David Woodley David Eugene Woodley ( October 25 , 1958 – May 4 , 2003 ) was an American football player and quarterback for Louisiana State University ( 1977 – 1979 ) , the National Football League ' s Miami Dolphins ( 1980 – 1983 ) , and the Pittsburgh Steelers ( 1984 – 1985 ) . Woodley ' s running ability and intelligence , in addition to his passing skills , helped elevate him to become a starting NFL quarterback . Career . Woodley was a three - year starter and All - State quarterback for C . E . Byrd High School in Shreveport , Louisiana , before signing to play college football at LSU . In his final college game as a senior , he led LSU to a 34 - 10 victory over Wake Forest University in the 1979 Tangerine Bowl and was named the game ' s Most Valuable Player . He was inducted into the LSU Hall of Fame . As quarterback for the Miami Dolphins , Woodley is best known as the bridge between the eras of Hall of Famers Bob Griese and Dan Marino . Despite being an eighth round draft selection , he was elected the Miami Dolphins team MVP for his rookie season in 1980 . In the 1980 season , he set and still holds the Miami Dolphins team record for most pass completions ( 176 ) for a rookie QB . In 1982 , he became one of the few NFL players to score touchdowns passing , running and receiving in an NFL season . Woodley split time with backup Don Strock , or " WoodStrock " as they were referred . Woodley started for the Dolphins in the 1981 - 82 playoff game versus the San Diego Chargers . After Miami fell behind 24 - 0 , Strock led the Dolphins back into the game . In the strike - shortened season of 1982 , Woodley handled the lion ' s share of the time at QB en route to Miami winning the American Football Conference title . The Dolphins went on to face the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVII . At the time , he was the youngest Super Bowl starting quarterback in NFL history . Despite starting the game well with a 76 - yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Cefalo , Woodley and the entire offense struggled after that , going 0 for 8 passing in the second half . The Redskins won the game 27 - 17 . In 1983 , Woodley was Miami ' s starting quarterback , but in week five , the underperforming offense prompted coach Don Shula to insert then rookie quarterback , Dan Marino midway through a 17 - 7 road loss to the New Orleans Saints . By the next week , Marino was named the starter for the remainder of the season . Woodley was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers after the 1983 season to compete with Cliff Stoudt and Mark Malone for the starting job for the 1984 season ( elbow problems forced Terry Bradshaw to retire after the 1983 season ) . Woodley split the starting quarterback duty with Malone during both the 1984 and 1985 NFL seasons . Despite being the highest paid player on the Steelers , Woodley abruptly retired before the 1986 season . His career officially ended after he was released by the Green Bay Packers during training camp in 1987 . Woodley is one of two quarterbacks in NFL history ( Ken Stabler ) to have a career winning percentage above . 600 while also throwing at least 10 more interceptions than touchdowns . Woodley ' s career record was 34 - 18 - 1 ( . 651 ) despite throwing 63 interceptions against his 48 career touchdown passes . After football , Woodley increasingly drank , causing several health problems . Woodley underwent a liver transplant in Shreveport in 1992 . On May 4 , 2003 Woodley died from complications due to kidney and liver failure .