The Pittsburgh Steelers had a very successful draft in 2004. The organization found its starting quarterback and leader of their locker room for the next 18 years, Ben Roethlisberger, who brought two Super Bowl titles to the city of Pittsburgh. They also selected Max Starks, who was a staple of their offensive line for the next nine years and was also a member of both of those Super Bowl winning teams.
Steelers Head Coach Bill Cowher Quizzed Max Starks Right Before Selecting Him In 2004
“Omar Khan got on the phone and said, ‘Here is Coach Cowher.’ He asked me two questions: ‘Do you like playing in the snow,’ and I said if there is a football out there, I will play. His second question was, ‘Are you tough?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ Cowher then congratulated me on being a Pittsburgh Steeler.”
Pittsburgh has some cold and harsh weather, which Starks definitely was not used to. He played his college football at Florida, and grew up in Orlando where he played in high school. He didn’t have to deal with any cold or harsh weather, so playing in Pittsburgh was going to be a lot different. Cowher clearly wanted Starks, as he used a third round pick on him, but he had to make sure Starks checked all of his boxes first.
Starks was a consistent feature of the Steelers offensive line, as he played in 123 games and started 96 of them. He and Roethlisberger were the only two draft picks made by the Steelers in 2004 to be a part of both Super Bowl winning teams in 2005 and in 2008. Starks was also a member of the Steelers team that lost Super Bowl XLV to the Green Bay Packers during the 2010 NFL season.
Starks had a very successful college career at Florida, as he was named First Team All-SEC in his last season there in 2003. He never found the same kind of individual success in the NFL, at times struggling and even losing his starting job to Willie Colon during the 2007 season. Despite being benched in 2007 however, he still made it onto the field during every game that season and started four games near the end of the year for an injured Marvel Smith.
Starks was released by Pittsburgh ahead of the 2011 NFL season, but eventually re-signed with the Steelers in October of the same year and would go on to start 12 games. He returned in 2012 and started all 16 games, but was not re-signed once his contract expired following the conclusion of the season. He tried to continue playing elsewhere, but never quite found his footing in the NFL again.
Ahead of the 2013 season, Starks signed a one-year deal with the then-San Diego Chargers, but was released in training camp before the start of the regular season. He was picked up by the then-St. Louis Rams in September of the same year and was released after appearing in two games. He didn’t play again during the 2013 season, but was signed by the Arizona Cardinals during training camp the next year. He was then released at the end of August before eventually retiring after the 2014 season.
Starks has stayed close with the game of football during his retirement, as he now works as an analyst and consistently makes appearances on Pittsburgh and SEC radio shows. He was an important member of the Steelers during the 2000s, and he may never have been drafted by Pittsburgh had he not passed Cowher’s over-the-phone quiz on draft night.
