Terrence Hugh Hanratty (born January 19, 1948) is a former
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
who played in college at
Notre Dame and in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
during the 1960s and 1970s. He earned two
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
rings as the backup quarterback for the
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
. Hanratty's son Conor also played football at Notre Dame as an
offensive guard
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
.
College career
Hanratty attended St. Paul
Butler Catholic School and
Butler Senior High School in western Pennsylvania, before attending the University of Notre Dame where he was a three-year starter and twice an
All-America
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
n, as well as a
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
candidate. Hanratty and
Jim Seymour formed a passing/receiving duo leading Notre Dame to the
national championship
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...
in
1966
Events January
* January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko.
* January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
. Hanratty was also a teammate and friend of
halfback Rocky Bleier
Robert Patrick "Rocky" Bleier ( , born March 5, 1946) is a former professional American football player. He was a National Football League (NFL) halfback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1968 and from 1970 to 1980.
Origin of nickname
Nicknamed ...
at Notre Dame before the two were teammates in Pittsburgh.
Professional career
In 1969, Hanratty was selected in the second round of the
NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...
by the Steelers' new head coach,
Chuck Noll
Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to:
People
Arts and entertainment
* Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet
* Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer
* ...
, and was the starting quarterback for a short time before losing the job to the Steelers'
No. 1 1970 overall draft pick Terry Bradshaw
Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). Since 1994, he has been a television sports analyst an ...
. Hanratty was the last Pittsburgh-area native to start a game at quarterback for the Steelers, until
Homestead
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
*Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres
*Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...
native
Charlie Batch
Charles D'Donte Batch (born December 5, 1974) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft and played 15 seasons in the ...
filled in for an injured
Ben Roethlisberger
Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. (; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college footba ...
for two games during the team's
Super Bowl-winning season in
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
. Hanratty suited up for
Super Bowl IX
Super Bowl IX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings to decide the National Football League (NFL) cha ...
, but did not see action.
In 1975, Hanratty played in only one regular season game, for only two plays.
However, he played more in the postseason, getting into two playoff games.
[ In the ]AFC Championship Game
The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...
he finished the game at quarterback, taking the Steelers' last two offensive snaps, after Bradshaw was hurt.[ He also finished ]Super Bowl X
Super Bowl X was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for t ...
at quarterback in what turned out to be his last game as a Steeler, taking the team's last four offensive snaps.
Hanratty was placed on waivers by the Steelers in September 1976 and picked up in October by the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
, who infamously lost every game they played that season. As the backup quarterback to Steve Spurrier
Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...
, Hanratty made a handful of appearances, and his sole start came in Week 13 against his old team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hanratty was pulled in favor of Spurrier after throwing just four passes: one was intercepted, two incomplete, and one caught for a one-yard loss. The 42–0 defeat was Hanratty's last appearance in the NFL; he retired after the 1976 season.
He finished his career with 2,510 passing yards, 24 touchdown passes, and 35 interceptions. He completed 38 percent of his pass attempts, which led to an overall quarterback rating of 43.0.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanratty, Terry
1948 births
Living people
All-American college football players
American football quarterbacks
Players of American football from Pennsylvania
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players
Sportspeople from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area
Pittsburgh Steelers players
Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
People from Butler, Pennsylvania