Former NFL quarterback Terry Bradshaw has spent more than 40 years talking football behind the mic, but he still has plenty more to say — about the game he loves and the personal demons he has continued to battle.
“I dealt with depression, divorce. There’s a lot of personal stuff in here I haven’t talked about,” the FOX NFL Sunday cohost, 78, said in the Sunday, October 11, Q&A session with the Los Angeles Times in support of the upcoming release of his new memoir, “Looking for Terry.” “I just wanted to get it out there. I think it would be helpful, or beneficial.”
Bradshaw has already written four other books, and he said this time, the writing was more for him than anyone else.
“The first book is a stupid sports book. Sorry,” he said. “I think the second one was just as dumb as the first one. The fourth and the fifth books were good. I sat down [this time] and put a lot of time into it… I’m not doing it for money. The people that get money are the writers and the publisher. I got some stuff to get off my chest. It’s soul cleansing.”
In the memoir, Bradshaw reveals that he has suffered from anxiety and depression for much of his life, including during his heyday with the Pittsburgh Steelers. His formal diagnosis came in the late 1990s, long after his playing career ended.
Speaking out now, Bradshaw said he has had strangers approach and thank him.
“Men come up to me in the grocery store.,” he revealed. “They say, ‘Hey, Terry, I really appreciate you talking about depression. I’m dealing with depression, and you really helped me a lot.’ I say, ‘Hey man, my pleasure.’”
Bradshaw also touched on his future with Fox amid calls for him to retire following a health scare and several on-air mistakes.
“I love my job,” he said. “This year was the first year that I got nervous. I wanted to extend my contract. So I signed through the Super Bowl. Two more years. I’ll be 80.”
Bradshaw added, “Everybody in any business has to go. The young guys are coming. But I want to be relevant. I want to be good. I want to continue on. I want America to [tune in] and watch me. I want them to [like] me. I can’t wait to do the show.”
“Looking for Terry” is available now in hardcover, eBook and audiobook, read by Bradshaw himself.
