Jerome Abram Bettis Sr. (born February 16, 1972) is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nicknamed "the Bus" due to his large size and forceful running style, he is regarded as one of the greatest power runners of all time and ranks eighth in NFL rushing yards.
Bettis played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and was selected 10th overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1993 NFL draft. He was a member of the Rams for three seasons before being traded to the Steelers, where he spent the remainder of his career. Bettis received six Pro Bowl and two first-team All-Pro selections, in addition to being a member of the Steelers team that won Super Bowl XL, the franchise's first title in over two decades. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Early life Bettis was born February 16, 1972, in Detroit, Michigan. He is the youngest of three children of Gladys Elizabeth (née Bougard) and Johnnie E. Bettis.Stated on Who Do You Think You Are?, March 9, 2012 Bettis did not start playing football until high school, as his primary passion as a youth had been bowling. At age 14, he was diagnosed with asthma. As a youth in Detroit, Bettis and his brother made ends meet by selling crack cocaine. He attended Mackenzie High School in Detroit, where he was a standout running back and linebacker. As a senior, he was rated the top player in the state by the Detroit Free Press, and was the Gatorade Circle of Champions Player of the Year award winner.
College career Bettis enrolled at the University of Notre Dame to play college football for the Fighting Irish. Bettis finished his career with 337 rushing attempts for 1,912 yards (5.7 yards per attempt), and made 32 receptions for 429 yards (13.4 yards per reception). In his sophomore year, he set the Notre Dame touchdown record with 20 in one season, with 16 rushing, and 4 receiving (23 total touchdowns including the 1992 Sugar Bowl, a record which still stands). In his last game as a junior, a 28–3 win by Notre Dame over Texas A&M in the 1993 Cotton Bowl, he rushed 20 times for 75 yards, ran for two touchdowns and caught a 26-yard touchdown pass.
Following this Bettis decided to forgo his senior year and enter the 1993 NFL draft.Jenkins, Lee (February 4, 2006). "With That Old College Retry, Bettis Revived His Career". The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2017. He returned to Notre Dame in 1996 when he was having a dispute with the St. Louis Rams and was considering retirement. He registered for courses in "history, philosophy, marketing and business" totaling an 18 credit class load. He returned to the NFL shortly thereafter.
Bettis later returned to Notre Dame to complete his college degree, and on May 15, 2022, he graduated with a business degree.
Professional career
Los Angeles / St. Louis Rams The Los Angeles Rams selected Bettis in the first round, with the tenth overall selection, of the 1993 NFL draft. On July 22, 1993, He signed a three-year, $4.625 million contract with a signing bonus in excess of $2 million.Simers, J.T. (July 23, 1993). "Rams Reach Agreement With Bettis Football: No. 1 pick expected to sign and practice today". Los Angeles Times Retrieved September 10, 2010. As a rookie, he flourished under Chuck Knox's ground-oriented offense. He quickly earned the nickname "The Battering Ram" as he rushed for 1,429 yards (second in the NFL, behind only Emmitt Smith's 1,486 rushing yards), drawing comparisons to Earl Campbell. Bettis also had an NFL-best 79 rushing first downs and an NFL-best 38 runs of 10 or more yards, and tied for the league lead with seven 100-yard rushing games despite not becoming the full-time starter until the sixth game of the season. Bettis was named a First-team All-Pro (the only rookie named to the team) and Consensus NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. He rushed for over 1,000 yards and was selected for the NFC's Pro Bowl team in each of his first two seasons with the Rams. He was one of the few bright spots on a dreadful team. The Rams finished last in the NFC West in both of his first two seasons, never coming remotely close to contention.
The Rams moved to St. Louis for the 1995 season. New coach Rich Brooks instituted a more pass-oriented offense, a major reason why Bettis was limited to 637 yards, a significant dropoff from his 1993 and 1994 totals. Brooks asked Bettis whether he wanted to move to fullback for the upcoming 1996 season or preferred to be traded. Bettis opted for a trade. By this time, most NFL fullbacks were primarily blockers, and Bettis still believed he could help a team as a rusher.
Trade to Pittsburgh
On the day of the 1996 NFL draft, Bettis was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers with a third-round pick in the 1996 draft in exchange for the Steelers' second-round pick and their fourth-round pick in the 1997 NFL draft.Clarochi, Paul (April 21, 1996), "Steelers Bet on Bettis to Fill RB Void".Beaver County Times Retrieved September 12, 2010. In the first round, the Rams drafted Lawrence Phillips as Bettis' intended successor. The Steelers drafted Steve Conley with the Rams’ third round selection. With their second round pick in the 1996 draft the Rams took Ernie Conwell. In 1997 the Rams traded their fourth-round pick from the Steelers and two sixth-round picks to the Dolphins in order to move up nine slots and take offensive tackle Ryan Tucker.
The Rams had given Bettis the option of selecting where he wanted to be traded to. He chose the Steelers over their AFC Central rival Houston Oilers (who would draft Eddie George that year instead) due to the Steelers' more storied history.
The Steelers were in need of a running back because Bam Morris, their feature back for the 1994 and 1995 seasons, was arrested in March 1996 for marijuana possession. Morris eventually pleaded guilty to marijuana possession and was cut by the Steelers a little over a month after the draft, handing the feature back position to Bettis.
Conley was traded to the Colts two seasons later for a fifth-round pick. Meanwhile, Phillips was cut by the Rams after only one-and-a-half seasons due to myriad off-the-field issues, and would be out of the NFL altogether by 1999, making the trade one of the most lopsided in NFL history.
Pittsburgh Steelers In his first season in Pittsburgh, Bettis rushed for a then career-high 1,431 yards and 11 touchdowns and was named to his second 1st team All-Pro team. He also won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year, NFL Alumni Running Back of the Year, was voted Steelers' team MVP and finished the 1996 season as the leader in Football Outsiders rushing DYAR metric. Footballoutsiders.com. Retrieved on September 13, 2017.
Bettis rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of his first six seasons with the Steelers between 1996 and 2001. Included in that run were three campaigns of over 1,300 yards. In 1997, Bettis rushed for a career-best 1,665 yards in the team's first 15 games. However, because the team had already wrapped up its playoff position, he was rested for the regular-season finale and finished 26 yards short of the team's single-season record. Bettis does hold the Steelers' franchise record for rushing yards in a single season when including postseason play. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Bettis was a second-team All-Pro choice in 1997 and set a then NFL record with two overtime touchdowns in the same season.
Bettis was leading the league with 1,072 rushing yards in 2001 when he suffered a serious hip and groin injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the regular season. Injuries would also cost him significant parts of the 2002 season, leaving him as a backup to Amos Zereoué to begin the 2003 season. Despite regaining his starting role midway through the 2003 season, Bettis again found himself a backup to start the 2004 season, this time to free-agent acquisition Duce Staley. But when an injury took Staley out of action midway through the year, Bettis stepped in and gained 100-plus yards in six of the next eight games, and in seven consecutive starts. The late-season effort led to the sixth Pro-Bowl berth of his career.
Bettis spent the 2005 season as a short-yardage running back, but managed two notable games along the way: a 101-yard, two-touchdown effort in a pivotal week 14 win over Chicago (his second-to-last game in Pittsburgh) in which he ran over Bears' safety Mike Green and the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year linebacker Brian Urlacher on the goal line during a heavy snow squall. Then he scored three touchdowns in a win over Detroit to clinch a playoff berth on the last day of the season. He finished the season and his career as the NFL's 5th leading all-time rusher.
Bettis was also at the center of one of the most controversial calls in NFL history. During a Thanksgiving Day game with the Detroit Lions on November 26, 1998, he was sent out as the Steelers representative for the overtime coin toss. Bettis appeared to call "tails" while the coin was in the air but referee Phil Luckett declared that Bettis had called "heads" first and awarded possession to Detroit, which would go on to win the game without giving Pittsburgh the chance to possess the ball. After reviewing the incident, the NFL changed the rule and declared that the call of "heads" or "tails" would be made before the coin was tossed rather than during the toss and that at least two officials would be present. In 2001 the readers of ESPN voted the incident as No. 8 on its list of the ten worst sports officiating calls of all time, even though sound enhancements of the audio showed that Bettis said "hea-tails" and Bettis admitted starting to call "heads" before changing it to "tails".The Readers' List:Worst calls in history. ESPN. August 27, 2001. Retrieved on July 23, 2013. Bettis later put together one of the most bizarre single-game statistics in NFL history. In the 2004 season opener he scored three touchdowns while carrying the ball five times for a total of only one yard and a 0.2 yards per carry average.
During that 2004 season, Bettis and New York Jets running back Curtis Martin dueled for position on the all-time rushing yards leaderboard. Bettis entered the season in 6th place all-time and 684 yards ahead of Martin in 9th place. Because Bettis was the backup in Pittsburgh for the start of the season, Martin was able to pass Bettis in week 13 until the Steelers played their game later in the day and Bettis retook the lead by 6 yards. When the Jets traveled to Martin's home town of Pittsburgh to play the Steelers the following week, both backs would cross the 13,000-yard mark, making this the first time two players crossed the 13,000 yard mark (or other similarly high yardage milestones) in the same game. Their combined career totals were also one of the biggest combined career totals for opposing running backs in history. At the end of the game, Martin would lead Bettis by 9 yards. Two weeks later in week 16, Bettis would again pass Martin and establish himself with a lead of 81 yards. In doing so, Bettis passed Eric Dickerson for 4th place on the all-time list. Bettis sat out the final week of the season, and when Martin rushed for 153 yards that week he passed Dickerson, and Bettis for the final time.
After the Steelers' defeat in the 2004 AFC Championship Game on January 23, 2005, Bettis announced that he was considering retirement, but would not make a final decision for several months to prevent the sting of the defeat from clouding his judgment. Later, Bettis agreed to stay with the Steelers for another season. He stated he would love to play in the Super Bowl in 2006 since it was to be played in his hometown of Detroit. His wish came true as the Steelers played in, and won, Super Bowl XL (40) against the Seattle Seahawks, 21–10, on February 5, 2006.