Tommy-Gun

www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2016/8/3/12348300/how-the-steelers-told-tommy-maddox-they-were-going-to-draft-an

Nice read on Maddox. He is not as bitter as I always thought he was. I don't know why I thought but I did.

 

Maddox could throw the ball. He had a dang lethal play action pass. Credit to Bettis as he set up the ground and pound running game, which made the play action work well.
There was just sometimes he wold throw really bad interceptions, and by bad I mean really bad.
He also wasn't very mobile, he was a sitting duck, if not given time to throw.

But I think most importantly, was a November game in 2002 against the Titans, he got knocked out of the game bad. Was actually taken out on a stretcher. He was never the same after that. He did lead an amazing comeback win in the 2002 playoffs against the Browns. only to lose on a last second FG against the titans in the divisional round. Al Del Greco did an amazing acting job getting a roughing the kicker call, on a missed FG. But, I doubt the would have beat the filming Patriots the following week with Tommy Gun.

 

Cower wanted to draft a linemen, The Ambassador, Dan Rooney, said he stepped in and made them think about taking a QB.

 

I would have killed Cowher, had he not taken one of those top 3 QB's in that draft.
Raiders took Robert Gallery the best lineman in the draft, he was a bust.
The Browns screwed the pooch bad too that year, as usual.

 

I still and forever will believe the Steelers got hosed in that 2002 game against the Titans. Dewayne Washington never touched the Titans kicker. I will never get over that. The Steelers would have beaten the Raiders the next week and would have been in the Super Bowl against Tampa. Great, now I'm upset...

 

Question though if they win that do they still draft Ben or give Maddox the benefit of the doubt.

 

I think they still would have drafted Ben no matter what Maddox would have done. Not many QB's of Ben's caliber come along very often and fans were getting restless with overlooking those types of QB's since ever since Bradshaw left.

 

They didn't draft Ben after the 2002 season. The drafted him after the '03 season when they went 6-10. So I suspect Maddox's benefit of the doubt was used up by then.

 

That was a great article and very open and honest too. I'm glad that he was able to find love again with his wife and remarry her. That has to be a tough thing to be high school sweethearts and to have a career as the center of football really and then to not have that would be tough on a guy and a marriage. I will never forget the start of the playoffs that first year with Maddox where NBC paired highlights of Maddox with Eminem's Lose Yourself. It was a great opening for the game

 

I thought it was Joel Nedney. Lefty. Washington came screaming of the right side and pinky snagged a cleat and he went down. NBA caliber flop! I was pretty young... Got so mad that I almost cried haha

 

Yeah I know one As saying do they give him the benefit of the doubt that the 6-10 season was just a bad season that he too a really bad shot in

 

That was the year they tried to go totally against Steeler football though right? They were convinced that with Plex, Ward and Tommy they had the best air attack in the league not realizing that they needed Bettis to suck 9 men into the box and open up the passing game. THey started trying to get Bettis going in the 2nd half and it didn't work since Bettis was really great at wearing the defense down and gashing them late in games but you couldn't just turn it on and expect results

 

Yeah that is the year.

 

Del Greco was a pain in our ass, as was tony zendejas!!!

 

Historically speaking hahahaha

 

And the deuce experiment didn't help. Had he not dropped off a log might e worked, or am I getting my years mixed up? Just turned 40 today so could be a slip

 

I think deuce was the next year because that was the introduction of FWP

 

I disagree the Steelers would have beaten the Raiders, they played on MNF the first game of the season in 2002 and Rich Gannon shredded the Steelers defense with those short passes.

 

The kicker in the Tennessee playoff loss was Joe Nedney.

Maddox had a couple of very solid years for us.

In 2002 he led us to the playoffs and was 7-3-1 as a starter that year in a very wild season. I'll never forget the tie against Atlanta where his Hail Mary on the final play of the game was caught by Plax at the one-yard line but he was stopped there and it ended in a tie, the neck injury in Nashville (as somebody else mentioned) when they took off his face mask, strapped him to the board, and took him off in an ambulance, the loss to the Texans at Heinz where we outgained them in total yards 422 to 47 and still lost 24-6 (on three Texans' defensive td's) and, of course, the Joe Nedney playoff game.

In 2003 he threw for 3,414 yards. At the time it was the second best in team history (behind Bradshaw's 3,724 in 1979). Now it ranks 8th-best as Ben has taken 6 of the top 7 spots. Unfortunately, we went 6-10 that season.

I was at the home (and season) opener in 2004 where we beat the Raiders and Bettis put up that crazy stat line of 5 carries for 1 yard and 3 tds. I traveled to Baltimore the next weekend where Maddox got hurt, Ben was awful in his first ever action, and we got crushed -- then won our next fourteen games with Ben at the helm.

I honestly forgot he was part of the XL team in 2005. If you'd have asked, I would've guessed Batch was the backup. I do remember now, that after Ben went down with the knee injury at San Diego on MNF that season, Maddox started the next game at home against the Jags and threw a brutal pick-six in overtime and it looked like the season was falling apart. I believe that is the game that caused some fans to throw garbage on his lawn.

I have good memories of Tommy Gun. I appreciate his contribution to our organization.

 

I agree. Oakland was a horrible matchup for us with Gannon at qb and Charlie Garner at rb. That's why I was so happy during the 'Tuck Rule' game. I was thrilled we wouldn't have to travel to Oakland for the AFCCG and, instead, would get to host lowly NE. So much for that.

 

I still love his story and am glad he was a Steeler. How ex-NFL "busts" out there wish they could have a second chance to redeem themselves? Tommy Maddox did, and ended up with a Super Bowl ring. On the other side of the spectrum, JaMarcus Russell...

(I'm still mad about the playoff loss to the Titans, too. Did Joe Nedney go into acting after his NFL retirement?)

 

I remember well when we played in the 04 AFCC game against the patriots when Ben was a rookie, Ben hit the rookie wall in that game and started slinging picks all over the place and maddox was on the sideline and I was hollering for cowher to put him in and sit ben, I dont know if the out come would have been any different because brady put up 41 points against our so called stout defense, but we only needed a two TDs to tie it up....

 

Once teams realized he was easy to spook with pressure up the middle he was done. He just couldn't move sideways to avoid it and after injury it got worse.

 

Yeah your right it was Joe Nedney not Al Del Greco. I was mad too I was 16 at the time. I was so mad. Chalk it up as one of the many Dewayne washington bad moments.

 

I was in the field watching the game with the mechanics and it went from being ecstatic to heart broken. Plus I had to listen to everyone's mouth. It was a rough night to say the least.