A Football Life Jerome Bettis

started to take shape as far as the expression wise they weren't you leaning towards some leaning taught me to be there or want to bite someone's head off no happy beer okay we're happy to be here in space okay hello this smile that looks really good feast a little bit there that would be a Tavi coming down yeah I could be okay the face will be what tells the story how long after I'm gone you want to make sure you get the face right so that the story is more accurate a last game I ever played right in here mm-hmm by different quiet here Wow it's pretty cool I'll never forget just taking it all in and watching everything and that's when it all hit me this is it this is the Super Bowl [Music] and I was in my hometown who's special in special [Applause] [Music] Jerome Bettis is football life ended where it began in Detroit Michigan but in many ways the bus never left home family was the foundation throughout his career before every game I always know where my mom and dad once I found him you know I give him that chest pump that's just because they were so much a part of my football life they came to every single game that I play whatever he did we did if it was three degrees below zero and he was playing we were sitting there froze solid watching him play in Pittsburgh Vettes found a second home and became the patriarch to a new generation of steels [Applause] we were just so close as a family in him being the big brother to the whole group I followed everything you told me he was a mentor to me from the word go The Blueprint you gave me was for real and I love you for that you talk about the family I think it starts from mom avetis you're a mom to all of us teammates you welcome us all to your home you're in our hometown we're gonna take care of you we're gonna feed the guys that's just who they are is all about family and it's all about kind of taking care of your people I take things that I've learned as a leader from him and tried to do the same thing that he did with me and with young guys with our young guys that I've had he represented everything I believed in in the game of football there's no question he's held as a standard that a lot of our players look to when they want to try to understand what it is to be a Steeler he is the personification of Steeler football today Steeler they look up to him in the way that he looked up to Joe green we think it fits burstiness you think it's run game and we take a run game obviously he's wrong bit pops in your head you know your money phone call away he brought back the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers and continued that bruising style of plates [Applause] he's one of the greatest hurt limping whatever it was it seems gonna give you everything you had when I think of all the famous his people like him who gave her they all please understand that this night it's not about me it's about all those were impacted my life the extended Bettis family now includes those enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and every kid from Detroit who one day hopes to get there you guys need to understand that these decisions in life can change your life it can impact your life it can derail you from all your dreams no one knows that better than Jerome Bettis the player who ended his career a hometown hero almost never made it out of Detroit I want to take you on a bus ride that started at 103 8:4 Aurora in Detroit Michigan and has ended up at George Halas Drive [ __ ] ball Olyphant he deserves to be in a Hall of Fame he's a good individual he's a great athlete I wish everybody could be lagged your own Bettis I sat in the same seat that you guys are sitting there right now my philosophy was I came from the streets of Detroit I'm not going back so I'm gonna do whatever it takes for me to be successful I didn't start playing football until my freshman year of high school I was sitting one day at my desk doing some paperwork and I heard a knock on the door coach my name is Jerome Bettis and I want to play football for you I thought his kid looked like a a black Superman Dosher says he lifts his head up and he saw this big strapping boy and my reply to his question was hell yes son you can play for me [Music] as soon as Jerome Bettis stepped on a football field he felt at home [Music] I was the number-one fullback in the country and I was a number-two linebacker I was a better linebacker in high school than I was a running back [Music] please take time to view this highlight film that I put together for you and he very waiting my players six feet 235 pound fullback linebacker runs a 4.5 40 he is a 3.5 grade point average student Bettis was beginning a path that would lead to football immortality but he almost strayed in a much different direction I got a report said coach Jerome is trying to sell drugs swimmy and natural drugs were all over is very prevalent in my neighborhood some of my friends we had an opportunity to now sell drugs the guys he was hanging around we were killers I told him you want money you're gonna be an instant millionaire if you go to the pros so I called his mother up explained what was happening he said you have a million-dollar baby he's about to make a mistake and ruin his career my husband and I we instilled that in those kids right and wrong and that's something that you don't do I talked her I was blue in the face and my god it worked it worked he stopped and he I guess he knew was wrong I don't know I don't know but it worked it kind of struck a nerve to the point where I said okay well I am going to to stop I'm gonna give it all up and I'm going to pursue the bar as a dream when my father sent me off to college told me one thing is it son sending you off to school I don't have much to give but I have a good name so don't mess it up [Applause] well then Alchemy's cry [Music] [Applause] [Music] let's talk about watching your son become a football star at Notre Dame what was that like it was incredible in his first year as the starting fullback at Notre Dame Jerome Bettis had 20 touchdowns a single-season school record that still stands [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I was the announcer at Notre Dame when he was in college when you saw this guy touch the ball you just kept thinking that's not possible something that big can't move that fast with those kind of moves Jerome was fun believe me could not stop him I knew he was first-round draft pick the Los Angeles Rams select Jerome Bettis running back I wanted the right team for me Chuck Knox was the head coach he had a reputation for running they caught him ground shut because he loved to run the football he envisioned me as a tailback not as a fullback and I think that decision changed my life the 10th overall pick ran for over 1,400 yards in 1993 second-most in the NFL and was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year which back to Menace parents and right let us catch up to the 35 to the 35 owners meeting the 40 45 50 you scored a hundred and ninety seven touchdowns last year and rushed for what was at seven thousand eight hundred and forty six yard wish hops on the old time way to go I get the first year it was like a whirlwind for him he's throwing himself into the LA party singing I hadn't really been into you know parties and clubs and all this and so now all of a sudden you know I'm the talk of town I'm the big guy on campus so to speak and we went to Prince's Club and Kareem abdul-jabbar came up to him and I'm just like like wow I seen your heart Eddie Murphy magazines and I'm saying to myself you've got to be kidding me he was big-time in California and I'm thinking he just need to be out there I said he's gonna get caught up in these drugs and all this drinking and the women of course he loved women and he's a good-looking guy and the women loves him so I'm thinking this is not good I said Jerome you need to come home mom yeah it was like discouraging Here I am the NFL's you know Rookie of the Year and I'm back home in Detroit in my room taking out the garbage and he take out the trash I throw take out the trash you know just just I told mom and dad said we got to talk about this girls in my room thing because they always said at our house no girls in the bedroom and I'm saying wait a second I bought this house we got to talk about that rule we have some we have some issues we had to iron out the bus was beginning to get in gear but the Rams still finished with double digit losses in each of Medicine's first two seasons coming from med school where we won ninety percent of the time it was eye-opening like wait a minute that we're we suck as the Rams moved to st. Louis in 1995 they fired Chuck Knox new head coach Rich Brooks began his tenure without his star running back tried to convince him to come in but his agent and he decided they wanted the new contract I felt as though I had outperform my rookie contract two years two thousand yard seasons two Pro bows still in a rookie contract Bettis never did get an extension and in the 1995 season opener he ran for only four yards I called him on Monday and said girl I don't know why he didn't go to the game but somebody did wore your jersey in your number I know you'd never play like that but I'd find out whose impersonate you and I'd stop it because I think he's hurting your reputation I having the phone up never gave him chance say it work I wasn't the same football player that left Notre Dame because here was a player I was pretty selfish because of how the game it changed me in that we weren't having a team success so I was more interested now in the individual success by the end of the year the Rams former workhorse was phased out of the offense averaging six carries over the final six games we didn't run it as much as they had run it under Chuck Knox so maybe you know maybe it was a not not a great fit I don't know once again it was time for a return to Detroit Geron came home he was thinking about not going back getting out of football he said I'm going back to school and I make sure I had my degree because I don't think football is going to be it for me a lot of the losing was being lumped on my back as being my fault I had made the decision in my head that I was not going to play for Rich Brooks period I did tell him that I thought he ought to lose a little weight and get in a little better shape dispel the bad rumors your physical condition right now tell me about it I'm in great shape I don't know where the rumors came from but I'm in great shape Jerome Bettis he got into Rich Brooks dog house and he's not getting out the only way he gets out of his dog house is if he gets out of town at the 1996 draft st. Louis selected Lawrence Phillips in the first round and traded Bettis to Pittsburgh we find out rich Brooks was putting Drone bonus on the trade block I said wow this is a great match he just was a natural in our offense we also played the Rams that first year this was personal to him in that game I got a chance to kind of write some of the wrongs that was said about me and [Applause] one thing that was said about me was that I wasn't a game changer and so I broke a 50-yard run and kind of change the game Jerome Bettis to his former head your expert Jerome had well over hundred yards very early in the third quarter two touchdowns and I took him out he was trying very very hard to get back into the game becoming a pain in the ass I'm gonna get back on the phone is your dad here today you don't need to talk to her out to this game no I'm talking to your mom and dad afterwards mister this is best I need to see me it's like a parent-teacher conference I know it's meant a lot to hear what they did why we did the way we good it was special it was special because I got a chance to to get that vindication I kind of look at it like I probably helped him get into the NFL Hall of Fame by doing that trade because if he just stayed in st. Louis I'm not sure those same numbers and those things would have happened keep your ass here for a while - yeah yeah I got - you gotta give me I won't retire [Applause] [Music] Jerome is very competitive here we go whether it's the golf course or it's bowling our very first date in Pittsburgh we were holding hands in the car and I felt his thumb on top of my thumb and I thought that's strange so I moved my thumb again and his thumb went back on top and I thought this is so odd he thought I was having a thumb war with him but more importantly he was holding my thumb down I'm like this is our first date in this city and we're doing some more when I wasn't so drove his competitive period it doesn't matter the setting whoo and he likes to brag when he wins oh he does this crazy ninja dance that you know it's his thing and he starts kicking and hitting and you know makes it and then he chops us all up you know in the process and it's like his victory dance if I don't get on I'll give you five bucks a piece five bucks apiece the bus I was gonna say that but yeah this was why did he call him that because he's so Bank any runs over people like a bus he ran from anybody in his way when I came to Pittsburgh I think my uncle said he kind of looks like the bus top boss and then that was it shakes him up from the Buffalo 43 here comes the bus he's got that Santa Steve [Music] I mean he got me fired up when he would make runs um it got me excited I probably at times was living through him I called him a bully at times you know because he ran over over you know so many little guys Phoebe sometimes linebackers [Music] I'm thinking to myself don't you know that someone else's child that you're treating like that yeah who do you think you are I'm just glad you're on my team him JB is like hitting a tree stop and you hear them he just sold solid and low to the ground that is up and it's like schools okay every game JV was coming his size was one thing but the way he played you would think he was a scat back you're the best feat for a big man that I've ever seen he could jump cut in a hole but at the same time he's doing at 240 turn 45 pounds the quick feed is hereditary gyro better show bro sighs I'm kind of quick I'm just kind of quick in his ten seasons in Pittsburgh the bus made very few stops [Music] they didn't have great quarterbacks in those days I mean Kordell Stewart had his moments but they had Mike Tom Zack they had 10th cram they had Tommy Mannix so he was it I mean everybody knew it Jerome was getting the ball and he still couldn't stop he still get 1400 to 1600 yards Jerome Bettis ran for over 1,000 yards in six straight seasons the six-time Pro Bowler would finish his career as the fifth leading rusher in NFL history he still ranked sixth on the all-time list like his feet his mouth never seemed to stop running I'm talking about he got him to crazy laughing I hate cracking me up who's ever been alone day for somebody blocks Bettis usually had no problem being heard we'll have a toss to determine who receives but on a Thanksgiving Day in his hometown he didn't come through loud and clear call it plays name he said heads tails Bettis has always hated to lose at anything whether it's coin flips or thumb wars yet for most of his career this ultimate competitor couldn't obtain the ultimate prize work I've had a lot of individual success but for me the only thing that drives me now is a championship and that's the one thing that's eluded me all these years and to complete that journey that's the ultimate goal for me Bettis had been closed only to come up painfully short enduring home losses in the 1997 and 2001 AFC championship games I'm not getting any younger I'm saying to myself man these opportunities don't come every day so it really hurt it was just so hard for us you know because I could feel his pain and on everything just despair with him and that's when I realized Durant's got to get to a Super Bowl [Music] [Applause] yeah yeah yeah I got chills right now boy got me thinking Ray Lewis ah here so where Jerome Bettis has always known how to reach an audience person whether he is giving back to youth football camps in Detroit or promoting summer jobs programs throughout Pittsburgh right now you get an opportunity to make some money put money away if you choose to bank account you know check you know checking account all those kind of things mentorship is nothing new to Bettis it was the big brother that I never had he's the guy that when I came into the league kind of took me under his wing and was teaching me what it takes to be a leader you can't be cliquish you know you can't just hang out with all the black players at a table you know Darren Lions go sit with the white guys go sit with the special teams go sit with the the placekicker to holder the the the free agents you know the practice squad guys that's what rome told me Bettis even welcomed those who could have taken his job [Applause] acts like Richard Huntley Amos Zahra way do Staley and Willie Parker I'm just undrafted free agent so when I met him I just thought he was just gonna look at me as like he's gonna be going like he's just so jersey number but he put value in just from the start he made me believe he made me think I belong and that's strong Jerome Bettis was selfless Jerome Bettis took the West money drunk best took less of a role late in his career was almost like the lesser role we accepted the bigger the role he had in our team in terms of leadership well never forget the first day I was here and I was walking in he was walking out and I saw him coming I was I called the cows Jerome Bettis you know you go excited as a young guy he walked right up to me he's like Ben welcome he opens my notebooks I got both hands full he writes Jerome on it and he writes his number and he says anything I can ever help you with I'm here for you don't hesitate to call and to me that meant a lot coming from a guy like Jerome beautiful thing about this it's just that's what's up in 2004 the rookie quarterback and the 12th year runner carried the Steelers to a 15 in one record and with another home championship game Venice was again on the doorstep of his first Super Bowl he's gonna walk home burn away for a touchdown game is over and I'm pretty sure that I'm retiring tears start kind of come down a little bit because I know it's over and I haven't reached the goal to be a champion so Dan comes over you know I just felt like I let him down and so I told him in a lapse of judgment of mine I said if you come back I promise I'll win your Super Bowl and I'm thinking myself this rookie quarterback I'm like man whatever and so I dressed the team the next day and I thanked him for being incredible teammates and that you know that was it that was my last game [Music] it's got like drill bit she does so much for me as a player first hers first what Rory wants to come back to competitor took it better than me to come back and say it's a job of finished [Music] the competitor was intrigued that the next Super Bowl would be in his hometown of Detroit and inspired by the birth of his first child my daughter Jada their baby you changed my life when you came into this world because you came in as a premium not knowing whether you would live or die you show me what fight really was you convinced me I needed to come back for another year and I needed to fight for a chance to win a championship so baby Thank You Jay [Music] the new dad missed the start of 2005 with an injury and a three-game midseason losing streak left the seven and five Steelers on the brink of playoff elimination [Music] [Applause] that is delivered with two touchdowns and the final 100-yard game of his career in that one place it was him and her laughs it was just one on one and I swear they're like you know how he watch those cartoons and that looked like just shining y'all too or you in a movie or opera or any kind of play and it's you in him [Music] [Music] what the bus told [Music] the win over Chicago began a historic run for Bettis and the Steelers no number six seed had ever won three Road playoff games and the Super Bowl your bus was flying I'm telling you he flew over [Applause] his mom and dad celebrating Steelers football Johnny and Gladys Bettis prepared to watch their son's seal a huge upset over the top seeded Colts we got the ball maybe on three or four yard line and goal line off his goals in it's like okay here we go that was one of my strengths to be a closer to close the games out [Applause] this is like bull and I'm looking up I see and I'm like [Music] I remember thing myself like that can't beat your own class play like there's no way the Hall of Fame player and person he is he can't go down like this this can't be the lasting memory of him and the next thought my mind was okay just find a way to get this guy on the ground that's what he meant to me and meant to play anybody has ever been around being Roethlisberger brother without you saving that tackle I still might be on the doorsteps brother I owe you for life and now the field-goal unit is on with 21 seconds left [Music] Jerome once Bettis and the steelers had survived indianapolis there was no stopping the bus ride to detroit [Music] [Applause] he would turn around he would look up at us he said we can walk home [Music] a halt to the game we're going home and we're like yes baby come on home and it became a reality [Music] yeah good to be back good to be back for Superbowl 40-0 Bettis had made it home and from the time the Steelers arrived in Detroit wearing his college jersey Bettis was the toast of the town was it this key to our city for mr. Jerome Bettis the Bettis family was also in the spotlight hosting a team dinner during the week it's getting to be a habit now tradition this is about to be my last game on plan with him so how do you pay a guy back for everything that he gave you over the last eight or nine years so I said bust you go ahead and run out will come behind you you just take us out on the field we'll come right behind you and I'm thinking all right well I'm just going he said let's go and we are gonna go but is he ran out he thought we were running with him I'm back there hold everybody I'm thinking the teams come with me and I'm looking back where is throughout Super Bowl week lettuce had been the star attraction but on game day he took a supporting role behind new feature back Willie Parker you don't go in you see them they were all in that I had talked to Willie about running this particular play and I wanted him to really think inside and not think outside come in you're not gonna get outside of something so you got it you see him stick him out by the side I always listen to him I I did it man and I kind of ducked outside and came back inside full speed I only seen like green grass [Music] Jevon man he drilled that play man and I owe that record to him what he done for me that game but he done for me for my whole career to that point right it meant everything to me this is your land stop I don't know what are they which ain't much and that's on the real for years the entire Bettis family had waited for a championship now the time had come for Jerome to close it out I don't care [Applause] coming home this is the end of the clue [Music] then he had told me a year earlier you know I promise you I'm going to get you to the championship so it was about right here [Music] Thank You coach is this the last stop for the bus I played this game where the championship I'm a champion and I think the bus is the last stop was here in Detroit storybook it was like Benitez ended the year before we've got our beautiful daughter and that gave him a resurgence and now here he is holding her in one hand and a Super Bowl trophy in the other I just had tears coming I was just so happy you said mom we did it we did it I said son we are the champion mom we the champs of world I said baby yes we are to win that game and to see my family it was really a culmination of not only my journey but their journey as well they went to every game so they had seen all the successes they saw all the failures so it was really a family experience I want a championship but we all want that you had been show Johnny Bettis the 61 year old father of former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis has passed away that has apparently suffered a heart attack while driving near his home in West Bloomfield Michigan our thoughts and prayers go out to the Bettis family that hit me like a ton of bricks to lose my father to not be able to spend any more time with them to tell him that I love them it was you know that was rough it was my dad was my hero he was my biggest fan this is tough here he taught me how to be a man a little over a year ago we found out that my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and it scared and changed all of our lives but in that moment I realized where my toughness or my strength really came from because she handled it like a champion so mom thank you for being a role model incredible parent and a leader thank you mama [Applause] the bus ride that began on a war Street in Detroit and ended on George Halas Drive in Canton was a family journey Beth Johnny Bettis once told his son he didn't have much to offer him other than a good name Jerome Bettis not only held up that name [Music] he immortalized [Applause] it's just a big honor to get into the Hall of Fame and now that he's in it's amazing my dad in the Hall of Fame [Music] and the last name Bettis will go down in history son you have greatness running through your blood and it's not for me it's from our family there's not much that I can give you that's more important in our good name so don't screw it up [Applause] [Music] I really thought the buses last stop was in Detroit that Super Bowl 40 but now I know the bus will always invite everyone [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I'm at home [Applause]

Channel: Zach Crutcher

Views: 1,233,537

Rating: 4.8508415 out of 5

Keywords: Jerome Bettis, A Football Life, NFL, NFL Films, NFL Network, The Bus, Running Back, Hall of Famer, Pittsburgh Steelers, Los Angeles Rams, St. Louis Rams, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Bill Cowher, Heinz Ward, Ben Roethlisberger, Willie Parker, Super Bowl, Detriot, Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher

Id: lODsFL8BJHs

Length: 43min 36sec (2616 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 19 2017