Noll & Cope on not drafting Marino
- Thread starter happjack
- Start date
In fairness, every team except Miami passed on him, as I recall. Colossal blunder.
If he'd gone to the NFL after his third season, like nowadays, he'd have been near the top of the first round.
If he'd gone to the NFL after his third season, like nowadays, he'd have been near the top of the first round.
Danny didn’t have a great senior season couple that with the drug allegations and some noise coming from The Nurses Res…you get passed on.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Wanna bet it was Ron Cook when he was still at the Beaver Falls paper? LOL
I don’t remember a furor over the Steelers’ decision, so I dug up the newspaper coverage of the draft to confirm it. Steelers were happy with Rivera. Shula was over the moon to land Marino. Bradshaw’s lingering arm problems and Rivera’s accident were bad luck for a franchise that had extraordinary good fortune for a decade.
The bill came for sure after a fortunate decade. Bradshaw, Rivera and Lambert all had their careers cut. Rivera would’ve been a heck of a player and had two sacks after six games despite not starting. Bradshaw was robust and could’ve played through 1986.
Gabe Rivera was a guy that everyone anointed as a great player after his tragic injury. He was decent in the few games he played, but nothing to suggest he’d become a Pro Bowl type player.
As for Marino his senior season was horrible, no other way to describe it. Yes the drug allegations played a part bit his performance on the field that last season justified his drop in the draft. With a team as good as Pitt was that year he was a major reason that they underachieved.
Rivera split a double team versus the Oilers to sack Archie Manning, with one of the lineman blocking being Bruce Matthews. Didn’t he force a fumble that Rick Woods returned for a TD on MNF? With his size, it’s hard to imagine Rivera not becoming a dominant player for the Steelers.
The Foge/Joe Daniels combo was doom for Marino and the offense in 1982.
I remember Rivera having a few moments, but nothing to suggest he would become anything great.
As far as Marino goes something was off his final season, and it was more than coaching. 200 yards per game passing with 22 ints was horrendous even for that era. Obviously I wish the Steelers would’ve taken him but don’t blame them that much for passing
Yeah if Rivera was going to be Joe Greene 2.0 he wouldn’t have been picked so late in the draft.
Gabe was going to be a monster in the NFL.
A few moments is all he had given his injury. He was dominant in college and had the speed of a running back for a big man. i don’t know where he was going to be JAG comments are coming from - his injury set the Steelers back for years.
How nonsensically ironic in a thread about one of the greatest QBs of all time being drafted last in the first round.
I believe the 82 Oanthers threw the ball too much. Possible hubris from 81. Too many forced passes, and so many drops and turnovers by the receivers. Notre Dane game was a perfect example. Film of that game is a horror flick to a Pitt fan.
