Spring 98 Volume III Issue 2

To football fans, Terry Bradshaw remains a god, forever burned into the brain as the Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl-winning, good ol' boy with the cannon for an arm. After unleashing his final spiral in 1984, Bradshaw put his winsome persona out there as an actor, author, motivational speaker, singer, and, of course, football analyst, first for CBS and now for FOX, where he co-hosts "NFL Sunday." Bradshaw, the private man, loves to head home to his 30-acre ranch near Fort Worth, Texas, where he lives with his wife, Charla, and their two daughters, and to relax with a nice cigar or, as he pronounces it, a "see-gar."

It's a Punch Habana. I smoke, oh God, 12 cigars a week. During football season, I probably smoke 20 a week. 1 used to smoke the Griffin an awful lot, and I still do. I like Partagas churchills. I get so many cigars sent to me, so I've tried a bunch. I generally go for mild cigars. [Former 49er and current FOX partner] Ronnie Lott brings me a Cuban cigar every now and then. Some of those, whew, they knock me on my ass.

My dad has smoked cigars ever since I can remember. I remember the smell of him lighting up King Edwards. I started smoking cigars in college to help me study. I found out that oral fixation helped me concentrate better. When I got into pro football, (Steelers owner) Mr. Rooney gave me all my cigars. Actually, it goes back even further than my dad - my grandfather chewed tobacco. My mom doesn't like me smoking. But I'll tell you what I carry with me they're lit right now - aroma candles. I keep the windows open and the fans going, so the smoke doesn't bother anybody

I loved football so much, and it was difficult to leave. How I gave it up was as important as achieving success at it. I blocked things out and just tried to get on with the rest of my life. To stay around the limelight wasn't anything I went looking for, necessarily I probably would've coached college football. I would've been a businessman back home in Louisiana. But television asked me to join them, and I did.

By the time FOX's pre-game show goes on, everybody else's show has aired. You've seen preview coverage on every network and sportscast. There are a 1,000 Xs and Os shows. After a while that stuff just gets boring. Shows like that, which they call the pros show, are geared towards pros, and that's a very small number of people. Our show is on the lighter side because we're trying to attract the novice sports fan who enjoys watching people who enjoy what they're doing. It's entertainment. We cover the game as well as anybody, but we have fun doing it.

It's faster, bigger, and more explosive. The skill people are outstanding. The quarterbacks are terrific. The game is definitely better than it used to be. The rules are really geared towards the offense. People want to see scoring, so the NFL created a situation that helps quarterbacks throw the football, and helps receivers get open. Scoring equals ratings, and ratings equal dollars. That's how this thing is done, right or wrong. If the fans don't watch, ratings go down and the money isn't good. You then might be able to say, "The game is better." Then again, who'd be watching?

There's a lot of those, but one kills me. I threw an interception against the Chargers in my last playoff game ever. I fired the ball across the field, where I'd seen Jimmy Smith wide open. If it'd gotten to him it would've won the game, but it got intercepted and we lost. I got booed going off the field. It's a hell of a memory, isn't it? That's one play I'd like to have back.

I found out I could be comfortable with people like Garth Brooks and Whoopi Goldberg. I proved I could be myself and let people see me for who I really am. I opened myself up to criticism, but that was OK. I could look in the mirror and say, "Yeah, it didn't work, but at least I was myself."

Not nearly as much as I'd like. The family has kind of suffered from all this. Hell, I was recently gone for three weeks. I was in the kitchen the other morning, and my girls walked by, looked at me, and just kept on going like I was a stranger. I hollered, "Hey, it's me!" That's going to change. I plan on spending a lot of time with them during the summer.

I've really not had any dreams beyond what I'm doing. I've got my family. I've got the FOX show. I've got the horse business, which I'm real deep into. I've got a world champion stud, so maybe the next big thrill would be to raise a world champion yearling colt. That'd be the perfect thing to make me take out a nice cigar and light up.