For 14 year period, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a habit of drafting quarterbacks, sitting them on the bench, and sending them elsewhere. Finally they drafted Terry Bradshaw in 1970 and the rest is history.
Johnny Unitas-Steeler coach Walter Kiesling said he wasn't smart enough to make it in the pros. All it cost the Baltimore Colts to get him was $100 and a phone call. After all these years, many fans still consider Unitas the best quarterback ever.
Len Dawson-For 1957, Pittsburgh passed up Jim Brown for Dawson. He sat on the bench for three years and the Steelers traded him to the Cleveland Browns. Somehow he wound up with the Dallas Texans, now the Kansas City Chiefs, where he was a real winner.
1962-In the AFL Title Game of this year, fans began to take the AFL seriously. It went into six quarters and the Dallas Texans defeated the Houston Oilers 20 to 17. Len Dawson showed he was cool, calm, and precise. One of the best title games ever. The Texans moved to Kansas City the following year.
1966-Len Dawson quarterbacked the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl. The Chiefs trailed the Green Bay Packers only 14 to 10 at the half. The second half was disaster and Green Bay won 35 to 10.
1969-The previous year Joe Namath and the New York Jets gave the AFL parity with a 16 to 7 win over the Baltimore Colts. Now it was Chiefs turn to confirm the equality. Eleven point underdogs, Kansas City defeated the Minnesota Vikings 23 to 7.
The Pittsburgh Steelers let these two go. I will talk about three more later.