After college, Unitas was drafted in the ninth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL, but was released before the season began since there were four quarterbacks trying to fill out three quarterback spots. Coincidentally, Ted Marchibroda beat out Unitas by taking the third quarterback spot.

By then he was married with a child and worked construction in Pittsburgh to support his family. On the weekends, he played on a local semipro team called the Bloomfield Rams for $6 a game, where he also played three positions, quarterback, safety and punter.