Terry Bradshaw has done a good job of keeping himself in the news lately, even at a time when many current athletes are unable to have the spotlight shone on them—and it’s been a long time since the four-time Super Bowl-champion quarterback last suited up for a game.
All of which he played as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was their first-overall pick in 1970, I believe the last time they have ever had the first-overall pick, after going 1-13 the previous year, and they only had the top pick thanks to winning a coin toss.
Bradshaw wasn’t thrilled initially about going to Pittsburgh, and he’s made it no secret that he didn’t have loving relationship with Chuck Noll, even if he greatly respected him as a coach. In recent times, however, he has tried to promote this narrative that he loves Pittsburgh, loved playing for the Steelers, and wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“The city should know how much I care about Pittsburgh,” Bradshaw said in an interview with KDKA. “I’ve never stopped loving the Steelers. I have always loved Pittsburgh. If Pittsburgh would have tried to move me, I would have just quit. I wanted to play for one team and that was Pittsburgh”.
Much of the interview had nothing to do with the Steelers, of course. Among the topics that he discussed was annoying his wife during quarantine, his new song, ‘Quarantine Crazy’, which I will not be listening to, his line of organic animal products called Four Ring Protection’, and the upcoming reality show that is supposed to follow his family around.
Bradshaw has always been a showman, and this interview certainly makes that readily apparent. That’s not to say that he wasn’t also a great player—something that can be much better judged by watching his games, and comparing them to others of the era, versus looking at a stat line that would look less than pedestrian according to today’s standards.
Still, he has never been immune to putting his foot in his mouth, and even those who continue to support him as the greatest quarterback in franchise history have had to acknowledge that he doesn’t always know what he is saying, and sometimes is even full of it.
Others better-informed than me about his history with Pittsburgh have grown weary of Bradshaw’s recent comments about his love for the city and for the team, and I expect they’ll be rolling their eyes at these latest comments, attempting to rewrite his story.
