1970 Season
5-9 Regular Season • 3rd in AFC Central • Rookie Season
Season Summary: Terry Bradshaw arrived in Pittsburgh as the #1 overall pick, the prize of a coin flip with Chicago after both teams finished 1-13 in 1969. He was supposed to rescue a franchise that had spent its entire history losing. Instead, his rookie season showed how far both Bradshaw and the Steelers had to go.
To say his rookie season was brutal is a massive understatement. Terry completed just 38% of his passes, threw a league-worst 24 Ints vs only 6 TDs and finished with a 30.4 passer rating. He started 8 games as Chuck Noll alternated between Bradshaw and Terry Hanratty, and Pittsburgh stumbled to a 5-9 record.
Bradshaw had no offensive coordinator. No quarterback coach. And no supporting cast. He was raw, impatient and often overwhelmed... exactly what you'd expect from a 22-year-old rookie QB from a small school dropped into one of the NFL's worst teams.
But there were flashes. His athleticism off the charts. Bradshaw ran for 233 yards on just 32 carries, a 7.3-yard average. Against Cleveland late in the year, he completed only 4 passes, but they went for 197 yards and 2 TDs, including an 87-yard bomb.
The numbers look brutal now... and they looked brutal then. What nobody could know was that this struggling rookie would eventually become the greatest quarterback of his era and a 4-time Super Bowl champion. The arm was there, the athleticims was there, the toughness was there... but it would be another five years before Bradshaw became Bradshaw.
This preseason game isn't part of the statistical record, but it's too historically important to leave off the page. On August 28, 1970, Bradshaw played his first game in Pittsburgh as the Steelers beat the Giants 21-6 in the first football game ever played at brand-new Three Rivers Stadium. It was also the first-ever Monday Night Football broadcast, featuring the original team of Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell and Don Meredith. The broadcast includes pregame and halftime coverage, old commercials and an interview with Cosell.
▶ WATCH THE 1970 PRESEASON GAME
Regular Season
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| Game | Week | Date | Result | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Lng | Rate | Sk | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Lng | ||||
| vs Oilers | 1* | 09/20 | L 7-19 | 4 | 16 | 25.0 | 70 | 4.4 | 0 | 1 | 46 | 19.3 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 6.7 | 0 | 15 |
| at Broncos | 2* | 09/27 | L 13-16 | 13 | 26 | 50.0 | 211 | 8.1 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 61.5 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 3.0 | 0 | 5 |
| at Browns | 3* | 10/03 | L 7-15 | 13 | 29 | 44.8 | 207 | 7.1 | 0 | 3 | 67 | 29.6 | 7 | 4 | 44 | 11.0 | 1 | 22t |
| vs Bills | 4* | 10/11 | W 23-10 | 3 | 12 | 25.0 | 24 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 39.6 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 0 | 16 |
| at Oilers | 5* | 10/18 | W 7-3 | 8 | 17 | 47.1 | 208 | 12.2 | 1 | 3 | 67t | 72.3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0.3 | 0 | 9 |
| at Raiders | 6* | 10/25 | L 14-31 | 12 | 27 | 44.4 | 138 | 5.1 | 1 | 4 | 26 | 33.2 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 0 | 15 |
| vs Bengals | 7* | 11/02 | W 21-10 | 4 | 12 | 33.3 | 40 | 3.3 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 43.8 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 5.0 | 0 | 5 |
| vs Jets | 8 | 11/08 | W 21-17 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| vs Chiefs | 9 | 11/15 | L 14-31 | 8 | 19 | 42.1 | 74 | 3.9 | 1 | 3 | 22 | 31.4 | 1 | 3 | 30 | 10.0 | 0 | 15 |
| at Bengals | 10* | 11/22 | L 7-34 | 8 | 19 | 42.1 | 101 | 5.3 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 19.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — |
| vs Browns | 11 | 11/29 | W 28-9 | 4 | 9 | 44.4 | 197 | 21.9 | 2 | 0 | 81t | 130.8 | 1 | 5 | 49 | 9.8 | 0 | 20 |
| vs Packers | 12 | 12/06 | L 12-20 | 3 | 20 | 15.0 | 110 | 5.5 | 1 | 4 | 87t | 27.1 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 4.7 | 0 | 10 |
| at Falcons | 13 | 12/13 | L 16-27 | 3 | 12 | 25.0 | 30 | 2.5 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 0 | 14 |
| at Eagles | 14 | 12/20 | L 20-30 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — |
| 1970 TOTAL | 14 | — | 5-9 | 83 | 218 | 38.1 | 1,410 | 6.5 | 6 | 24 | 87t | 30.4 | 25 | 32 | 233 | 7.3 | 1 | 22t |
* Bradshaw started