Remembering Jefferson Street Joe

Joe Gilliam is one of the great could have beens in the history of American football. A brash and confident young quarterback drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers out of Nashville's Tennessee State University in 1972, Gilliam was a local hero, playing under the leadership of his father, who was defensive coordinator at TSU. While he was a two time All American during his years in college, once in the pros Gilliam experienced the wrong end of the race card. He could have been the franchise quarterback during the Steelers Seventies Super Bowl dynasty, but a star African American quarterback was not something Steelers fans were "ready" for back in the day, and with Terry Bradshaw at the helm, the rest is history. Still, here in Nashville, a lot of folks remember "Jefferson Street Joe", and his legacy is a poignant and painful reminder of our nation's struggle with race. I am reprinting his 2000 obituary from Jet, and also posting a clip from a 1973 Monday Night game where he started in lieu of an injured Bradshaw.




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Joe Gilliam Jr., one of the first Black quarterbacks to start an NFL game, died recently of an apparent heart attack while watching a football game between the Tennessee Titans and the Dallas Cowboys with friends in Nashville.

Gilliam's career was marked by a series of highs and lows, including a starting role for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1974, six years after Marlin Briscoe of the Denver Broncos became the NFL's first Black starting quarterback.

"He paved the way for myself and the rest of the guys who now have opportunities to play," Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart, the first Black man to play the position for the franchise since Gilliam in the mid-1970s, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
However, troubles with drugs, in part, led to his benching and eventually ended his NFL career.

His financial problems led him to pawn two Super Bowl rings and left him homeless for a while on the streets of Nashville.

He fought his addiction to cocaine and heroin several times with stays in drug-rehab centers. Earlier last month, when former Steelers reunited for the final game at Three Rivers Stadium, Gilliam said his life was so tough at one point that he lived in a cardboard box under a bridge for two years and, "To me, it was like the Ritz-Carlton."

Gilliam, who was called "Jefferson Street Joe" for a boulevard near Tennessee State, was an All-American in 1970 and '71. He was an 11th-round draft pick by the Steelers in 1972.

After playing sparingly for two years, Gilliam got his big chance in 1974 when most players, including Terry Bradshaw, went on strike.

Steelers owner Dan Rooney told the Chicago Sun-Times, "Joe told the rest of the players, `I have to cross the picket line. I'm just a second-year man and I have to make the team.'" Rooney continued, "That was the year we drafted [Lynn] Swann and [John] Stallworth. We played six preseason games, and Joe was the quarterback for them. We beat everybody by high scores - it was a terrific thing."

Gilliam kept the job when Bradshaw, the starter the previous season and the others came back and led the Steelers to a 4-1-1 record.

But many Steelers' fans were unhappy, and there was a racial tone to their anger.

When the Steelers were losing at home against Oakland, the fans began chanting, "We want Bradshaw." Gilliam went 8-for-31 with two interceptions and the Steelers lost 17-0. It was his only loss as a starter.

Gilliam began receiving hate mail and death threats. He said the franchise began receiving bomb threats on Three Rivers Stadium.

"I was shocked," Gilliam said. "I thought if you played well you got to play. I guess I didn't understand the significance of being a Black quarterback at the time."

For game No. 7, coach Chuck Noll gave the job back to Bradshaw. Gilliam said his problems with drugs began that year.

Gilliam played little during the 1975 season, then was cut. He didn't play in the NFL again.

Gilliam joined minor league football teams in Pittsburgh, New Orleans and Baltimore during the 1970s. In 1979, he was seriously injured during an attack outside a Baltimore liquor store and was in a coma for weeks.

He recovered and played football again, for the Washington Federals of the USFL in the 1982 season.

But Gilliam couldn't defeat his drug addiction. He stopped and started doing drugs over the years, even working as a counselor for a while, only to slip repeatedly.

He wound up living on the streets of Nashville. He sold his Super Bowl rings for cash, but kind-hearted football fans and friends helped get the rings back to his father, who said earlier this year that he was holding them for his son until he was ready to have them back.

This was Gilliam's third straight year of sobriety and he appeared to be taking charge of his life, with the help of his wife of four years, Barbara. He opened a youth football camp in Nashville, using the field of his alma mater, Tennessee State, where his father, Joe Gilliam Sr., spent 40 years coaching football (JET, July 3, 2000.

Among Gilliam's survivors are his parents, Joe W. Gilliam Sr. and Ruth Gilliam, his sister Kim Gilliam, his wife Barbara, daughters Joi, LaWanda and Dominque and stepsons Steven and Stanley Douglas.