The story of the Pittsburgh Steelers drafting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is one that still gets told to this day. He was never supposed to fall all the way to Pick 11, where Pittsburgh was, but the whole Eli Manning saga changed that up, as the New York Giants drafted Philip Rivers just so they could execute a trade to get Manning. That allowed the other big-time quarterback of the class to fall down the board and right into the laps of the Black and Gold. Who knows if they ever win a Super Bowl with a different passer at the helm?
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Former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger drops back to throw a pass in Super Bowl XL against the Seahawks.
One quarterback definitely wanted to test that theory out. While making an appearance on Coach2Coach with Jason Garrett, Hall of Fame head coach Bill Cowher revealed the immediate aftermath of his decision to draft Roethlisberger.
"We drafted Ben Roethlisberger and Tommy Maddox comes into my office the next day like, 'You told me we weren't going to draft a quarterback,' and he's yelling at me for like 20 minutes," Cowher said. "I finally just said, 'Are you done? Are you done? Okay, okay. Now that you're done, let me just speak.' I said, 'You're the starting quarterback, and the fact that you're so bothered that another quarterback is in here makes me think that you shouldn't be the starting quarterback because you can't handle the pressure.'"
It should not matter what Cowher told Tommy Maddox. As mentioned before, the Steelers never expected Roethlisberger to fall as far as he did, so when he did make it all the way there, it made perfect sense for Pittsburgh to lock up their guy and not put their future on a 33-year-old who led the team to a 6-10 record the year before with a touchdown-interception ratio of almost 1:1.
NFL
Bill Cowher stands on the sideline during a game for the Steelers
Cowher continued on and spoke about how he threatened to bench Maddox if he didn't straighten up.
"'You take care of you; I'll take care of the team,'" Cowher said. "'We got a young quarterback for the future; I don't think he's ready right now. I think you can teach him something, but not when you come in rampant like that, so get your head right. You're the starting quarterback, and if there's a problem I see with you, then I'll make a change because there's also Charlie Batch right here too.'"
The standard was set right then and there. Maddox was to handle this new quarterback situation with grace and class or else he'd be out of a job entirely. Charlie Batch was a very experienced veteran backup at the time, and he has shown to be more than capable to lead a team for the short-term based on his quality play for a large chunk of his tenure with the Detroit Lions, although he struggled in his final season there.
Cowher's Choice Was Quickly Proven To Be The Right One
Maddox did start the first two games, but he did not play well and ended up leaving early in Week 2 due to injury. Batch suffered a knee injury before the 2004 season even began, forcing rookie third-string Roethlisberger to come in before he was ready, and the rest was history. With the help of the elite defense and quality skill position group, he had the single best record as a rookie ever, as no one has surpassed his 13-0 campaign.
Even in the mid 2000s, when running backs were still seen as vital to an offense, it didn't make sense to pass up on a potential elite quarterback in the draft. Maddox was about to turn 33 and Batch was about to turn 30. It was clear that the Steelers' franchise passer was not on the roster yet. Sure, it would've been nice to have someone like Jonathan Vilma or Vince Wilfork, but that means nothing if the Steelers go 6-10 again without a passer.
What do you think about Maddox going off on Cowher for drafting Roethlisberger? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.
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