Terry Bradshaw

At 76 years old, Terry Bradshaw has this physical status:

Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional footballer who played in the National Football League. (NFL) is a fan of football player Terry Paxton Bradshaw.

He has been a television sports analyst and co-co-host of Fox NFL Sunday since 1994.

Bradshaw has appeared in numerous television shows and films, most notably appearing in the film From Failure to Launch.

He spent 14 seasons with Pittsburgh, winning four Super Bowl titles in a six-year span (1974, 1975, 1978, and 1979), becoming the first quarterback to win three and four Super Bowls in a six-year span (1974, 1975, 1978, and 1979), leading the Steelers to eight AFC Central championships.

In 1989, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, his first year of eligibility.

In 1996, Bradshaw was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Bradshaw, a ferocious rival, is known for having one of the most explosive arms in NFL history.

Throughout his football career, he called his own plays as well.

The Pittsburgh Steelers' history was based on his physical abilities and on-the-field leadership.

He passed for more than 300 yards in a game only seven times, but three of those appearances came in the postseason, two of which were in Super Bowls.

He was an excellent in the Super Bowl and a career Super Bowl appearance, winning 932 yards and 9 touchdowns, both Super Bowl records at the time of his retirement.

He completed 261 passes for 3,833 yards in 19 post-season games.

Early years

Bradshaw was born in 1948 in Shreveport, Louisiana. William Marvin "Bill" Bradshaw (1927–2014), a native of Sparta, Tennessee, was a war veteran of the United States Navy, a former vice president of the Riley Beaird Company in Shreveport, and a Southern Baptist layman. Novis (née Gay; born 1929) was one of five children of Clifford and Lula Gay of Red River Parish, Louisiana. Gary, his older brother, and Craig, his younger brother.

The family lived in Camanche, Iowa, where he set out the desire to play professional football from an early age. Bradshaw and his family moved to Shreveport, Mexico, as a child. He attended Woodlawn High School and was a mentor under A. L. Williams, and the Knights advanced to the AAA state championship game in 1965, but losing 12-9 to the Sulphur Golden Tornadoes. While at Woodley, he set a national record for throwing the javelin at 245 feet (74.68 meters); his efforts earned him a spot in the Sports Illustrated feature Faces in the Crowd. Joe Ferguson of the Buffalo Bills, Bradshaw's replacement as Woodlawn's starting quarterback, was another future NFL standout. In a 1974 divisional playoff game, Bradshaw's Steelers defeated Ferguson's Bills.

Personal life

Bradshaw has been married four times. He was first married to Melissa Babish (Miss Teenage America, 1969), then to JoJo Starbuck, 1976-1999, with whom he had two children, Erin and Rachel. Erin Bradshaw is a champion Paint and American Quarter Horses and is a Honors graduate of the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. Rachel Bradshaw is a graduate of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and appeared in Nashville, Tennessee, a reality television series about young musicians trying to make it in Nashville, and she is the widow of former Tennessee Titans kicker Rob Bironas. Bradshaw's first three marriages have all ended in divorce, a topic he mocks often on his NFL pregame show. Bradshaw's sister of 15 years, Tammy, was married for the fourth time on July 8, 2014.

Bradshaw reported that he had often experienced anxiety attacks after games during his NFL career. Since his third divorce, the problem aggravated, and he said he "could not bounce back" as he had after the previous divorces or after a bad game. In addition to anxiety attacks, his signs included weight loss, frequent crying, and sleeplessness. He was diagnosed with clinical depression. Since then, he has used Paxil every day. He decided to speak out about his depression in an attempt to ban the stigma associated with it and encourage others to seek support.

Bradshaw's trepidation about appearing in public, far from the controlled atmosphere of a television studio, resulted in an unintentionally uncomfortable surprise by the Steelers. Bradshaw did not attend his funeral when team founder and owner Art Rooney died in 1988. Bradshaw made a point of saluting his late boss and companion a year later, pointing to the sky and saying, "Art Rooney... I love him."

Despite this, Bradshaw never returned to Three Rivers Stadium for a Steelers game. Bradshaw was with the Fox NFL Sunday crew on December 16, 2000, covering the game live. Bradshaw expressed regret that he couldn't be there but later said publicly that he did not think he would face the crowds. Bradshaw didn't make it to Pittsburgh until September 2002, when fellow Hall of Fame colleague and longtime friend Mike Webster died.

Bradshaw returned to the Steelers sideline for the first time in 20 years in October 2002 for a Monday night game between the Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts. Fox covered the game at Heinz Field in 2003, when the Steelers played the 1,000th game in franchise history, and Bradshaw returned to cover the game. In addition to appearing on the team's 75th anniversary celebrations, he was also on the sidelines with a number of his teammates, including Mean Joe Greene and Franco Harris, for the game against the Baltimore Ravens on November 5.

Bradshaw, a long-serving supporter of the Republican Party, has been a long-server of the Republican Party. He went on Fox News in 2012 supporting Newt Gingrich's nomination for the Republican presidential nomination. Terrell Suggs "better be cautious," he said in the same interview, adding that "before being honest," he'd be on his hands and knees tonight asking for forgiveness because that's completely intolerable."

Bradshaw has made a series of tweets criticizing former President Donald Trump of the United States Donald Trump. Bradshaw, who was not condoning NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, said, "If our country stands for something, it's freedom." People died for the freedom of the country. I'm not sure if our President understands those principles. That every American has the right to protest. These athletes, I'm sure, love our [this] great nation of ours. Personally, I think our President should concentrate on North Korea and healthcare rather than ripping into athletes and the NFL." Bradshaw expressed support for the Philadelphia Eagles after the Super Bowl LIII champions' trip was postponed due to Trump's antianthem protests, saying, "Trump just has to go somewhere and enjoy the money he's earned." Bradshaw appeared on Fox & Friends in 2019 and discussed Donald Trump's planned attendance of a regular-season game between the University of Alabama and Louisiana State University, expressing admiration for the fact that he supports Donald Trump "having the courage to go there."

Bradshaw revealed he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer and neck cancer between 2021 and 2022, after viewers became alarmed during his Fox NFL Sunday appearance.

Terry Bradshaw had no problems with the Rooney family, but he did have a tumultuous relationship with Steelers head coach Chuck Noll. During his playing days, Noll and Bradshaw had an unhappy relationship, with Bradshaw saying that Noll was too hard on him and never liked him. But the two made peace (at least publicly) before Noll's death in 2014.

Bradshaw, a writer who appeared on A Football Life in 2016, expressed concern that the two had too much of a culture clash with their personalities. Noll belittled him constantly and needed positive reinforcement rather than "being grabbed at," Bradshaw said. Former Steelers public relations director Joe Gordon characterized the animosity as "a one-way street," with former teammate Jack Ham adding that Noll "insulated" Bradshaw from certain topics while taking a "rest of us be damned" approach with the other players.

Noll portrayed his relationship with Bradshaw as "professional" and "business-like" and that his personality needed to match with the team, adding, "it worked, even though Bradshaw didn't like it." Despite being in Pittsburgh at the time, Bradshaw decided not to attend Noll's funeral.

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College career

Bradshaw decided to attend Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. He has a lot of affection for his alma mater and is a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. He came second on the depth chart at quarterback, behind Phil "Roxie" Robertson, who later became known as the developer of the Duck Commander duck call and television presenter on A&E's program Duck Dynasty.

Bradshaw caused a media blitz when he first landed at Tech in 1966, due to his fame as a football sensation from nearby Shreveport. Robertson came a year ahead of Bradshaw and was the starter for two seasons in 1966 and 1967 but did not play in 1968. "I'm going for the ducks, you [Terry] will go for the money," Robertson said.

Bradshaw was voted the best college football player in the country by the most prestigious scouts in 1969. He gained 2,890 total yards, ranked as No. 1 in the NCAA, during his time as a freshman, leading his team to a 9–2 record and a 33–13 victory over Akron in the Rice Bowl. He gained 2,314 yards, ranking third in the NCAA, and led his team to an 8–2 record in his senior season. His drop in output was largely due to his team's ten games last year, and his squad was forced to miss several games in the second half due to a lack of leads.

Bradshaw set all Louisiana Tech passing records at the time, beating them all the time. The American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award was given to Bradshaw in 1970. In 1984, he was inducted into the inaugural class of the Louisiana Tech sports hall of fame. He was inducted into the state of Louisiana's sports hall of fame four years ago.

NFL career

Bradshaw, the first overall pick in the 1970 NFL Draft, was the first overall pick selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had drawn the first pick in the draft after winning a coin flip tiebreaker with the Chicago Bears due to the teams having identical 1–13 records in 1969. Bradshaw was praised at the time as the consensus number one pick at the time.

Bradshaw made a name for himself in his second season after splitting time with Terry Hanratty in his rookie season. The 6'3", 215-pound quarterback was erratic and throw many interceptions (he threw 210 interceptions over the course of his career), and was chastised by the media for his rural roots and apparent lack of intelligence during his first two seasons.

Bradshaw took several seasons to adapt to the NFL, but the Steelers won eight AFC Central championships and four Super Bowl titles. The Pittsburgh Steelers featured the "Steel Curtain" defense and a solid running game led by Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, but Bradshaw's strong arm gave them the opportunity of the deep pass, helping to loosen opposition defenses. Franco Harris won the AFC Divisional playoffs in 1972, making it one of the most famous NFL plays in history.

Bradshaw was briefly laid off in 1974 by Joe Gilliam, but he was hired again during the regular season. Lynn Swann's fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Lynn Swann was the winning score in a 24-13 victory in 1974 AFC Championship Game against the Oakland Raiders. Bradshaw's 9 of 14 passes and his fourth-quarter touchdown pass brought the game out of reach for the Steelers' first Super Bowl IX victory over the Minnesota Vikings, who followed.

Bradshaw threw for 209 yards, the majority of which went to Swann, as the Steelers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 21–17. The late-fourth-quarter, 64-yard touchdown pass to Swann was released a split-second before defensive tackle Larry Cole flattened him, according to NFL Films as the "Best Throw of All Time."

Bradshaw had to miss four games due to neck and wrist injuries in 1976. He was impressive in a 40–14 victory over the Baltimore Colts, passing 14 of 18 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns, but the Steelers' hopes of a three-peat collapsed after both of their 1,000-yard rushers (Harris and Bleier) were injured in the game, and the Steelers lost 24-7 to the Oakland Colts. Jack Lambert said the 1976 Steelers squad was the best team he's ever played on, including the four Super Bowl teams of which he was a member.

Bradshaw had his best season since being named the NFL Most Valuable Player by the Associated Press in 1978, with a season in which he completed 207 of 368 passes for 2,915 yards and a league-leading 28 touchdown passes. Despite throwing 20 interceptions, he was also named All-Pro and All-AFC this year.

"He couldn't spell 'cat,'" Cowboys linebacker Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson mocked Bradshaw, the Steelers' rematch against the Cowboys, before Super Bowl XIII, where the 'c' and the 'a' were shown. Bradshaw earned the Most Valuable Player award, totaling 17 of 30 passes for a then-record 318 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-31 victory. Bradshaw has dismissed the ridicule in later years with quips like, "It's football, not rocket science."

In 1979, Bradshaw received his second straight Super Bowl MVP award. In a 31-19 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, he passed for 309 yards and two touchdowns. Bradshaw converted to the long pass early in the fourth quarter, with Pittsburgh down 19–17, allowing them to win by a 73-yard touchdown to John Stallworth. Bradshaw voted Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year award for the Pittsburgh Pirates' Willie Stargell, whose Pittsburgh Pirates won the 1979 World Series.

Bradshaw suffered through pain after two seasons of missing the playoffs, and he needed a cortisone shot before every game due to an elbow injury suffered during training camp—in a strike-shortened 1982 NFL season. With 17. He still tied for the most touchdown passes in the league, tying for the most touchdown passes. Bradshaw's last postseason game, he passed for 325 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in a 31-28 playoff loss to the San Diego Chargers.

Bradshaw missed the first 14 games of the 1983 NFL season after recovering from off-season elbow surgery (using the alias "Thomas Brady" (with the true Brady being six years old at the time). In the second quarter of the Steelers' 34–7 victory, then felt a pop in his elbow while tossing his final pass, a 10-yard touchdown to Calvin Sweeney. Bradshaw was forced to leave the game and never returned to play again until the saxo was over. Bradshaw threw in what was his last NFL game played in New York City to date) allowing him to finish his career with two more touchdowns (212) than interceptions (210).

Bradshaw's retirement came as a surprise to some, and on hindsight, it was unplanned on the Steelers' part. The Rooney family did not want Marino to face a lot of stress in his hometown before Bradshaw's elbow injuries, and the team decided to move to Bradshaw due in part to head coach Chuck Noll's decision to rebuild on defense, but the Rooney family does not want Marino to face a lot of pressure in his hometown and where Pitt is based, according to Bill Hillgrove. Instead, the Steelers drafted Marino, who suffered with alcohol in only six games before being admitted to quadriplegic, and Art Rooney's subsequent success with the Miami Dolphins prompted him to tell his sons daily until his death that the team "should've drafted Marino." The call also put the team back at quarterback; although the team eventually returned to being a Super Bowl contender after a rebuilding period in the mid-1980s, Ben Roethlisberger arrived in 2004.

Although Bradshaw's number 12 has not officially retired, the Steelers haven't reissued it since his release; it is expected that no Steeler will ever wear it again.

Television and film career

Bradshaw has appeared in a number of television commercials. Bradshaw appeared in a live TV from his Fox Sports co-host Curt Menefee's Tide detergent series, then he's it with Tide at the house of Jeffrey Tambor, where Bradshaw appears to be wearing a shirt stain on what looked to be live television from the Fox broadcast booth at Super Bowl LI. Tambor was first washing his clothes to Rob Gronkowski's dry cleaners, only to see the sleeves pulled out. Menefee spills coffee on his shirt at the end of the Super Bowl, but Tambor, who is watching TV, refuses to help out.

Bradshaw has appeared in many shows as himself, including Brotherly Love, Everybody Loves Raymond, Married... with Children, Modern Family, The Larry Sanders Show, and The League. He appeared on Malcolm in the Middle with Howie Long as the trash coach of a women's ice hockey team. Terry Bradshaw co-produced Home Team, a short-lived television series that appeared in 1997.

Bradshaw has appeared in numerous films, including a role in Burt Reynolds, Jan-Michael Vincent, and Sally Field, as well as in 1981's "Woobe" (which starred George Reynolds, Jan-Michael Vincent, and Sally Field), as well as a film version of The Cannonball Runway. In 1980, he appeared in Smokey and the Bandit II, which starred Burt Reynolds, Jerry Reed, and Sally Field. In 1994, he appeared in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., playing Colonel Forrest March, a rogue US Army officer who gave orders to his troops (played by NFL members Ken Norton, Jr., and Jim Harbaugh) in a huddle using football diagrams.

Bradshaw appeared on Jeff Foxworthy's short-lived sitcom The Jeff Foxworthy Show as a motivational speaker for people who want to change their lives. In his pregame warm-ups, Bill Engvall's character is influenced by Bradshaw's rantings about witchcraft and voodoo.

Bradshaw became the first NFL celebrity to do so on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 11, 2001 (Terry Crews came second).

Bradshaw returned to the silver screen in the 2006 motion picture Failure to Launch. Matthew McConaughey's mother played Kathy Bates and he portrayed his parents. He was nude in one of the film's most popular scenes until they saw the film's premiere with their grandmother and were half-heartedly warned by Bradshaw just moments before the performance.

Terry Bradshaw, Man of Steel, is also a devout Christian, and with broadcaster Dave Diles, he wrote the book Man of Steel. Bradshaw has been hosting television shows produced by United States Media Television since 2010.

Bradshaw played a key role in the NBC reality-travel series Better Late Than Never, where he travels around the world with William Shatner, Henry Winkler, George Foreman, and Jeff Dye. In 2017, he appeared in Father Figures as a fictionalized version of himself.

Bradshaw debuted as "Deer" in season one of The Masked Singer on January 16, 2019.

He appeared on the season-eight premiere of Last Man Standing on January 2, 2020.

Terry and her family were among the first to debut in the new E on September 17, 2020! The Bradshaw Bunch is a reality show on television.

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