Rocky Blier ~ yessss!

I always thought it was a shame that the Steelers drafted my college classmate Terry Hanratty in the second round in 1969, after taking another quarterback, Bradshaw, as their #1.

With another team, Hanratty would probably have had some kind of career as a player; with Pittsburgh, he put in a lot of years carrying a clipboard. True, he got rings and bonus money as a member of several Super Bowl teams. I wonder if he might not have preferred a few years of starting and playing in actual games on Sundays, even for a less outstanding team. I think I would have...

I suppose management wanted a "safety net" in case Bradshaw didn't work out, or got hurt, or whatever. It's apparent that they were going to make a change at quarterback that year, and that if their first-choice rookie failed to make the grade, they'd have another college star waiting in the wings.