Leave it to Terry Bradshaw to say something controversial. Since his broadcasting career began, you could almost set your watch to it. The legendary Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback has gone under fire for various questionable comments — some think he’s funny, some find him cringeworthy, some find him to be a national treasure. He took the funny route during a February 8 Super Bowl 2023 media week interview.
A scrum of reporters crowded around Bradshaw, as it’s guaranteed he’s good for at least one tasty soundbite. The Hall of Fame quarterback, 74, who’s been battling health issues recently, spoke about mortality, and Denversports.com’s Andrew Mason caught the golden moment.
“I told Fox, if I could just die on the show — think about the ratings, right,” Bradshaw joked. “I mean, are we not about ratings? That’d be huge. Not only that, it’d be a huge carry-over. All the networks would be saying, ‘Bradshaw died on FOX NFL Sunday.’ Can you imagine the — huge stuff! And maybe I’d get a statue out front. I don’t have a statue yet.”
Terry Bradshaw, national treasure, with thoughts on his career, mortality, etc.: “I told Fox, if I could just die on the show — think about the ratings, right? I mean, are we not about ratings? That’d be huge. Not only that, it’d be a huge carry-over. …”
To generations of fans, Terry Bradshaw is known as one of the greatest quarterbacks to play the game, but to the younger audience, he’s a cut-up studio analyst. In 1984, he quickly transitioned from playing football to talking football as an NFL game analyst for CBS. In 1990, he took on the role of television studio analyst on CBS’ The NFL Today. He joined the newly-established FOX NFL Sunday in 1994 and has been a household staple ever since.
“If I can keep my health together, I love what I’m doing,” he continued. “But we all get old. We’re gonna get kicked out. I’m not looking over my shoulder, but (Tom) Brady is coming in — for $37.5 million (a year).”
Fast forward nearly four decades, and Tom Brady, known to many as the G.O.A.T (greatest of all time), finds himself on a path similar to Bradshaw. Even before he hung up the cleats for good in January 2023, Brady had already inked a deal with FOX Sports as a game analyst.
Ex-Steelers QB Terry Bradshaw Talks Health Concerns
Terry Bradshaw, who won four Super Bowls with the 1970s-era Pittsburgh Steelers, has been struggling with health issues since 2021. When it became apparent after running out of breath on a FOX NFL Sunday pregame broadcast, the analyst opened up about his harrowing journey.
During today’s show, Terry Bradshaw shared that he has been battling cancer over the past year. As of today, he is cancer free, and he discussed his fight and plan for the future:
“Last week on this show, I ran out of breath, and Howie (Long) helped me up, and a lot of people are asking, ‘What’s wrong with me? What’s happened to me physically?’ And I just want to address it and let you know what has happened in my life,” Bradshaw said.
He shared that, in the spring, after recovering from bladder cancer surgery in November 2021, it was revealed he had Merkel cell cancer, a rare form of skin cancer.
While Bradshaw disclosed that he’s cancer-free as of October 2022, it appears he’s not entirely out of the woods.
As emcee of the Philadelphia Eagles NFC championship trophy presentation, Bradshaw struggled to enunciate words as he labored through interviews with Jalen Hurts, head coach Nick Sirianni and others.
It’s unclear how much longer Bradshaw will be a member of the FOX NFL Sunday crew, but from what he says, he’d like to continue as long as his health allows.
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Terry Bradshaw Jokes with Super Bowl Crowd: ‘If I Could Just Die on the Show’