Terry Bradshaw, the iconic former quarterback and four-time Super Bowl champion, is not mincing words when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ ongoing flirtation with Aaron Rodgers. In a recent radio interview on 103.7 The Buzz in Arkansas, Bradshaw expressed his frustration with the idea of the Steelers pursuing the 41-year-old quarterback, stating, “That’s a joke. That to me is just a joke.”
Bradshaw raised a fair point about the practicality of bringing in a veteran like Rodgers for what might only be a single season. He quipped, “What are you going to do? Bring him in for one year, are you kidding me? That guy needs to stay in California. Go somewhere and chew on bark and whisper to the gods out there.” This tongue-in-cheek commentary underscores his disbelief in the rationale behind such a potential move.
But Bradshaw didn’t stop there; his critique extended to how the organization has handled the development of another quarterback: Kenny Pickett. Selected by the Steelers with the 20th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Pickett finds himself with a new zip code, having been dealt to the Philadelphia Eagles prior to the 2024 season. For Bradshaw, the Steelers’ management of Pickett’s situation was nothing short of a failure.
“I liked Kenny Pickett,” he recalled, drawing on his close ties to the University of Pittsburgh and his familiarity with Pickett’s talent. His disappointment is palpable as he notes that the Steelers didn’t provide their young quarterback with the necessary protection or resources to succeed. “When they got him to Pittsburgh, they didn’t protect him, they didn’t get him an offensive line,” Bradshaw argues. “They wanted to run the football, but they didn’t have an offensive line that could protect and they didn’t have weapons. He had no wide receivers to speak of.”
In Bradshaw’s eyes, it isn’t Pickett who has underperformed; rather, it’s the organization that has ultimately failed him. “Then they throw a kid in there for two years, and you’ve got an offense that doesn’t fit and doesn’t work, and they can’t run because their offensive line’s not even good enough for a run-blocking team. Now, they’re saying Kenny Pickett is a failure. He wasn’t a failure; the Steelers were a failure.”
Bradshaw’s insights not only reflect his own experiences as a quarterback in Pittsburgh but also serve as a stark reminder of the importance of support in a player’s development. In a league that emphasizes the synergy between a quarterback and his supporting cast, the Steelers will need to address these issues if they want to avoid repeating past mistakes.
