"Joe had some difficult times and everybody knows that," said Dan Rooney, president of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Gilliam's team in the mid-1970s.

Excellent condition overall. The ring shows wear from use and there is a small knick on the lower portion of the L in Gilliam. The shank has Gilliam in large letters and the Steelers logo while the other side has Super Bowl X and the score around the star logo worn on the super bowl jerseys. Gilliam Sr. now has the lost Super Bowl rings, returned to him by fans and friends a few years ago. Joe Gilliam, Jr. will be buried on Friday, the day of his 50th birthday. Despite winning two Super Bowl rings, that never happened. It belonged to backup Quarterback Joe Gilliam. He was waiting to give them to his son when he thought he was ready. Before Marsalis had the opportunity for a return trip, Gilliam died. ... His father, the late Joe Gilliam Sr., was a coach at Jackson State and Kentucky State before arriving at … Joe Gilliam Jr., who pawned two Super Bowl rings to feed a drug addiction after a pioneering career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, is also remembered for humanitarian work in his last years. An ABC report during the 1988 Super Bowl resulted in a group of businessmen buying back one ring for Gilliam. At the height of his battle with cocaine, Gilliam was in such desperate straits that he pawned his two Super Bowl rings.

A Pittsburgh collector is selling many of his championship rings – and the most valuable one appears to be a player Super Bowl IX ring. After a 30–0 win in the season opener over Baltimore, h… Prior to the 1974 regular season, Steelers head coach Chuck Noll stated that the starting quarterback position was "wide open" among Terry Bradshaw, Gilliam, and Terry Hanratty.

That was Nov. 14. This would be the first Steelers Super Bowl ring the team won. Gilliam outperformed the other two in the 1974 pre-season and Noll named Gilliam the starting quarterback, the first African American quarterback to start a season opener. Gilliam’s Super Bowl X ring sold at auction back in 2011 at Lelands, for $38,423.84.

He was 49.

Joe Gilliam was “the other guy” who, in 1974, became the first black quarterback to start the season as a team’s no.1 QB. Gilliam played little during the 1975 season, then was cut and didn’t play in the NFL again. Gilliam was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 11th round of the 1972 NFL Draft, the 273rd overall pick. His father, Joe Gilliam Sr., has the lost Super Bowl rings, returned to … Ring is size 11, and made of 37 grams of 10k gold. Backup QB Joe Gilliam of the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers for the Steelers Super Bowl IX victory over the Vikings.

He now has both rings, but they are at his parents’ home for safekeeping. Every Super Bowl player wants to “put a ring on … Advertisement "Joe had some difficult times … At the height of his battle with cocaine, Gilliam was in such desperate straits that he pawned his two Super Bowl rings.