Athletes - Tommy Maddox

Home > Listing Index > Athletes > Tommy Maddox

	Athletes - Tommy Maddox

Thomas Alfred Maddox (born September 2, 1971 in Shreveport, Louisiana) is an American football player who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

High school career

At L.D Bell High School in Hurst, Texas, Tommy Maddox was a letterwinner in football, basketball, and baseball. As a senior, he was the team captain, and was named the Southwest Texas Offensive Player of the Year, District Most Valuable Player, and the Area Most Valuable Player.

College, XFL, and NFL Career

He played collegiate football as quarterback at UCLA, where he was well-regarded, but was, in opinions of some, ill-advised in attempting to turn professional after his sophomore season. Drafted by the Denver Broncos, his professional career seemed to go nowhere, and spent several seasons in the NFL relegated to back-up duty on various teams. He also played for the St. Louis Rams and New York Giants before being released by the Atlanta Falcons during the 1997 preseason. After a stint in the Arena Football League with the New Jersey Red Dogs, he was out of football entirely when he was invited to try out for the Los Angeles Xtreme of the upstart XFL, which played its first and only season in the spring of 2001. He received considerable publicity in leading the Xtreme to the league's sole championship, being the only XFL quarterback to start all ten regular season games, and also much new interest from teams in the National Football League. He also won the league's Most Valuable Player Award.

In one memorable XFL broadcast, a cameraman caught Maddox yelling at Xtreme coach Al Luginbill not to send in kicker José Cortéz to attempt a field goal on a 4th-down-and-two play. Cortéz missed the field goal attempt.

Maddox eventually signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a backup and, replacing Kordell Stewart at quarterback early in the 2002 season, led them into the playoffs, directing a clutch 36-33 win over the rival Cleveland Browns at home in the wild card round before a 34-31 loss at the Tennessee Titans in the second round. He won the ESPN ESPY award and also the NFL award for Best Comeback Athlete of the Year for his performance during the 2002-2003 season.

In 2003, Maddox had an average year as the Steelers finished at a disappointing 6-10. But, after the 2003 season, the Steelers drafted a new quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft, and Roethlisberger, given the starting job after a Maddox injury early in the 2004 season, rattled off 14 straight regular season wins and a trip to the AFC Championship game, ensuring his place as starter for the foreseeable future.

Maddox reassumed his starting QB role when Roethlisberger suffered a knee injury early in the 2005 season, but poor performances in losses to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens almost guaranteed his permanent return to the bench, giving Steeler Charlie Batch the second-string spot. Many expected Maddox not to be back with the Steelers for the 2006 season. The fans were right, because he and CB Willie Williams were released, due to the salary cap. Steelers fans had a love-hate relationship with Maddox who struggled in 2005. Maddox is expected to find a job with a team in need of a veteran backup quarterback and mentor. Regardless of where Maddox's stellar quarterbacking ability takes him, Steelers fans are content to know he won't be bringing it back to Pittsburgh.

Tommy Maddox is an avid golfer, and he is the founder of the Tommy Maddox Foundation for disadvantaged children.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Tommy Maddox ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Tommy Maddox; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Athletes - Tommy Maddox

High school career

College, XFL, and NFL Career

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay