Ex-Steeler Gilliam Is Dead at 49

Joe Gilliam Jr., who was one of the first African American quarterbacks to start an NFL game but fell into drug addiction and spent two years living under a bridge in a cardboard box, has died at 49.

Gilliam, who was in such desperate straits at one point that he pawned his two Super Bowl rings, had finally seemed to be getting his life in order when he died of an apparent heart attack Christmas Day.

Earlier this year, he started a football camp for boys at his alma mater, Tennessee State, and was counseling drug addicts and renewing old relationships.

“Joe had some difficult times and everybody knows that,” said Dan Rooney, president of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Gilliam’s team in the mid-1970s.

Gilliam was dead on arrival at Baptist Hospital late Monday, hospital spokeswoman Jessica Etz said. Etz said relatives believe Gilliam suffered a heart attack but results of an autopsy are not yet known.

Gilliam’s career was marked by highs and lows, including a starting role for the Steelers in 1974, six years after Marlin Briscoe of the Denver Broncos became pro football’s first black starting quarterback.

Drug problems were partly to blame for Gilliam’s benching and the end of his NFL career.

Gilliam talked about it during a reunion of former Steeler players for the final game at Three Rivers Stadium earlier this month, telling former teammates that his life was so tough at one point that he lived in a cardboard box under a bridge.

“I had it all and then it disappeared, and then my life disappeared and now, look, I’m back with my friends again,” he said.

Gilliam’s big chance as a Steeler came in his third season, 1974, when several veteran players, including Terry Bradshaw, went on strike. Gilliam kept the job when Bradshaw and the others returned, and he led the Steelers to a 4-1-1 record.

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

His father, Joe Gilliam Sr., has the lost Super Bowl rings, returned to him by fans and friends a few years ago. He was waiting to give them to his son when he thought he was ready.

The family had no comment Tuesday when reached at its Nashville apartment. Funeral arrangements were incomplete.