On the field, Terry Bradshaw’s actions spoke for themselves. The Pittsburgh Steelers legend was the first quarterback to win three — then four — Super Bowls, all within the span of six years, and Bradshaw took home the game MVP award in half of those victories.
Since retiring, he’s been a staple on NFL pre and post-game shows, as well as an advertising spokesperson and occasional actor (Hooper, Failure to Launch). He’s also currently the only NFL player to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, though I’m sure that The Boz is wait-listed.
Through it all, Bradshaw’s mouth has taken over for his arm as his biggest asset, but there have also been a few amusing overthrows. In honor of his 67th birthday today, let’s take a look at some of Bradshaw’s most ridiculous quotes.
“When Brian told me he grew up in New Mexico, I told him I thought it is cool that people from other countries play football.”
I honestly couldn’t tell you if he was being serious or not.
“I had learned so much about marriage from Missy that I only had to get divorced two more times.”
Bradshaw’s first wife was former Miss Teenage America Melissa Babish, to whom he wed from 1972 to 1973. He was also married to ice skater JoJo Starbuck and family attorney Charla Hopkins, the latter of whom Bradshaw had two daughters with. He married his current wife, Tammy (seen above), in 2014. The quote is from his biography, It’s Only a Game.
“If Jesus were on Earth today, he’d want to be interviewed by Playboy.”
In a March 1980 interview with Playboy magazine, Bradshaw discussed his career, his life growing up in Louisiana, and his born-again Christianity — which prompted this quote early on in the interview.
“I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid.”
Bradshaw could come across as an “aw shucks” country bumpkin, but his genius at the quarterback position helped the Steelers win four Super Bowls. Having teammates like Mean Joe Greene didn’t hurt, either.
“If I’m not the sexiest man alive, explain why so many women married me.”
Bradshaw didn’t take kindly to not being given the top spot on People magazine’s annual list one year, so, naturally, he gave a pretty compelling reason why he should have been.
“The first time I realized it was a nightmare was when I heard their salary demands.”
Bradshaw had been describing a dream he had in which he was in charge of a football team that was comprised of 22 of the NFL’s all-time greats.
“That guy with that beard kept me on the bench for two years.”
Before Phil Robertson from Duck Dynasty went into professional duck hunting, he was the starting quarterback for Louisiana Tech. You can probably guess who his backup was. According to Bradshaw, Robertson quit football to pursue hunting, giving him the opening he needed.
“You found a hat that’ll fit that big f*ckin’ head?”
It’s possible he said “bucket head,” but that’s not nearly as fun to think about. The look on Howie Long’s face would seem to indicate that, whatever it was that Bradshaw said, he wasn’t anticipating it.
