By the time the 1983 NFL Draft rolled around, I was fresh off my first birthday and ready to begin my rite of passage into Steeler fandom. The Steelers finished the 1982 season as a playoff participant, but would go on to lose in the opening round to Dan Fouts, Kellen (my son is a
soldier) Winslow and the San Diego Chargers. Most of the Super Steelers from the 70's were entering the twilight of their careers or already sent to pasture. Terry Bradshaw would go on to throw his last pass for the Black and Gold in 1983. The Steelers owned the 21st pick in the '83 draft, and many stud college quarterbacks were draft eligible. As the draft started, five quarterbacks (John Elway, Todd Blackledge, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, Ken O'Brien) were already off the board before the Steelers' first pick arrived. Still available was a hot-shot quarterback from the University of Pittsburgh via Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School named
Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. Marino entered his senior season at Pitt as a Heisman hopeful, but his year was considered by most to be a disappointment. He had the legs of Joe Namath (not a good thing) and seemed to enjoy the snow in Oakland a little too much. These things worried the Steelers, and instead of taking the popular choice in Marino, the Steelers settled on
Gabe Rivera, a defensive lineman from Texas Tech. "Señor Sack" was said to be the fastest defensive lineman coming out of college. The Steelers wanted to build their defense around him much like they did with Joe Greene a decade earlier. Marino would eventually be drafted 27th by the Miami Dolphins, and the rest, they say, is history.
Gabe Rivera was Ben Roethlisberger before Ben Roethlisberger. As he started to find his legs in his rookie season, he was paralyzed in an auto accident, effectively ending his career before he even completed one season (if only Medium Ben knew of this story before his need to ride helmetless.) No one knows if Rivera could have ever reached the levels set by his predecessor Mean Joe Greene, but the world will never know.
What the world does know is that Dan Marino turned out to be a pretty good quarterback, if you consider holding numerous NFL records to be pretty good. Some refuse to acknowledge Marino's accomplishments due to his never winning a Super Bowl, but I'm sure 99% of NFL quarterbacks would trade places with him any day. He was stuck in Miami, often with inferior teammates, but somehow always seemed to make the best of the situation. Not to mention he picked up a pretty good tan.
I hate to compare a guy like Rivera to Marino, the man has been through enough already and I'm sure has heard the comparisons enough to make his head explode. But it just makes you wonder...if the Steelers had only taken the chance on a weak-kneed cokehead from Central Catholic, things might have turned out a bit differently. For starters, names like Cliff Stoudt, Mark Malone and Bubby Brister would have never entered our regular vocabulary, and that's always a good thing.
Gabe Rivera was Ben Roethlisberger before Ben Roethlisberger. As he started to find his legs in his rookie season, he was paralyzed in an auto accident, effectively ending his career before he even completed one season (if only Medium Ben knew of this story before his need to ride helmetless.) No one knows if Rivera could have ever reached the levels set by his predecessor Mean Joe Greene, but the world will never know.
What the world does know is that Dan Marino turned out to be a pretty good quarterback, if you consider holding numerous NFL records to be pretty good. Some refuse to acknowledge Marino's accomplishments due to his never winning a Super Bowl, but I'm sure 99% of NFL quarterbacks would trade places with him any day. He was stuck in Miami, often with inferior teammates, but somehow always seemed to make the best of the situation. Not to mention he picked up a pretty good tan.
I hate to compare a guy like Rivera to Marino, the man has been through enough already and I'm sure has heard the comparisons enough to make his head explode. But it just makes you wonder...if the Steelers had only taken the chance on a weak-kneed cokehead from Central Catholic, things might have turned out a bit differently. For starters, names like Cliff Stoudt, Mark Malone and Bubby Brister would have never entered our regular vocabulary, and that's always a good thing.
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