Joe Gilliam

Gilliam displayed his own athletic abilities at a young age, beginning at Washington Junior High School, where he participated in tumbling, track, and basketball.

In 1966, he became the starting quarterback at Pearl High School and led the squad when they played in the city's first season of integrated football.

[2][3] He made his first regular season start on Monday Night Football, during a week 12 game against the Miami Dolphins on December 3, 1973.

The game was a disaster for Gilliam: he threw just seven passes, all incomplete and three intercepted by Dick Anderson, including one for a Miami touchdown.

In Week 3, Gilliam delivered a terrible performance with only 8 completed passes in 31 attempts and 2 interceptions, leading to the Steelers suffering the humiliation of a home shutout by archrival Oakland Raiders.

"He gave me my job back," Bradshaw told sportscaster James Brown on a February 2000 edition of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO.

[6][7] The 1975 season was his last on an NFL roster, as the team repeated as champions in Super Bowl X. Gilliam felt that his demotion was based on racial reasons.

"[8] Wide receiver John Stallworth recalled that Gilliam's demotion was due to his poor on-field performance, disobeying Chuck Noll's game plan, and substance abuse issues and there was no racial motivation whatsoever on the team's part.

[12][13] He returned to semipro in 1979 with the Baltimore Eagles in the Atlantic Football Conference, but his season would take a couple of bizarre turns: first, an abortive attempt to jump to the Alabama Vulcans of the American Football Association ended when he borrowed the Vulcans' owner's Cadillac and failed to return it;[14] then, after Gilliam went back to Baltimore, he was attacked by four men, who dragged him out of his parked car and repeatedly hit him on the head.

[21][22] Gilliam died of a cocaine overdose[23] on Christmas Day, 2000 shortly after watching an NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans.

Gilliam was sober for three years prior to his death and able to attend the final Steelers game at Three Rivers Stadium.