When the 2006 NFL season kicked off Thursday night, it also marked the television debut of Jerome Bettis. When Bettis retired after the Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XL, it brought to a close an amazing a 13-year career in which he rushed for 13,662 yards, fifth on the league’s all-time list. Sitting on the NBC set last week, with highlights from the Steelers’ Super Bowl run blaring on the Heinz Field Jumbo-Tron, the Bus sent things into overdrive with some thoughts on his new endeavor.
Anthony Cotton: How many times have you seen these highlights?
Jerome Bettis: Ah, man, tons and tons of times. Whenever you look at a television or talk about football, inevitably you see the end of the season, the Super Bowl and the team that wins it. Now that I was on that team, it’s there a lot more than you normally would have thought of.
AC: Looking back on that night, what stands out in your mind?
JB: Kissing the (Vince Lombardi) trophy. Kissing that trophy – I had always seen players embrace that trophy – and to have the opportunity to have a moment with that trophy was very special.
AC: There are people in Denver who are upset that you got that chance. How confident were you guys heading into the AFC championship game?
JB: Obviously we didn’t know what would happen, but we were extremely confident. We felt good about our chances, we knew we were on a roll. We just needed to go out and not make mistakes. In our previous AFC championships, that’s what happened. It wasn’t that we weren’t playing well, it was that we made mistakes. We didn’t want to make any mistakes; we wanted to put the pressure on Denver and see if they would make the mistakes.
AC: Tell me about television.
JB: Television is different, it’s really different. It’s a lot more technical; football is football. I’ve been playing football for 20 years – I can talk about football. It’s the technical side of things. But the hardest part is the different standard I’m held to in Pittsburgh. If I make a comment about the Steelers, it’s gonna be perceived either as me taking a shot at them or me praising them. As an analyst, I talk about all 32 teams; unfortunately, in Pittsburgh, I’m held to a different standard. The fans think if I say something negative that I don’t love the Steelers and that’s not the case, I bleed black and gold, but I’m objective. The one thing I agreed to when I signed on for
this job was that I would be objective and call it as I saw it. And if the Steelers aren’t playing well, then I’m going to say that they aren’t playing well.
AC: So that was the cause of all the drama in the preseason, when you said you didn’t think Coach (Bill) Cowher would be coming back next year?
JB: Exactly. There was drama because the media here took it and blew it up when everyone around the country had been saying the same thing. It wasn’t that I came out and broke a story, I was probably the 35th guy to say it, but because I’m a former Steeler, it means more and is taken more seriously. You have to understand that.
AC: I would think it would be harder making your regular-season debut here, as opposed to Dallas or Chicago or anywhere else in the NFL.
JB: It is harder, in the sense that there are a lot of other things going on in my mind. When you do your first show, you want to have a clear mind. You want to be focused on what you’re doing, you want to be precise and concise about what you’re saying, you want to have a game plan. Here, there are so many things going on, so many people are around, that my focus isn’t entirely on the work. We’re doing pregame stuff, my former teammates are around, there’s the emotion of my not playing anymore and seeing the guys run out of the tunnel for the first time without me. There are a lot of feelings and thoughts running through my head. It’s definitely not the best game to start your career off with, but I’m up for the challenge.
AC: What’s the weirdest thing about really being retired?
JB: When I speak about the team, sometimes I say “we.” It’s not we, it’s “they.” It’s the Steelers, it’s not “us.” I catch myself saying us, saying we. I can’t do that. I’m not a part of the team anymore.
AC: When you came into the league, did you expect your career to play out the way it did?
JB: No way. No way. When I came into the league it was as a fullback. I expected to play four or five years, catch the ball, do a lot of blocking and eventually get some carries. And that would be that; I had no running the ball, getting into the Hall of Fame – who would have thought those would be considerations?
AC: So five years from now, are you giving a speech in Canton?
JB: I honestly can’t tell you that. I don’t know. Unfortunately, up until this point, my fate was in my hands and now it’s not. I can only hope that in five years, people will look back at my career and say that I changed the game, or had a major impact on the game. I changed the way running backs look – before me, there were no 260-pound guys. Hopefully they’ll feel I influenced the game in that big guys can have opportunities, that they can have longevity, they can be durable and reliable and be a big part of the offense. Hopefully, they’ll see that and maybe want to put me in there. But ultimately, it’s not my decision, so I can’t worry about it.
AC: You talk about not being in control of your fate. Is it a little scary now, wondering what’s out there?
JB: It is a little scary. All I can do is control what I do here, but television isn’t measured the way football is measured. Football is measured in X’s and O’s, stats and numbers, 100-yard games and touchdowns. Television isn’t measured by any of that; there’s some weird way. The stars have to align, all sort of things like that. So you don’t know how you’re being judged and how decisions are made. Ultimately your fate isn’t in your hands; you can’t train better – say, “I have to work on my stiff-arm.” You can do things to improve yourself, but it’s not in your hands.
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
