The Art of Sport with Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis – in the April Issue of Yankees Magazine
March 31, 2016 – Last September, I spent some time with Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis at the Joe Namath March of Dimes Celebrity Golf Classic. My interview with The Bus, which is set to run in the April Issue of Yankees Magazine – in addition to another Art of Sport piece with longtime Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher — took place on a beautiful morning on one of the golf courses at the famous Bethpage State Park (see photo below).
During our conversation, Bettis spoke extensively about his time with the Steelers, and the storybook ending to his career. After nearly retiring following the 2004 NFL season, Bettis decided to give it one more shot. That decision paid off, as he accomplished his ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl in his final season. Making the story even more special, Bettis played his last game — Super Bowl XL in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan.
“After we lost the 2004 AFC Championship Game, I was ready to retire,” Bettis said. “I was done. I figured that I had a really good career, but winning a championship was just not in the cards for me. I was starting to come to terms with that when I got an opportunity to go to the Pro Bowl. There were a lot of other Steelers players there, and our coaching staff was coaching the AFC team. Even our owners, the Rooney family, came to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. They hosted a big dinner for all of the Steelers who where there. I will never forget that dinner because as we were sitting there, [former Steelers linebacker] Clark Haggans reminded me that the next Super Bowl was going to be in Detroit. That really got me thinking about coming back. I thought to myself, ‘If the Steelers go to the Super Bowl and I’m not there, that would be awful.’ So I decided to give it one more shot with the thought that we had a team that was close to winning a championship.”
I also asked Bettis to discuss how he was able to stifle the emotions related to playing his last game when that game was also the most important one of his career.
“It wasn’t hard at all because this was the dream that I always had,” Bettis said. “This was the one opportunity that I always wanted, so the fact that my career was ending was irrelevant at that time. I didn’t even think about it because this was really my one opportunity, and I always said to myself, ‘Hey, if you win this championship, you can celebrate it forever. Let’s not get caught up in being here. It’s not about me; it’s about winning a championship.’”
At the end of the interview, Bettis spoke with me about the four things that got him to greatness. In my opinion, that is the most poignant part of The Art of Sport feature.
“You have to make sacrifices to reach your goals,” Bettis said. “While you know that those sacrifices are for the betterment of yourself, your family doesn’t always understand that. You don’t get an opportunity to spend the time that you’d like with your family because of the dream you’re chasing. Then, there’s the pain. There is a lot of physical pain that comes with training and having to work out all year round. You’re hurt, you’re beat-up, but you’ve got to keep doing it. You have to deal with mental pain and mental fatigue, as well. The next thing is failure. You have to understand that you are going to fail sometimes. There are some things you are not going to be able to accomplish. But you can’t let that deter you from the ultimate goal. Failure has to become another opportunity for you to do it again and do it better. Dealing with failure the right way teaches you how to become a positive person internally. The last part is love. Love is so important because if you love what you’re doing, then you’ll be willing to make those sacrifices and accept the fact that there will be pain along the way. I think that all four of those things play a part in becoming great at anything in life, not just football.”
–Alfred Santasiere III
Homestand Blog by Yankees Magazine 