Atlanta Magazine. Yes, this local sports star played a big role in two Super Bowl wins for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he waltzed and did the cha-cha well enough to win Dancing with the Stars this past summer.
Privacy was a big priority. Anthony Lacy, a real estate broker and confidante to Ward, remembers getting the call in that his friend was ready to move. The fact that their client would be gone eight months of the year could have been problematic for the Atlanta-based crew, especially since Ward wanted to be involved in all decisions. However, the team kept in touch with real-time, on-site video and lengthy conference calls. His parents divorced soon after that, and his mother sometimes worked three jobs at once to support them.
He earned a spot between the hedges at the University of Georgia in the mids, playing various positions and eventually earning All-SEC honors his senior year. His nonprofit organization, the Helping Hands Foundation, aids underprivileged American youth and, overseas, biracial children who have suffered discrimination, especially in Korea. This hometown boy draws attention, making it hard to have a regular day at the ballpark.
Would he ever use a disguise to go out in public? Hey Atlanta: What home projects gave you joy in ? This Roswell home overlooking the Chattahoochee River celebrates contemporary design. Follow Us. The real storybook ending comes in Canton on Saturday, 10 years after he entered his final training camp. He was elected in his fifth year of eligibility, a wait that at times frustrated him.
Also, I could not be upset because of the names that were going in. One of those times came at the end the season. But the Steelers already had clinched a playoff seed and their finale in Memphis against the newly-moved Tennessee Oilers was meaningless in the standings.
Cowher wanted to rest him for the playoffs. I wanted to be healthy for the playoffs, ready to go for the playoffs. He was unselfish in his play and as a teammate, prompting Hines Ward — another potential Steelers Hall of Famer — to publicly break down crying because he thought their loss in the AFC championship game at home was the end for Bettis.
For the second straight season, Bettis took a salary pay cut in order to return for one more year. What a year it was, a fairy-tale ending to a glorious career that culminates with the gold jacket and the bust Saturday in Canton. Jerome Bettis "wasn't ready" for what he experienced at his first Steelers minicamp in the spring of He had just hiked the ball and he was in front of me! I couldn't believe it. It blew me away because I had never seen a center pull, not just pull but be out in front of me on a sweep outside.
I knew we were going to be a special team. Dawson, the Steelers starting center from until injuries forced him to retire after the season, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in But because I'm going in they wanted to be there as well. That's an incredible gesture from the organization towards me.
The best trade in Steelers history was set in motion when St. His name was Lawrence Phillips; the Rams drafted him sixth overall in from Nebraska. Before that, Bettis told Brooks he would not switch positions and demanded the Rams trade him.
I was not joking. Bettis and Brooks had been at loggerheads since the new coach joined the Rams in Bettis gained just yards in , the only time he dipped below 1, in his first nine seasons and the fewest of his first 12 seasons in the league.
The Rams gave Bettis and his agent, Lamont Smith, permission to seek a trade. They found two teams interested, the Houston Oilers who were about to move to Tennessee, and the Steelers. If Bettis went to the Steelers, he knew the Oilers would draft George with the 14th overall pick.
It was a perfect scenario for all except, as it would turn out, the Rams. Tom Donahoe of the Steelers then swung the trade. The Rams traded their third-round pick in and Bettis to the Steelers.
He ran for yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries in the first half before coach Bill Cowher took him out in the third quarter, telling him enough was enough. He finished with yards on 19 carries. Brooks was fired after the Rams were in that season and is retired. Lawrence Phillips ran five times for six yards in the game against the Steelers. He ran for 1, yards total over parts of three seasons with three different teams and is today an inmate in a California state prison on convictions of felony assault with a deadly weapon and domestic assault.
There could have been much more — two, three or even four Super Bowl rings for Bettis and many of his teammates of that era. Bettis played in three AFC championship games in Pittsburgh before that successful season. The Steelers lost those three games to teams that went on to win the Super Bowl. The Steelers, who had beaten Denver by 11 points a month earlier, led late in the first half and were moving toward another possible score with a second-and-two at the Denver There were under five minutes to play in the first half.
The plan should have been to keep running, run down the clock, keep the ball away from John Elway, Bettis said. Instead, offensive coordinator Chan Gailey decided to put things in the hands of Kordell Stewart in his first season as their starting quarterback.
With the help of a long pass interference penalty, Broncos quarterback John Elway followed by guiding the Broncos to a touchdown and a lead. With left in the half, Gailey had Stewart came out throwing again. They went three-and-out and turned it back to Elway with 43 seconds to go. It took him just 30 seconds to score another TD for a Broncos halftime lead. Denver won the game, Among the special guests of Bettis expected in Canton this weekend is Dick Hoak, who coached the Steelers' running backs for 36 years until his retirement after the season.
People don't realize how good he was in the running game. He was instrumental in a lot of the running game and developing the running game. There were two holy grails for Jerome Bettis on two different football levels. As a player, he longed to win a Super Bowl. As a retired player, he wanted his bust in Canton. The wait to accomplish both was disappointing, excruciating and perhaps more rewarding because of it.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame elected him in his fifth year of eligibility. The fact I had to wait it makes me appreciate the honor that much more, understanding the gravity of what I am going into, the group of men I will be standing next to. It makes me understand now how important that is.
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