TERRY
BRADSHAW

Reading the Numbers in Their Time

Passer rating has changed enormously. In the 1970s, the average NFL passer rating was 65.3. A rating of 83.0 was "90th percentile" territory, roughly the level of the top 2-3 starting quarterbacks in the league. Today, the NFL average is around 91.0. A rating in the low-80s looks ordinary now, but it represented ELITE quarterback play in Bradshaw’s era.

That's an important measuring stick for everything that follows. It's also why comparing raw passer ratings across eras without context can be so misleading. If you want to see how the formula works, our NFL QB Rating Calculator lets you enter the numbers and calculate the rating yourself.

When It Mattered Most

Bradshaw’s career was ultimately defined in the postseason, and that's where his statistical record becomes remarkable. Across 19 postseason games, he threw for 3,833 yards and 30 touchdowns and produced an 83.0 passer rating. Remember what an 83 rating meant in his time: that was "best in the league" territory during the 1970s. And Bradshaw was doing it against the best teams in football, when the stakes were highest. His postseason rating also surpassed nearly every other great quarterback of his generation. Roger Staubach finished at 76.0, Bob Griese 68.3, and Fran Tarkenton 58.6. Only Ken Stabler at 84.2 was slightly higher, but with far fewer games. Bradshaw’s 83.0 ranks among the very best of his generation. Combine that with a 14-5 postseason record, four championships and his extraordinary Super Bowl performances, and Bradshaw stands at the very pinnacle of his era.

Then came the Super Bowl. In four Super Bowls, Bradshaw completed 49 of 84 passes for 932 yards, 9 TDs and 4 Ints. He averaged 11.1 yards per attempt and posted a passer rating over 100 in every one of the four games. His combined Super Bowl passer rating was 112.8. Let's put that number in context. The average NFL passer rating during the 1970s was 65.3. Bradshaw's combined Super Bowl rating was nearly 73% higher than the league average. He didn't just play "well" on football's biggest stage... statistically, he played at a level almost completely removed from what constituted normal QB play in his era.

And that is where comparing ratings across eras requires some perspective. Comparing a passer rating from the 1970s with one from today is a little like comparing dollar amounts without adjusting for inflation: the number may be the same, but its relative value is not. The game changed dramatically, and passer ratings rose with it. Bradshaw’s postseason and Super Bowl ratings must be measured against the standards of the football being played around him, not simply against the much higher ratings produced by the modern passing game.

PASSER RATING  | 
Super Bowls: 112.8    Postseason: 83.0    Regular Season: 70.9

The rating progression above gets to the heart of Bradshaw’s career. When the competition improved and the stakes rose, so did his performance. The 70.9 regular season rating is worth acknowledging, but it shouldn't dominate the discussion. Bradshaw entered the NFL as an exceptionally raw quarterback from a small college, joining a 1-13 team that had neither an offensive coordinator nor a quarterback coach to guide its prized rookie. It took time for Bradshaw to become Bradshaw. Once he did, his regular-season ratings included 88.0 in 1975, 84.7 in 1978, 83.9 in 1981 and 81.4 in 1982, numbers that take on a very different meaning when viewed against the league of his time.

Then there are the Super Bowls. Bradshaw threw a 4th-quarter TD in all four of them. In Super Bowl X vs Dallas, his throws to Lynn Swann were extraordinary, capped by a game-winning 64-yard TD bomb, a throw NFL Films later selected as the greatest in NFL history. Then came his two MVP performances. In Super Bowl XIII vs Dallas, Bradshaw threw for 318 yards and 4 touchdowns, both Super Bowl records at the time. In Super Bowl XIV vs the Rams, he threw for 309 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a pair of 4th-quarter strikes to John Stallworth to break open the game. The Steelers were unquestionably a great team, filled with Hall of Fame talent. At the center of it was Bradshaw. He was the one indispensable Steeler, at his very best when the Steelers needed greatness most.

What the Numbers Can't Measure

There was a reckless, uncontrollable nature to the way Bradshaw played quarterback. He was a true gunslinger. He attacked -- DEEP. He scrambled. He lowered his shoulder and delivered punishment. He stood in the pocket, knowing he was going to get drilled, and still got the ball away. He played in an era when quarterbacks weren't protected from, well... anything. You had to be TOUGH to play QB in the 70s. Whatever people thought of Terry Bradshaw, no one EVER questioned his toughness.

And that reputation was legit. In the '79 season finale vs Buffalo with the division title at stake, Bradshaw scrambled for a first down. As he went out of bounds, his helmet flew off and Jim Haslett (yes THAT Jim Haslett, a Bills LB at the time) took the opportunity to kick Bradshaw in the head. Haslett was ejected, and Terry's head was split open. Bradshaw was quickly bandaged on the sideline (he later required stitches) and only missed one play. ONE. He went right back in the game to finish the drive with a touchdown. And that's Terry Bradshaw. Winning the game mattered more than a head wound.

And that same mentality bled (pun intended) into everything he did. The huge arm mattered. The athleticism mattered. The ability to make plays with his legs mattered. But what tied all of it together was the way he competed. Bradshaw wasn't trying to play quarterback perfectly... he was trying to BEAT you. Sometimes that meant a 64-yard bomb. And sometimes it meant an interception. Sometimes it meant getting kicked in the head. Whatever it took, he was willing to do it.

That's why Terry Bradshaw can never be completely understood from a stat sheet. The numbers tell part of the story; read in the proper context, they prove Bradshaw was at his best when the games mattered most. What they can't measure is how badly he wanted to win. And above all, Terry Bradshaw WON.