Bubby Brister Walter Andrew " Bubby " Brister , III ( born August 15 , 1962 , in Monroe , Louisiana ) is a former American football quarterback in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers , Philadelphia Eagles , New York Jets , Denver Broncos , and Minnesota Vikings . He played quarterback at Tulane and Northeast Louisiana and was taken in the third round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers . He was given the nickname " Bubby " ( a mispronunciation of " Brother " ) by one of his five older sisters . Being the sixth child born was his reason for choosing 6 as his jersey number . Brister played his high school football in Monroe , Louisiana and originally enrolled at Tulane ; at that time he was known as Bubba Brister . The nickname was modified to " Bubby " sometime shortly after he transferred to Northeast Louisiana ( now Louisiana - Monroe ) in 1982 . Baseball career . Brister was originally drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 4th round of the 1981 Amateur Draft . At the age of 18 he played 39 games for the Bristol ( Va ) Tigers batting . 180 without hitting a home run . Brister left baseball to pursue a football career . Pittsburgh career . When Brister was selected , comparisons were almost immediately made between him and Steelers great Terry Bradshaw , who is also from Louisiana . Over the years , Pittsburgh sports writers and Steelers fans frequently made jokes about Brister ' s thick Southern accent and perceived lack of sophistication , traits that were similarly mocked in Bradshaw . In a similar vein , his name was often misspoken . In a 1999 " Sports Illustrated " article , Brister cited " Bubba Brewster " and " Bobby Blister " as common manglings . Brister spent two years as the back up to Bradshaw ' s immediate successor , Mark Malone , starting two games as a rookie in 1986 and appearing briefly in relief in two games in 1987 . In his NFL debut in October 1986 Pittsburgh played on Monday Night Football against rival Cincinnati Bengals and Brister passed for 191 yards and scored a rushing touchdown , although the team lost 24 - 22 . He won a three - way competition for the Steelers ' starting quarterback job with Todd Blackledge and Steve Bono . Career highlights during his 1988 - 1991 run as Pittsburgh ' s starting QB included ranking 4th in the NFL in average yards per pass completion in 1988 and ranking 10th in the league in passer rating in 1990 . Brister had five scoring passes that were 65 yards or longer in 1988 , including an 89 - yard touchdown to Louis Lipps vs the Philadelphia Eagles on November 13 that was the longest pass completion by a Steeler in Three Rivers Stadium history . In 1989 he set a team record with 15 consecutive pass completions in a road win over Detroit , including a 48 yarder to Lipps . Brister also set a team record in 1989 throwing 178 consecutive passes without an interception . It was 1990 that Brister established career highs for starts ( 16 ) , yards passing ( 2 , 725 ) and touchdown passes ( 20 ) . Brister missed 8 games with injuries in 1991 , setting up a competition with back up Neil O ' Donnell for the starting job . Pittsburgh went 5 - 3 when Brister played , only 2 - 6 with O ' Donnell as a starter . Brister was the starting quarterback during Hall Of Fame Coach Chuck Noll ' s final post season run with the Steelers , winning the 1989 AFC Wild Card in overtime on the road against the Houston Oilers , then losing a close game to eventual AFC Champion Denver Broncos . Brister led an 82 - yard drive at the end of the 4th quarter to tie the Houston game and force overtime . Against Denver , he passed for 229 yards and 1 touchdown , with no turnovers . One of Brister ' s famous quotes came after a 1991 game between the Houston Oilers and Pittsburgh Steelers . Pittsburgh was getting blown out , and coach Chuck Noll wanted to pull starter Neil O ' Donnell and replace him with Brister to finish the hopeless game . Brister replied " I don ' t mop up for anybody . " O ' Donnell was starting in place of an injured Brister . To the surprise of many , although Brister was not forced to enter that late season loss against Houston , he did supplant the struggling O ' Donnell the next week , starting the team ' s final two games , both wins over Cincinnati and Cleveland . Brister played for the Steelers for 7 years , several of them as the regular starter at quarterback . In 1992 , new Steelers head coach Bill Cowher chose backup quarterback Neil O ' Donnell over Brister , essentially ending his career as a starting player for the Steelers . Still , Brister played a significant role in the team ' s 1992 success . Brister won two games as a starter for an injured O ' Donnell against the Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns . In the Cleveland game , the Steelers needed to win to clinch home field advantage throughout the AFC Playoffs and Brister passed for 223 yards , 1 touchdown , no interceptions , and had a string of 11 consecutive pass completions in one stretch . In two other games Brister came off the bench , relieving a struggling O ' Donnell when he was hurt and lead 4th quarter comebacks over the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions . Later career . After brief stops as a backup quarterback for the Eagles and New York Jets , Brister sat out the 1996 season . In his first season in Philadelphia in 1993 , Brister ranked 7th in the league in passer rating and 4th in lowest interception percentage , starting 8 games with two relief appearances subbing for an injured Randall Cunningham . Highlights that season included his 27 completion , 245 yard , two touchdown performance vs the Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football , and his 353 yard , three touchdown performance in the final game of the regular season , again on Monday Night Football , leading the Eagles to a win over NFC West Division Champion San Francisco . Brister ' s interception percentage that year was the lowest in Eagles team history for more than a decade until eclipsed by Donovan McNabb . His former teammate in Philadelphia , linebacker Bill Romanowski , had signed with the Denver Broncos and , in 1997 , suggested to Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan that he take a look at Brister . Brister signed with Denver and became their # 3 quarterback for the 1997 season , backing up Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway and Jeff Lewis . Brister ' s only significant playing time in the 1997 season came in a week 17 game against the San Diego Chargers . Before the 1998 season , Jeff Lewis had fallen out of favor with the Broncos ; thus , Brister became the primary backup QB . During the 1998 season , Elway was forced to sit out a number of games due to injury and Brister started those games in his place . He played well and the Broncos went undefeated in all of his starts ( 4 - 0 ) ; Brister also broke the team ' s ( then ) record for longest rushing touchdown by a quarterback and recorded a higher passer rating than Elway . However , when Elway retired in 1999 , Brister was passed over for the starting spot in favor of Brian Griese , and the Broncos released him after that season . During his three seasons with the Broncos , he won two Super Bowl rings . Brister spent 2000 with the Vikings . He signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2001 but was cut before the season began . He then retired from football . He finished his career with a passing record of 1 , 207 completions in 2 , 212 attempts for 14 , 445 passing yards and 81 touchdown s . Brister played in three conference championship games and two Super Bowls . After retiring . After retiring from football , Brister spent a short time as a television sports analyst for Fox Sports Rocky Mountain in Denver . In 2003 , Brister became the co - host of a hunting and fishing oriented show called " Louisiana Outdoor Adventures " on The Outdoor Channel . In 2005 , he joined the staff of Hunter ’ s Specialties , a producer of hunting and fishing adventure videos . He now lives in Mandeville , Louisiana with his wife and two children .