Why Western Pennsylvania is the Cradle of Quarterbacks
Plenty of champion gunslingers have called Western Pennsylvania home, among them Joe Montana, Joe Namath and Dan Marino.
In a handful of occasions during his first season with the Steelers, quarterback Aaron Rodgers casually but respectfully referenced Western Pennsylvania’s rich history of producing Hall of Fame quarterbacks.
“There must be something in the water,” Rodgers suggested.
It actually runs deeper than that. “It’s in our blood,” Hall of Famer Joe Namath has explained. Namath made that observation back in 2015 when the six Western Pennsylvania passers who wound up enshrined at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, were honored together for the first time at an event dubbed Gridiron Gold, held at the Wyndham Grand Hotel.
“It’s our people,” Namath maintained. “The people that were ahead of us, our work ethic. When we are talking about the six quarterbacks from Western Pennsylvania in the Hall, we didn’t do it by ourselves. It’s in our blood, the hardworking ethic and the appreciation for others.”
Jim Kelly, another member of Western Pennsylvania’s Gold Jacket QB fraternity, also spoke with steelers.com that night. “Without a doubt it’s the work ethic our parents instilled in us,” Kelly insisted.
These six Western Pennsylvanians account for 23 percent of the 26 quarterbacks currently enshrined in the Hall.
PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
George Blanda (Youngwood)
Played a professional-record 26 seasons in the NFL and AFL with Chicago, Baltimore, Houston and Oakland as a quarterback/kicker. Retired for the second and final time a month shy of his 49th birthday. Threw for 236 touchdowns and scored 2,002 points. Enshrined in 1981.
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Jim Kelly (East Brady)
Led the Buffalo Bills to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances. At the time of his retirement following the 1996 season, Kelly ranked 13th in NFL history in touchdown passes (237), 10th in passing yards (35,467) and eighth in completions (2,874). Enshrined in 2002.
PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
Dan Marino (Pittsburgh)
Played 17 seasons for the Miami Dolphins and retired following the 1999 season as the NFL’s all-time leader in completions (4,967), passing yards (61,361) and passing touchdowns (420). He was also the author of a 47 game-winning drives. Enshrined in 2005.
PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
Joe Montana (New Eagle)
A two-time NFL MVP and a four-time Super Bowl champion for the San Francisco 49ers who had a penchant for comebacks that came to be known as “Montana Magic.” He led the NFL in passer rating twice, set a single-season record in that category in 1989 at 112.4 and was a three-time Super Bowl MVP. Enshrined in 2000.
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Joe Namath (Beaver Falls)
Guaranteed his upstart New York Jets would beat the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III and then went out and engineered one of pro football’s all-time upsets. A flamboyant star on and off the field, Namath was the first player to throw for 4,000 yards in a season (1967) and the only player to lead with the AFL (8.2 in 1967) and NFL (8.7 in 1972) in yards per passing attempt. Enshrined in 1985.
PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
Johnny Unitas (Pittsburgh)
He initially was drafted in the ninth round by the Steelers in 1955 and then cut. Unitas went on to win three NFL championships (including in 1958 over the New York Giants in overtime, in what is remembered by many as the greatest game in NFL history) and three NFL MVP awards, and was named first-team All-Pro five times. Enshrined in 1979.
