Nov 13, 2002 2 min read

Called it first I just wanted to remind everyone that I predicted last year that Tommy Maddox would impress a lot of people with his quarterbacking abilities if he would get a chance to show what he could do.

Before last year’s regular season, I wrote a Letter to the Editor telling everyone to keep an eye on him. That was at a time when most people were saying that he was in the XFL for a reason, that he wasn’t good enough for the NFL.

I was even laughed at by Stan Savran and his partner on their Steeler radio post game talk show later in last year’s regular season when I called and said that I wanted to see Tommy Maddox get a chance to run the Steeler offense.

Well, let’s see who was right: me or most of the so called “sports experts?”

Let’s go over some of the spectacular accomplishments that Maddox has accomplished. The Steelers were about to lose their third straight game to start this season under Kordell, when Maddox came in at the end of the game and pulled out a victory. Including that game, the Steelers have won five out of six games this season in which Maddox has quarterbacked. In those six games, Maddox has completed more than 60 percent of his passes, and has over a 90 quarterback rating. He has also thrown for 11 touchdown passes in those six games.

Last year, Kordell Stewart was named team MVP and was also named to the NFL’s Pro Bowl. During last season, Stewart had only 14 touchdown passes in 16 regular season games. If you want to include the two play-off games, Stewart had 15 touchdown passes in 18 games. That’s not even one touchdown pass a game. Maddox is on course to have 15 touchdown passes in another couple of games. I wonder if that so-called “milestone” will guarantee him the team MVP honors and a spot in the Pro Bowl.

Stanley Hetz

Smithfield