Terry Bradshaw: From Super Bowl Champion to Television Personality

by Brett L. Abrams

Terry Bradshaw made a name for himself as the star quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning four Super Bowls and twice earning the MVP award. Beyond his athletic success, Bradshaw has established himself as a true cultural icon through his ventures into television, movies, and music.

In Terry From Super Bowl Champion to Television Personality, Brett L. Abrams details the many personas of this larger-than-life entertainer. Not satisfied with “just” being a star quarterback, Bradshaw became an actor, commercial pitchman, country western and gospel singer, color commentator, and NFL pregame co-host. In addition to covering Bradshaw’s life and career, Abrams discusses the stereotypes Bradshaw faced and his ability to turn those preconceived notions into a positive, likeable, “down home” image that enabled him to find success across the entertainment industries. Ultimately, Bradshaw has become not only an iconic sports figure, but a cultural icon, as well.

Terry Bradshaw delivers a new and refreshing look at one of football’s most-recognized athletes. Drawing on extensive research and interviews with coaches, friends, coworkers, and football fans, this book illuminates Bradshaw’s celebrity status in the context of nearly 50 years of interacting with football fans and the larger American pop culture.

Genres: Sports

328 pages, Hardcover

Published September 8, 2017

About the author

As a kid I read biographies and histories because I wanted to know what people did. Then I peppered my parents with the question, "Why?" I pursued that passion earning a doctorate in U.S. History. decades ago. Now I write books about what people did, and how the culture they lived in helped or hindered their achievements.

American culture's fascination with celebrity and uproar with Southern culture sparked me to write my latest book called Terry Bradshaw: From Super Bowl Champion to Television Personality.

Since I was always interested in transgressive sexuality, my first book looked at these images that came out of the movie industry during the 1920s and 1930s. It's called, Hollywood Bohemians.

I enjoy Washington, D.C. immensely with so much great development and more excitement added to this city. The baseball stadium made me wonder about the city's history of built and proposed stadiums. This work led to a second book, Capital Sporting Grounds.

The unlucky status of Washington's basketball history led to my third book, The Bullets, The Wizards and Washington, DC Basketball.

Reviews

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book contains so many interesting tibdits about this likable football legend. That being said, the blow by blow writing of specific football games and other pursuits gives the story a very slow pace.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a review copy of this book, but that fact has no bearing in my assessment. This is actually 2.5 star review, and, normally, I round up. However, as of this writing, the only other review is a 5-star rating from the author himself, so I made an exception here. I consider that bad form, along the lines of "liking" your own Facebook comment or "mic-dropping" your own rant.

There is plenty of good to say about the book, most notably that it is completely bibliographed. Practically every event or quotation (or even paraphrased statement) that is referenced is given a "number," so you can go to the back and see the source from where it is cited. Sources include everything from books and newspaper articles to YouTube videos and phone interviews. The level of detail is very impressive, and since Mr. Abrams is an archivist in addition to an author, it makes a lot of sense.

To put it in perspective, the book might be billed as 311 pp, but the text of the book ends at page 250, and there are approximately 60 pages of notes, as well as an index (1/4 the length of the actual text). Regardless of what I thought (or anyone else thinks) of the finished product, that is an obscene amount of work and is to be commended.

Another positive is that Abrams breaks down Bradshaw's life into sections that are generally chronological, beginning with his high school days and working toward the present. There are occasions when Abrams jumps around, but it makes sense when the topic is about the various events that Bradshaw emcee'd over the years.

As a Steeler fan, I had always wondered what the beef between Bradshaw and the Steelers was. I wasn't born until 1977, so I wasn't even around for the first two Super Bowls, and I was not cognizant of the game of football for the second pair of championships. It always struck me as weird that Bradshaw seemed estranged from the team. For example, John Elway won a couple Super Bowls (and went to a couple more) and is now the the Denver Broncos' general manager.

As recently as a week ago from this writing, he was formally inducted into the Steelers' inaugural Hall of Honor class. However, he was not present at the game where some of the living legends were honored at halftime. Perhaps it was because of his work with NFL on Fox, but I'm not so sure that even if he weren't there anymore doing the studio show that he would have come.

This book does its best to flesh that friction out, at least from Bradshaw's perspective. He was never able to shake the "dumb hick from Looosiana" that was foisted upon him by the Pittsburgh media, that always seemed to find new life when it appeared to finally die down. As for his feud with head coach Chuck Noll, it seemed to be more of a personality clash than anything. Though if Noll played QB Roulette as often as the book makes out, readers can certainly get a whiff of why the headstrong Bradshaw would take it poorly.

I also enjoyed learning about Bradshaw's various forays into music. I was completely unaware of this facet in his life. I'd seen him in TV shows, movies, and commercials, but I didn't know that he had tried (with some success) to become a recording artist long before any of that.

As for cons, the first flag I encountered was early on when I read that Bradshaw did not participate in this project. I do not know the reason he declined, but upon reading the Preface, it soured me a little right off the bat. It's one thing to talk to former and current associates, family members and people from his hometown (and even random Steeler and Southern Gospel music fans), but for all the footnoting and research, there exists a distant feel from the man himself.

Another drawback - and this is perhaps an aesthetic opinion - for the most part, it's dryyyyy (and I've read The Origin of Species. Early on, there's a bit of zest when talking about critical games during the Steelers' dynastic years, but much of the text reads like a PowerPoint presentation. "And then this happened, which caused this to happen and Bradshaw said this. Later, this happened. Bradshaw didn't like that and he had this to say about it."

The final couple of chapters almost feel rushed. I spotted a few typos (the most egregious was spotting a space between the 'c' and 'h' of the word "c hallenges"). It also felt a bit like reading a college paper where it has to meet a certain length, but there's just not quite enough content left to write about...so you just fill with as many minute details as you can.

An example: When talking about Bradshaw's movie career, particularly on the movie Failure to Launch with Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Bates, there is page after page discussing reaction to the appearance of Bradshaw's bare butt. Not just from critics, but from internet comments found on various websites. And not just a consensus a la, "Everyday movie goers seemed mostly negative about it." This was, "One commenter said this. A more positive commenter said that. A third simply said this. A fourth reviewer was sickened by it." Quite unnecessary, especially as this section had been immediately preceded by a couple of pages citing reaction to the movie as a whole.

Further on, there was comparison of Bradshaw's post-football careers to other prominent athletes', like George Foreman, O.J. Simpson and Shaquille O'Neal. Each of those athletes had their work fleshed out far more than necessary in a biography about Terry Bradshaw. The only thing I can think of to explain this is that this book had to hit 250 or the publisher wouldn't accept it.

There also occasionally seemed to be a piece missing here or there. There was one passing mention of Bradshaw talking about being a parent (on a late-night talk show, I believe), but there was no reference that I could recall from elsewhere in the book that indicated Bradshaw had fathered children. It mentions him marrying his high school sweetheart, and then later getting entwined with figure skater JoJo Starbuck, but I don't recall a single mention of children. Did Bradshaw marry again after Starbuck? How many kids does he have? With which mother(s)?

Overall, the book delivers as advertised. It follows Bradshaw's evolution in (and from) the game of football; how he was able to take ownership of his undeserved reputation as an uneducated Southerner (who couldn't spell 'cat' if you spotted him the 'c' and the 'a') in order to give himself a marketable persona that allowed him to flourish as an NFL analyst, a pitchman, an emcee, a recording artist, and even a lower-list actor.

Without Bradshaw's direct input or comment, though, it reads like an academic paper that sometimes focuses on unimportant, irrelevant and/or uninteresting details of that journey.

[Jason Stokes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is ideal for the reader who wants to all the intimate details of the subject. In this case Terry Bradshaw as Brett Abrams takes us from his childhood, through his high school career, game by game through his playing days and all the way into the many television gigs and singing performances he gave. Bradshaw is clearly a man of many talents and one that excels in virtually ever venue despite the perception of being a 'good ole boy' or a hick.