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Steelers-Bettis talks on

TV job a possibility if negotiations fail

Thursday, February 24, 2005

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Jerome Bettis did his homework, and now it appears the football lies in the Steelers' end zone.

Peter Diana, Post-Gazette

A relative bargain this season, Jerome Bettis, has a cap value that soars to nearly $5.5 million in 2005.

Click photo for larger image.

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The actions and words this week of his agent, Lamont Smith, indicate that Bettis will return to play one more season with the Steelers provided they agree on a contract by Wednesday. If not, he might retire and accept an offer from a television network to join its NFL studio staff. There's also a chance he could play elsewhere next season.

The Steelers and Smith have exchanged contract proposals, and negotiations are ongoing. But before those talks took place, Bettis spoke to former NFL players about the circumstances that led to their retirements so he could gain insight into making a decision. Among the former players he spoke with were Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long, and two others likely to be inducted at Canton once they become eligible, Rod Woodson and Troy Aikman.

A lot of what each told him was similar.

"My advice to anybody is if you want to play, that's what you should do," Aikman said yesterday. "It comes to an end soon enough.

"If you still have it in you, the passion and the physical ability, that's what you should do. If you make decisions for the right reasons and you're passionate about it, everything else in life will take care of itself."

Bettis spoke to Aikman in Jacksonville before the Super Bowl as he did with Woodson and Bradshaw. He talked to Long when the former Raiders defensive tackle presented him with a truck near the end of the season after picking him for his NFL Tough Guy award.

"We had a lengthy conversation, just regarding where is his head, where was my head at the end of my 13th year," Long said. "He was trying to tap into a lot of different perspectives, which is smart to do ..."

It also was smart of Bettis not to make a decision the day after losing to New England, Long said.

"Jerome's a rare bird," Long said, adding that people consider that the most physically demanding position in football is running with the ball.

"He runs to darkness, he runs to impact. There are running backs who are elusive, have a lot of wiggle, people don't get a clear shot at them. He runs to impact, it's demolition derby. For him to play as long as he has -- and the impact he had this last year was mind-boggling. I can't tell you the kind of year he had."

It was the kind of season that could top off a career.

Bettis took a steep pay cut to return to play behind starter Duce Staley, then became the starter at midseason when Staley was hurt. He led the Steelers with 941 yards rushing, made his sixth Pro Bowl when Corey Dillon withdrew and climbed into fifth on the NFL's career rushing list with 13,294 yards. It might have locked up his Hall of Fame selection.

It also was the kind of season that could convince Bettis, who turned 33 last week, to give it another try. He never played in a Super Bowl, and the Steelers, 15-1 last season, rank among the favorites to get there in Bettis' hometown of Detroit next year.

"As a fan of his and the Steelers, I told him, 'It would be great to see you play again,' " Woodson said. "He played this season healthy for the first time in several years. That shows you he can still play the game. He'll have to make a decision based on how he feels his body will hold up."

Woodson and Aikman retired because of injuries. Long called it quits after the 1993 season, capping it with his eighth Pro Bowl. He also has a Super Bowl ring.

"I was in similar place to where he is,'' Long said. "I told him, it's always easy to have those first five, six, seven, eight years of success. It's those last three, four, five that present an extraordinary challenge, particularly those last one or two. The things you were able to get away with your first eight, nine years you can't get away with in your 12th or 13th."

Bettis and his fiancee became parents in February. Long, when he retired, had an 8-year old son he wanted to give more attention.

"Where we differed,'' Long said, "is this: When I left the Raiders, that team was headed in the wrong direction. The Steelers are right there, they were one game away, they're making the right decisions. That has to be a very tempting thing for him."

All the former players Bettis said he approached for advice are in broadcasting. Long and Bradshaw are together in the studio on Fox NFL Sunday. Aikman is part of Fox's No. 1 broadcast team for NFL games. Woodson began work with the new NFL Network last season.

Bettis wants to enter broadcasting when he retires, preferably as a network studio co-host, where he has done work as a guest for several years. Some believe he's a natural for television and that, if he spurns a TV job now to play another season, the offers would still be there when he retires.

"It may, or it may not," Aikman said. "There's actually a good chance there will be more opportunities a year from now when changes are made based on the new television contract.

"But so much of it is timing. I'm a perfect example of that. Matt Millen just took a job with the Detroit Lions and opened up a spot on the No. 2 team at Fox, and I moved in there. And then John Madden took a job with Monday Night Football and I was fortunate to join the No. 1 team.

"You never know what can happen in this business. But there are more players now who have an interest in television than when I was playing, and there are not that many jobs."

Aikman mentioned one other factor in playing vs. broadcasting the games: "They pay a lot more to play football."

Woodson played for the Steelers and three other teams from 1987-2003. He spent all last season on the Raiders' injured reserve list before retiring.

"All good things come to an end sooner or later,'' Woodson said. "We all want things to last forever. We all want our bodies to be 22 again, but it can't happen. Jerome understands that, he knows where his body is at.

Bettis can go out on a great year and career but I think he will decide he still wants to play

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Me thinks he wants 1 more shot at a ring. I sure hope it doesn't screw up our future though. This draft is DEEP at RB, IMO.

Based on this season though, he looks like he still has some gas left in the tank.

How much though, that is the question.

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Me thinks he wants 1 more shot at a ring. I sure hope it doesn't screw up our future though. This draft is DEEP at RB, IMO.

Steelers I would think want to start to groom a young RB- Staley and Bettis combo notwithstanding.

A guy that that could be a good fit for the type of bigger back offense could be Shelton -big back from Louisville

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Based on this season though, he looks like he still has some gas left in the tank.

How much though, that is the question.

Scary proposition huh? Don't get me wrong, i LOVE the Bus. But i fear that if he can't produce at that level it will set us back a year or 2. The way RB's go in the NFL, and as deep as this draft is ya could probably pick up a serviceable guy with huge upside in round 3.

The Jets still have time with Martin, ya think they'll get his backup out of the draft this year?

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