Terry Bradshaw

By:Wangjia DengXiaoyan Li

Terry Bradshaw

• (born September 2, 1948) is a former American football quarterback who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League

(NFL). He is currently a TV analyst and co-host of Fox NFL Sunday. He played 14 seasons with Pittsburgh, won four Super Bowl titles in a six-year period (1975, 1976, 1979, and 1980), becoming the first quarterback to win three and four Super Bowls, and led the Steelers to eight AFC Central championships. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989, his first year of eligibility.

• A tough competitor, Bradshaw had a powerful – albeit at times erratic – arm and called his own plays throughout his football career. His physical skills and on-the-field leadership played a major role in Pittsburgh Steelers' history. During his career, he passed for more than 300 yards in a game only seven times, but three of those performances came in the postseason, and two of those in Super Bowls. In four career Super Bowl appearances, he passed for 932 yards and 9 touchdowns, both Super Bowl records at the time of his retirement. In 19 postseason games, he completed 261 passes for 3,833 yards.

High school and college• Bradshaw spent his early childhood in Clinton, Iowa, where

he set forth the goal to play professional football. When he was a teenager, Bradshaw returned with his family to Shreveport,where he attended Woodlawn High School and led the Knights to the 1965 AAA High School Championship game where they lost to the Sulphur Tornados 12–9. While at Woodlawn, he set a national record for throwing the javelin 245 feet (74.68 m).His exploits earned him a spot in the Sports Illustrated feature Faces In The Crowd. Bradshaw's successor as Woodlawn's starting quarterback was another future NFL standout, Joe Ferguson of the Buffalo Bills. Bradshaw's Steelers would defeat Ferguson's Bills in a 1974 divisional playoff game.

• In 1969, he was considered by most pro scouts to be the most outstanding college football player. As a junior, he amassed 2,890 total yards, ranking #1 in the NCAA, and led his team to a 9-2 record and a 33-13 win over Akron in the Rice Bowl. In his senior season, he gained 2,314 yards, ranking third in the NCAA, and led his team to an 8-2 record. His decrease in production was mainly because his team played only ten games that year, and he was taken out of several games in the second half because his team had built up a huge lead.

NFL career• Terry Bradshaw was the Quarterback for Pittsburgh

Steelers from 1970 to 1983. Beginning at age 22 and retiring at age 35, Terry Bradshaw was a staple player for the Steelers, one of the team’s most iconic players. As number 12, Terry Bradshaw scored 192 points during his career.

• During his first year as a Quarterback Terry Bradshaw scored 6 points, including one rush touchdown. His second year he scored 30 points and completed 5 rush touchdowns. His third year, 1972 was his career best. He scored a total of 42 points and completed 7 rush touchdowns.

• Terry Bradshaw played 168 games during his career and started all but 10 of them. He only fumbled 84 balls during his entire career, losing a total of 95 yards. He also recovered 25 fumbles though never scored a touch down on a fumble return. He played in 19 playoff games. He started every playoff game he ever played. He averaged 12.1 completed passes per game during his career.

• Terry Bradshaw rushed a total of 2257 yards during his career, scoring 32 touchdowns. He punted 8 times for a total of 225 yards. He punted 173 yards 1980 alone. He averaged 28.1 yards per punt. He played 3 pro bowls, in 1975, 1978 and 1979. Terry Bradshaw was sacked a total of 307 times during his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

• Terry Bradshaw was one of the Pittsburgh Steelers most iconic players. Serving as their starting Quarterback for 13 years, he led a long and exciting career full of many achievements and successful plays.

After football• Broadcasting careerBradshaw retired from football in 1983, andquickly signed a television contract with CBSto become an NFL game analyst in 1984,where he and play-by-play announcer VerneLundquist had the top rated programs. Priorto his full-time work for them, he served asa guest commentator for CBS Sports' NFCpostseason broadcasts from 1980–82.

Bradshaw was promoted into television studio analyst forThe NFL Today in 1990 (which he hosted with GregGumbel through the 1993 season), and Fox NFL Sundaywhere he normally acts as a comic foil to his co-hosts. OnFox NFL Sunday he hosts two semi-regular features, TenYards with TB, where he fires random questions at an NFLpro, and The Terry Awards, an annual comedic awardshow about the NFL season. He appeared on the firstbroadcast of NASCAR on FOX where he took a ride withDale Earnhardt at Daytona International Speedway the night before Earnhardt was killed in a last lap crash at theDaytona 500.

On June 19, 2008, Terry Bradshawevealed on The Dan Patrick Showthat he took therapeuticcorticosteroid steroid injections,per his doctors' orders, during the1970s to "speed healing."Corticosteroids, which aredifferent from anabolic steroidsand are used to reduceinflammation,are not banned from the NFL.

Bradshaw has the reputation of being the "ol' redneck,"but, in co-host and former NFL coach Jimmy Johnson'swords, the act isa "schtick." According to Johnson, Bradshaw deflectssuch criticism by stating that "he's so dumb that he hasto have somebody else fly his private plane."Bradshaw has also garnered the reputation for criticizingplayers and teams. Following Super Bowl XLVI he wasconfronted byAnn Mara, wife of the late WellingtonMara, and "heckled" for not picking the Giants to win onFox NFL Sunday.

• Business career During the early part of his career with the Steelers,Bradshaw was a used car salesman during the offseason to supplement his income, as this was stillduring the days when most NFL players didn't makeenough money to focus solely on football. Bradshaw has als written or co-written five books and recorded six albums of country/western and gospelmusic. His cover of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" hitTop 20 on Billboard's country chart (and #91 on the Hot 100) in 1976; two other tunes ("The Last Word InLonesome Is Me" and "Until You") also made thecountry charts.

In 2001, Bradshaw entered the world ofNASCAR by joining with HighLine PerformanceGroup racing team to form FitzBradshaw Racing.He also is the spokesman for Jani-Kinginternational, Inc. Among U.S. consumers, Bradshaw remains one ofpro football's most popular retired players. As ofSeptember 2007, Bradshaw was the top ranked formerpro football player in the Davie-Brown Index (DBI),which surveys consumers to determine a celebrity'sappeal and trust levels.

On November 5, 2007,during a nationally-televised Monday Night Football game,Bradshaw joined former teammates including FrancoHarris and Joe Greene toaccept their position onthe Pittsburgh Steelers 75th Anniversary All-TimeTeam.

Personal life• Terry Bradshaw is a living legend. Not only is he a former

professional football quarterback, but he is also a singer, actor, TV personality and businessman. As a football player, he won 4 Super Bowl titles in a 6-year period, becoming the first quarterback to ever win 3 and 4 Super Bowls. His outstanding physical skills and of-the-field leadership contributed a lot to the successful history of his team, Pittsburgh Steelers. After retiring from professional football, Terry became a key media commentator on NFL football, having worked for both the CBS and FOX networks. As an actor, he has starred in productions such asCubed, Las Vegas, Robots, Malcolm in the Middle,The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Stockers, and many more.

• Enough about his career, though. I am sure that fans want to know more about Terry’s personal life. He was born on September 2, 1948, in Shreveport, Louisiana, to Bill and Novis Bradshaw. He attended Woodlawn High School, where he set a national record for throwing the javelin 245 ft. He then attended Louisiana Tech University, where he was spotted by numerous pro scouts. Most of them considered him to be the most outstanding college football player.

• Regarding his love life, know that Terry was married 3 times. First, he got married with former Miss Teen Age America Melissa Babish in 1972. Their marriage only lasted a year. Then, he married ice skater JoJo Starbuck in 1976. They remained married until 1983. That same year,Terry married Charlotte Hopkins. They have two daughters together: Rachel and Erin. This marriage also ended in divorce.

• After ending his professional career, Terry confessed that he had frequently experienced anxiety attacks after games. Those panic attacks worsened in the late 1990s, after he divorced for the third time. He even said that he could not bounce back. Additional symptoms included weight loss, sleeplessness, and frequent crying. Doctors diagnosed him with clinical depression and he has been on Paxil regularly ever since.

• Those anxiety attacks also prevented him from appearing in public, so he did not even attend the funeral of the team founder and owner Art Rooney. However, Terry Bradshaw managed to get back on track and he is in the limelight once again. Currently, he is a TV analyst and co-host of Fox NFL Sunday. Although he suffers from short-term memory loss, Terry Bradshaw expressed interest in performing on Dancing with the Stars, on the condition that Paula Deen also appear. Now that’s something we would all want to see!

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