A look back at the 1983 NFL draft, which would go down as the greatest in NFL history. Follow BLITZ Instagram: / blitz Imagery supplied by Getty Images
There was also some who also had great careers in the 1983 nfl draft like Roger Craig, Henry Ellard, Gary Anderson, Darryl Talley(Jim Kelly teammate), and Curt Warner.
Eric Dickerson, Richard Dent, Charles Mann, Wes Hopkins, Leonard Marshall, Johnny Hector, Dave Duerson, Mark Clayton, Tim Krumrie, Karl Mecklenberg, and Anthony Carter were all drafted that year. Carter was drafted by Miami then traded to Minnesota. Imagine how Marino's career would have turned out had Miami held onto him.
Darrell Green is such a beast. Starting cornerback at 42. Still fastest man on the team when he was over 40. (Deion Sanders and Champ Bailey were on that team. ) 83 was a great year for me. Green is drafted, Redskins win superbowl and Orioles win World series.
The joke of the time was that by going to the NFL Dickerson had to take a pay cut. To understand the joke watch the ESPN 30 for 30 Pony Excess. It's about SMU violating every NCAA rule imaginable. His teammate Craig James also was drafted here. Went to the Super Bowl with the Patriots along with Tony Eason.
For what it’s worth, the 1983 draft doesn’t have the most HOFers of any draft in NFL history. The 1964 draft had 10, although that draft was a little bit top heavy, as it was nowhere near as deep as the 1983 draft. However, 1957 had 9 HOFers and was just as deep, with a ton of great players aside from just the ones with busts in Canton. And while we’re not far enough into the future to be able to determine how many HOFers they’ll have, I imagine 2011 will have a considerable amount as well
As great as this draft is, it's also arguably a jumping the shark moment for the Steelers. Bradshaw was getting long in the tooth and still recovering from elbow surgery at the time of the draft so they were going to need a young QB soon and they had a golden opportunity to draft the already local legend Dan Marino who'd literally been playing football in Pittsburgh his whole life. Instead Noll wanted to bolster the defense and went with Gabe Rivera. How good Rivera might've been we'll never know because he ended up paralyzed in a drunk driving accident shortly into his rookie year. Meanwhile Bradshaw played one game that season before calling it a career. The Steelers would never win more than 9 games in a season under Noll again and they would be stuck in a two decade search for a franchise QB, never mind a QB of Marino's caliber.
It wasn't just the Steelers that jumped the shark that year. The Dallas Cowboys had the opportunity to pick Marino or Ken O'Brien as their next QB and either one of them could have helped slow or even prevent the slide into losing records that Dallas experienced after 1985. Relying on the likes of Gary Hogeboom and Steve Pelleur after Danny White broke his throwing wrist sealed the fate of the team and brought an ignominious end to Coach Landry's legendary career. It's ironic that the two greatest teams of the 1970s both passed on the player that could have saved them from so much misery down the road.
@@ashleighelizabeth5916 Personally I would've said them getting leapfrogged in the 85 draft by Bill Walsh to get Jerry Rice was where it really went wrong for them. The Cowboys at least tried to get a QB in 83 and there's probably a universe out there where Elway gets traded to the Cowboys
@@bigbearkat2010 yeah that one didn't help either, especially with the terrible luck that Mike Sherrard had with injuries when he was with Dallas. But if they get Jerry and Sherrard stays healthy then it's a sure bet that they don't end up drafting Michael Irvin in 1988. So I don't think that loss hurt them nearly as bad as striking out on a replacement for Danny White until they finally got Aikman in 89. A QB can't win a Super Bowl all by himself but if a team has completely garbage players available at that position odds are strong that it's not going anywhere no matter how good the rest of the team is.
83 is the greatest QB draft but 2011 is the greatest overall draft. Theres multiple hall of famers and future hall of famers at every position. Look it up and get back to me. Cam newton lead off the draft and he was a league mvp dont forget 2. Von miller (hof) 3. Marcell Darius 4.AJ Green (hof) 5. Pat pete (hof) 6. Julio Jones (hof) 9. Tyron smith (hof) 11. JJ Watt (hof) 15. Mike pouncey (fringe hof) 24. Cam jordan (hof) 28. Mark Ingram 31. Cam Heyward 64. Randall Cobb 70. Justin Houston 99. KJ Wright (fringe hof) 154. Richard Sherman (hof) 191. Jason Kelce (hof) And these are only the ones that i think you all would know off the top. There are a little over a dozen other pro bowlers
Yeah but stud left tackles don't win Super Bowls or create winning records. What's worse is that Indy traded Hinton away (along with Andre Rison) to draft one of the greatest QB busts of all time in Jeff George.
I may not have been born in 83 but it still makes me sick knowing Pittsburgh skipped over Marino, i understand they still have a defensive mentality and Rivera was starting to come on it makes me think if they could of squeezed in another ring with Marino at the helm.
I was around back then and I feel the same way about Dallas passing on him as well, especially given the disaster that was Gary Hogeboom and Steve Pelleur.
Of the 6 QB's taken in the first round they played in a combined 11 Super Bowls and of those only won 2 and those were Elway's last 2. Sure Elway, Marino, Kelly all had magnificent careers but only 2 titles between them. Marino only went to 1 Super Bowl. I wonder how much better Marino would have done had Miami not traded Anthony Carter.
Roger Craig should definitely be a Hall of Famer. Gary Anderson shouldn't be penalized solely for the 1998 NFC title game miss. Darryl Talley might have a case as well. Come the next one to two decades we'll see how 2011 stacks up as a Hall of Fame legacy.
That's a good question isn't it? He only one Super Bowl ring and he did that against a pretty weak San Diego team. That 49ers team was still loaded and the real championship was decided between them as Dallas for most of the prime of Young's career. Aikman is constantly underrated because of how great those Dallas teams were so how do you rate the guy that Aikman beat 3 out of 4 times to go to the Super Bowl?
Kinda disappointing. I'll admit upfront, I was interested in the QBs more than anything else. O'Brien was briefly mentioned, but Eason & Blackledge? Nothing. And they did have their moments. Again, my fault for wanting 83 QB review instead of 83 draft class.
And Eason led the Patriots to the Super Bowl in 86. I know the result. but they still got there and before Elway. And they beat the Dolphins and Marino on the way.
The Class of 83 produced two qbs who were capable of keeping a team in wild card contention on a yearly basis virtually by themselves. That is extremely rare. And Brady is not on that level. He is great....by TODAY'S standards. Elway and Marino were great...by ANY standards...
Sadly, Patrick Mahomes already has more SB wins than all 3 of the '83 draft class's QBs combined. And if it weren't for Terrell Davis, those '83 draft class QB's would've finished with a combined 0-9 SB record rather than 2-9.
You can't always measure the talent of a player by the team the circumstances that surround them. Dan Fouts was one of the greatest QBs to ever play but he never got to a Super Bowl because he never played for a team that had a decent defense.
So....Bradshaw's rings don't count because he had Franco Harris? Griese's don't because he had....well, the greatest running game in NFL history...Staubach's don't because he had Dorsett...Aikman's don't because he had Smith? Hell, even Joe Namath hardly called a single pass play during the 4th quarter of his Super Bowl win because his running game was going so well...Even the 49ers, with their reputation for passing, almost always were among the league's best running teams.... What are you even SAYING? Most champions are balanced...championship teams rarely have glaring weaknesses...that's why they're champions... The next year, after Elway retired, they started 0-4 WITH Terrell Davis. And after he was no longer available, they continued to be among the league's best running teams for the next several years. They remained among the league's best running teams....but oddly, there were no more Super Bowls...and hardly any playoff success...
@@tgriffin3059 it's all nonsense. If you start making the argument about who is a great QB based only on rings won and nothing else then you are excluding HOFers like Dan Fouts and Fran Tarkenton. And the kind of fans that do that are usually the same guys calling Aikman overrated because he had such a loaded team as well. Here's what I know. If I were building an all time fantasy team I'd have no problem taking any of the HOF QBs from the 83 draft. And if for some reason I wasn't allowed to pick one of them and had to choose a QB from 1983 than both Tony Eason and Ken O'Brien either took their team to the Super Bowl or had multiple Pro Bowl seasons. It's not just the number of HOFers or the number of Rings it's about the fact that so many teams came out of 83 with multi season starting QBs that put up winning multiple winning seasons and that's pretty damn rare.
@@Stephen-to7jx Brady fell into the definitive organization of his era. He was great, by today's standards, but the guys from the Class of 83 played when you could hit the qb almost any way you wished. What's more important, back then you could do anything to their receivers. Trust me, NOBODY completes 75% of their passes when the secondary is actually allowed to PLAY. Guys like Mel Blount and Ronnie Lott would SEE to that personally...
@@shifty1927 Namath was a phenomenal player. I recall Bill Walsh once said that there were some rare qbs who were so far above the others that the normal parameters simply did not apply. He mentioned Elway and Namath as examples. And I think Walsh knew a thing or two about quarterbacks...
That's the Most Jealous Comment Ever . ELWAY IS THE BEST PLAYER IN NFL HISTORY, LIKE IT OR NOT. Let's See, was it Td or ELWAY that the the Adrenalizing HELICOPTER DIVE That Lifted the Broncos Spirits to go ahead and WIN ?!?!?!?
There was also some who also had great careers in the 1983 nfl draft like Roger Craig, Henry Ellard, Gary Anderson, Darryl Talley(Jim Kelly teammate), and Curt Warner.
Damn, I thought you misspelt Kurt Warner for a hot second there aha
The Beats had a great first round, Jimbo Covert who was Marino’s roommate at Pitt, and Willie Gault.
@@jojijoestar7233 same i was like no way he played since 1983
@@jpmnky they got Richard Dent in the 8th round that year too. Dave Duerson as well. The Bears did the best of all of them that year.
Eric Dickerson, Richard Dent, Charles Mann, Wes Hopkins, Leonard Marshall, Johnny Hector, Dave Duerson, Mark Clayton, Tim Krumrie, Karl Mecklenberg, and Anthony Carter were all drafted that year. Carter was drafted by Miami then traded to Minnesota. Imagine how Marino's career would have turned out had Miami held onto him.
Darrell Green is such a beast. Starting cornerback at 42. Still fastest man on the team when he was over 40. (Deion Sanders and Champ Bailey were on that team. ) 83 was a great year for me. Green is drafted, Redskins win superbowl and Orioles win World series.
Darrell Green til this day is my mom's favorite NFL Player of all time. We live in Virginia. Washington is our team.
Funny how next year (1984), we also got the greatest draft in NBA history
1996 is the greatest nba draft
2003 is the greatest nba draft
@@yuviclipzGLAZE
@@tj-nh7ltLEBRON GLAZER🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
@@TheDiesel408How is it glaze?
I don’t blame Elway for not wanting to play for the Colts
Is that why he poached Peyton Manning?
Bro blitz is a top youtuber
So true 😋
I remember watching Marinos first NFL game, it was obvious in that game that he was going to be great.
Can you do a video about where the 19 wide receivers drafted before Stefon Diggs are now
Crazy the first two picks and last two picks of the first round were first ballot HOFers.
Please make a “how good was jamaal Charles actually”
Greatest draft in NFL history.
You not only had the QBs, but also Darrell Green and Eric Dickerson.
Eric Dickerson really didn't disappoint with the Rams 1st Round 2nd overall pick SMU RB 5:00
Dickerson really was the man. Had he not blown out his knee he would have been an all time great.
The joke of the time was that by going to the NFL Dickerson had to take a pay cut. To understand the joke watch the ESPN 30 for 30 Pony Excess. It's about SMU violating every NCAA rule imaginable. His teammate Craig James also was drafted here. Went to the Super Bowl with the Patriots along with Tony Eason.
@@Daniel4KC Would have been? He scored 96 TDs (26th all time).
Of course Bruce Allen gave jim Kelly the insider information. Jon Grudens convos with Bruce Allen were what got him fired from the raiders.😂
I Know I’m not the only one who notice that random floating box on the left hand corner around 7:33 it showed a few times before and after as well
For what it’s worth, the 1983 draft doesn’t have the most HOFers of any draft in NFL history. The 1964 draft had 10, although that draft was a little bit top heavy, as it was nowhere near as deep as the 1983 draft. However, 1957 had 9 HOFers and was just as deep, with a ton of great players aside from just the ones with busts in Canton. And while we’re not far enough into the future to be able to determine how many HOFers they’ll have, I imagine 2011 will have a considerable amount as well
2017 might be in that argument sooner rather than later.🤔
@@zionnewkirk4838 yeah most likely, although 2017 has a bit of the 1964 or 1967 thing where it isnt quite as deep as some of the other great drafts
ELWAY Had the Strongest Arm in NFL History and was the Best NFL PLAYER EVER! Just had his Birthday yesterday on June 28th.
The 2017 NFL draft is looking pretty good too: Patrick Mahomes, Christian McCaffrey, TJ Watt, George Kittle, Myles Garrett, Cooper Kupp, etc.
As great as this draft is, it's also arguably a jumping the shark moment for the Steelers. Bradshaw was getting long in the tooth and still recovering from elbow surgery at the time of the draft so they were going to need a young QB soon and they had a golden opportunity to draft the already local legend Dan Marino who'd literally been playing football in Pittsburgh his whole life. Instead Noll wanted to bolster the defense and went with Gabe Rivera. How good Rivera might've been we'll never know because he ended up paralyzed in a drunk driving accident shortly into his rookie year. Meanwhile Bradshaw played one game that season before calling it a career. The Steelers would never win more than 9 games in a season under Noll again and they would be stuck in a two decade search for a franchise QB, never mind a QB of Marino's caliber.
It wasn't just the Steelers that jumped the shark that year. The Dallas Cowboys had the opportunity to pick Marino or Ken O'Brien as their next QB and either one of them could have helped slow or even prevent the slide into losing records that Dallas experienced after 1985. Relying on the likes of Gary Hogeboom and Steve Pelleur after Danny White broke his throwing wrist sealed the fate of the team and brought an ignominious end to Coach Landry's legendary career. It's ironic that the two greatest teams of the 1970s both passed on the player that could have saved them from so much misery down the road.
@@ashleighelizabeth5916 Personally I would've said them getting leapfrogged in the 85 draft by Bill Walsh to get Jerry Rice was where it really went wrong for them. The Cowboys at least tried to get a QB in 83 and there's probably a universe out there where Elway gets traded to the Cowboys
@@bigbearkat2010 yeah that one didn't help either, especially with the terrible luck that Mike Sherrard had with injuries when he was with Dallas. But if they get Jerry and Sherrard stays healthy then it's a sure bet that they don't end up drafting Michael Irvin in 1988. So I don't think that loss hurt them nearly as bad as striking out on a replacement for Danny White until they finally got Aikman in 89. A QB can't win a Super Bowl all by himself but if a team has completely garbage players available at that position odds are strong that it's not going anywhere no matter how good the rest of the team is.
83 is the greatest QB draft but 2011 is the greatest overall draft. Theres multiple hall of famers and future hall of famers at every position. Look it up and get back to me.
Cam newton lead off the draft and he was a league mvp dont forget
2. Von miller (hof)
3. Marcell Darius
4.AJ Green (hof)
5. Pat pete (hof)
6. Julio Jones (hof)
9. Tyron smith (hof)
11. JJ Watt (hof)
15. Mike pouncey (fringe hof)
24. Cam jordan (hof)
28. Mark Ingram
31. Cam Heyward
64. Randall Cobb
70. Justin Houston
99. KJ Wright (fringe hof)
154. Richard Sherman (hof)
191. Jason Kelce (hof)
And these are only the ones that i think you all would know off the top. There are a little over a dozen other pro bowlers
Patrick Peterson was in that draft too. Cam Newton had 2 or 3 good years before injuries got him.
Tht colts org at tht time was doo doo
I know hes not john elway, but chris hinton was a stud left tackle, he went to 7 pro bowls and got a 1st team all pro
Yeah but stud left tackles don't win Super Bowls or create winning records. What's worse is that Indy traded Hinton away (along with Andre Rison) to draft one of the greatest QB busts of all time in Jeff George.
I think in Due Time 2011 NFL Draft Class will challenge for Greatest NFL Draft of All Time
No wonder Al Davis absolutely hated Rozell
John Elway
Jim Kelly
And Dan Marino
I may not have been born in 83 but it still makes me sick knowing Pittsburgh skipped over Marino, i understand they still have a defensive mentality and Rivera was starting to come on it makes me think if they could of squeezed in another ring with Marino at the helm.
I was around back then and I feel the same way about Dallas passing on him as well, especially given the disaster that was Gary Hogeboom and Steve Pelleur.
Of the 6 QB's taken in the first round they played in a combined 11 Super Bowls and of those only won 2 and those were Elway's last 2. Sure Elway, Marino, Kelly all had magnificent careers but only 2 titles between them. Marino only went to 1 Super Bowl. I wonder how much better Marino would have done had Miami not traded Anthony Carter.
Roger Craig should definitely be a Hall of Famer. Gary Anderson shouldn't be penalized solely for the 1998 NFC title game miss. Darryl Talley might have a case as well. Come the next one to two decades we'll see how 2011 stacks up as a Hall of Fame legacy.
Not to nitpick but the Gary Anderson in this draft was a RB. The kicker was drafted in 1982.
My Steelers blew it by not drafting Marino.
People say the Jets dropped the ball but Marino was a Pittsburgh Panther and a local talent. He was an easy fit.
The Steelers and 25 other teams many of whom needed QB's.
For the record the best 2nd overall pick of all time is LT🔵🔴⚪️🏈💯
Everyone still says SHULA Spread those rumors so he could drop to him
Yeah, but count the number of Super Bowl rings in the 1st round, it's pitiful.
How good was Steve Young actually
That's a good question isn't it? He only one Super Bowl ring and he did that against a pretty weak San Diego team. That 49ers team was still loaded and the real championship was decided between them as Dallas for most of the prime of Young's career. Aikman is constantly underrated because of how great those Dallas teams were so how do you rate the guy that Aikman beat 3 out of 4 times to go to the Super Bowl?
What about Zack Hample?
Wow, I didn't know Elway could have been a Raider.
Kinda disappointing. I'll admit upfront, I was interested in the QBs more than anything else. O'Brien was briefly mentioned, but Eason & Blackledge? Nothing. And they did have their moments. Again, my fault for wanting 83 QB review instead of 83 draft class.
And Eason led the Patriots to the Super Bowl in 86. I know the result. but they still got there and before Elway. And they beat the Dolphins and Marino on the way.
Do how good was Joe Montana actually?
4 Super Bowl championships? I say fairly good.
Curt warner!
Ya Brady has more rings by himself than all the guys in the picture. 1983 big deal.
Hahaha ya by himself, I'm sure the powers that be and the NFL have nothing to do with it hahaha
The Class of 83 produced two qbs who were capable of keeping a team in wild card contention on a yearly basis virtually by themselves. That is extremely rare. And Brady is not on that level. He is great....by TODAY'S standards. Elway and Marino were great...by ANY standards...
Sadly, Patrick Mahomes already has more SB wins than all 3 of the '83 draft class's QBs combined.
And if it weren't for Terrell Davis, those '83 draft class QB's would've finished with a combined 0-9 SB record rather than 2-9.
You can't always measure the talent of a player by the team the circumstances that surround them. Dan Fouts was one of the greatest QBs to ever play but he never got to a Super Bowl because he never played for a team that had a decent defense.
So....Bradshaw's rings don't count because he had Franco Harris? Griese's don't because he had....well, the greatest running game in NFL history...Staubach's don't because he had Dorsett...Aikman's don't because he had Smith? Hell, even Joe Namath hardly called a single pass play during the 4th quarter of his Super Bowl win because his running game was going so well...Even the 49ers, with their reputation for passing, almost always were among the league's best running teams....
What are you even SAYING? Most champions are balanced...championship teams rarely have glaring weaknesses...that's why they're champions...
The next year, after Elway retired, they started 0-4 WITH Terrell Davis. And after he was no longer available, they continued to be among the league's best running teams for the next several years. They remained among the league's best running teams....but oddly, there were no more Super Bowls...and hardly any playoff success...
@@tgriffin3059 it's all nonsense. If you start making the argument about who is a great QB based only on rings won and nothing else then you are excluding HOFers like Dan Fouts and Fran Tarkenton. And the kind of fans that do that are usually the same guys calling Aikman overrated because he had such a loaded team as well.
Here's what I know. If I were building an all time fantasy team I'd have no problem taking any of the HOF QBs from the 83 draft. And if for some reason I wasn't allowed to pick one of them and had to choose a QB from 1983 than both Tony Eason and Ken O'Brien either took their team to the Super Bowl or had multiple Pro Bowl seasons.
It's not just the number of HOFers or the number of Rings it's about the fact that so many teams came out of 83 with multi season starting QBs that put up winning multiple winning seasons and that's pretty damn rare.
And Brady has over 3x as many SB wins.
@@Stephen-to7jx Brady fell into the definitive organization of his era. He was great, by today's standards, but the guys from the Class of 83 played when you could hit the qb almost any way you wished. What's more important, back then you could do anything to their receivers. Trust me, NOBODY completes 75% of their passes when the secondary is actually allowed to PLAY. Guys like Mel Blount and Ronnie Lott would SEE to that personally...
2011 better
First
Elway is the most over rated qb in history. A running back saved his as s from losing 4 superbowls.
That would be Namath. At least elway played good sometimes. Namath was trash his whole career.😂
Pretty much every coach, scout, GM, and player who faced him disagrees with you. But yeah, CZcams commentator knows more.
No, actually he's the greatest qb in history. And it's not even especially close, outside of maybe Staubach or Montana.
@@shifty1927 Namath was a phenomenal player. I recall Bill Walsh once said that there were some rare qbs who were so far above the others that the normal parameters simply did not apply. He mentioned Elway and Namath as examples. And I think Walsh knew a thing or two about quarterbacks...
That's the Most Jealous Comment Ever . ELWAY IS THE BEST PLAYER IN NFL HISTORY, LIKE IT OR NOT. Let's See, was it Td or ELWAY that the the Adrenalizing HELICOPTER DIVE That Lifted the Broncos Spirits to go ahead and WIN ?!?!?!?