Nick Cammett/Getty Images Quarterback Kenny Pickett of the Pittsburgh Steelers warms up prior to a game against the Cleveland Browns on September 22, 2022.
Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw doesn’t have much of a relationship with recently-retired Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger. But he has nothing but warm wishes for the team’s current starting quarterback, Kenny Pickett.
In a recent Facebook post, Bradshaw uploaded a photo of himself embracing Pittsburgh’s second-year signal-caller and captioned the pic: “Got to love this guy!! Kenny Pickett, here’s to your great future with the Steelers.”
Mike Tomlin: Kenny Pickett is ‘Our QB1’
Indeed, Steelers fans are hoping that the 2022 1st-round pick has a great future with the team, as his rookie year offered cause for concern, as well as optimism.
Pickett started last season as the backup behind Mitch Trubisky, but supplanted the former No. 2 overall pick midway through the team’s Week 4 loss to the Jets, setting both a passing and rushing record during his regular-season debut. He went on to win just two of his first six starts and after seven appearances had a lowly, Duck Hodges-territory 71.8 passer rating, having thrown just three touchdown passes and eight interceptions in 195 passing attempts. At that point his touchdown percentage of barely 1% attracted the attention of arguably the biggest “bust” in NFL history, with former No. 2 overall pick Ryan Leaf tweeting out a welcome to his “low membership” quarterback club.
But Pickett — who turns 25 on June 6, 2023 — improved steadily after that and finished his rookie season with a 7-5 record, completing 245 of 389 passes for 2,404 yards with 7 touchdowns and 9 interceptions, raising his passer rating to 76.7, as per Pro Football Reference.
Along the way, a nationally televised victory over the Colts led to public praise from former Browns All-Pro Joe Thomas. And game-winning touchdown passes in the last minute of games against the Ravens and Raiders gave Steelers fans comfort, as did late-season praise that came from Ben Roethlisberger.
For his part, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has refused to label Pickett as the organization’s so-called franchise quarterback, and instead refers to him as “our QB1.” Meanwhile, it appears Trubisky is set to return as his backup in 2023, despite the fact that he currently carries the 6th-highest cap hit on the team.
Terry Bradshaw Has Likened Kenny Pickett to Billy Kilmer
As for Bradshaw, he has described Pickett as a “perfect match” for the Steelers’ organization.
“Is he a super A talent? No. But he is an upper echelon B,” said Bradshaw during a Nov. 2022 interview with Colin Cowherd. He went on to compare Pickett to a quarterback he played against in the 1970s — namely, former 49ers, Saints and Redskins quarterback Billy Kilmer, who was viewed as a great competitor but lacked the arm strength of the elite quarterbacks of his day.
Bradshaw, 74, has been battling both bladder and skin cancer in the past year, but is expected to remain part of the FOX NFL Sunday crew for a 29th consecutive year in 2023, despite obvious on-air health struggles.
He has also repeatedly come under fire in the past year for his on-camera work. For example, he was roasted for “ruining” the Eagles’ NFC Championship celebration in Jan. 2023, and for his treatment of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid during Kansas City’s Super Bowl trophy celebration the following month. Viewers also called for him to be fired in the wake of a particularly cringeworthy suicide comment made during a Fox NFL Sunday broadcast on Nov. 6, 2022.