Howie Long

Long in December 2000.
No. 75
Defensive Tackle, Defensive End
Personal information
Date of birth: (1960-01-06) January 6, 1960 (age 52)
Place of birth: Charlestown, Massachusetts
Height: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Weight: 268 lb (122 kg)
Career information
College: Villanova
NFL Draft: 1981 / Round: 2 / Pick: 48
Debuted in 1981 for the Oakland Raiders
Last played in 1993 for the Los Angeles Raiders
Career history
Oakland / Los Angeles Raiders (1981-1993)
Career highlights and awards
Super Bowl champion (Super Bowl XVIII) 8× Pro Bowl selection (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1993) 3× First-team All-Pro selection (1983, 1984, 1985) 2× Second-team All-pro selection (1986, 1989) NFL 1980s All-Decade Team co-NEA NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1985) 2× NFL Alumni Defensive Lineman of the Year (1984, 1985) NFLPA AFC Defensive Lineman of the Year (1984)
Career NFL statistics
Sacks 91.5 Games 179 INT 2 Stats at NFL.com
Pro Football Hall of Fame

Howard "Howie" Matthew Moses Long (born January 6, 1960, in Charlestown, Massachusetts) is an American former National Football League defensive end and actor. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000. He is currently a studio analyst for Fox Network's NFL coverage.

Football career[link]

High school[link]

He attended Milford High School in Milford, Massachusetts, and is a member of the Milford Hall of Fame. Long was an all-around athlete, playing football (lettered three years and was named to the Scholastic Coach All-America team as a senior, though he never played football until age 15), basketball (lettered three years as a forward), and track (lettered three years, competing in the shot-put, discus and javelin). Long also set state records in both the shot put and discus.

College[link]

Long played college football and earned a degree in communications at Villanova University. He was a four-year letterman at Villanova and was selected to play in the Blue–Gray Football Classic and was named the MVP in 1980. As a freshman Long started every game and during that season he had 99 tackles. As a sophomore Long led Villanova in sacks with 5 and recorded 78 tackles. The next season, 1979, Long sustained a thigh injury and missed three games and ended the season with 45 tackles. As a senior Long again led the Wildcats in sacks with 4 and had 84 tackles. He began as a tight end but was moved to the defensive line playing mostly noseguard his first two seasons. After moving to defensive end he earned All-East honors and honorable mention All-American by his senior year.^[1] Long also boxed at Villanova and was the Northern Collegiate Heavyweight Boxing Champion.

NFL[link]

Drafted in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders, Long would play 13 seasons for the club wearing the number 75. His very rare combination of size, strength and quickness made him a fearsome force on the Raiders defensive line, earning eight Pro Bowl selections. Long had high aspirations early in his career. He told Football Digest in 1986 that he wanted "Financial security, and I want to be in the Hall of Fame...That's my goal...and I'd like to win a few more Super Bowls."^[2] Along the way, he was also named First-team All-Pro three times (in 1983, '84, and '85) and Second-team All-Pro twice (in 1986 and 1989). He was selected by John Madden to the All-Madden teams in 1984 and 1985 and was named to the 10th Anniversary All-Madden team in 1994.

Long was voted both the NFL Alumni Defensive Lineman of the Year and the NFLPA AFC Defensive Lineman of the Year in 1985. He capped off a stellar 1985 season earning the George S. Halas Trophy for having been voted the NEA's co-NFL Defensive Player of the Year (along with Andre Tippett). Additionally he was named the Seagrams' Seven Crown NFL Defensive Player of the year. The following year, 1986, Long was voted the Miller Lite NFL Defensive Lineman of the Year. (Both those awards were taken by polls of NFL players). In 1986 Long was voted to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl and was key in helping the Raiders record 63 sacks and being the number one defense in the AFC.^[3] From 1983-86 the Raiders defense recorded 249 sacks, which tied with the Chicago Bears for tops in the NFL over that span.

Long collected 91½ sacks during his career (7½ are not official, as sacks were not an official statistic during his rookie year).^[4] His career high was in 1983 with 13 sacks, including a career-high 5 against the Washington Redskins on October 2, 1983. He also intercepted 2 passes and recovered 10 fumbles during his 13-year career. At the time of his retirement, he was the last player still with the team who had been a Raider before the franchise moved to Los Angeles. He won the Super Bowl XVIII title as the left defensive end with the Raiders (1983 season), beating the Washington Redskins, as he outplayed the opposing offensive tackle, George Starke, and as the vaunted Redskin running game led by John Riggins had only 90 yards in 32 rush attempts. Long's signature defensive move was the "rip," which employed a quick, uppercut-like motion designed to break an opposing blocker's grip.

Pro Football Weekly (PFW) named Long as one of the ends on its All-time 3-4 defensive front, along with Lee Roy Selmon, Curley Culp, Lawrence Taylor, Andre Tippett, Randy Gradishar, and Harry Carson. PFW based its "Ultimate 3-4" team on the vote of over 40 former NFL players, coaches, and scouts.^[5]

After football[link]

After his retirement from the NFL following the 1993 season, Long pursued an acting career, focused mainly on action films including Firestorm, a 1998 film in which he starred. He also appears in the movie Broken Arrow alongside John Travolta. He played a minor role in the movie 3000 Miles to Graceland alongside Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell and Courteney Cox. Long appears in the Extended Version of That Thing You Do! as Mr. White's (Tom Hanks) "partner" Lloyd in the extended cut of the movie, released on DVD in 2007. Long's part was entirely cut from the theatrical release.^[6]

Long also made numerous cameo appearances on TV shows and commercials. Long was a spokesman for Radio Shack, making commercials with actress Teri Hatcher. He has also been featured in many other national commercials and advertising campaigns including those of Coors Light, Nike, Campbell's Chunky Soup, Hanes, Frito Lay, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Nabisco, Kraft, the Bud Bowl campaign, Honda and currently for Chevrolet.

In March, 1986, Long told Inside Sports, "When I'm finished playing, I'd like to stay in touch with football, through broadcasting. I'm qualified to give a certain perspective and I'm articulate enough to handle it."^[7] After his retirement, he began as a studio analyst for the Fox Network's NFL coverage where he often plays the "straight man" to the comic antics of co-host Terry Bradshaw as well as writing a column for Foxsports.com.^[8] In addition, he hosts an annual award show on Fox, Howie Long's Tough Guys, which honors the NFL players whom he deems the toughest and gives "the toughest" a Chevrolet truck. Long won a Sports Emmy Award in 1997 as "Outstanding Sports Personality/Analyst.".^[9] A reflection of Long's status as a pop-culture icon, MTV's Paul Gargano had an interview with Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford, and asked this question: "If you could sleep with anyone famous, who would it be?" Halford looked at Gargano and said, “Howie Long”.^[10] Howie always had a great fondness for Tony Vargas.

He is also the author of "Football for Dummies", a book to help average fans understand the basics of professional football; it is part of the "For Dummies" series by Wiley Publishing. He is an alumnus of, and volunteers his time for, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He was named Walter Camp Man of the Year in 2001 by the Walter Camp Foundation.

Family[link]

Long is a Roman Catholic.^[11] He has been married to Diane Addonizio since June 27, 1982, and they have three sons, Christopher (b. 28 March 1985), Kyle (b. 5 December 1988) and Howard Jr. (b. 1990). His oldest son Chris was drafted 2nd overall in the 2008 NFL Draft as a defensive end for the St. Louis Rams after a very successful career at the University of Virginia. Kyle Long has committed to play football at the University of Oregon in 2012.

Further reading[link]

• Long, Howie (2007) Football for Dummies, 3rd edition. New York: Wiley. ISBN 978-0-470-12536-6.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Howie Long - Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Howie Long Fan Page
• Howie Long at the Internet Movie Database
• Howie Long Hall of Fame article from Sports Illustrated
• Howie Long's column on Foxsports.com

Amy Trask (born 1961)^[1] is the current CEO of the Oakland Raiders, hired in 1997.^[2] Trask is currently the only female CEO in the NFL.^[3]

Trask grew up in the Brentwood district of Los Angeles and graduated from University of California, Berkeley in 1982 with a degree in political science and with a law degree from the USC Gould School of Law. She became a fan of the Oakland Raiders while attending Berkeley and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. While attending law school, Trask interned for the Raiders; the team was based in Los Angeles at that time.^[1]

References[link]

This article about a chief executive from the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Terry Bradshaw

Terry Bradshaw at the Pentagon.
No. 12
Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth: (1948-09-02) September 2, 1948 (age 63)
Place of birth: Shreveport, Louisiana
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Weight: 218 lb (99 kg)
Career information
College: Louisiana Tech
NFL Draft: 1970 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1
Debuted in 1970 for the Pittsburgh Steelers
Last played in 1983 for the Pittsburgh Steelers
Career history
Pittsburgh Steelers (1970–1983)
Career highlights and awards
Rated #50 NFL Player of all-time by NFL.com as of 2009 season 3× Pro Bowl selection (1975, 1978, 1979) 1× First-team All-Pro selection (1978) 1× Second-team All-Pro selection (1979) 4× Super Bowl champion (IX, X, XIII, XIV) 2× Super Bowl MVP (XIII, XIV) NFL 1970s All-Decade Team 1978 NFL MVP 1978 Bert Bell Award
Career NFL statistics as of 1983
TD-INT 212-210 Yards 27,989 QB Rating 70.9 Stats at NFL.com
Pro Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame

Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is a former American football quarterback with 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 (1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979), 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 post-season, 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.

Bradshaw is now suffering from short-term memory loss, which he attributes to his experiences as a pro football player.^[1][2]

High school and college[link]

Bradshaw was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, the second of three sons of Bill and Novis Bradshaw.^[3][4] He attended Woodlawn High School and led the Knights to the 1965 AAA High School Championship game where they lost to the Sulphur Tors 12-9. While at Woodlawn, he set a national record for throwing the javelin 245 feet. 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, whose Buffalo Bills Bradshaw's Steelers would defeat in a 1974 divisional playoff game.

Bradshaw decided to attend Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. He has much affinity for his alma mater. He is a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He was active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and spoke before many athletic banquets and other gatherings.^[5]

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. As quarterback, Bradshaw threw his passes principally to teammates Larry C. Brewer (1948–2003) of Minden, the offensive end, and Thomas Allen "Tommy" Spinks (1948–2007), the split end who had also been Bradshaw's Woodlawn High School teammate. As a result, Brewer and Spinks were recorded among the top pass receivers in Louisiana Tech history.

NFL career[link]

Bradshaw was the first player selected in the 1970 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers; the Steelers drew the first pick in the draft after winning a coin flip tiebreaker with the Chicago Bears due to both teams having identical 1-13 records in 1969.^[6] In either case, Bradshaw was hailed at the time as the consensus number one pick, regardless of which team drafted him.

Bradshaw became a starter in his second season after splitting time with Terry Hanratty in his rookie campaign. During his first several seasons, the 6'3", 215 lb. quarterback was erratic, threw many interceptions (he threw 210 interceptions over the course of his career) and was widely ridiculed by the media for his rural roots and perceived lack of intelligence.

It took Bradshaw a few seasons to adjust to the pro game but once he did, he eventually became the premier quarterback in the NFL, leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to eight AFC Central championships and an unprecedented collection of Super Bowl rings. The Pittsburgh Steelers featured the "Steel Curtain" defense and a powerful running attack led by Franco Harris, but Bradshaw's strong arm gave them the threat of the deep pass, helping to loosen opposing defenses. In 1972, he threw the pass leading to the "Immaculate Reception", among the most famous plays in NFL history.

Bradshaw temporarily lost the starting job to Joe Gilliam in 1974, but he took over again during the regular season. In the 1974 AFC Championship Game against the Oakland Raiders, his fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Lynn Swann proved to be the winning score in a 24-13 victory. In the Steelers’ 16-6 Super Bowl IX victory over the Minnesota Vikings that followed, Bradshaw completed 9 of 14 passes and his fourth-quarter touchdown pass put the game out of reach and helped take the Steelers to their first Super Bowl victory.

Bradshaw acknowledged in his first autobiography, Man of Steel, that by 1974, he felt as if he was bottoming out. His first marriage to Melissa Babich had failed, his shoulder had been injured, and he was often sullen and depressed. The turnaround came when, according to his memoir, Bradshaw, already a born-again Christian, had a revelation: "I had separated myself from God. I lived only for Terry Bradshaw, not for God. I tried to be one of the boys and went to every honky-tonk I could find and chased women and behaved in a way that was totally alien to anything I had ever known before … my whole life was out of control … I was trying to be someone else and was doing a rotten job of it."

What happened to Bradshaw amounted to a second "conversion" experience. "I just put my head in my hands and began to cry and tremble all over and finally I blurted out, 'Here I am, God. I've tried to handle it all by myself and I just can't get the job done. So I'm placing my life in Your hands. I need some peace of mind and I know You can give it to me.'" The quarterback recalls feeling suddenly "stronger mentally and physically.… Being a starting quarterback didn't matter.… What mattered was that I was myself again and I was determined to stay that way."

In Super Bowl X following the 1975 season, Bradshaw threw for 209 yards, most of them to Lynn Swann, as the Steelers beat the Dallas Cowboys, 21-17. His 64-yard touchdown pass to Swann (that travelled roughly 70 yards in the air)-- which was released a split-second before defensive tackle Larry Cole flattened him causing a serious concussion—late in the fourth quarter is considered one of the greatest passes in NFL history.

Neck and wrist injuries in 1976 forced Bradshaw to miss four games. He was sharp in a 40-14 victory over the Baltimore Colts, completing 14 of 18 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns, but the Steelers' hopes of a three-peat ended with a 24-7 loss to Oakland in the AFC Championship game.

Bradshaw had his finest season in 1978 when he was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player by the Associated Press after a season in which he completed 207 of 368 passes for 2,915 yards and a league-leading 28 touchdown passes. He was also named All-Pro and All-AFC that year, despite throwing 20 interceptions.

Before Super Bowl XIII, a Steelers-Cowboys rematch, Cowboys linebacker Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson famously ridiculed Bradshaw by saying, "He couldn't spell 'Cat' if you spotted him the 'c' and the 'a'." Bradshaw got his revenge by winning the Most Valuable Player award, completing 17 of 30 passes for a then-record 318 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-31 win. Years later, Henderson, who struggled for years to conquer drug addiction, admitted he was high on cocaine at the time of the interview. Bradshaw has in later years made light of the ridicule with quips such as "it's football, not rocket science."

Bradshaw won his second straight Super Bowl MVP in 1979 in Super Bowl XIV. He passed for 309 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 31-19 win over the Los Angeles Rams. Bradshaw also shared the Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsmen of the Year" award with Willie Stargell that season.

After two seasons of missing the playoffs, Bradshaw played through pain — he needed a cortisone shot before every game because of an elbow injury sustained during training camp — in a strike-shortened 1982 NFL season. He still managed to tie for the most touchdown passes in the league with 17. In a 31-28 playoff loss to the San Diego Chargers, Bradshaw's last postseason game, he completed 28-of-39 passes for 325 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

After undergoing offseason elbow surgery, Bradshaw was idle for the first 14 games of the 1983 NFL season. Then on December 10 against the New York Jets, he felt a pop in his elbow while throwing his final pass, a ten yard touchdown to Calvin Sweeney in the second quarter of the Steelers' 34-7 win. Bradshaw later left the game and never played again. The two touchdowns Bradshaw threw in what would be the final NFL game played at Shea Stadium (and the last NFL game in New York City to date) allowed him to finish his career with two more touchdowns (212) than interceptions (210) for his career. In his 14-season career, Bradshaw completed 2,025 of 3,901 passes for 27,989 yards and 212 touchdowns. He also rushed 444 times for 2,257 yards and 32 touchdowns. He was 107-51 as the starting quarterback and the Steelers reached the playoffs 10 times. His career postseason record as a starter was 14-5. He was also selected to play in three Pro Bowl games.

While the Steelers no longer officially retire uniform numbers (with the exception of Ernie Stautner's #70), they have not reissued Bradshaw's #12 since he retired, and it is generally understood that no Steeler will wear that number again.

In 1999, he was ranked number 44 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Bradshaw holds the record for most games with a QB rating of 0, with 3 games.

After football[link]

In July 1997, Bradshaw served as the presenter when Mike Webster, his center on the Steelers' four Super Bowl title teams, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

In 2006, despite the Steelers being one of the teams playing in the game, Bradshaw did not attend a pregame celebration for past Super Bowl MVP's during Super Bowl XL in Detroit, Michigan. According to reports, Bradshaw (along with three time MVP and close friend Joe Montana) requested a $100,000 guarantee for his appearance in the Super Bowl MVP Parade, and associated appearances. The NFL could not guarantee that they would make that much and refused. A representative for Bradshaw has since denied this report. After an appearance on The Tonight Show (February 6, 2006) Bradshaw stated that the reason why he did not attend the MVP parade was because he was spending time with family, that he hates the crowds and the Super Bowl media circus, and also that the only way he would attend a Super Bowl is when Fox is broadcasting the game (it was ABC who broadcasted Super Bowl XL), though Bradshaw attended several press conferences in Detroit days earlier. Bradshaw also stated that money was not an issue.

In April 2006, Bradshaw donated his four Super Bowl rings, College Football Hall of Fame ring, Pro Football Hall of Fame ring, Hall of Fame bust, four miniature replica Super Bowl trophies, and a helmet and jersey from one of his Super Bowl victories to his alma mater, Louisiana Tech.

Broadcasting career[link]

Bradshaw retired from football in 1983, and quickly signed a television contract with CBS to become an NFL game analyst in 1984, where he and play-by-play announcer Verne Lundquist had the top rated programs. Prior to his full-time work for them, he served as a guest commentator for CBS Sports' NFC postseason broadcasts from 1980–82.

Bradshaw was promoted into television studio analyst for The NFL Today in 1990 (which he hosted with Greg Gumbel through the 1993 season), and Fox NFL Sunday, where he normally acts as a comic foil to his co-hosts. On Fox NFL Sunday he hosts two semi-regular features, Ten Yards with TB, where he fires random questions at an NFL pro, and The Terry Awards, an annual comedic award show about the NFL season. He appeared on the first broadcast of NASCAR on FOX where he took a ride with Dale Earnhardt at Daytona International Speedway.

On June 19, 2008, Terry Bradshaw revealed on The Dan Patrick Show that he took therapeutic corticosteroid steroid injections, per his doctors' orders, during the 1970s to "speed healing." Corticosteroids, which are different from anabolic steroids and are used to reduce inflammation, are not banned from the NFL.^[7]

Bradshaw has the reputation of being the "ol' redneck," but, in co-host and former NFL coach Jimmy Johnson's words, the act is a "schtick."^[8] According to Johnson, Bradshaw deflects such criticism by stating that "he's so dumb that he has to have somebody else fly his private plane."^[8]

Bradshaw has also garnered the reputation for criticizing players and teams.^[9] Following Super Bowl XLVI he was confronted by Ann Mara, wife of the late Wellington Mara, and "heckled" for not picking the Giants to win on Fox NFL Sunday.^[10]

Business career[link]

During Bradshaw's early part of his career with the Steelers, he was a used car salesman during the offseason to supplement his income, as this was still during the days when most NFL players didn't make enough money to focus solely on football.^[11][12]

In the late 1970s/early 1980s, Terry Bradshaw Peanut Butter was introduced with Bradshaw's likeness on the jar.

Bradshaw has also written or co-written five books and recorded six albums of country/western and gospel music. His cover of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" hit Top 20 on Billboard's country chart (and #91 on the Hot 100) in 1976; two other tunes ("The Last Word In Lonesome Is Me" and "Until You") also made the country charts.^[13]

In 2001, Bradshaw entered the world of NASCAR by joining with HighLine Performance Group racing team to form FitzBradshaw Racing. He also is the spokesman for Jani-King international, Inc.

At the NASCAR 2001 Speedweeks, Bradshaw did a variety of on air trackside spoofs for Fox who was covering the Speedweeks and that year's first race, the Daytona 500. On the night of February 17, 2001, the night before the race, Bradshaw and Dale Earnhardt (Sr.) did a spoof for Fox-TV in which Earnhardt raced around Daytona International Speedway in a pace car with Bradshaw as a passenger, going at max 150 mph, scaring Bradshaw in a laughing way. The spoof finished with Earnhardt doing burnouts on pit road, and the two jumping on top of the car, as if they had won. Earnhardt also visited with Bradshaw's family. Little did either know that it would be Earnhardt's last night, as the next day on February 18, 2001, Earnhardt would be killed in a last lap crash at the Daytona 500. Bradshaw was the honorary starter for that race.

In November 2005, Bradshaw announced that he and a group of investors from Louisiana were interested in buying the New Orleans Saints. The Saints, who had been forced out of the Louisiana Superdome for the 2005 season by Hurricane Katrina, were operating out of San Antonio, Texas, and had to play most of their 2005 home games at the Alamodome there and at LSU's Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. Several actions and statements by Saints owner Tom Benson and several San Antonio and Texas officials fueled speculation that Benson wanted to move the team to San Antonio permanently. While the NFL opposed a move to San Antonio, there were rumors that they may allow the team to move to Los Angeles, which has been without an NFL team since 1995. Bradshaw, a Louisiana native, said that he did not want his home state to lose the Saints because of Katrina, and was willing to purchase the team to see to it that that would not happen. However, his plans fell through, as Benson was unwilling to sell the team. Despite Bradshaw's failed attempts to buy the team, the Saints ultimately remained in New Orleans and have been a key contributor in rebuilding New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

In August 2007, Bradshaw was announced as a co-owner and spokesperson for Pay the Fan,^[14] a fantasy sports football and racing site.

Among U.S. consumers, Bradshaw remains one of pro football's most popular retired players. As of September 2007, Bradshaw was the top-ranked former pro football player in the Davie-Brown Index (DBI), which surveys consumers to determine a celebrity's appeal and trust levels.^[15]

On November 5, 2007 during a nationally-televised Monday Night Football game, Bradshaw joined former teammates including Franco Harris and Joe Greene to accept their position on the Pittsburgh Steelers 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Personal life[link]

Bradshaw has been married three times. He was married to Melissa Babish (former Miss Teen Age America of 1969)^[16] from 1972–73; to ice skater JoJo Starbuck from 1976–83; and from 1983–99, to Charlotte Hopkins, who is the mother of his two daughters, Rachel and Erin. His daughter Erin shows horses. His daughter Rachel is a graduate of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee and had appeared on Nashville, a reality show about musicians trying to make it in Nashville. All three of Bradshaw's marriages have ended in divorce, a subject he ridicules frequently on his pre-game show. For example, on October 2, 2005, he began a Ten Yards with TB piece on the Eagles' Jeremiah Trotter by discussing Trotter's ejection from a game prior to the kickoff and joking, "Nobody's been thrown out of a house that quickly since my last divorce." Also, on October 5, 2008, he compared the relationship between new Washington Redskins head coach Jim Zorn and starting quarterback Jason Campbell to a good marriage. Jimmy Johnson immediately joked, "What would you know about a good marriage?"

After his NFL career ended, Bradshaw disclosed that he had frequently experienced anxiety attacks after games. The problem worsened in the late 1990s after his third divorce, when 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 symptoms included weight loss, frequent crying, and sleeplessness. He was diagnosed with clinical depression. Since then he has taken Paxil regularly. He chose to speak out about his depression to overcome the stigma associated with it and to urge others to seek help.^[17]

Bradshaw's anxieties about appearing in public, away from the controlled environment of a television studio, led to an unintentional estrangement from the Steelers. When team founder and owner Art Rooney died in 1988, Bradshaw did not attend his funeral. A year later, during his Hall of Fame induction speech, Bradshaw made a point of saluting his late boss and friend, pointing to the sky and saying, "Art Rooney... boy, I tell you, I loved that man."

Still, Bradshaw never returned to Three Rivers Stadium for a Steelers game. When the last regular-season game was played there on December 16, 2000, Bradshaw was with the Fox NFL Sunday crew, doing their pregame show aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, while Fox covered the game live. Bradshaw expressed regret that he could not be there, but would later say privately that he did not feel he could face the crowds. It would not be until September 2002 when fellow Hall of Fame teammate and longtime friend Mike Webster died that Bradshaw finally returned to Pittsburgh to attend his friend's funeral.

In October 2002, Bradshaw returned to the Steelers sideline for the first time in 20 years for a Monday night game between the Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts. In 2003, when the Steelers played the 1,000th game in franchise history, Fox covered the game at Heinz Field, and Bradshaw returned to cover the game. In addition to appearing to take his position on the Steelers All-Time Team in 2007 as part of the team's 75th anniversary festivities, he also was on the sideline for the 2007 home opener, where the Steelers earned their 500th regular season win.

Politically, Bradshaw is a long-time supporter of the Republican Party.^[18] In 2012, he went on record on Fox News as supporting the candidacy of Newt Gingrich for the Republican Presidential Nomination.^[19] In the same interview, he also labeled linebacker Terrell Suggs "an idiot" for making comments critical of Denver quarterback Tim Tebow's public displays Christianity, saying Suggs "better be careful; if I were him I’d be on my hands and knees tonight asking for forgiveness because that’s totally unacceptable." ^[19]

Bradshaw has said he is interested in performing on Dancing with the Stars, on the condition that Paula Deen also appear.^[20]

Acting[link]

He has appeared in numerous television commercials, including a 2004 Radio Shack ad and 2012 NutriSystem ads boasting he lost 32 pounds. Bradshaw also had cameo appearances in many shows as himself, including Everybody Loves Raymond, Married... with Children and The League; He also appeared on Malcolm in the Middle with Howie Long as the trashy coach of a women's ice hockey team. He hosted a short-lived television series in 1997 called Home Team with Terry Bradshaw.

In addition to his television work, Bradshaw has appeared in several movies, including a part in the 1978 film Hooper which starred Burt Reynolds, Jan-Michael Vincent, and Sally Field, and 1981's appearance in The Cannonball Run. In 1980, he had a cameo in Smokey and the Bandit II which starred Burt Reynolds, Jerry Reed, and Sally Field. He made a guest appearance in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. in 1994, playing Colonel Forrest March, a rogue U.S. Army officer who gave orders to his squad (played by NFL members Ken Norton, Jr., Carl Banks 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 needing to change their life. Bill Engvall's character is affected by Bradshaw's ranting speakings of witchcraft and voodooo in his pre-game warm-ups.

On October 11, 2001, Bradshaw received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the first and only NFL player (as of May 31, 2008) to do so.^[21][22]

In 2006, Bradshaw returned to the silver screen in the motion picture Failure to Launch. He and Kathy Bates played the parents of Matthew McConaughey's character. In one notable scene he appeared nude, a move which Jay Leno spent an entire segment mocking during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He mentioned on May 23, 2008, on The Tonight Show that he has been a guest 37 times, and that 34 of them were on a Friday, which happens to be the lowest watched night of television. He pleasantly joked with Jay about being a 'filler' guest. He made a similar reference in an appearance on March 15, 2010, stating he was asked to guest because of a cancellation. Jay stated that at least he wasn't appearing on Friday, which hosts the more famous celebrity guests. He is also a devout Christian and wrote the book Terry Bradshaw: Man of Steel. In 2009 he was featured in a New Yorker magazine piece that satirized the recent scandal over a fake Holocaust memoir written by Herman Rosenblat.^[23] Since 2010 Terry Bradshaw has been hosting television shows produced by United States Media Television. He is currently host of Today in America with Terry Bradshaw, a cable television show that features information on new trends in business and lifestyles.

Passing stats[link]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

See also[link]

• Most consecutive playoff games with at least two touchdown passes (NFL)
• Most wins by a starting quarterback (NFL)

American football portal

References[link]