Jerome Bettis Quotes (132 Quotes)


    The one thing is that, on the road, we've been really, really good the last couple of years. It's something we can take as a positive.

    That's a great question. I'm going to look at it. The last thing I want to do is diminish anything by even thinking about that. This is a great opportunity we have. I'm going to wait until after the Super Bowl and think about it.

    Coach Weis does a great job of getting former guys back and that's important because we are part of this university. Before, you just didn't know where you fit in.

    The layoffs will be a part of every major city's redevelopment. There will be bumps in the road, like in any major city. It's unfortunate it came at this time, and dampens the party. But you try to put the best face on that you can.

    People say I'm not going to be able to focus because of the distractions but there really aren't any distractions. The possible distraction would be family, but my family comes to every game anyway.


    You can't have any indecision and say I'm on the closer. If you're going to be here, you've got to be ready to do anything. You can't go on thinking, 'I'm only going to have to carry eight times a game.

    Bowling was my first love. Beating my mother for the first time when I was 13 or 14 was a major accomplishment. I had big glasses. I was a pretty smart kid, maybe nerdy, but I always had a good street sense.

    We talked, ... We just talked about all the situations that happened in the game and everything that was going on. That's a conversation I'm going to actually keep and not really talk about.

    Maybe they're just laying low. But you'd better believe when Monday night comes they're going to be ready. This is the biggest rivalry in our division, and they'll be ready and we'll be ready.

    Even when it's warm, they don't want to see me, trust me. I try to make it as difficult as possible for those guys and as painful as possible every time they tackle me. So late in the game, in the fourth quarter, that's when you start getting those big runs, because they don't want to come up and tackle you.

    I'd be lying to you if I said it was complete. Having an opportunity to play in this game takes me one step closer to it being complete.

    It won't be difficult at all. The nature of this business is to call it as you see it. If you look at my track record in Pittsburgh, I've always told the truth. Honesty is the best policy. If a guy is not playing well, he knows it. I'm just telling the truth. As long as I call it like I see it I'll be fine.

    He's the reason this football team has been able to be so consistent through the years. His philosophy and his makeup decide the makeup of this football team, so we're a physical bunch of guys, tough-minded, because he's a real reflection of that. He's been that way since the day I got here, and our teams have been reflective of that since the day I got here. I think he's been the driving force.

    You have to look at where he came from, undrafted, unlooked at, nobody really knew who he was. That's a very humbling experience, but I think he appreciates the opportunities he has because he didn't have them in college.

    I'm supposed to take care of the football. I was upset that it happened.

    That's not the issue, ... I know I can. The question is, at the end of the season, how will I feel Doing it is not the issue. I've never had a problem doing it. That's something I've been doing my whole career. That's not a concern.

    You're truly a star after you've been able to do whatever it is that you do for at least three years,

    No question, I think it's a lot easier when there's no expectations. We know what that feels like to have that pressure on you and we came out and said, 'Hey, it's us against everybody.' Nobody expects us to win, nobody is picking us to win, and that's fine. As long as we believe it and the coaches give us a great game plan, we'll execute it and come out on top.

    You ask why have the Pittsburgh Steelers been a physical, smash-mouth type of a team for so long. I think it's because the team takes the identity of its head coach. He looks for tough players. He looks for physical players. And he doesn't settle for anything less.

    I really think it is great that my mother and my father are able to capture a moment for themselves. Thirteen years following me around this great country of ours, they deserve it.

    It makes everything worthwhile that I've ever had to go through, everything I've done. You know, 13 years, all the sacrifices that I've made, it made it all worthwhile. For 12 years, I've watched other players go through Media Day and go through the buildup for the Super Bowl. And I've always wished that it could have been me.

    I think, right now, Ben already is the face of this team. I don't think I'm the face of this team I'm a co-star right now. I'm riding on the bus this time.

    The perception is that it's not the greatest city, but Detroit is an up-and-coming city. After the Super Bowl is over, people are going to see that it's a lot better than advertised.

    I do know that I would have loved to have been in there late in the game, ... Coach and I talked about all the situations that happened in the game and everything that was going on. But it's a conversation I'm going to keep and not talk about.

    You'd have to assume that he'll stay in the lineup. He gives this offense a big-play dimension in the running game that it has never had.

    They knew I was going to get the ball they had nine in the box, ... But I was fortunate enough to make a guy miss, or to take a guy with me. That's why I'm still around.

    The crowd noise killed us, no question. It killed us. You can never say what it means, how valuable it is. The sound is valuable. It's tough for you to do anything. Offensively, it was tough for us to get going.

    Joey Porter is getting criticism based on what he (has) said throughout the playoffs. I think it's easy to criticize him because of what he said in the past. But it's not like things he said in the past weren't true. The guy speaks off the cuff he shows you what he believes and what he thinks. That's not a bad thing.

    We've played (in Detroit) a couple of times, so that's a benefit for me. Nothing the likes of this type of game, of course. But I don't think there's going to be any more pressure on me.

    I think the biggest thing was understanding what we are going into. I think not playing in a dome for so many years, it really rattled us. We understood it was going to be loud and you can't do anything about it but play through it.


    I've been on the losing side of quite a few of these. That's what's driving me more than anything, not that the Super Bowl is in Detroit. It's an opportunity for us to do something we haven't done. We've been in this situation before and we lost.

    That's the one thing I want people to remember. That when you saw (number) 36, you saw a real football player who loved the game, tried to show it every day and respected everybody around the game.

    There was a possibility I could have played against New England, but we had a bye week after that, and they wanted to give me another two weeks. It turned out to be the best call.

    I was frustrated. That shouldn't happen, I'm supposed to take care of the football. I was upset that it happened. My defense bailed me out. I can leave here with my head up high.

    It's disappointing in a sense that the organization said last year they're going to take care of him, and it wasn't resolved. I think they could have gone through this process a little bit earlier. They didn't have to drag it this far.

    Jerome Bettis has scored 10 touchdowns this year, earning him a 100,000 bonus, But he was stopped for no gain on three runs from the Cleveland 1 in the fourth quarter, the first time he has failed to score this season in short-yardage situations. Before the game, Browns Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown called Bettis aside for a chat. He just told me to keep it up, keep working hard, and he liked my style, ... He said we would talk in the off-season. Whenever the greatest of all-time tells you that, that's a compliment.

    I've never been in a locker room like this one. When I was with the Rams, there was nothing like this. And years I've been here in the past, it hasn't been like this. It's been a unique locker room the past few years.

    I was a spectator out there, ... I can't give you much more than that.

    I didn't play football until high school. I bowled until high school. I bowled. Football was a second thought, bowling was my first love.

    I really did not want to put pressure in his mind to do anything out of the ordinary.

    We've been on the doorstep a couple times. Once we got to the play-offs, we knew it was a realistic possibility.

    It helped us because we have been in those situations, those big games. So, when the big games came this time, we were comfortable in the settings. ... even on the road. We had been there before. That's why you saw a different team -- there was a comfort level.

    You ask us to tell you something, and when we kind of skate around the truth, that's accepted. But when we tell you what we believe to be the truth, I think we've been criticized. So it's a shame that he spoke out on what he believes and he's being criticized. What Stevens said is what he believes. Their job is to make sure it's not a big block party after the game. Our job is to make sure everybody gets a ticket.

    To hear the ovation from the crowd, and to hear people I grew up with cheering for me in the Super Bowl, it was incredible. It's better than I ever thought it would be.

    That was definitely satisfying, ... But at the end of the year, you don't look at that. You look at your health and say, 'Man, I don't know if I can do this again.'

    It feels incredible -- my team put me on their backs, and I knew they wouldn't let me down. This has been a great ride, and I've always said that you play this game to win championships, and now that I've got that championship ... I think this is the last stop for 'The Bus.'

    Of course, it crossed my mind. But that thought was short-lived. Fortunately, it's not (my last play).

    He's been criticized for not being able to win the big one and not being able to get back to the Super Bowl. That was a thought for us, too. We wanted to come out and play for him. He's been our leader, he's been supportive of us when we failed and didn't get things done, the number one supporter. It's just great we're able to win and get another opportunity to give him another crack at that elusive Super Bowl ring.

    Composed, in control, our leader. He's our guy.


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