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| Photo: U.S. Navy by journalist 1st Class Mark A. Rankin Public Domain |
My mom claims that I pointed to a Pittsburgh Steelers coat in a store when I was a little boy and told her that I wanted it. I don't remember that incident, but I do remember rooting for the Steelers in Super Bowl IX in January of 1975. I was eight years old at the time and all through my childhood I rooted for many of the same players: Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Rocky Bleier, Lynn Swann, Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Andy Russell, Mike Wagner, John Stallworth and many others.
Terry Bradshaw always stood out in my mind. The Steelers were a terrible team when they drafted him in 1970 out of Louisiana Tech, but before he finished his career in 1983, the Steelers won eight AFC Central championships and four Super Bowls. Certainly, the players I listed above, and many others, had much to do with the Steeler’s success. But without Bradshaw, I don’t think it would have happened. .
Looking back, Terry Bradshaw was a big part of my childhood and that’s one of the main reasons that he’s one of my favorite athletes. He was criticized for not being very bright, and as I got older, that always irritated me. But in the end, he got the last laugh. He left the game with a hand full of Super Bowl rings. Ridicule can do one of two things to a person. It can either cripple his or her desire to take risks, or it can motivate a person. Bradshaw was motivated by it.
He even branched out into music and acting. When I was young, maybe 10 or so, I went to see him sing. I went with a friend and his family. A few minutes before the concert started, we decided to try to get close to the stage so I could get Terry’s picture. We raced toward the front and I caught Terry just as he was about to go on-stage. I have no idea why I didn’t ask my friend to take a photo of Terry and I together. I just didn’t think of it.
Instead, I took a photo of Terry by himself—and just as I snapped the photo, a woman walked right into our path, so I jerked the camera to try to miss her, but I ended up cutting half of Terry out of the picture. The other half shows a huge beehive hairdo. I have no idea where that photo is, or I would post it here. I don’t remember anything else about his concert—other than the fact that he sang country music.
Whenever I see him today on an NFL pregame show or on the big screen, it brings back these and many other great great memories from my childhood.