Former Pittsburgh Steelers RB Jerome Bettis nearly blew his own storybook ending, but in doing so, merely added to it. His fumble against the Indianapolis Colts only heightened the sweetness of claiming a Super Bowl title in 2005. Of course, the cherry on top was the Super Bowl being held in his hometown of Detroit. While it was a magical moment for his friends and family, he told Rich Eisen, it wasn’t cheap.
“It does [make it more special] because everyone was able to share my greatest moment”, Bettis said. “Mom and Dad, aunts and uncles. I had, I think, 80 tickets for that game. So you could imagine, I went in debt playing in the Super Bowl. It was bad”.
Bettis was joking, of course, about being in debt, at least depending on how you interpret his words. Obviously, he didn’t file for bankruptcy—but Super Bowl tickets aren’t cheap. And players don’t make all that much money for playing in the Super Bowl.
According to ABC, Jerome Bettis and the Steelers earned a paycheck of $73,000 as the victors in 2005. Even in 2025, this year’s winner will still only make $171,000. And according to Bleacher Report, the average ticket price for Super Bowl XL was $650.
Doing some quick math, 80 tickets at $650 per ticket comes out to $52,000. Assuming he paid roughly that, and factoring in taxes, it’s reasonable to believe that Bettis may have actually spent more on tickets for his friends and family to attend the Super Bowl than he actually earned for winning it. At the least, he could have come fairly close to breaking even and not much more.
But it sure was worth it. Jerome Bettis had the opportunity for one of the iconic moments in sports of this century. Announcing his retirement in Detroit after winning his only Super Bowl, it hardly gets better than that. To do so surrounded by his friends in family, where it all began, that’s what players dream of. He got to live it, and you can’t put a price on that.
“There was a lot of moments that made that particular moment special”, Bettis recalled of his Super Bowl experience. It was the culmination of a long, Hall of Fame career, most of which occurred in Pittsburgh. Bettis and the Steelers are synonymous to many people, even for some younger fans who might not have had the opportunity to fully appreciate his career.
Speaking of his career, Jerome Bettis rushed for 13,662 yards over 13 seasons. He scored 91 rushing touchdowns and recorded 94 overall. A six-time Pro Bowler, he is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But it’s that experience of the Super Bowl in Detroit, I’m sure, that he will savor the most from his playing days.
