Who the hell were our scouts???

[SteelerFan87]

This topic was brought up recently in a tread, and I thought I'd do a little bit of research on it since it happened before I was born. I think this is the definition of . 1983 draft. The year Dan Marino was drafted. Steelers, with the 21st pick, choose Gabriel Rivera. (GABRIEL RIVERA????) Try as I might, I could not find ANYTHING about his NFL career, other than the fact that he was drafted in 83 by the Steelers with the 21st pick. 27th pick? Dan ****ing Marino. Way to go Steelers scouts!

[DIESELMAN]

1983 Draft:

Draft# Team Player Pos College

1 Baltimore Colts John Elway QB Stanford
2 Los Angeles Rams Eric Dickerson RB SMU
3 Seattle Seahawks Curt Warner RB Penn State
4 Denver Broncos Chris Hinton G Northwestern
5 San Diego Chargers Billy Ray Smith, Jr. LB Arkansas
6 Chicago Bears Jim Covert T Pittsburgh
7 Kansas City Chiefs Todd Blackledge QB Penn State
8 Philadelphia Eagles Michael Haddix RB Mississippi State
9 Houston Oilers Bruce Matthews T USC
10 New York Giants Terry Kinard DB Clemson
11 Green Bay Packers Tim Lewis DB Pittsburgh
12 Buffalo Bills Tony Hunter TE Notre Dame
13 Detroit Lions James Jones RB Florida
14 Buffalo Bills Jim Kelly QB Miami
15 New England Patriots Tony Eason QB Illinois
16 Atlanta Falcons Mike Pitts DE Alabama
17 St. Louis Rams Leonard Smith DB McNeese State
18 Chicago Bears Willie Gault WR Tennessee
19 Minnesota Vikings Joey Browner DB USC
20 San Diego Chargers Gary Anderson WR/RB Arkansas
21 Pittsburgh Steelers Gabriel Rivera DT Texas Tech
22 San Diego Chargers Gill Byrd DB Southern Mississippi
23 Dallas Cowboys Jim Jeffcoat DE Arizona State
24 New York Jets Ken O'Brien QB Cal-Davis
25 Cincinnati Bengals Dave Rimington C Nebraska
26 Los Angeles Raiders Don Mosebar T USC
27 Miami Dolphins Dan Marino QB Pittsburgh
28 Washington Redskins Darrell Green DB Texas A&I

There are 4 HOFers out of that draft class. The only thing I could find was he was tied for 6th in sacks at Texas Tech.

[Ambridge]

The reason Dan Marino fell so far in the '83 draft was that he supposedly got a bad reputation at the Univ. of Pittsburgh for being a "Party Animal" (alcohol and cocaine abuse) sometime between his junior and senior seasons.
His stock flew south faster than migrating geese when those rumors got around to officials and scouts with NFL teams.

Gabe Rivera-aka Senor Sack had a pretty impressive rookie season but that all ended when he crashed his vehicle in Pittsburgh and was catapulted through the rear window of his own car window and ended up being peramanently paralyzed(paraplegic) if I'm not mistaken.

[SteelersfaninPhilly]

Rivera, a 1979 graduate of Jefferson, was a first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers. An automobile accident ended his career during his rookie season in 1983. That is all I could find.

[BlitzburghRockCity]

Man when you look back see what could have been it's just amazing how we were THAT close to getting a HOF QB.

I wonder how things would have changed had Dan been brought to Pittsburgh...

[SteelerSal]

Here is an article about Rivera shortly after Ben's motorcycle accident.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_457932.html

[BlackGold4vr]

I am not saying that it was not a bad pick, but Rivera was a pretty good ball player in his own right. He was only a rookie when he ended his career in a car accident.

With the Pittsburgh Steelers now having to worry about the future of their franchise, the team has had previous draft picks they've had to worry about when it comes to the future of their career. Gabe Rivera was the Steelers' first round draft pick in the 1983 NFL Draft. One reason Rivera is remembered is based on the fact that the Steelers' had an opportunity to select Dan Marino at the time, yet the team went ahead with the decision of selecting Rivera. Another reason that Rivera is still remembered today is for the tragic accident that Rivera was involved in during his rookie season. The defensive lineman wrecked his sports car midway through his rookie season, resulting in Rivera being paralyzed. Since the accident has occurred, Rivera has still yet to walk.

[BlacknGold Bleeder]

Marino at the time was supposed to have a cocaine problem, his last season at Pitt was not as good as his others. Riveria never had the chance to show his potential because of his accident. Besides there were 25 other teams that chose not to go with Marino,that should tell ya something.

If you really want to lament QB choices we cut Johnny Unitas, that is even worse than Marino. We had him then cut him, that's worse then a possible pick.