SAN DIEGO, CA – SEPTEMBER 21: Head coach Chuck Noll of the Pittsburgh Steelers (Photo by Richard Stagg/Getty Images)
The club has won more games than any other team in the NFL since the merger. Still, the Pittsburgh Steelers have had their share of drafting disasters.
The history of the Pittsburgh Steelers is well known. A franchise that was born in 1933 (and originally named the Pirates) played in only one postseason game (1947) in its first 39 years of existence and lost.
The team finally won a playoff contest in 1972 thanks to Franco Harris’ “Immaculate Reception. During the 1970s the Black and Gold came up with four Super Bowl victories in a six-year span. The Steelers remain the only club in NFL annals to repeat as Super Bowl champions twice.
Since 1970, no team in the league has won more regular-season games. The Steelers were the first franchise to win six Super Bowls, a feat since matched by the New England Patriots. Pittsburgh has had three head coaches over that span in Pro Football Hall of Famers Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher and current sideline leader Mike Tomlin. All own at least one Lombardi Trophy.
There was the legendary draft class of 1974 when the team added future Hall of Famers Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Mike Webster. With the good comes the bad, hence this list that notes three disappointments during the common draft era.
Biggest NFL draft busts in Pittsburgh Steelers franchise history:
3. T Mike Taylor
In 1968, the Steelers were looking to take advantage of the available talent on the offensive front. With the first overall pick, the Vikings grabbed Southern Cal tackle Ron Yary, who wound up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Three selections later, the Chargers took massive Russ Washington. He spent 15 seasons with the club, mostly at tackle. He played in 200 games and made 196 starts.
The Steelers had the 10th pick and took another tackle from Southern Cal in Mike Taylor. Over the course of a season and a half, he played in 24 games and made only a dozen starts. He wound up with the Saints later in 1969 and bounced around the league for a few years, including stints with Washington and the Cardinals.
2. T Jamain Stephens
The Steelers were coming off an 11-5 season and an appearance in Super Bowl XXX. Bill Cowher’s club would add future Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis via a trade with the then-St. Louis Rams the weekend of the 1996 NFL Draft. The team was also looking to add some talent to its offensive front.
Pittsburgh opted for somewhat of a project in North Carolina A&T tackle Jamain Stephens. The defending AFC champions used the 29th pick in the first round that year to grab the converted defensive lineman. To say the 6-foot-6, 336-pound performer was a disappointment would be a major understatement.
Stephens did not play in 1996 and the developmental prospect appeared in eight games and made one start in 1997. He saw plenty of action in his third season (10 starts) but wore out his welcome. In late July of 1999, Pittsburgh released the former first-round pick after some questions about his conditioning.
“While there were several factors involved in Jamain’s release,” Cowher said in the statement released by the club (via Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), “it was obvious he lacked the commitment to compete in this camp. I had no choice but to release him.”
Stephens finished his career with the rival Cincinnati Bengals, playing 14 games (4 clubs) for three seasons from 1999-2001.
1. LB Huey Richardson
He would prove to be the final first-round selection of the Chuck Noll Era with the Black and Gold. The Steelers used the 15th overall pick in the 1991 NFL Draft on University of defensive University of Florida defensive end Huey Richardson. He figured to add spark to the pass rush as an outside linebacker in the club’s 3-4 defense. However, the former Gator was anything but an impact player.
He would play in only five games for the franchise. Even more disappointing was the fact that he not only failed to record a sack, he was not credited with a tackle or an assist. Noll retired after the 1991 season and the Bill Cowher Era began in ‘92.
The team would go on to finish 11-5 and win the AFC Central during the future Pro Football Hall of Famer’s debut campaign. Richardson was not part of the team. He did not make it through the summer.
The one-time Florida standout spent 1992 with the Jets (7 games) and Washington (4 games). He failed to make any impact there as well and his NFL career came to an end after two years.
It’s safe to say that this was a mere blip (and a big one) for a franchise that has found its share of pass-rushers throughout its history.