Tommy Maddox
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Tommy Maddox (born September 2, 1971 in Shreveport, Louisiana) is a professional American football player who currently plays 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,as well as being named the Southwest Texas Offensive Player of the Year,District Most Valuable Player,and the Area Most valuable Player.
College and NFL Career
He played collegiately at quarterback at UCLA, where he was well-regarded, but apparently was 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. After a stint in the Arena Football League, 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.
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, at the same time seemingly reviving the flagging career of longtime Steelers head coach Bill Cowher. But the Steelers drafted a new quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft, and following an early-season injury, Maddox's career is in jeopardy. Roethlisberger has credited Maddox as a mentor in his unprecedented winning streak as a rookie.