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Annual 'Bowl With The Bus' Event Raises Money For Bettis' Foundation

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - This summer, he will be headed to the Hall of Fame, but first, Pittsburgh Steelers legend Jerome Bettis took time to bowl to raise money for his foundation.

"Incorporate things that you love and that's my foundation, that's bowling and if I can bring those two things together, we can really raise money for the foundation and have a lot of fun -- that's what it's all about," Betti said.

Jerome's passion for bowling goes back decades.

His parents met in a bowling alley. His mom used to take him to the lanes in Detroit after school to keep him out of trouble.

Now, his annual "Bowl with the Bus" event raises money for his foundation so he can return the favor someone did for him when he was a kid who had nothing.

"There was a man 40 years ago that said, 'I want to go out and do something, I want to go out in my community that I grew up in.' His name is Reggie McKenzie and he started his foundation and I was a by-product of his decision to want to go out and help," Bettis said.

Bettis doesn't mess around when it comes to bowling. Even though he missed the headpin on his first ball of the night, he does have a perfect 300 game.

"It's so much harder than scoring a touchdown - maybe against the Ravens or something. You think it shouldn't be, but in order to be that consistent for that long in the course of one game and have all strikes, it's a tough thing to do," he said.

With family members and former teammates like Charlie Batch in attendance, "The Bus" wants to guarantee future generations get the same help he got.

"It's so important for me to give that same offer and opportunity to another kid that can benefit from it," Bettis said.

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