‘Fairly Excessive Bar:’ Analyst Believes Aaron Rodgers Will not Be As Profitable With Steelers As Tommy Maddox Was

When fans think about Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks, names like Ben Roethlisberger and Terry Bradshaw are probably the first that come to mind. Today, Aaron Rodgers is carrying on that legacy, wearing number eight for the Steelers. While that number doesn’t have the legacy of seven or 12 in Pittsburgh, Tommy Maddox had some success under center wearing eight for the Steelers. Analyst Gregg Rosenthal defended Maddox’s legacy with the Steelers, believing that Rodgers won’t be better in Pittsburgh than the quarterback who preceded Roethlisberger.

“I think that’s a pretty high bar,” Rosenthal said Friday on his NFL Daily podcast. “A higher bar than most non-Steelers fans would say. Because Steelers fans, I think, would say, ‘Tommy Gun got us into the playoffs and gave us some fun. We had some fun with Tommy Gun.’ Tommy Maddox was putting up 30 points in back-to-back weeks in the playoffs.

“He won Comeback Player of the Year that season. They went 7-3 in his starts in the regular season, taking over for Kordell Stewart. I don’t think Aaron Rodgers is gonna reach those heights. Thirty points in back-to-back playoff games is a real thing. He was playing at a high level.”

Maddox didn’t have a long stint with the Steelers, playing for them from 2001-05. His time as their starter was even shorter. Maddox replaced Stewart in 2002, leading Pittsburgh on a fantastic run. However, the following season saw his play drop off, with the Steelers going 6-10. While he was their starter to begin the 2004 season, he got injured, with Roethlisberger taking the starting spot.

The rest is history. Maddox’s time in Pittsburgh burned brightly, but it was short. Despite that, he made the most of it.

Maddox led the Steelers on one of the most amazing playoff comebacks in NFL history in 2002. Down 17 points to the Cleveland Browns in the third quarter, Maddox helped the Steelers put up 22 points in the fourth quarter on their way to a 36-33 win.

It was an incredible performance, followed up by a valiant effort against the Tennessee Titans in the next round of the playoffs. The Steelers lost that game 34-31 in overtime. Maddox gave Pittsburgh a lot to cheer for that year.

If the Steelers get that kind of productivity out of Rodgers, they’ll probably be thrilled. They haven’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season, so changing that could give Rodgers a chance to pass in Maddox in Steelers’ history, although that comeback against the Browns means a lot.

However, it might be a reach to say that Rodgers won’t be as good as Maddox was. In 2002, Maddox’s stat-line wasn’t exactly elite. He threw for 2,836 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions. Today, that kind of production would likely result in a rough season. There’s a good chance that Rodgers will be better statistically than Maddox, but that might not matter much to Steelers fans without a postseason win.