Terry Bradshaw

[Carolina Speed]

As most of you know I'm no Steeler fan as my avatar shows Dallas coach Tom Landry and one of the greatest QB's of all time Roger Staubach! However, with all this talk of Patrick Mahomes closing in on The GOAT Tom Brady, I never understood how Mahomes jumped over four-time Super Bowl winning QB Terry Bradshaw as well as Joe Montana. We'll leave comparisons to Montana and even Staubach for later, but for now let's try and figure out how he's better than Bradshaw. Here are a few SB stats of the two QB's I came across:
Terry Bradshaw 4-0 in Super Bowls and two MVP's, I believe. 233 YPG. 9 TD's/4 INT's. 11.1 YPA 10.7% TD%.
Patrick Mahomes 3-2 in Super Bowls and three MVP's 265 YPG. 10 TD's/7 INT's 6.8 YPA 5.1 TD%.
Mahomes has one more MVP, but Bradshaw has one more SB victory. Most of the other stats are pretty even or one cancels out the other. I personally wouldn't put Mahomes past Bradshaw just yet. At best they're even. Until he gets number four and ties Joe Montana, he's not on his level either. Montana was 4-0, a three-time MVP and threw 11 TD's and NO INT's!
Ya'll might think I'm crazy, but I wouldn't put him past Staubach just yet either. I could give you the stats, but this about Terry Bradshaw for now.....and the talk of passing Tom Brady should cease. He's nowhere close to Brady.

 

[jphoss]

Great point, and in reality in non-garbage time, mahomes has 7td to 7int. Hardly anything close to goat status

 

[Don Wassall]

Bradshaw was the weak link of the first two Steelers teams to win the Super Bowl. The first one was after the 1974 season. It was Bradshaw's fifth season and he lost his starting job for part of it to Joe Gilliam, one of the early Black QBs in the league.

Bradshaw's stats for '74 were bad -- in 7 starts he threw for just 785 yards, had 8 interceptions to just 7 TD passes, and his completion percentage was 45.3%. For his career his completion percentage was just 51.9% and he threw just two more TDs than picks (212 to 210).

The Super Bowl wins after '74 and '75 were built around a tremendous defense and the running of Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier. The wins after the '78 and '79 seasons were centered a lot more on the passing game. Bradshaw had the proverbial cannon arm and made some great downfield throws in the latter two Super Bowls, and even in the first win over Dallas after the '75 season.

Bradshaw was also strong as a bull and tough to bring down, but it certainly wasn't always pretty with him. He took a long time to develop and would never be given that kind of leash today even as the first overall pick of the draft in 1970. Instead he probably would have gone down as an all-time bust. Chuck Noll was often exasperated with Bradshaw and was rough on him at times. Bradshaw was sensitive while Noll was pretty much a cold fish emotionally, which is the main reason Bradshaw has often shunned Pittsburgh after his retirement unlike the other stars of those teams. The fans were rough on him too, as Steelers DWFs rank with the worst when it comes to hating on (White) quarterbacks. But he did win four Super Bowls and that accomplishment can never be diminished.

 

[white is right]

Bradshaw was the weak link of the first two Steelers teams to win the Super Bowl. The first one was after the 1974 season. It was Bradshaw's fifth season and he lost his starting job for part of it to Joe Gilliam, one of the early Black QBs in the league.

Bradshaw's stats for '74 were bad -- in 7 starts he threw for just 785 yards, had 8 interceptions to just 7 TD passes, and his completion percentage was 45.3%. For his career his completion percentage was just 51.9% and he threw just two more TDs than picks (212 to 210).

The Super Bowl wins after '74 and '75 were built around a tremendous defense and the running of Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier. The wins after the '78 and '79 seasons were centered a lot more on the passing game. Bradshaw had the proverbial cannon arm and made some great downfield throws in the latter two Super Bowls, and even in the first win over Dallas after the '75 season.

Bradshaw was also strong as a bull and tough to bring down, but it certainly wasn't always pretty with him. He took a long time to develop and would never be given that kind of leash today even as the first overall pick of the draft in 1970. Instead he probably would have gone down as an all-time bust. Chuck Noll was often exasperated with Bradshaw and was rough on him at times. Bradshaw was sensitive while Noll was pretty much a cold fish emotionally, which is the main reason Bradshaw has often shunned Pittsburgh after his retirement unlike the other stars of those teams. The fans were rough on him too, as Steelers DWFs rank with the worst when it comes to hating on (White) quarterbacks. But he did win four Super Bowls and that accomplishment can never be diminished.

I remember Bradshaw even decades later was exasperated by Noll's cold attitude. Interestingly on an NFL's films doc on Noll his family stated his cold standoff nature was due to his resolute German upbringing and that rubbed off on Noll who was at least German on his paternal side.

PS Tom Landry had the same attitude towards his qb and this bothered Staubach too. From the interviews I have seen of Roger he basically implied Landry was similar to a mad scientist who felt that is his offensive system was the key to winning and not the talent of the quarterbacks and that's why he took away the play calling from Staubach.

 

[Carolina Speed]

Bradshaw was the weak link of the first two Steelers teams to win the Super Bowl. The first one was after the 1974 season. It was Bradshaw's fifth season and he lost his starting job for part of it to Joe Gilliam, one of the early Black QBs in the league.

Bradshaw's stats for '74 were bad -- in 7 starts he threw for just 785 yards, had 8 interceptions to just 7 TD passes, and his completion percentage was 45.3%. For his career his completion percentage was just 51.9% and he threw just two more TDs than picks (212 to 210).

The Super Bowl wins after '74 and '75 were built around a tremendous defense and the running of Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier. The wins after the '78 and '79 seasons were centered a lot more on the passing game. Bradshaw had the proverbial cannon arm and made some great downfield throws in the latter two Super Bowls, and even in the first win over Dallas after the '75 season.

In reviewing Bradshaw's stats, he seemed to have finally turned the corner in '75 to becoming a great QB as his 88.0 Rate was the best of his career. Yes, the 1976 Super Bowl was the famous 64? yard downfield catch by Lynn Swann. I'm sure you remember that catch Don. If any of you haven't seen it, you should take a look. Bradshaw had a cannon arm for sure as displayed on the throw to Swann.

 

[Don Wassall]

In reviewing Bradshaw's stats, he seemed to have finally turned the corner in '75 to becoming a great QB as his 88.0 Rate was the best of his career. Yes, the 1976 Super Bowl was the famous 64? yard downfield catch by Lynn Swann. I'm sure you remember that catch Don. If any of you haven't seen it, you should take a look. Bradshaw had a cannon arm for sure as displayed on the throw to Swann.

The juggling catch by Swann was one of the most memorable highlights of any Super Bowl. Bradshaw led the league in TD passes in '78 with 28 (fairly modest by today's standards) and then had his second best total the following year with 26, both Super Bowl winning years, so he did come on as a passer after being benched for Joe Gilliam in '74.

And the '70s were much like the '60s with very little dinking and dunking; mid-range and deep throws were much more common. Bradshaw's career completion percentage was 51.9, but just now checking a couple others, Joe Namath's was 50.1%, while Daryl "The Mad Bomber" Lamonica's was 49.5%. So it was a different era for the passing game and Bradshaw did become a premier passer, it just took him a long time to get there.

 

[Don Wassall]

Sorry to post these Super Bowl highlights, Carolina Speed, but you did start the thread on Bradshaw

​

 

[Carolina Speed]

Sorry to post these Super Bowl highlights, Carolina Speed, but you did start the thread on Bradshaw

​

No problem, Don. I always enjoy 70's highlights of most teams as there were plenty of pale faces on the field in those days. For me it's about individuals anymore instead of teams. I have a great appreciation for the 70's Steelers as well as the Raiders Ken Stabler and Dave Casper, the Dolphins Bob Griese, Czonka and Kiick, the Vikings Tarkenton, Jets Namath, etc. Great memories! Oh, how I wish the NFL was like the 1970's.