Bettis headed to Hall of Fame

[RuthlessBurgher]

Cowher: 'Jerome was a consummate pro'

Posted 10 minutes ago

Teresa Varley Steelers.com

Bill Cowher is thrilled to see his star running back, Jerome Bettis, headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Bill Cowher is no different than anyone else who has been in former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis’ corner, he thought he should have been a first ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer. While it took longer than anticipated, Cowher is thrilled that Bettis is finally getting his due as a member of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015.

“I am just happy for him,” said Cowher. “You look at what he has done over a period of time, how great he was. He was meant to be in the Hall of Fame for what he has done and how he did it. He deserves to be in there.”

Cowher coached Bettis from the time he arrived in Pittsburgh via a trade with the St. Louis Rams, through his retirement after the Steelers Super Bowl XL victory. And Cowher saw more than anybody what made Bettis special.

“For a big man I don’t think there was a back that had better feet,” said Cowher. “His ability to jump cut in a hole, his ability to throw a great body lean. Just everything he did. He was able to do it consistently year in and year out. He was so durable. He was there every Sunday.

“I think through the course of his career you watched him grow and develop and you watched his influence on the people around him. The measure of greatness is when you see how other people inspire those around them. He had that presence around him and did that.”

Cowher said it was fun coaching Bettis, not just because he was such a talented running back, but because of the attitude that he brought to the table and the approach he had to the game he loved to play.

“He sent all of the right messages,” said Cowher. “There has never been a more selfless person. It was never about Jerome, it was always about the team. When you see a guy who is selfless, dependable and tough, with the consistency he brought every week, the amount of emotion he brought to the game, the professionalism and fun he brought to the game. He was a joy to be around. There was a time to work and a time to play. It was great to have a guy like him in the locker room.

“He is everything you would want. He accepted any role, he gave you everything he had, he worked at it, and he carried himself like a professional. He was a great leader, a great worker, and had a presence about him. He was a great role model for every young person in this league. He is a Hall of Fame running back and a Hall of Fame person. He handled himself with class and dignity. Jerome Bettis was a consummate pro and great football player. Ask anybody who tried to tackle him.”

[URL]http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Cowher-Jerome-was-a-consummate-pro/d5172c03-cc4e-4335-922d-a6ee39bdc352[/URL]

[7upnext]

this picture is amazing... Will always be my favorite BUS picture and one of my favorite STEELERPICTURES... IT JUST PORTRAYS THE WAY I USED TO LOVE FOOTBALL... HARD HITTING, GREAT DEFENSE, AND TOUGHNESS. --sorry about the caps. Couldn't see the text on the iPad untill I was about to post this lol..

Ah yes, the one time the dancing bear actually bowled over a big man. For such a big guy he was really a poor short yardage back. Too bad one pic like this and the clueless SportsCenter analysts anointed him 'The Bus'. Truth is, he was effective against teams who sucked against the run and wore them down in the 4th quarter. He wasn't a back you could use to comeback, on the goal line, or against teams built to stop him. He simply wasn't that guy. Decent but far from HOF talent or career. I watched him getting stuffed more on 2nd and 1 and 3rd and 1 than I ever saw him make a HOF type play.

[7upnext]

My favorite Steelers. But Harrison has a better shot at HOF because of DPOY and SB performance. Not to mention, he's actually been more versatile (dropping in coverage) But he started too late and his numbers are lacking

[RuthlessBurgher]

Jerome Bettis: I sold crack, shot at people growing up in Detroit
Posted by Darin Gantt on July 24, 2015, 9:26 AM EDT


When the Steelers played the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL, perhaps you heard that Pittsburgh running back Jerome Bettis was from Detroit.


But the story he tells now about his growing up are a bit grittier than the heartwarming homecoming stories he was telling then.


In an interview with syndicated sports talk host Graham Bensinger, Bettis admitted selling crack and shooting at people when he was growing up in the Motor City.


Bettis was asked about selling crack with his brother, and admitted it was considered a financial necessity.


“The mind-set was, ‘We’re in the hood. Mom and Dad, they’re working their butts off. There’s no money around. We need to make some money.'” he said, via James Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press. “So we said, ‘You know what? Let’s give it a shot.’ And it was one of those moments that you regret, but at the moment, that was the only thing that was really available to us.”


That career path obviously comes with a certain set of dangers, and the legendary running back was asked if he ever shot at anyone.

“Yeah. That was part of growing up in our environment, in our neighborhood. That wasn’t out of the realm of normal,” he said. “When you go back, it’s nothing that I ever wanted to glorify, because I know in retrospect that it was awful. Here you are in a position to take someone’s life, and that’s never a good thing. And so as I look back on it now, I always see the wrongs that are in it and never want to bring light to it in that respect: that it was a good thing. It was the worst thing that I could’ve ever done. It was a bad decision, but it was the decision that I made and that I lived with at that moment.”


Bettis has clearly overcome the mistakes of his youth, as he heads into the Hall of Fame after a brilliant career. But as impressive as anything he did running the ball was the fact he could escape that setting, overcome the challenges and become the kind of man he is today.


[URL]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/24/jerome-bettis-i-sold-crack-shot-at-people-growing-up-in-detroit/[/URL]