KDKA Personalities Share Favorite Jerome Bettis Memories
This weekend, Jerome Bettis will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The legendary running back spent ten seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. During his incredible career, Bettis rushed for 13,662 yards and 91 touchdowns.
There are too many great memories and moments to keep track of. So, we asked some of people that covered him for their favorite memories.
Here's what the personalities of KDKA-TV and 93-7 The Fan had to say:
Bob Pompeani - KDKA-TV
I worked with Jerome for 12 years on the "Giant Eagle Jerome Bettis Show" and he was as gracious as a co-host as you will ever find. If we asked him to dress up as a Sumo wrestler for a skit, he would do it!
I once asked him to auction off a dinner with four people. He quickly agreed and not only dined with the winners, he stayed there for four hours sharing stories.
He's a Hall of Fame player and a Hall of Fame person.
Plus, anyone who can run over and flatten Brian Urlacher the way he did en route to a Super Bowl Championship, will find himself among the legendary moments of franchise history.
Rich Walsh – KDKA-TV
My favorite Bettis moment is a popular one. It's hard to forget Jerome's last year with the Steelers, especially his performance in the game that started their Super Bowl run.
It was Week 14 of the NFL season in 2005 - snowy game at Heinz Field against Chicago.
2005 wasn't Jerome's best season, but for that one game on Dec. 11, The Bus gave us a good look why he was one of the best to ever play the game. His stats weren't spectacular - 101 yards and 2 touchdowns - but it's how he scored those touchdowns, especially the second one.
In the third quarter Bettis absolutely blew up All-Pro linebacker Brian Urlacher on his way into the end zone. This play defined Bettis, it also inspired a whole team. The Steelers went on to win 21-9, the start of a eight-game winning streak that ended with a Super Bowl Championship.
Chris Mueller – 93-7 The Fan
Probably my most vivid memory of Jerome's time with the Steelers was his game-winning touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1997.
It was memorable because it was a play Bettis was not often involved with--a pass play.
He took a short shovel pass in overtime and ran virtually untouched into the end zone. The Jags were a good team then, and it was a big win.
I'll always have the image of Bettis rumbling in for a score etched in my mind.
Colin Dunlap – 93-7 The Fan
I don't think anyone can argue with the play Jerome Bettis made on Brian Urlacher near the goal line in 2005.
In a driving snowstorm at Heinz Field, two of the NFL's biggest stars at the time collided --- quite literally.
But as the Chicago linebacker came up and broke down to form tackle The Bus, Bettis flattened him.
The Bears were riding an eight-game winning streak at the time and the Steelers were holding on to fluttering playoff hopes, but the 265-pound Bettis, when it mattered most, drove lower, stronger and harder than one of the elite linebackers in the NFL and absolutely smashed him.
John Shumway – KDKA-TV/NewsRadio 1020 KDKA
I will always be appreciative of Jerome's down to earth friendliness. When I had my run-in during a press conference with Coach Bill Cowher, I was being skewered on sports talk radio and some morning radio shows. Jerome walked through the KDKA-TV newsroom and past me as I worked at a viewing station. He stopped, put that big hand on my shoulder, gently squeezed and said, "Hang in there. I've been in that hot seat."
I didn't see him coming and it was a surprise and brief encounter, but it meant the world to me at that moment. Since then, we've talked many times on KDKA Radio, but I will always remember that moment of personal kindness.
Jim Colony - 93-7 The Fan
There are 3 that stand out - all from the '05 season
1. Running over Bears LB Brian Urlacher in the snow, which sparked what ended up being a season-ending, eight-game winning streak.
2. The goal line fumble in Indy that nearly cost him (and the Steelers) a shot at the Super Bowl.
3. Bettis running out of the tunnel at the Super Bowl in Detroit - by himself - with the rest of the team staying in the tunnel as both a prank and a tribute
Also, I'll always remember talking to Hines Ward in the locker room - on more than one occasion - about him blocking opposing DBs toward the end of a game as Bettis was running out the clock. The DBs told Hines they wanted no part of trying to tackle Bettis at that point; that the game was basically over and they were sick of getting hit by him.
Ron Cook - 93-7 The Fan
I was lucky at Super Bowl XL after the 2005 NFL season. My assignment for the Post-Gazette was to follow Jerome Bettis all week in his hometown, Detroit.
He gave me total access, riding in his limo to get the key to the city from the mayor, to the team dinner at his parents' home, to the filming of a soup commercial, to an NBA game, to a celebrity bowling tournament.
He even took a nap and ironed his shirt in my hotel room. It was, by far, the best week of my career.
I got to see first-hand Bettis' incredible ability to relate to people, not just teammates but fans.
He isn't just a Hall of Fame player. He's a Hall of Fame person.
Larry Richert - NewsRadio 1020 KDKA
I first met Jerome Bettis as a weekly guest during football season on "The KDKA Morning News." Our weekly talks were on Wednesdays before he started Steelers practice. Off the air I knew that he was in a lot of pain leftover from the previous Sunday games.
He didn't complain, but I knew that he struggled even to get out of bed. You never knew that from watching him run and punish would-be tacklers. The most iconic one was him flattening Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher in the snow at Heinz Field.
He was able to go On-The-Air and light it up for us every week with that infectious laugh. Fans may forget that he was to be replaced at one point prior to his epic rise to Super Bowl Champion. It never appeared to get him down, you know, never let them see you sweat. That victory was sweet on his hometown turf in Detroit riding into retirement a world champ.
In all of that, and the many times I have seen him since he has never changed. A thoughtful, caring gracious man who never forgot how he started on the mean streets and ended with happier times on the highway to Canton, simply known to his multitude of fans as the "Bus." Roll on Big Man!
Paul Zeise - 93-7 The Fan
The date was December 11, 2005 and my son had just celebrated his 10th birthday and his present was a trip to see the Steelers play the Bears, his first Steelers game ever.
Needless to say, it turned out to be a memorable one – and not just because it was freezing cold and snowing that day and the Steelers playoff hopes were still on life support.
This was also the day that Jerome Bettis had probably his last great game as a Steelers player because he would retire at the end of that year. That day he ran 17 times for 101 yards and two touchdowns – including the one where he ran over Bears star linebacker Brian Urlacher on the way to the end zone.
That play will forever live on in the memory of anyone who watched the game and that day is one that me and my son will always remember as our first Steelers game together – and the day we saw the Bus doing what he does best. That game also was his a microcosm of his career - just a big, bruising back who was seemingly born to be a Steeler, born to play in Pittsburgh because he seemingly got better as the weather and field conditions got worse.
What's your favorite memory of The Bus? Let us know in the comments section below!
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