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Terry Bradshaw

Early Retirement

By 1982 over a decade of hard professional knocks had taken it's toll, and Bradshaw's amazing passing arm began to show signs of damage with the diagnosis being chronic muscle deterioration around his right elbow. After toughing it out for the season he underwent surgery in March of 1983. Unfortunately, at Coach Chuck Noll's urging, he returned to play too early. After playing only a few games during the 1983 season, he damaged his elbow permanently and had to retire prematurely, a turn of events for which he never forgave Noll.

Career Statistics

Passing Rushing
Yr Team ATT COM YDS COM% TD INT ATT YDS TD
PIT: Pittsburgh Steelers.
1970 PIT 218 83 1410 38.1 6 24 32 233 1
1971 PIT 373 203 2259 54.4 13 22 53 247 5
1972 PIT 308 147 1887 47.7 12 12 58 346 7
1973 PIT 180 89 1183 49.4 10 15 34 145 3
1974 PIT 148 67 785 45.3 7 8 34 224 2
1975 PIT 286 165 2055 57.7 18 9 35 210 3
1976 PIT 192 92 1177 47.9 10 9 31 219 3
1977 PIT 314 162 2523 52.6 17 19 31 171 3
1978 PIT 368 207 2915 56.3 28 20 32 93 1
1979 PIT 472 259 3724 54.9 26 25 21 83 0
1980 PIT 424 218 3339 51.4 24 22 36 111 2
1981 PIT 370 201 2887 54.3 22 14 38 162 2
1982 PIT 240 127 1768 52.9 17 11 8 10 0
1983 PIT 8 5 63 62.5 2 0 1 3 0
TOTAL 3901 2025 27989 51.9 212 210 444 2257 32

Bradshaw officially retired from the Pittsburgh Steelers just before the 1984 season, after fourteen years in the NFL. Despite his bitterness at having to retire early, Bradshaw left the game with the legendary status of having been the best big-game quarterback of all time. He had been one of the most prolific quarterbacks in history, leading the Steelers to four Super Bowl championships, six AFC championship games and eight straight playoff appearances (1972-79). He was at his best in post-season games. Not only was he a perfect 4-0 in Super Bowl play, in those four outstanding performances, he completed forty-nine of eighty-four attempted passes (nine for touchdowns) for 932 yards (second all-time), with just three interceptions. He still holds the Super Bowl passing records for average gain per attempt in career (11.10 yards) and average gain in a game (14.71 yards in Super Bowl XIV versus Los Angeles, in which he completed twenty-one passes for 309 yards). Bradshaw, a two-time Super Bowl MVP (Super Bowls XIII and XIV), was a four-time All-Pro.

Terry Bradshaw

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