Four-time Super Bowl champion, disliked TV football pundit, and entertainer Terry Bradshaw’s secret to his career. longevity? The important thing is to win the long game. Here’s the play.
Go for it
My life has always been about attacking, taking risks and gambling. As a player, I prefer throwing a soccer ball 20 yards instead of two. Five-yard passes are boring. I didn’t care about achievement percentages as much as I cared about the big play. But other than football, I’m not afraid of failure. If you do more things, you’ll find more success – and more failures, too. The status quo has never suited me well.
Know when to quit
After Super Bowl XIV, I passed. I thought winning four Super Bowls in nine years was cool. I told my father that I wanted to retire. He asked me why, and I said, “Well, I seriously doubt we’ll ever get back to the Super Bowl with this group of athletes. We’ve been together for eight to 10 years.” So I got into TV. But after doing a demo for a show that wasn’t picked up, I’m back in football. I ended up staying for so long, and for the wrong reason: I didn’t know what I was going to do either.
laugh at yourself
When my picture as a “stupid blond” popped up in my football days, I knew this was the dumbest thing you could ever relate to anyone. I called my plays. Anyone else calling their plays now? My way of protecting myself was by keeping up with it. Still, on Fox NFL Sunday, all the jokes are on me. I don’t mind doing funny things. I didn’t say I was Einstein. And I have no problem with people’s perception. I’m way, way, way past that.
asking for help
Twenty-seven years ago, I was diagnosed with clinical depression, and the world was told about it on TV. But that trip didn’t happen overnight. It took months of counseling. I went from preacher to psychiatrist to psychiatrist. I asked for help because I was so unhappy and couldn’t understand why. It had no meaning. Great moments in my life were followed by terrible moments. People tend to say, “It’s very brave to reveal that you are depressed.” But it is not a brave act. I don’t get over any shyness to talk about it. I’m pround of it. I think to go out with [depression] It is a sign of double error. It should be represented as a disease, period. I want nothing from her but to help people.
Try and try again
Former Defense Secretary William Cohen once told me that you want to get to a place in life where you make money while you sleep. Early on in Pittsburgh, Terry’s Peanut Butter started. It was successful, but I ran out of peanuts! It rained, peanuts were rotting in the fields – we had no futures on them. A few years ago, I tried again with another producer, Bradshaw Bourbon. World-renowned bourbon critic Fred Minnick did a blind tasting of bourbon for under $60, and it took second place.
I apologize quickly
I did a terrible thing two years ago. Howie Long and Michael Strahan have been accused of using steroids on air. I thought I was funny. Michael wasn’t too upset about it, but Howie, who I’m very close to, told me it hurt him during the commercial. you killed me. We’re back on the air, and I apologize. I had to clear it up right away because I didn’t want to hurt my friend.
Discover your passion
As a kid, you got to know a lot of things, and sometimes you stumble upon something that makes you go, “Wow.” For me, there was an uncle on the road chopping horses. Since then, I’ve been around horses and registered over a thousand horses to my name. They don’t care what it was today, and they don’t care if you’re ugly or beautiful or rich or poor. My wife and I will go out, open the windows and just look at her.
Ask the audience
I am 73 years old. There’s a part of me that says, “How long can you watch TV?” There is a bit of insecurity there. But I didn’t finish it, I can tell you that. I live for entertainment. Billy Graham said that the moment you retire is the moment you start dying. But if I have to go, I want to get on stage. What if I die in a Fox pregame? I’m going to get the big numbers, right?
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