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More so than any other position in football, and perhaps in all of sports, quarterbacks are judged by how much they win, in particular how many Super Bowl titles they have. When you think of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, be it Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, etc., one thing they all have in common is at least one Super Bowl ring. Back in the 1970s, when the NFL-AFL merger had only recently happened and the Super Bowl was still in its infancy, two of the dominant teams of that era were the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys, both of whom were led by Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach. Thinking back on their careers and how each quarterback led their respective team to multiple Super Bowl victories (as contemporaries and rivals, they even faced each other twice in the Super Bowl), the question is:
Who was better – Terry Bradshaw or Roger Staubach?
The Beginning
Despite sterling college careers, and in Bradshaw’s case, being a number one overall draft pick, NFL success came slowly to both Bradshaw and Staubach for various reasons (ineffectiveness, injury, other commitments, etc.); in fact, in Staubach’s case, he did not become a full-time starting quarterback until nearly the age of 30.
Following a stellar high school career, Bradshaw attended Louisiana Tech University to play college football – after sitting behind Phil “Roxie” Robertson, later of “Duck Dynasty” fame, Bradshaw led the nation in yardage as a junior and steered his team to a 9-2 record and a Rice Bowl victory. The next year, as a senior, he was third in the nation in yardage and led Louisiana Tech to an 8-2 record, while setting career school passing records. As a result of his play, Bradshaw was selected with the first overall pick in the 1970 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. As a rookie, he would struggle, splitting time with incumbent quarterback Terry Hanratty, and only completing 38.1% of his passes with a horrific 6 touchdown to 24 interception ratio. In 1971, Bradshaw became the full-time Steelers starter at quarterback and led them to a 5-8 record; his production was still modest, however, as he threw for 2,259 yards on 54.4% passing with 13 touchdowns vs. 22 interceptions for a 59.7 QB rating.
Staubach’s road to the NFL would be more winding and complicated. Joining the US Naval Academy in 1961, he became a starter as a sophomore and in his junior year, would win the Heisman Trophy (the last player from a service academy to win the award), the Maxwell Award, and the Walter Camp Trophy while leading the Midshipmen to a 9-1 record and a number two ranking in the country, though they would then lose to number one Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Despite an injury-riddled senior year that limited his playing time, Staubach will nevertheless go down as one of the greatest athletes in Navy history (right up there with the likes of David Robinson). Though he was drafted in the 10th round of the 1964 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys and also, in the 16th round of the 1964 AFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, Staubach would serve in the Navy after graduation, first in Vietnam and then back at home.
The football itch never left Staubach, however, as he participated in Cowboys training camp in 1968 and later resigned his Navy commission to pursue a professional football career. At the ripe old age of 27, he would finally join the Cowboys, though spent his first couple of seasons as backup to veteran quarterback Craig Morton. In 1971, Staubach began the season alternating starts with Morton, but became the full-time starter midway through the season and never looked back – that year, he put up 1,882 yards on 59.7% passing with 15 touchdowns vs. only 4 interceptions, which resulted in a league-best and career-high 104.8 QB rating; moreover, he had a perfect 10-0 record as a starter, leading to Pro Bowl and Second Team All-Pro honors.
Career Comparison
Though the road to stardom was long and arduous for both players, once they hit their stride, Bradshaw and Staubach became two of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL and perhaps more importantly, helped guide their respective teams, the Steelers and the Cowboys, to unprecedented success during the 1970s.
Throughout his first few seasons in the NFL, Bradshaw was relatively mediocre, often completing less than 50% of his passes and throwing more interceptions than touchdowns, which at one point resulted in him being temporarily benched for Joe Gilliam in 1974. However, by the mid-1970s, Bradshaw would hit his stride, putting up his first Pro Bowl season in 1975 with 2,055 yards on 57.7% passing, 18 touchdowns, and only 9 interceptions (good for an 88.0 QB rating), while leading the Steelers to a 12-2 record. His best season would come in 1978, when he threw for 2,915 yards on 56.3% passing with a league-leading 28 touchdowns vs. 20 interceptions for an 84.7 QB rating, and guided Pittsburgh to a 14-2 record; that year, Bradshaw was once again a Pro Bowler, was named First Team All-Pro for the only time in his career, and was the league MVP.
The next year, in 1979, Bradshaw was named to the Pro Bowl once again, as he threw for a career-high 3,724 yards on 59.4% passing with 26 touchdowns, 25 interceptions, and a 77.0 QB rating with a 12-4 record as starting quarterback. After two more 20+ touchdown seasons, Bradshaw’s last full year was the strike-shortened 1982 season in which Pittsburgh went 6-3: once again, he led the NFL in touchdowns, throwing for 1,768 yards on 52.9% passing with 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, good for an 81.4 QB rating. After elbow surgery in the offseason, Bradshaw only played in one game in 1983, with his last career pass being a touchdown, before retiring at the age of 35.
Following his stellar 1971 season, Staubach missed most of 1972 due to injury; however, he would come back strong in 1973, as he threw for 2,428 yards on a career-high 62.6% passing, led the NFL with 23 touchdowns, tossed 15 interceptions, again paced the NFL with a 94.6 QB rating, and steered the Cowboys to a 10-4 record, though did not receive any notable honors or awards. On the back of a relatively ineffective 1974 season that saw him throw more interceptions than touchdowns, Staubach would close out his career with five straight Pro Bowl seasons from 1975 to 1979 – in each of these seasons, he would complete at least 55% of his passes for 2,500+ yards and throw more touchdowns than interceptions. Moreover, Staubach twice led the league again in QB rating and perhaps most importantly, quarterbacked the Cowboys to an impressive 54-18 record (75.0% win percentage) as a starter during that span. Ultimately, his last season was arguably his best one statistically – in 1979, Staubach threw for a career-high 3,586 yards on 57.9% passing with a career-high 27 touchdowns vs. 11 interceptions, again leading the NFL with a 92.3 QB rating and compiling an 11-5 record; however, due to concussions, he was forced to retire after the season at age 37.
Due to Staubach’s Navy service commitment, Bradshaw had the longer overall career and that is reflected in his greater accumulation numbers, as well as more 20+ touchdown seasons (4 vs. 3); however, Staubach was arguably the more effective regular season quarterback, with better accuracy, a higher touchdown vs. interception ratio, and a higher QB rating, and actually had the same number of 3,000-yard passing seasons (2x each). Moreover, on a per-game view, Staubach compares favorably to Bradshaw: 173 passing yards, 1.17 touchdowns, and 0.83 interceptions in 131 regular season games for Staubach vs. 167 passing yards, 1.26 touchdowns, and 1.25 interceptions in 168 regular season games for Bradshaw. Interestingly, from an awards and accolades perspective, in his fewer seasons, Staubach actually has more Pro Bowl nods (6 to 3) and the same number of All-Pro and Bert Bell honors (1x each), though Bradshaw did win the MVP once. Perhaps, most importantly for a quarterback, both Bradshaw (67.6%) and Staubach (74.6%) were known for being clutch performers that each won more than ⅔ of the regular season games they started. Not surprisingly, both quarterbacks were immediately enshrined in Canton when their time came, Staubach in 1985 and Bradshaw in 1989.
Regular Season Statistics
| Terry Bradshaw | Player | Roger Staubach |
| 14 (1970-1983) | Seasons | 11 (1969-1979) |
| 168 | Games Played | 131 |
| 2,025 | Completions | 1,685 |
| 3,901 | Attempts | 2,958 |
| 27,989 | Passing Yards | 22,700 |
| 51.9% | Completion % | 57.0% |
| 212 | Passing Touchdowns | 153 |
| 210 | Interceptions | 109 |
| 70.9 | QB Rating | 83.4 |
| 107-51 (67.7%) | Starting QB Record | 85-29 (74.6%) |
| 3x | Pro Bowls | 6x |
| 1x | All-Pro | – |
| 1x | MVP | – |
| 4x | Super Bowls | 2x |
| 2x Super Bowl MVP, 1x Bert Bell | Other Awards | 1x Super Bowl MVP, 1x Bert Bell |
| 1989 | Hall of Fame Induction | 1985 |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
As impressive as their regular season accomplishments were, Bradshaw and Staubach elevated their games when it mattered most – together, the two quarterbacks combined to lead their respective teams to six Super Bowl wins with three Super Bowl MVPs between them during the 1970s.
During his 14-year career, Bradshaw played in nine postseasons with a 14-5 overall record (73.7% winning percentage) and for many years, remained the standard bearer at quarterback with four Super Bowl wins (and no losses) in the 1970s (which has since been surpassed by Tom Brady). The first victory came in Super Bowl IX in 1975, when the Steelers handled the Minnesota Vikings 16-6, though Bradshaw only completed 9 of 14 passes for 96 yards with a touchdown. The next two wins would be in Super Bowl X (a back-to-back win) and Super Bowl XIII, both against Roger Staubach and the Dallas Cowboys, and included a Super Bowl MVP award – more about those shortly. In his final Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XIV in 1980, Bradshaw led the Steelers to 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to beat the Los Angeles Rams 31-19 and once again earned Super Bowl MVP on the strength of 14 of 21 passing for 309 yards and 2 touchdowns, albeit with 3 interceptions.
Similarly, Staubach appeared in the postseason in 10 of his 11 seasons (and actually played in one more playoff game than Bradshaw) with an 11-6 record as starter (64.7% winning percentage), coming away with two Super Bowl rings. In Super Bowl VI in 1972, he completed 12 of 19 passes for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns to earn MVP honors in easily leading the Cowboys past the Miami Dolphins 24-3 (though Miami would go on to win the next two Super Bowls). Then, in Super Bowl XII in 1978, Staubach led Dallas past old teammate Craig Morton and the Denver Broncos 27-10, throwing for 183 yards on 17 of 25 passing with 1 touchdown.
As mentioned, Bradshaw and Staubach are best remembered for their two head-to-head showdowns in the Super Bowl. First, in Super Bowl X in 1976, the Steelers would come back from being down 10-7 in the fourth quarter to beat the Cowboys 21-17; in that game, Bradshaw was 9 of 19 for 209 yards and 2 touchdowns, while his counterpart Staubach completed 15 of 24 passes for 204 yards and also 2 touchdowns, though had 3 interceptions. Three years later, the two teams would meet again in Super Bowl XIII, with both teams vying to become the first team in history with three Super Bowl wins. This was an exciting back-and-forth game and up to that point, the highest scoring Super Bowl ever, with Pittsburgh ultimately prevailing by a 35-31 score. Both quarterbacks were impressive: Bradshaw was 17 of 30 for 318 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception to win Super Bowl MVP honors, while Staubach nearly matched him throw for throw, also completing 17 of 30 passes for 3 touchdowns and 1 interception in another losing effort.
Playoff Statistics
| Terry Bradshaw | Player | Roger Staubach |
| 19 | Games Played | 20 |
| 261 | Completions | 224 |
| 456 | Attempts | 410 |
| 3,833 | Passing Yards | 2,817 |
| 57.2% | Completion % | 54.6% |
| 30 | Passing Touchdowns | 24 |
| 26 | Interceptions | 19 |
| 83.0 | QB Rating | 76.4 |
| 14-5 (73.7%) | Starting QB Record | 11-6 (64.7%) |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; based on their career trajectories that included injuries and ineffectiveness, both Bradshaw and Staubach certainly fit this narrative. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams, of which Bradshaw and Staubach are both on for the 1970s as the First Team and Second Team quarterbacks, respectively), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Terry Bradshaw | Player | Roger Staubach |
| 1972-1973, 1975-1982 | Decade of Dominance | 1969-1971, 1973-1979 |
| 132 | Games Played | 127 |
| 1,667 | Completions | 1,676 |
| 3,154 | Attempts | 2,938 |
| 23,458 | Passing Yards | 22,602 |
| 52.9% | Completion % | 57.0% |
| 184 | Passing Touchdowns | 153 |
| 156 | Interceptions | 107 |
| 76.0 | QB Rating | 83.9 |
| 93-36 (72.1%) | Starting QB Record | 85-29 (74.6%) |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
When looking at their decades of dominance, Staubach’s numbers are essentially the same as his overall career stats (given his entire NFL career spanned 11 seasons), but Bradshaw’s stats look much better after you strip out his early career struggles. While the gap narrows significantly in most major categories, the same general trends hold. What stands out the most is their sterling win-loss records as starting quarterbacks – both Bradshaw and Staubach had 70%+ winning percentages as starters.
My Thoughts
When you look at the careers of Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach, the first thing you have to do is focus less on the numbers and more on the accomplishments. Back in the 1970s, defensive rules were much less stringent (i.e. defensive players could be much more physical with offensive players than is allowed today), and thus, it was much more difficult to complete passes (today, Drew Brees consistently has completion percentages of 70%+); in fact, if you looked just at Bradshaw’s numbers, you would think he was a mediocre quarterback at best, with almost a 1:1 career touchdown:interception ratio. However, I think the NFL All-Decade Teams got it right by naming Bradshaw the First Team quarterback. Yes, Staubach had better overall stats and was more consistent from year to year, but winning is the ultimate measure of a great quarterback and with his four Super Bowl wins (aided of course by a Hall of Fame running back in Franco Harris, two Hall of Fame wide receivers in Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, and the famous Steel Curtain defense) and 2-0 head-to-head matchup against Staubach in Super Bowls, Bradshaw was the ultimate winner at quarterback, at least until Tom Brady came along.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Terry Bradshaw
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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