Terry Bradshaw’s secret to career longevity

Terry Bradshaw’s four-time Super Bowl champion, avuncular TV football analyst, and all-around entertainer is the secret to his long career? It’s about winning the long game. Here is the piece.

Do it

My life has always been about attacking, taking risks and playing. As a player, I’d much rather throw the football 20 yards than two. Five-meter passes are boring. I wasn’t as concerned with completion percentages as I was with the big game. But outside of football, I’m not afraid of failure. As you do more things, you will find more success — and more failures, too. The status quo has never suited me well.

Know when to stop

After Super Bowl XIV I was through. I thought it was pretty cool to win four Super Bowls in nine years. I told my father that I wanted to retire. He asked me why, and I said, “Well, I seriously doubt we’ll ever go back to another Super Bowl with this group of athletes. We’ve been together for eight to ten years.” So I got into television. But after doing a pilot for a show that didn’t get picked up, I returned to football. I ended up staying too long and for the wrong reason: I didn’t know what else to do.

Laugh at yourself

When the image of me as a “dumb blond boy” came up when I was playing football, I knew that was the dumbest thing you could ever call someone. I named my pieces. Does anyone name their own pieces now? My way of protecting myself was to just go along with it. Still, all the jokes are on me on Fox NFL Sunday. I don’t mind doing the silly stuff. I never said I’m Einstein. And I have no problem with people’s perceptions. I’m way, way, way beyond

Searching for help

27 years ago I was diagnosed with clinical depression and announced it to the world on TV. But this journey did not happen overnight. It took months of deliberation. I went from a preacher to a psychologist to a psychiatrist. I sought help because I was so unhappy and couldn’t understand why. It made no sense. Great moments in my life were followed by terrible, terrible ones. People tend to say, “It’s so brave to show that you’re depressed.” But it’s not an act of bravery. I’m not ashamed to talk about it. I’m proud of it. To think that’s coming out [depression] is a sign of weakness is wrong. It has to be presented as a disease, period. I don’t want any of this except to help people.

Try it again

Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen once told me that you want to get to a point in life where you make money while you sleep. I started Terry’s Peanut Butter early on in Pittsburgh. It was successful, but I ran out of peanuts! It was raining and the peanuts were rotting in the fields – we had no future contracts for them. A few years ago I tried another product, Bradshaw Bourbon. Fred Minnick, a world-renowned bourbon critic, did a blind tasting of bourbons under $60, and I came out #2.

apologize quickly

I did something terrible two years ago. I accused Howie Long and Michael Strahan of being on steroids, on the air. i thought i was funny Michael wasn’t that upset about it, but Howie, who is very close to me, let me know that it hurt him during the commercial. It killed me We got back on the air and I apologized. I had to clear it up immediately because I didn’t want to hurt my friend.

find your passion

As a kid you learn a lot of things and sometimes you stumble upon something that makes you say “wow”. For me it was having an uncle on the street clipping horses. I have been involved with horses ever since and have registered over a thousand to my name. They don’t care how it was today, and they don’t care if you’re ugly or pretty, rich or poor. My wife and I will drive out, roll down the windows and just look at them.

Command an audience

I’m 73. Part of me says, “How long can you do TV?” There’s a bit of insecurity. But I’m not done yet, I can tell you that. I live to entertain. Billy Graham said the minute you retire is the minute you start dying. But if I have to go, I want to go on stage. What if I die on the Fox pregame show? I would get the big numbers right?

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