. In that game, Anderson set a Super Bowl record with 25 completions and a 73.5
completion percentage -- numbers that have since been eclipsed.
He was so good that he is the only player in NFL history to lead the league in passing in back-to-back years in two different
decades (1974-75 and 1981-82). When he was done playing for the Bengals, Anderson began his coaching career with them
in 1993 and spent 10 years as the team's quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.
"That's a long time to be in one place," Anderson said. "Sometimes it's tough for people to distinguish a playing career from
a coaching career. As a player, I'll always be associated with Cincinnati. I wouldn't want it any other way.
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Steelers Ken Anderson: Bengals legend wears black and gold now
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"But you look at every coach in this building and every coach in this league, they've been other places. I happen to be in
another place at this point of my career and I'm just happier than anything to be here in Pittsburgh. It would have been
different if I played 15 years in Cincinnati and played my last two years in Pittsburgh."
Records still stand
Anderson's records never seem to go away. A couple of weeks ago, New England's Tom Brady completed 39 of 53 passes
against the Buffalo Bills in the season opener of Monday Night Football. He missed -- by one -- tying the MNF record of 40
completions, set by Anderson in a 1982 game in San Diego, won by the Chargers, 50-34.
Anderson remembers the game.
"Our offensive coordinator was Lindy Infante and San Diego was 'Air Coryell' then, so Lindy said, 'We'll show them,' and I
think we threw the first 20 times we had the ball," Anderson said.
Those were just some of the impressive numbers -- Hall of Fame-like numbers -- Anderson posted from 1971 to 1986 with
the Bengals.
Consider:
• He threw 197 career touchdowns, more than 14 of the 25 quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame.
• His career passer rating is 81.4, surpassed by only eight quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame.
• He had the most accurate season in NFL history, completing 70.55 percent of his passes in 1982 -- the same season he was
named the league's Most Valuable Player.
• On Nov. 10, 1974, he completed 20 of 22 passes in a 17-10 victory against the Steelers, setting a league completionpercentage record that stood for nearly 20 years.
"He had that command of the offense," said Steelers secondary coach Ray Horton, who was a cornerback with the Bengals
for Anderson's last four seasons as a player. "You very seldom saw him make a bad read. He put the ball where he wanted
to. It was just phenomenal going against him in practice. The ball was always where it was supposed to be."
But Anderson was more than just one of the most accurate passers of all time. He also finished with 2,220 yards rushing -including 20 rushing touchdowns -- in his career. In 1981, he was the Bengals' second-leading rusher with 320 yards.
"We put in these naked bootlegs and I ended up running a lot of those," Anderson said. "I was fairly mobile. Everyone thinks
I was a dink-and-dunk passer, but I think my average completion is the same as Dan Marino's."
At 7.3 yards per attempt, it was.
And that's why Mike Brown called him the most important player in Bengals history.
"He was a key player for all those years for us," Brown said the other day over the phone, agreeing to a rare interview
because the subject was Anderson. "He was our quarterback and he was a very good player, extremely accurate. Everything
revolved around him. We could move the ball when he was here."
His teammates called him "Freddy Franchise," a tag placed on him by former tight end Bob Trumpy.
"It was the importance he had to the franchise," Lapham said. "The Bengals had another quarterback prior to Kenny, Greg
Cook, who was big and strong and could really throw the ball, a Terry Bradshaw-type. He had everything going to be a star
in this league for a long time.
"But he tore his rotator cuff and back then your career was over. Then they had Virgil Carter, and then they draft Ken
Anderson, and he basically said, 'I'm going to bring this franchise back.' And he did. I believe that's why Mike Brown
thought he was our most important player."
Wisdom of experience
Roethlisberger said he is too young to remember much about the playing days of his position coach, other than he knew he
was a good two-sport athlete and "one of the Hall of Fame snubs everyone talks about." Anderson grew up in Batavia, Ill.,
and played basketball with his neighbor, former basketball star Dan Issel.
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Steelers Ken Anderson: Bengals legend wears black and gold now
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Anderson is the second quarterbacks coach Roethlisberger has had in his six NFL seasons. He was hired when Mike Tomlin
became head coach in 2007, replacing Mark Whipple. Anderson spent the previous four seasons as quarterbacks coach with
the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"If I ask him something, if I have questions like, why is this happening, why is the ball going low, he knows the game
because he played it," Roethlisberger said. "That's what's great about him. He's there when I need him. He's not pushed me."
Roethlisberger had already posted a perfect season (13-0 in 2004), set an NFL rookie record for completion percentage
(66.4) and passer rating (98.1) in a season, been to two AFC Championship games (2004, 2005) and won a Super Bowl
when Anderson arrived.
But, in Anderson's first season, Roethlisberger set a club record for passer rating (104.1) and touchdowns (32).
"He does so many things on the field I wish I could coach," Anderson said. "He has such tremendous vision seeing the field.
He can create plays from the pocket. It's been a pleasure to be associated with a quarterback of that caliber."
Then Anderson added something he remembered from his days with the Bengals.
"This is an old Paul Brown-ism: The game is not too big for him. He can go out when times are difficult and he can execute,
he can perform and he wins football games. Some guys can, some guys can't, and this kid can."
So could Freddy Franchise.
Gerry Dulac can be reached at [email protected].
Ed Bouchette's blog on the Steelers and Gerry Dulac's Steelers chats are featured exclusively on PG+, a
members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
First published on September 27, 2009 at 12:00 am
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9/28/2009
On the Steelers: This week ... A reminder how lucky you are
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SPORTS / STEELERS & NFL
On the Steelers: This week ... A reminder how lucky you are
A Weekly Look Inside The Team, The Issues & The Questions
Sunday, September 27, 2009
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Larry Roberts/Post-Gazette
Art Rooney II -- Still 'The Man'
Finally, the sale of the Steelers is complete, it remains in Rooney hands and there are 10 new owners.
Unlike the Miami Dolphins, there's not a celebrity in sight among the new Steelers "shareholders,'' unless you want to count
Hall of Famer John Stallworth and Hollywood producer Thomas Tull as celebrities. Neither would lump themselves in that
category.
You also will not see any of the new owners on the sideline at Steelers games this season. Some may wear a Steelers jersey
to games but they will be in the owner's box if they do.
What these new owners bring, besides the needed capital to keep the team in the hands of the Rooneys, will be fresh ideas
that could breathe some new life into other areas of the franchise, such as marketing a team that has become so popular
worldwide the past 15 years.
It probably does not mean much to many Steelers fans that the team will still be run by Rooneys, but it should. The franchise
has been in Rooney hands since Art Rooney Sr. founded it in 1933 and he and his sons kept it in Pittsburgh during some
tough times right into the 1960s when moving it would have been more financially sound.
Yes, these teams are worth around $1 billion these days, and the Rooneys have had a good life from owning the Steelers. But
it has not been a one-way street with them, as it is for some owners in sports. Art Rooney did not have a winner for many
years, although he came close. But it was not because he made money off the team; he did better in other endeavors. He
founded the franchise in the middle of the depression -- talk about what should have been bad timing.
Few people paid attention to pro football until the 1960s anyway. The Chief, as so many called Art Rooney Sr., had other
interests as well and perhaps did not pay as close attention to his football team as he should have. He often let his coaches
call all the shots, and, when he had some good ones, they did OK.
Once Dan Rooney took over, the Steelers took an upswing. Dan worked at the job full time, hired Chuck Noll and the rest is
history. It's always been a mom-and-pop operation, although it's hard to call them that now. Still, Dan's eldest son Art
Rooney II is club president and another son, Dan Jr., remains a Steelers scout.
They do things differently than other teams. All you need to know is to check out the Chicago Bears' relatively new stadium,
Soldier Field, which cost about twice what Heinz Field did and cannot compare. The Bears had an opportunity, as did many
teams, to construct a model stadium. They blew it in many ways. They also only have about 61,000 capacity for the only
team in the third-largest city in the U.S.
The Steelers were long a second cousin to Papa Bear Halas in Chicago in the NFL; it's been the other way around for years.
Art Rooney II gets credit for patiently taking this franchise through a difficult period. It could have been sold to someone
willing to pay the full price, but Art and Dan and, indeed, other Rooneys, did not want to see that happen. Yes, they
leveraged part of their ownership and they have 10 new owners, but that might prove beneficial in the long run.
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On the Steelers: This week ... A reminder how lucky you are
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Gazillionaire owners in the NFL who love to throw money at their coaches and players are not always successful. Look at
Daniel Snyder. That is what he's done in Washington and it has yielded nothing.
The Rooneys have followed a script that produced two Super Bowl winners in the past four years. Any fan should take that
over having the latest free-agent bauble. You want fantasy football or Lombardi Trophies?
Gary Anderson won't make it
There was a time when it appeared Gary Anderson might become only the second pure kicker to make the Pro Football Hall
of Fame. That time has come and gone.
Anderson was the NFL's leading scorer for a number of years and that fact alone might have attracted some votes. No more.
Anderson, with 2,434 points, was surpassed by Morten Andersen, who has 2,544, in the scoring race. Gary Anderson also
missed the kick of his life, one that would have put his Vikings in a Super Bowl, a game he never played.
Either way, I would not vote for either kicker.
Scoring points should not necessarily produce a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Too many people believe kickers
should get into the Hall of Fame because they score points. Excuse me, but that's all they do and they do it rarely. Offensive
tackles cannot score points but I will take a good one of those over a kicker any day.
You want scoring to decide who gets into the Hall of Fame? OK, let's install the top 24 scorers in NFL history. They are all
kickers, 22 of them pure kickers. The only two who played other positions were George Blanda, ranked third in scoring, and
Lou Groza, ranked 12th. Both are in the Hall of Fame.
The others are all pure kickers, including the No. 4 scorer, John Carney. You want to put him in the Hall? Or No. 8, Norm
Johnson?
They were good kickers, but hardly Hall of Fame material. Yet, they outscored the one pure kicker in the Hall, Jan Stenerud.
That was a mistake voters made years ago that does not have to be repeated, and he never got the late Myrone Cope's vote
when he was a selector. Stenerud ranks 10th on the NFL scoring list with 1,699 points, many field goals away from Morten
Andersen.
Kickers and punters are necessary in the NFL (although I believe the league should have a rule that both must play a position
other than kicker, the way Groza did). That does not mean we have to put them into the Hall.
Morten Andersen and Gary Anderson were very capable at what they did, but they do not belong in the same group as the
NFL's No. 25 all-time scoring leader, one Jerry Rice.
For more on the Steelers, read the new blog, Ed Bouchette on the Steelers at post-gazette.com/plus. Ed Bouchette can be reached at [email protected].
Ed Bouchette's blog on the Steelers and Gerry Dulac's Steelers chats are featured exclusively on PG+, a
members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
First published on September 27, 2009 at 12:00 am
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9/28/2009
Bengals' Lewis survives some hard knocks - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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Bengals' Lewis survives some hard knocks
By John Harris
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, September 27, 2009
During an episode this summer on HBO's "Hard Knocks: Training Camp with
the Cincinnati Bengals,'' coach Marvin Lewis is filmed driving his pickup truck to
Paul Brown Stadium. The parking gate doesn't open when Lewis inserts his key
card, so Lewis drives around the gate.
Speaking last week with Pittsburgh-area reporters, Lewis, who has produced a
winning record only once since taking over the Bengals in 2003, was asked if
the parking gate has been repaired.
"They got it fixed for me,'' Lewis said. "I wasn't worried about the gate. I just
thought, you know, they probably changed my code.''
Lewis' job security has been called into question nearly every year he's
coached in Cincinnati.
And yet, Lewis felt comfortable enough to joke about it with the media a few
days before one of the biggest games in his coaching career, which is now in its
seventh year.
Lewis' 1-1 Bengals enter today's 4:15 p.m. AFC North matchup against the
visiting Steelers (also 1-1) with another opportunity to make a couple of
statements — one for the team and a personal one as well.
With a victory over the defending Super Bowl champions, Cincinnati would
emerge as one of the surprise teams in the NFL this season while ending a
five-game losing streak against the Steelers. The Bengals have lost eight
straight to the Steelers in Cincinnati since Dec. 30, 2001, two years before
Lewis' arrival.
A winning record this season would seemingly be vital if Lewis expects to
secure his job.
"I think it's a really important year for Marvin,'' said former NFL executive
Michael Lombardi, who appears on NFL Network and writes for the National
Football Post.
"You've got to sell the program every day. When you talk to the media,
everything you do is selling the program. Ultimately, you've got to have some
success. You can't just say we're going to win. You've got to actually do it.''
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Bengals' Lewis survives some hard knocks - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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Following a painful 12-7 loss against Denver to open this season, Cincinnati
rallied twice for a 31-24 victory at Green Bay.
"That was a big win,'' Lombardi said. "If they can find a way to beat a good
team like the Steelers, all of a sudden people are going to start believing.''
Having a healthy Carson Palmer at quarterback doesn't hurt Lewis's chances.
Palmer, who has returned to full strength following an elbow injury that limited
him to four games last season, said the Bengals have more than enough talent
to compete for a postseason berth.
"It may be in different spots, but we've got the same amount of talent and the
same explosiveness we had in those previous years,'' said Palmer, who led the
Bengals to a division title in 2005 and tossed three touchdowns last week
against the Packers.
Defensive end Antwan Odon leads the league with seven sacks, including a
franchise-tying five in the Green Bay win.
Noted for being a defensive strategist, Lewis appears to have the unit playing in
his own image.
"They've realized that the other team doesn't have to score, and when you get
that mindset — that there's no reason they ever have to score — that's a lot of
fun,'' Lewis said.
Despite assembling individual talent, the Bengals still struggle to escape their
past. They've gone to the playoffs once since 1990, when Lewis guided them to
the division title in 2005.
Predictably, the Bengals' fan support is wavering.
This year, for the first time in the history of Paul Brown Stadium, season tickets
are available.
Following Cincinnati's shocking season-opening loss to Denver on a fluke play
in the closing seconds, Lewis lauded Bengals' fans.
"The crowd was outstanding," he said. "It was great to see. Our players
mentioned it and commented on it. Very loud and vocal.''
Lewis was named Cincinnati's ninth coach on Jan. 14, 2003. He turned
previous coach Dick LeBeau's 2-14 team into an 8-8 club in his first season. In
2006, Lewis was awarded his third contract extension in as many years.
Apparently, Lewis has more job security than his 47-50-1 record would seem to
indicate.
Bengals owner Mike Brown is loyal to his coaches. He is the son of Paul Brown,
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Bengals' Lewis survives some hard knocks - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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who experienced first-hand how being fired by Cleveland owner Art Modell
affected his father. For that and other reasons such as the fiscally-conservative
Bengals not wanting to pay two coaches, Lewis is expected to fulfill the
remainder of his contract, which expires after the 2010 season.
Lewis enjoyed playoff success faster than some big-name coaches. Mike
Holmgren didn't win his first playoff game in Seattle until his seventh season.
Jim Mora never won a playoff game in 10 1/2 seasons in New Orleans. But
unlike Holmgren and Mora, Lewis hasn't guided a team to multiple playoff
appearances.
Lewis, however, is the most successful coach that Mike Brown has hired from a
group including LeBeau, David Shula and Bruce Coslet.
During the NFL owners meetings in Dana Point, Calif., Lewis praised Brown for
sticking with him through the tough times.
"When I signed the last contract extension after the '05 season, the thing Mike
said was: 'I have more patience than you do. There's going to be some tough
times ahead that people don't realize,' '' Lewis said.
"Unfortunately, he's been right. I think his thing for me was to be patient and
know there may be some pitfalls along the way that I didn't foresee.''
John Harris can be reached at [email protected] or 412-481-5432.
Images and text copyright © 2009 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co.
Reproduction or reuse prohibited without written consent from Trib Total Media
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9/28/2009
Steelers try for 9th win in row at Cincinnati
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Steelers try for 9th win in row at Cincinnati
9/27/2009 3:33 AM
CINCINNATI - Few NFL teams know as much about hard knocks as the Cincinnati Bengals.
That's why it was appropriate that the Bengals were chosen by HBO to be featured on the network's
"Hard Knocks" television series this summer.
The show, which follows an NFL team through training camp, aired with six one-hour episodes and
featured head coach Marvin Lewis and his team as they worked to improve after last year's
disappointing 4-11-1 season.
The Steelers (1-1) hope to continue the hard knocks for the Bengals (1-1) today at Paul Brown Stadium,
where Pittsburgh has won eight in a row.
"You had to bring that to my attention, huh? You didn't think I knew that did you?" Lewis told reporters
this week.
When the Steelers lost in Chicago last weekend and Cincinnati upset the Packers in Green Bay, the first
of two annual meetings between the AFC North Division rivals became a lot more important. With
Baltimore off to a 2-0 start, the Steelers and Bengals can't afford to fall two games behind the Ravens.
A win by the Bengals will go a long way toward showing the league that Cincinnati should be
considered a playoff contender. The Bengals are one fluke play away from being 2-0. They were beaten
in the opener by Denver, on a touchdown off a deflected pass in the closing seconds.
The biggest improvement for the Bengals has been their pass rush. Cincinnati leads the NFL with nine
sacks, including seven by defensive end Antwan Odom. Odom had five sacks against Green Bay.
"I think Green Bay was playing with a backup left tackle the second half of that game, and it showed,"
said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. "Boy, (Odom) went to work on that guy. He is an effort guy, he
plays inside and outside. Regardless of how it has been happening, seven is a pretty impressive total two
weeks into the season."
But can the Bengals get to Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who is 11-0 as a starter playing in
his home state of Ohio?
Despite being sacked 46 times last year, Roethlisberger threw 58 passes in two meetings with Cincinnati
without being tackled behind the line of scrimmage.
"Unfortunately, each time we played them last year they would give up six or seven sacks the week
before, then we'd get them and we'd look like the 'Sisters of the Poor' because we couldn't get him to the
ground," Lewis said. "Obviously, that's something we hope changes. He has done a good job avoiding
us when we have had free shots at him."
Another big difference for the Bengals has been the return of quarterback Carson Palmer, a two-time Pro
Bowl player. Palmer played in only four games last year because of a torn ligament in his elbow.
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The Steelers will be playing their second consecutive game without injured safety Troy Polamalu
(sprained knee).
"I'd be lying to you if I said we don't miss Troy," Steelers safety Ryan Clark said. "But it doesn't change
what we do on defense."
Historically, that has been to stop the Bengals' running game and attack Palmer.
"The Steelers' defense is as good as it has ever been," Palmer said. "There's a couple of new guys, a
couple of changes here and there. They're still very stout up front, really good in the back and coached
by one of the best. Nothing has changed. They're still the Super Bowl defense they've been. For what
seems like five, seven, eight years they have been this good. We have our hands full offensively."
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9/28/2009
Reason for Steelers' running woes: Faneca, Hartings no longer on line
Page 1 of 2
Reason for Steelers' running woes: Faneca,
Hartings no longer on line
9/27/2009 3:33 AM
Does the name Alan Faneca ring a bell?
Surely you remember him. Big guy, long red hair and a beard. Used to play guard for the Steelers.
Started for the AFC in the Pro Bowl the last eight years. You hardly ever hear his name mentioned
around here since he left and signed with the New York Jets.
You would think his name would come up quite a bit since there's been so much talk about the
ineptitude of the Steelers' running game. Faneca is a solid lock for the Hall of Fame. Maybe on the first
ballot. The guy who replaced him - Chris Kemoeatu - has a really hard name to spell and is probably not
going to have worry about who to thank in his Hall of Fame speech.
Then there's Jeff Hartings. Remember him? Another big guy. Pretty good center. Made the Pro Bowl in
2004. He's gone, too. He's been replaced by a guy whose name sounds like Hartings. But nobody has
confused the way Justin Hartwig blocks with the way that Hartings used to block.
So, what's the big mystery about the Steelers' running game? Willie Parker has had injury problems the
last couple of seasons but when he's healthy he looks like the same guy who was cranking out 1,400
yard seasons not too long ago.
Faneca and Hartings both signed huge contracts when they became free agents. You know why?
Because they're really, really good at opening holes for running backs. Steelers fans like to think maybe with good reason - that losing players to free agency isn't a big deal because there's always
another good guy to plug in.
Sometimes you lose players who are impossible to replace. That was the case with Faneca for sure and
most likely with Hartings. Any discussion about the Steelers' running game should begin and end with
the absence of those two players.
n Remember that 39-yard run through a huge hole by Rashard Mendenhall last week against the Bears?
If that had been Willie Parker carrying the ball it would have been a touchdown.
n I've always had a problem with running backs who turn their backs when they're about to be hit.
Mendenhall does that a lot.
n There's been a lot of talk lately about CEO pay and the need for the federal government to decide
when it's too much. The Treasury Secretary said on Thursday that he hopes to have laws in place by the
end of the year that would allow the government to step in. This would not be happening if not for the
fact that the feds have taken over so much of what used to be the private sector, which means that some
of these CEOs are, at least indirectly, being paid by the taxpayers. The argument is that any company
that has been willing to take hundreds of millions of dollars from the government shouldn't be allowed
to spend millions on any one employee.
Just wondering: Should that apply to quarterbacks? Should you and I be offended by the fact that the
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Rooney family was given hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars because they said they couldn't afford
to pay for Heinz Field and then gave Ben Roethlisberger over $20 million in guaranteed money?
How about the taxpayers building an arena for the Penguins, and the Penguins giving two players Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin - about $60 million in guaranteed money? If the idiots in Washington
vote to allow the government to determine CEO pay, how can publicly subsidized quarterbacks not be
next?
n Sports Illustrated's Peter King, one of the most highly respected NFL writers in the country, came out
with his list of the 12 greatest quarterbacks of all time last week. Sammy Baugh was No. 1 and Otto
Graham was No. 2. I never saw either of them play - and you could argue for days about the different
circumstances that existed when those dinosaurs were playing - but I have a problem with Kings list
because Terry Bradshaw is 12th. That's still pretty good, but Bradhsaw is still the best quarterback I
have ever seen.
You can tell me I'm being provincial or that I'm a homer, but when I look at the guys on the list ahead of
Bradshaw, I can' t see any one of them beating him out for the job. Not Dan Marino, who didn't throw
the ball any better than Bradshaw and wasn't nearly as elusive in the pocket. Not John Elway, who came
the closest to Bradshaw in throwing ability but won half as many Super Bowls. Not Brett Favre, who
also does nothing better than Bradshaw, and not Joe Montana, who was a great quarterback but is also
one of the most overrated athletes of all time.
Football fans everywhere can thank Montana for the dink and dunk. He was a master of it and fattened
up his stats by throwing to his running backs and by throwing eight-yard passes to the best yards-afterthe-catch guy ever, Jerry Rice. All you need to know is that Roger Craig, a running back, caught 92
passes from Montana in 1985. Franco Harris never caught more than 37.
Go to Youtube and search "Terry Bradshaw highlights." You won't see any dinking and dunking. Pay
attention to his runs near the end of the video.
John Steigerwald writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter.
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