Malone worse than I remember

Now I was a kid when Mark Malone became the starter, but of course I was still aware that he was bad. However, I didn't know his numbers were as bad as they are.

He took over in "84.

1984 - 13 games - 54% com- 16 TD -17 INT
1985 - 10 games - 50% com- 13 TD - 7 INT
1986 - 14 games - 50% com- 15 TD -18 INT
1987 - 12 games - 46% com- 6 TD - 19 INT
1988 - 12 games - 54% com- 6 TD - 13 INT

My god. Those were some dark days at the QB position.

Look at '88. Not only did he only throw 6 td's in 12 games but he threw more than 3 times the INT's.

 

But he held the record for the longest touchdown "catch" in Steelers history for a looooooooong time!

 

So, are we wondering if Mason Rudolph is Mark Malone reincarnated?

 

But, he was a star here in San Diego county in high school. El Cajon to be exact. When he went to the NFL, it was like all of San Diego won something (as if this town would know what that’s like)

 

... and that is part of the reason why, when many cheer for Ben to retire, many of us don't like it...
We remember that dark times...

Finding a franchise QB is not that easy. Not each pick will become a Mahomes (and the guy hasn't won anything yet!)

 

How dare you!!

 

Yep, sounds about right. I remember him being about that bad.

 

This x 100.

 

Mark Malone... yea... I was a teen watching the Steelers weekly in Northcentral PA. What annoyed me the most about Malone (and I was still a young'in!) was every incompletion or interception he would have that God awful smirk. I think it was just his natural 'look' but it didn't sit well.

I didn't have a message board back then to sound off - just an Atari.

 

You mean the guy that looked like magnum p.i? ....lol. Yes, it was some dark days between Terry Bradshaw and Neil o'Donnell ... and then between Neil and Ben

 

Doesn't the Malone years reflect the parity of the NFL at the time? As Noll built his team through the draft they got better and better. High picks were replaced by lower draft picks and lower talent. By the mid 80's the championship teams are gone replaced by guys who didn't hold a candle to the guys they replaced and Noll was trying to cling to his methods and philosophy in a changing league.

 

Interesting point

 

Ben is still better than all but a handful of proven guys, and then you have a couple of guys with huge upsides like Mahomes.

 

Noll was pretty head strong. I remember when Franco went to the Seahawks and a reporter asked Noll about Franco, he said "Franco who; we don't have a guy named Franco" I thought that was a bit harsh.

 

I also believe this to be true. Just last year Ben lead the league in passing yards. He's not like Eli, who has been getting by with name recognition for a few years now.

 

That rad moustache though, the Tom Selleck look was so in then.

 

There were a lot of blunders in those years. While Gabe Rivera could have developed into something special (sadly never known), Dan Marino was playing in their back yard for 4 years. They had Stoudt and Malone, what numbskull made that final decision? I do not know what year they finally changed the scouting department, but even in years with lower first round picks they missed quite a few times. The only decent firsts from the 80's I recall are Lipps and Woodson.

 

from Malone to Mike Tomczac, through Kordell Stewart and Tommy Maddox (and all the experiments in-between), it's not that Malone was worse than what we remember: those years were really much different than what we remember.

Complaining about bad QB play, but still having meaningful games from w13 and beyond?

Come on!! What about complaining about QB play, playing meaningless games from w7 and further. Football season, meaningful football season lasted from September through October....

Yes, those years were worse than what we usually remember.

Here's hoping MR shows something, and we're still playing for something as early as next Sunday.

 

Mark Malone made Walter (Bubby) Brister look like an All Pro.

 

I've said this many times myself.

 

These guys are both from an era of football I don't quite understand. The QB has always been the straw that stirs the drink yet the Steelers tired for way too long to win with guys who were pedestrian. From 1983 with Cliff Stoudt thru 2003 with Tommy Madox was a very befuddling time.

 

As bad as Malone was, he wasn't near as bad as Kent Graham. Few were.

 

O'Donnell was the only one who had any real success during that time, and even though he said before the SB with the Cowboys that he wouldn't leave whether they won or not, he left right after the SB loss.

 

or Jim Miller

 

I'm still trying to figure out the Kent Graham experiment.

Worst part was that he beat out Kordell to be the starter. How do you ever get over that if you're Kordell?

How did Graham even get hired? He was maybe the worst I've ever seen.

Freakin bleached blonde Frankenstein!