Kordell Stewart Announces Retirement...?

I was never a 'huge' Stewart fan but I supported him while he was here. I do however think he was underutilized. His strength was his ability to run and at first did a pretty good job of keeping defenses on there toes, but I am one of those that feel the team let him down. Not the players but the coaches and front office. To me it seemed like they didn't know how to use him properly. I liked Stewarts ability to escape pressure and make big plays with his feet....on his own. But to me it looked like we tried to design run plays with him and that never seemed to work as well as when he used his instincts to run.

 

kordell got the last laugh................ the steelers have to give him a days pay!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :o :o ............ i wonder how that affects our cap situation??????

 

Enough to cover his bus fare home, I hope...

 

before he came to us he played in and was MVP of that WWE XFL crap

 

I always thought the same about him (the Mike Vick part). He definitely had his moments, bad and good. I always found myself rooting for him for some reason...

 

He was on our team?

 

i'm really suprised he's just now retiring. :o :?

 

I'm sorry, I can't let this pass without a comment...

PRICELESS!!

 

I'm sorry, I can't let this pass without a comment...

PRICELESS!! [/quote:2xgsijih]

 

I always liked Kordell. I could give two sh*ts about his sexual preference. I always believed if Cower had not brought someone in to make him stay in the pocket, he would have had a great Steeler career. Folks would be saying if Mike Vick hadn’t gone to jail he would be almost as good as Kordell.

 

He used to really impress me with some of the throws he made on the run. It didn't help that everytime he started having a connection with a receiver, they let himn go elsewhere by being cheap.

 

Are you really saying Kordell was " underrated and sabotaged"? REALLY? Statements like that make me question your football awareness. Okay, we differ on Timmons coverage abilities to date, that's subjective, but our differences on Kordell is polar opposites.

Kordell was super athletic and would have made a Pro-Bowl WR. He did some things nice behind center but his ability to read defenses sucked. His was super inaccurate and many times I almost shot my tv with my 12 gauge ( I had rage issues back then ) after watching him miss by 5-15 yds his wide open receiver.

When I made my statement which I stand my on Stewarts lousy play at QB I should have included the words franchise QB and excluded back-ups .

Kent Graham was as bad as it gets, he started only 5 games as was Jim Miller who only started one game.

Mike tomczac was also a back-up from chicago who showed glimpses of being a solid QB, we bring him in, a couple years later he ain't what we hoped for and then we draft Kordell.

Bubby Brister is the only one mentioned I would say was a Franchise QB for a while and should have been listed and he was a better QB than Stewart, though not alot better.

Kordell played here from 95' - 01 and was a starter for 5 years. Underrated? His 5 year stint as starter proves otherwise ( as does his failures afterwards ) and your sabotaged statement is unfounded,unsupported and simply put confusing.

TD INT Yds QB Rating yds/att compl % fumbles/lost
Kordell 77 84 14746 70.7 6.25 55.8% 44 20
Brister 81 78 14445 72.3 6.53 57.6% 16 3

Kordell not only had way too many int's but look at the fumbles and how many were lost. For every 4.2 times he attempted a pass he would rush like a RB.
No-body is jumping up and down praising Brister's skills and he was better than stewart. He was Cowhers boy and would have been gone sooner if not for cowhers committment to him which was very questionable. Brister was under Noll who was infamous for not being a QB guru passing offense type of guy.

Tommy Maddox- and his Tommy gun offense? Well, he moved the ball abd controlled the offense better than Kordell but once we pulled the trigger on Ben it spelled the end for him.

I'd take Tommy and Bubby over Kordell in a second.

Cajun-

 

In 97' we barely beat the patsies in a div playoff rd 7-6 and then lost to Denver 24-21 in the AFC Championship game. Stewart went 18-36 ( 50% ) but also threw 3INTs. That's why he got the blame,sucky play, not failure to lead a comeback.

We then did not make the playoffs again until 01' ( big playoff drought under Kordells reign ) where we lost the AFC Championship game to the Patsies 24-17 and Kordell went 24-42 for 255yds and once again threw 3 INTs. You cannot turn the ball over this much in Championship games or you'll loose, Period. We had Great defenses during that span and a solid running game. If only Kordell could have protected the ball, or even played avg QB Level.

Cajun-

 

Huh? Worst QB we've had in 35 years? You obviously haven't been watching Steelers football for too long if you actually believe that one. When some as yourself try to claim that Kordell is one of the worst QB's ever, that is simply a myth. The guy clearly was the best QB between the Bradshaw and Ben years. The guy made it to a probowl in 2001,was a runner up in 97, took us to two AFC championships in 97 and 01, named team MVP, runner up for league MVP, what other QB even came close to doing that during those years as a starting QB? Thats not even close to being one of worst QB's in 35 years, let alone the worst. You're also forgetting that our entire team played horrible from 98-00 due to numerous FA losses, injuries, multiple coaching changes etc. You can't pin that solely on the QB.

So, lets see, during his 5 year career as a starter, after having an amazing season in 97, leading his team to the AFC championship, he loses his OC, Chan Gailey, star WR Thigpen and half of his starting O-line to FA and injuries. He loses another WR, Charles Johnson to FA, leaving the most horrible WR corp I've ever seen with Courtney Hawkins being the Steelers star WR? Then, not to mention that the Steelers went through 4 different OC's in 5 years, Gailey, Sherman, Gilbride and Mularkey. Its shocking that Kordell had the success that he did after experiencing all of that. Name me one other QB in history that ever had to deal with all of that?

 

I Googled and couldn't find it, but there was a time when a "One Day Contract" would screw up your cap. It counted against the cap and if you were tight, you would have to cut someone to do it. To allow people who moved around, the NFL now allows these "One Day" contracts and they don't count. I didn't try hard, but I couldn't find out when it changed, but I do remember it. I also remember round black and white TVs.

 

First of all, try again in your reading.

Second of all, in that 2001 NE 24-17 loss, two of the INTs were late in the 4th trying to come back, I think in the final 2:30 or so. He was forcing the ball because he was desperate. He never was a spread offense come from behind QB. There were far fewer of those guys back then, in that game, than there are now, in this game. He was a read 1, read 2, take off and run QB. Scrambling was half his passing game. But forget all that. It doesn't matter. It's off topic. Why was he trying to come back? We gave up 17 points on special teams. A punt return for a TD and a blocked field goal returned for a TD (you could argue we only gave up 14 ST points; 17 if the FG would have been good, 14 if he would have missed anyway -- it was a 33 yarder so I'd say there's a 90%+ chance he would have made it).

I've accused you in the past of making outlandish statements you know are wrong in order to get attention (not that you like attention -- what's your name again? There's no place on the screen that states it clearly). The reason I came to that conclusion is because the alternative is that you're one of the stupidest people alive, and I think the odds of me coming across the stupidest person alive in a world of so many billions are just too slim.

This is just another of those statements. Calling him our worst QB in 35 years is indefensible. There is no case. It's over. This thing never sees a grand jury. Not only was he not the worst, he wasn't even bad. He was good. Even if you don't agree that it was the system or his coaches or the revolving playbook (how'd Alex Smith do with all those OCs?) and don't agree that he was good, you're calling a multiple Pro Bowler and team MVP the worst in 35 years. Because... he didn't win a Super Bowl? Because he only got us to two championship games? It was really all the defense and running game that got us there? If only Graham would have been in we'd have done better? You don't have a leg to stand on. You're the exact problem with this fan base. In the 2001 AFCCG, we did have a good defense. Both teams had a good defense, and Kordell's offense put up 10 more points than Brady/Bledsoe's offense. Pittsburgh's put up 17 (20) and New England's put up 10. And yet we lose by 7 thanks to a punt return and blocked field goal return. But what do you say? Why did we lose that game? I believe your words were, "If only Kordell could have protected the ball, or even played avg QB Level." IF ONLY Kordell... Kordell?? Yeah, that's the "if only" that comes to my mind.

Kordell Stewart was the worst QB our team had in 35 years. Fans that talk like Cajunyankee are ignorant and pathetic and do more harm than good... I wonder which of those statements is more true.

Oh, and I will work on my football awareness. Gay for MVP!

 

Its nice to know that others besides myself understand this, thanks! We were extremely decimated by free agency on both sides of the ball during the late 90's. In fact, in the 33 years since I've been a Steelers fan and started following NFL football, I can never remember a team that had as many free agent losses and coaching changes as we did during that time.

 

Cook hits the nail on the head with this article from the Post Gazette:

Seven years later, Kordell retires a Steeler
Cook: A curious choice, but for Stewart the right one

June 1, 2012
By Ron Cook / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Maybe Bill Romanowski had it right all of those years ago. It was late in the AFC championship game after the 1997 NFL season when Romanowski, a linebacker with the Denver Broncos, jumped in the face of Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart after Stewart threw his third interception of the day. The Broncos were headed to Super Bowl XXXII, thanks to their 24-21 win at Three Rivers Stadium, and Romanowski felt the need to rub it in.

He mocked Stewart by tapping the side of his own helmet.

"I was just telling Kordell he isn't the smartest guy in the world," Romanowski said after the game.

It was a low-class move by a low-class player. Where was Jack Lambert when Stewart needed him? It would have been nice to see someone on the Steelers have Stewart's back and slam Romanowski down.

But maybe Romanowski was right.

Certainly, Stewart didn't show much intelligence this week when he came back to Pittsburgh to retire as a Steeler. It wasn't just bizarre. It was absurd. Stewart threw his last pass for the Steelers in 2002. He played in his last NFL game with the Baltimore Ravens in 2005.

And Stewart comes back now to announce his retirement?

Here?

How smart was that?

Stewart had to know people would look back on his career. He was one of this city's most vilified sports figures. It was so bad at times that it was embarrassing to the Steelers and to Steelers Nation.

The beer that was thrown on Stewart's head at Three Rivers Stadium. The racial slurs. The non-stop insults and innuendoes on the talk shows and the Internet. The death threats.

Many of those same people were back at it again this week, attacking Stewart anew.

Speaking of low class ...

A lot of Steelers fans should be ashamed of themselves.

Stewart did more for Pittsburgh than Pittsburgh ever did for him. He was the Steelers' best quarterback between four-time Super Bowl winner Terry Bradshaw and two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger.

He also is a much better man than his gutless, anonymous critics who came -- and are still coming -- after him personally. He never once lowered himself to fight back, never once got into a hissing contest with the snakes.

I admire Stewart more as a man than as a quarterback. And he was a pretty fair quarterback.

A lot of people forget Stewart led the Steelers to two AFC championship games. In several NFL cities, they would want to build a statue of the man. So many people talk only about the three interceptions he threw in that loss to the Broncos and the three others he threw in a 24-17 loss to the New England Patriots after the 2001 season. Too few fail to mention the many plays he made to get the team that far. He was a Pro Bowl player and the team's MVP when the Steelers went 13-3 in '01.

Stewart once predicted he would make the Hall of Fame. He fell considerably short, but he was better than everyone on this list: Cliff Stoudt, Mark Malone, David Woodley, Scott Campbell, Bubby Brister, Steve Bono, Todd Blackledge, Neil O'Donnell, Mike Tomczak, Jim Miller, Kent Graham and Tommy Maddox. They are the other Steelers quarterbacks who followed Bradshaw and preceded Roethlisberger.

Who knows how much better Stewart would have been with more stable coaching? It's not just that he played for five offensive coordinators during his eight seasons with the Steelers: Ron Erhardt, Chan Gailey, Ray Sherman, Kevin Gilbride and Mike Mularkey. None of the coaches seemed to know how best to use him. He was a multitalented quarterback long before the world heard of Tim Tebow. But he was about 10 times better than Tebow.

It's still hard to believe that Stewart was benched at various times for Tomczak, Maddox and, especially, Graham. He was benched pretty much for good in the third game of the 2002 season. Imagine that. Pro Bowl in '01. Benched early in '02. Released before the '03 season.

That's some fast fall.

It would have been nice if Stewart had taken a bit more blame after losses. That couldn't have hurt his popularity. Too often, he would say, "It's not just me out there." Of course, he was right, but no one wants to hear that from the quarterback. Roethlisberger gets it. He's always the first to say after every loss, "Put the blame on me." No one is going to question his intelligence.

But, as far as I can remember, Stewart never lashed out publicly about his treatment from the Steelers. He also never took on the alleged fans who made him the target of their hateful rumors about his personal life. He again dismissed all of it this week -- even the frightening death threats -- as a part of the "high expectations" that people have for all Steelers quarterbacks.

Stewart is a bigger man than me.

I would have said the hell with Pittsburgh.

I wouldn't have come back.

 

When Stewart was our starting QB, he was my favorite player. He was exciting and had potential. Cowher, front office, mulitple OCs, injuries, et al are more responsible for the 98-2000 fade. One could argue that they didn't fit the playbook to his skill set, to some extent that absolutely should happen, for all players. Figure out what they do best, and do some of that. Then again, running QB's wasn't desirable. McNabb didn't want to be known as a running QB. Exactly how many superbowls have running QB's won? Then again, Peyton Manning has only 1 ring. So I have to agree with the previous comments that share the blame versus putting it all on one mans shoulders.

In reality, this news should strengthen the Steelers fan base. How many teams have players wanting to be known as their player? Perhaps because I don't follow the other teams as closely, and this really isn't big news outside of Pittsburgh, maybe we just don't hear of it. But I happen to believe that this happens because the Pittsburgh Steelers are special. People want to be associated with them.

One more point, O'donnell left a bad taste in everybody's mouth, so that may be why he was overlooked. But if Kordell's 2 AFCC games are the reason he's the best between Terry and Ben, than where do O'donnell's 2 AFCC games, having won 1, put him? Right now, ranking QB's in Steelers history would have to be: TB, BR, NO, KS, after that, who cares.

 

Cheers for the article, JD99 - just about says it all for me too.