The Pittsburgh Steelers nearly traded Terry Bradshaw minutes after making a commitment to the star quarterback, almost sending him to the then-St. Louis Cardinals for a strong package
14:08 ET, 05 Oct 2025Updated 14:12 ET, 05 Oct 2025
Terry Bradshaw is a Pittsburgh Steelers legend though there was a time when that could have been different(Image: Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
Terry Bradshaw is a household name among NFL fans for the work he does on ‘FOX NFL Sunday,’ even though he occasionally butchers players’ names, providing many memorable moments each week
Before his longtime stint on the network, Bradshaw was a Pittsburgh Steelers legend, leading the team to four Super Bowl titles and eight AFC Central championships. However, the former star quarterback was on the verge of not playing for the Steelers at all.
Known as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, alongside Tom Brady, who was the butt of a brutal joke from the Steelers legend, there was a time when Bradshaw was very close to being a star for a different organization: The then-St. Louis Cardinals, now the Arizona Cardinals.
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In 1969, the Steelers won only one season, landing the first overall pick in the 1970 NFL Draft. Before selecting Bradshaw, many teams around the league called Pittsburgh in hopes of trading for the pick, and the Steelers were awfully close to a deal with the Cardinals, according to Steve Massey’s book ‘Revolution: The Transformation of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL.’
After drafting Bradshaw, the Cardinals arranged a package that included Pro Football Hall of Fame Roger Wehrli and the No. 8 overall pick in the same draft. Massey explained what occurred that caused the trade to fall through at the last moment.
“The Steelers sent word back, ‘If Mike Reid is available, we’ll talk,'” Massey said to Steelers Depot. “The [Cincinnati] Bengals took him, and they were one pick ahead of the [Cardinals]. That was that and the deal was off.”
Bradshaw carved out a Hall of Fame career as a member of the Steelers(Image: GETTY)
With the deal falling through, the rest, as they say, is history. And while Bradshaw made his mark in league history as a member of the Steelers, the former star was not at all pleased about being part of the draft process.
“The draft was no big deal back then. I thought I would go in the third or fourth round,” Bradshaw admitted in an interview with Steelers.com. “It wasn’t on television. I was going fishing.
“I had my truck, and I was pulling out of the driveway, and my dad stopped me and said, ‘Where are you going?’ I told him I was going fishing.
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“He told me it was draft day, and he heard from the [Chicago] Bears. I told him I wasn’t going until the third or fourth round. He told me you get out and you clean up. I was mad. I went and put on a jacket and tie for my dad. And then I got drafted number one. It didn’t mean that much. I was coming here to the worst team in the NFL, which wasn’t good.”
What’s more, the Louisiana native believed he was going to land with the New Orleans Saints. “Like a lot of players, we are looked at so often. The Saints spent so much time with me,” Bradshaw continued. “Their whole coaching staff would come to (Louisiana) Tech and watch me practice and to games.
“I was told by our college coaching staff maybe late second round, third round. There was some talk about moving up. And the Pittsburgh thing. And then the coin flip.
“My dad had received a phone call earlier that morning from the (Bears) Halas family saying they were trying to make a trade for me. I didn’t find out about this until later. Then my dad talked to the Steelers, and they said they weren’t going to trade and keep the rights.
“It was just mumbo-jumbo to me. You figure out what you are going to do, and I am going to go fishing.”