Former Steelers QB Kordell Stewart Says Being An Unconventional Player Hurt Him: 'They Weren't Ready For Me'

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Kordell Stewart changed the way quarterbacks were viewed in the NFL after he was drafted in the second round of the 1995 NFL Draft. Stewart came into the league and didn't start right away, but he contributed to the team by being used as a receiver and occasionally as a runner from the quarterback position. He was a true athlete who could make an impact no matter where he lined up on the field, even punting for the franchise every once in a while. 

Stewart was a pioneer when it came to being a mobile quarterback in the NFL. Now, it is common to see quarterbacks with the athleticism to make plays in the run game, it is almost becoming a required prerequisite to be a starting quarterback in the league. Back in the 90s, Stewart was one of the few looking to make plays with his legs, it was unconventional. This would end up hurting Stewart, because coaches didn't know how to run an offense that could take advantage of a quarterback who could use his legs, which Stewart shared with the Steelers in a recent interview.

"You know the stubborn side of me says they weren't ready for me, but I was ready for the game. That's the stubborn side, but being that I was kind of like that minority, if you will, figuratively speaking in the sense that not too many were doing it that way, yeah, I was a little ahead of my time. We had two good coaches that could make it work. They understood how to work with my skillset, which was unconventional at the time." 

Nowadays, every head coach dreams of having a mobile quarterback that the team could draw up schemes around, but back then, that idea was a foreign concept in the NFL. Stewart had a couple of good coaches who were able to take advantage of his skillset and put him in the best possible scenarios to succeed, but Pittsburgh also had a lot of turnover at the offensive coordinator position during Stewart's time as a Steeler. This had a negative impact on his career.

Steelers Held Stewart Back With Inconsistency At Offensive Coordinator

Stewart was drafted by Pittsburgh in 1995. When Ron Erhardt was the OC, Chan Gailey took over the position in 1996. Ray Sherman took the job in 1998, and lasted just one season as Kevin Gilbride took over for the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Finally, Mike Mularkey took the job in 2001 and was Stewart's last offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh. That's a lot of inconsistency for any quarterback to deal with.

That kind of turnover at such a critical position can hurt a quarterback, forcing him to adjust to new offenses nearly every season. On top of that, only a few of the Steelers coordinators during his time in Pittsburgh knew what to do with a quarterback with his kind of athleticism. They had him running offensive systems that were meant for traditional quarterbacks.

"The unfortunate thing I will say about my time starting from '97 until the latter part of it, in six years I had four different coordinators. So the continuity was a little tough. You know, you get Kevin Gilbride with a run and shoot system with Jerome Bettis, who is a power runner, and Plaxico Burress and Hines Ward; we're not a run and shoot team. It had none of the stuff they came up with later for mobile quarterbacks, but more of a traditional style quarterback."

Had Pittsburgh been able to find the right coordinator for Stewart, who was a forward thinker that could come up with schemes to exploit and take advantage of his athleticism from the quarterback position, the recent history of the Steelers could have been a lot different. Stewart still had a decent amount of success in Pittsburgh, making the Pro Bowl in 2001. He achieved that success, even with all the turnover at the coordinator spot. Had he had more consistency in the offensive system, Pittsburgh could have been a much more successful team during his playing days, and Stewart would get the respect he deserves for the way he changed the game.