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 head coach Dave Wannstedt, was looking for a younger player as a starting quarterback, eventually settling on Jay Fiedler.
That left Marino free to talk with other teams, and he did, fielding offers from the Steelers, Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Ultimately, he decided to retire and step away from the game.
“I definitely thought about it,” Marino said. “To be honest with you, I played 17 years with the Dolphins. They were kind of going in a new direction, had a new coach. I had offers to go play other places and really thought about it. Maybe would’ve had a chance to win a championship like Matthew (Stafford) has done and other guys are trying to do in other places. After I thought about it for a long time, it just didn’t feel right. So I just decided I’ll just be a Dolphin for life. It worked out great, but I will tell you that I did think about that, yes.”
Marino said that the two main teams were the Vikings and Steelers. Minnesota had a strong team, going 10-6 in 1999 with Randall Cunningham and Jeff George. They needed someone to bridge the gap until they felt 1999 first-round pick Duante Culpepper was ready.
The Steelers were looking to move away from Kordell Stewart after a disastrous 6-10 1999 season. The team was also still run by the same Rooney family that passed on Marino in the 1983 NFL Draft and certainly would have loved to correct that error.
“Minnesota was interested in me for what would have been my 18th season,” Marino said. “The Pittsburgh Steelers talked to me. Those two were the main teams. Maybe go home and play for the Steelers for a couple of years. But it was one of those things where I’d already put my heart and soul into Miami. So I just figured it was time.”
