The Pittsburgh Steelers said goodbye to Terry Bradshaw in 1983. A recurring elbow injury ended his brilliant career on December 10th in Shea Stadium against the New York Jets. Bradshaw amassed a league MVP, two Super Bowl MVPs, four Super Bowl championships, and the status as the best big-game quarterback of the 1970s. The former number-one pick in the 1970 NFL Draft had a storybook career, despite what fans of modern analytics tell you.
Dinner Drive With Kyle Petty
Terry Bradshaw sits down to dinner with one of his biggest fans, Kyle Petty.
Bradshaw joined Kyle Petty on The Circle Network for an extended interview on Thursday night. The Steelers legend appeared on Dinner Drive With Kyle Petty. Bradshaw and Petty, who admitted he was a massive fan as a kid, were sitting down over a meal when the former quarterback opened up about how his professional football career ended.
“I had a microscopic tear. You can see the scar,” Bradshaw shows his right elbow to Petty. “I ended up coming back too soon. Last game of the season, we needed to win that game to make the playoffs... I went in and scrambled to the right, threw across my body. 25-yard touchdown pass to Gregg Garrity. I felt like someone stabbed me with a knife in my elbow.”
It wasn’t quite the last game of the season for the 1983 Steelers, but one must forgive Bradshaw’s 75-year-old memory because, at 9-5, the victory over the New York Jets secured a playoff berth for Pittsburgh. It was the only game he played in 1983. Bradshaw injured the elbow during training camp in 1982 and played through excruciating pain with weekly cortisone shots during the previous season.
Tampa Bay Times
Steelers' Terry Bradshaw once used Tom Brady as an alias to avoid publicity.
Bradshaw had elbow surgery during the 1983 offseason. In an amazing coincidence, he used the pseudonym Tom Brady when he checked into the hospital to disguise his identity. Bradshaw should have allowed the elbow to heal for the entire 1983 campaign, but with the playoffs slipping away with three straight losses, he strapped on a helmet.
“I walk over to the sideline. Now I’m severely injured,” Bradshaw continues. “Tony Parisi, the equipment manager, asked, ‘Are you okay?’ I said, 'I hope we don’t get a turnover before halftime.' Son of a gun, turnover right off the bat, and I just instinctively took off back on the field.”
Bradshaw knew he didn’t have anything left to give when he trotted out onto the field with Pittsburgh clinging to a 7-0 lead. The four-time champion refused to leave his team hanging with the playoffs on the line, and before anyone but Tony Parisi knew his condition, he was on the field.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Archives
Former Steelers legendary quarterback and Hall of Famer, Terry Bradshaw (#12) talks with his Head Coach, Chuck Noll.
Chuck Noll trusted Bradshaw to call all of his plays in the huddle. His veteran quarterback could change the plays on the fly if he needed to at the line of scrimmage. Offensive coordinators like Matt Canada could not even fathom that level of freedom for a modern quarterback.
"Couple of runs, and then I threw a wide flare to the back for a first down," Bradshaw makes an audible grimace. "Now we're down to the goal line. We drive on down after that. Third down, I call a pick. You know, illegal play.
Calvin Sweeney comes inside the pick, and that ball came out of my arm end over end. It just barely stayed above the ground. He caught it. Touchdown. Last time I ever played, but at least my last pass was a touchdown."
Associated Press
Steelers' Terry Bradshaw is sacked in his final NFL game December 10th, 1983 against the New York Jets.
Steelers Legend Ben Roethlisberger Bids Goodbye To "Heinz Field," But Makes One Thing Perfectly Clear
John Elway ended his career with back-to-back Super Bowl victories. Ben Roethlisberger's tearful victory lap at Heinz Field after his final home victory against the Cleveland Browns was a great memory. Bradshaw left the game at halftime and never put on a uniform again. It is excellent that he ended with a touchdown pass, but he deserved to go out in front of a grateful Three Rivers Stadium crowd.
Bradshaw was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1989, along with teammate Mel Blount who also retired at the end of the 1983 season. It is hard to believe it has been 40 years since the legendary signal-caller was under center for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bradshaw ended his 14-year career with 9 postseason appearances and a 14-5 record in the AFC playoffs and Super Bowl. His quarterback rating in the playoffs was 83.0 compared to a 70.9 rating during the regular season. When all the chips were on the table, Bradshaw was the man you wanted under center. 40 years later, he still is.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Could you imagine a modern quarterback willing to give up his career by throwing a pass with a shredded elbow just so his team could make the playoffs? Please let me know what you think. Comment below, or on my Twitter / X: @thebubbasq.
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