“You took the wrong guy”: Art Rooney, Sr., “The Chief” and founder of the Steelers, on his team passing on Dan Marino in 1983: Could have given them more Super Bowls

Art Rooney, Sr. (left) and Art Jr.

Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Steelers

… from the Chuck Noll biography

In the background, the Chief was circumspect. He’d met Marino and was extremely fond of him. More than once that weekend, Art Sr. would sidle up to Artie [son, Art Rooney, Jr.] and say, “You took the wrong guy.”

Michael MacCambridge, “Chuck Noll: His Life’s Work,” University of Pittsburgh Press, 2016

On a snowy Sunday in January, 1985, I met Art Rooney, Jr. [known as Artie by his family] at St. Francis College in Loretto, Pa. The visit had nothing to do with the Steelers, but had everything to do with my job recruiting athletes as the head football coach at the college.

At the time, Art, Jr. was personnel director for the Steelers, and he was the one who led the drafting for the four Super Bowl teams of the 1970s.

It was a nice visit except for one nagging question that I as a devout Steelers fans wanted to ask him on that day — but the timing was not right.

The question?

Why in the world did the Steelers not draft Dan Marino in 1983?

That question had nothing to do with our meeting, and that was my focus. Still, I have long agonized over that.

I have written my opinion about why they decided to pass on Marino despite his being available when they had the 24th selection in 1983. Some Pitt fans were incredulous when I told them some of the stories.

However, I have never had them confirmed until I read the biography of Chuck Noll that was written by Michael MacCambridge and published in 2016.

Confirmation

In Chapter Nineteen of “Chuck Noll: His Life’s Work,” MacCambridge has a chapter entitled “The One That Got Away.” When I saw that, I knew exactly what the topic of that chapter was.

In 1983, Terry Bradshaw would enter his 13th year as the Steelers QB. It was time to pick a successor — except that Coach Chuck Noll did not see it that way.

First, take a look at the quarterbacks who were eventually selected in the first round that year. Three became Hall of Fame QBs (Dan Marino, John Elway, Jim Kelly), two were absolute busts (Todd Blackledge, Tony Eason), and one (Ken O'Brien) was fair.

When the Steelers came up on the board, four had been drafted, but Marino remained. Who was the guilty party in passing on a QB who would have been the second consecutive Hall of Famer for the Steelers?

While Chuck Noll deserved credit for great drafts in the 1970s, the scouting group headed by Artie Rooney was more responsible than the head coach.

However, Chuck made some very poor recommendations in those years — in the 70s too — but none has haunted his legacy as the passing over of Marino.

And, as MacCambridge points out, Noll was the one who made this decision.

Looking for the next Joe Greene

One of Noll’s problems was realizing that he would never again see the likes of Joe Greene, who was the first draft pick of the Steelers after he was hired in 1969. And, the Steelers did not have Greene high on their list.

Noll, as the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Colts for three years prior to being hired by the Steelers, had gone to see Greene personally in Texas and to watch film of him. He knew that he was very, very special.

The personnel people, Artie included, did not object. And they were happy later about that pick after seeing Mean Joe in person.

Here is what the biography says about Noll’s choice in 1983,

The Steelers were enamored of Gabe Rivera, “Señor Sack,” the behemoth defensive tackled from Texas Tech. Chuck envisioned Rivera as the cornerstone to the Steelers’ move to a 3-4 front. In his dominating line play and quick first step, there were flashes of the player that Greene had been.

MacCambridge, p. 291

Flashes? In his rookie season, Rivera had demonstrated potential. Another Greene? No, but he could have been good.

Here is what Noll said on draft day, a comment that would really hurt his legacy,

We built this team on defense, and we should do it again now.

MacCambridge, p. 293

That was true, but the final two Super Bowls would never have happened with the outstanding offensive skills of his eventual Hall of Famers on offense, including the QB, Terry Bradshaw, the RB, Franco Harris, and the stellar receivers, Lynn Swann and John Stallworth.

The author notes that no one in the draft room objected when Noll made that statement, and when the selection was made, “The Steelers assistants and scouts cheered in unison …”

Clueless. The worst draft decision in their history, and there have been some eggs laid on draft day — as other teams have done.

Former Coach Tony Dungy, who eventually became the Steelers defensive coordinator, said this about the choice,

In Chuck’s mind, that was still what we talked bout. This was going to be a throwing league even more, so there was more of a premium on putting pressure on the passer, and he saw Gabe Rivera as someone able to so some of the things that Joe Greene had done.

MacCambridge, p. 293

Why did they pass over Marino?

The biography outlines why the Steelers had decided against Marino long before the draft, though they also thought that he would not be available with the 24th pick.

So on April 26, as the first-round began, four quarterbacks were indeed selected before the Steelers’ choice, but Marino — the location boy who led Pitt to the brink of a national title his junior year before having a disappointing senior season — wasn’t one of them.

His draft stock had been hurt by Pitt’s shortcomings; the rise of Todd Blackledge (the son of Chuck’s offensive line coach, Ron Blackledge), who’d led Penn State to a national title in 1982; and rumors that Marino had used recreational drugs.

MacCambridge, p. 292

Dungy added,

We knew a little too much about Marino. You heard the rumors and everything.

MacCambridge, p. 292

Actually, they knew nothing, just rumors. With a player of this tremendous potential in their backyard, they should have investigated in more depth. 

In a blog post after the death of Rivera last year, I wrote this,

I have written extensively about how in the world the Steelers passed over Marino. Theories abound, from Marino being accused of heavy drug use, being accused of being in the mafia — seriously — to being a little too much of a womanizer, to not having a good enough work ethic … the list goes on.

“RIP: Gabe Rivera, “Señor Sack,” and the infamous 1983 NFL Draft: 

What would they have been like with Dan Marino?”

[URL Below]

Character issues? They did not investigate Rivera

The situation was incongruous. Why did the Steelers listen to all of these rumors without investigating a player who became the leading passer in NFL history by the time he retired?

Yet they failed to thoroughly investigate Rivera, who was intoxicated when he was paralyzed in an accident midway through his rookie season? Did they know about Rivera’s drinking issues?

We do not know that, but the truth is that they made some ethnic slurs about Marino and talked about his use of marijuana, which probably the majority of college players used at that time?

The reality is that Marino developed into a class act, too, on and off the field during his NFL years. That makes the Steeler front office look like fools, and their woeful record during the 1980s was self-inflicted. 

Perhaps Marino's success occurred because he was fortunate to be drafted by Coach Don Shula, who gave him tremendous guidance. Chuck Noll did not have that kind of relationship with his players, despite their success.

However, think of what the Steelers could have had in the 1980s with a QB with a rifle arm like Marino, a guy who threw for more than 61,000 yards and 420 touchdowns. A few more Super Bowls?

Biography — Noll objected to Franco and Swann, too

MacCambridge’s biography is a tribute to Chuck Noll, and it shows the tremendous qualities that he had, particularly his character. However, the author does not pull punches either when he writes about the decline of the Steelers in the 1980s and Noll’s role in that.

In that chapter about Marino, he notes that Dan Rooney was probably opposed to passing on Marino, too. Dan had presented an idea to the coaches and personnel people that was proposed by a journalist, one whom Noll abhorred because he had written about the Steelers coach for using pads in the offseason. In it, the writer proposed trading Cliff Stoudt for a second-round pick, one that could have been used to pick Rivera, while picking Marino in the first.

He was laughed out of the room, apparently, and as I noted above, The Chief also disliked the pick. So, the top two owners and execs favored the drafting of Marino, but they were opposed by Noll and the personnel department.

One irony that the bio points out was that after Shula draft Marino later, Noll called his friend and said,

You probably got the best guy in the draft.

MacCambridge, p. 293

If he believed that, how could he have been so short-sighted in the draft?

MacCambridge also writes that Noll objected to the drafting of Franco Harris in 1972 with their first pick. I never heard that previously, but he wanted Robert Newhouse. There was no comparison, and Artie Rooney fought him tooth and nail for Francos. 

Fortunately, Artie won. 

Noll also clashed with the personnel people in 1974 when they drafted Lynn Swann of USC with their first pick. Noll was sold on John Stallworth and wanted to take him first. The personnel people argued that Swann would be gone by their second-round pick if they did not select him first.

Fortunately, the personnel people were right. Stallworth was available in the fourth round, so they selected him, but also picked two other future Hall of Famers. Jack Lambert in the second round and Mike Webster in the fifth, so that was the greatest draft in NFL history. 

In the 1980s, the NFL was changing into a passing league

Rivera was a good pick, and he really wanted to rebuild that defense with another Joe Greene.

But, defensive coaches sometimes cannot think in an offensive vein. If it was truly to become a passing league, they needed a passer with an arm like Terry Bradshaw — though one with the drama. 

Bill Walsh installed the West Coast offense, and that changed the NFL dramatically. A QB with a mediocre arm like Joe Montana became a Hall of Famer because of the offense.

Nevertheless, the Steelers were not concerned about their offense, and they passed on him — and that is a part of their unhappy history in the 1980s after a joyous one in the 1970s.

RIP: Gabe Rivera, “Señor Sack,” and the infamous 1983 NFL Draft: What would they have been like with Dan Marino?”

http://hce1947.blogspot.com/2018/07/rip-gabe-rivera-senor-sack-and-infamous.html