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00:00Joining me right now, one of the most legendary running backs in the history of the National Football League,
00:06who also happens to have maybe the greatest nickname in the history of sports,
00:10my guy, Super Bowl champ, a pro football Hall of Famer, three-time All-Pro, six Pro Bowls,
00:162001 Walter Payton Man of the Year, the boss, my guy, the great Jerome Bettis.
00:22Jerome, how are you?
00:23I'm great. Thanks for having me.
00:25Listen, before we start chopping it up and talking some football,
00:28we are obsessed, as you know, can't wait for the 37th annual American Century Championship of Celebrity Golf
00:36in beautiful Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
00:38The tournament has raised over $8 million for charity.
00:42It's airing on Peacock, NBC, July the 10th through the 12th.
00:47$750,000 in prize money at stake.
00:51Galleries of up to 70,000 people expected again.
00:55What makes this such an unbelievable time and such a great cause?
01:01Well, it's really the players that you get a chance to spend time with.
01:07It's like you're back in the locker room again.
01:10You get to really hang out and kind of rub shoulders with guys in hockey and baseball and basketball,
01:17guys that you don't normally get an opportunity to spend time with,
01:20but you also get a chance to compete against them.
01:23So you got some ribbing, you got some smack talk, you got a little bit of everything that would be
01:29in your locker room,
01:31but now it's in Tahoe and it's a tournament.
01:36You got a chance to win.
01:38It's the environment, the energy, the fans.
01:42It's just an incredible experience, especially if you're a retired guy because this gets your juices flowing again.
01:50Not like many things can.
01:53I love that.
01:54I'm obsessed with the answer.
01:55And I'm curious because there are so many new references, Jerome, great players, great athletes, you know, actors, entertainers.
02:04Give us some of the best competitors in terms of the celebs who are phenomenal golfers, former athletes who are
02:12great golfers.
02:13And give us some guys that you love chopping it up with during this unbelievable event.
02:17So I'll give it to you like this, the guys that I go after that, that, that I'm always, always
02:23chopping it up with and, and trying to beat the first guy that comes to mind is Larry Fitzgerald.
02:29He's, he's the, he's the guy that when it's, when I look at the score, that's the first name I'm
02:35looking at.
02:36What did he do today?
02:37Because we get a chance to play.
02:40We're really good friends and, and we always want to compete against each other with every opportunity.
02:45So he's the first name, but then, then there's other guys like Tim Brown that I'm always, always, I get
02:52a chance to play with from time to time.
02:53So I want to know how he, how he played and, and Marcus Allen is another guy.
03:00He's in the area, he's in the area with me.
03:02And so we get a chance to play a lot.
03:04So I want to see how did his game translate, you know, this particular week, but then there's the other
03:09guys like Tony Romo and Dan Smokes.
03:13All right.
03:13I'm, I'm good friends with John.
03:15So I want to see him win this year.
03:19So I'm looking at those guys, but I'm also looking at a Steph Curry.
03:23I want to see, can he duplicate what he did a couple of years ago?
03:26Right.
03:26Can he get that form back and see who's playing well?
03:31Tony Romo, another guy you, you just a big fan of.
03:35And so fish, another guy, I got a chance to play with him one year.
03:39Marty, he's a great guy.
03:41So just, just all those different guys.
03:44You want to kind of watch and see how they're playing.
03:48Jerome, let's talk about the Steelers.
03:49And I got to tell you, first and foremost, just as a take, I'm high on the Steelers this year.
03:55I think the Steelers is going to be a really good to great team.
03:58At times I feel like I'm in the minority and, you know, I'm not predicting a Superbowl, but it's been
04:03a minute since the Steelers have won a play.
04:06And I think they absolutely can win one, if not more than one, for the first time since Pittsburgh beat
04:12Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs, which feels like a lifetime ago.
04:18Obviously new head coach, Mike McCarthy, who I like a lot.
04:22Rogers comes back.
04:23I love what they did in the offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
04:26Take the temperature for us on what you're looking for out of the Pittsburgh Steelers for this season.
04:32I'm expecting a lot.
04:35You've got to think the standard's been set, right?
04:38That was set before this coach, before the last coach, before the last coach.
04:43And so that's not going to change.
04:46The expectation is high.
04:49Now you factor in Aaron Rogers.
04:52He also gave you a nugget, right?
04:54He also said, yes, this is my last year.
04:57Well, that's motivation, right?
04:59It's motivation for him.
05:00But it's also motivation for his teammates.
05:03They want to make sure that they get the best out of him and the best opportunity because they all
05:10know, hey, this is it.
05:11This is our last opportunity with Aaron Rogers and the great player that he has been and that he is.
05:21So there's going to be some energy there that not a lot of people are thinking about or expecting that
05:28I expect to see these guys come out and play well.
05:31The defense has always been really good.
05:35I think they've got a chance to be special.
05:37And I think with that motivation going into the season, I think they'll be really good and under the radar.
05:44I think you nailed it on everything.
05:45Also, I gave Aaron credit for saying, yeah, this is it.
05:49You know, creates an urgency.
05:51He deserves a farewell tour.
05:53I think it raises everything for everyone, as you eloquently framed it, in that locker room.
05:59Also, you know this as a former player.
06:02Players hate when they have to answer questions about a teammate, right?
06:05Like you don't want to do that.
06:06Rodgers knows that.
06:08So now the players for the Pittsburgh Steelers don't have to do that.
06:11So I think Rodgers, as an all-time great quarterback, arguably the greatest star of the football in NFL history,
06:18having that kind of farewell tour and everyone motivated, Jerome, I think that's great for Pittsburgh.
06:24I also think, and take us through this in terms of familiarity, his relationship with McCarthy,
06:30plus adding someone, and Rodgers is such a stickler for details, like Michael Pittman Jr.,
06:35who's great in terms of route running and phenomenal hands, and Rico Dowdle at running back,
06:41who played for McCarthy in Dallas.
06:43That matters to me.
06:45I think that could take that offense, Jerome, to a different level.
06:48It really can.
06:50And you've got a quarterback who can communicate with the head coach on a different level than most players and
06:58most head coaches.
06:59So they're going to be in sync in a different type of way.
07:03They have the ability to communicate, right, in a different way.
07:09And if Aaron is seeing some things, those things matter.
07:14You see something in the field, hey, I like this, I like this.
07:17The trust is there.
07:19So there's no issue from the head coach quarterback scenario.
07:24You also have a familiarity with the running back, what he likes to do, what you think is his best
07:33runs.
07:34All those things, they all matter.
07:35And so now you get an offense, and I think if you go back and look at the Steelers,
07:41that's really what's been holding this team back is the quarterback play, the offense.
07:47The defense has been good, right?
07:50So now you bring an offense that can score some points, and that's been the Achilles heel for the Steelers.
07:56They've been in the 17-point range for the last four years, right?
08:01You can't beat anybody scoring 17 to 21 points.
08:05You need to be able to score some points.
08:07So now you bring in a receiver that now balances your receiving core.
08:14Got a running back, multiple running backs.
08:16Now you can punish some teams running the football.
08:21You can throw it.
08:23You've got a deep threat.
08:25You've got a receiver who can catch anything in the middle of the field.
08:28Now all of a sudden you've got the ingredients of a really good offense that has the potential to score
08:33some points.
08:34Now all of a sudden you have a chance to go out and compete with the teams like Buffalo, Baltimore,
08:41Cincinnati,
08:42who's going to score 30 points.
08:45You can put 30 points as soon as they walk in the building.
08:48The Steelers, you couldn't do that.
08:49And I think you have to be able to score 30 points in this league
08:53because your defense is going to hold you the majority of the time.
08:57But there are going to come games where you have to score 30 points, 35 points,
09:03maybe 40 points.
09:12We're going to do a pickup if we get them back.
09:20Jerome, you froze. Hold on. We can pick that back up.
09:24Yep.
09:25Okay.
09:41We can pick that up if we, um, yep. Perfect.
09:45There we go.
09:47All right. That's no worries at all.
09:49We can just pick that up as is.
09:51Okay.
09:52So just in terms of, you know, taking it to a different level,
09:56and you were saying about, I'll let you pick it up here,
09:59with Buffalo, Cincinnati, and, you know, teams like that,
10:03and obviously the offense being able to keep up with,
10:05with some of the best teams in the AFC.
10:07Yeah.
10:08And that's been the Achilles heel for the Pittsburgh centers.
10:11They haven't been able to score points.
10:13If you're going to pay a play of Buffalo bills,
10:16the Cincinnati, uh, some of the Baltimore,
10:19some of these teams that can score 30 points, 35 points.
10:23Yes. Your defense, you want to hold them.
10:25You absolutely, you don't want, you don't want it to be a shootout,
10:28but there will occasionally be games where you have got to score.
10:3330 or more points.
10:34The Steelers couldn't do that historically last four or five years.
10:37They have to be able to do that.
10:39I think they can now with this office, uh,
10:42with Mike McCarthy coming in and revamping the offense and the running game.
10:47I think this offense will be able to score points now.
10:50Jerome, first time we've talked since the coaching change.
10:53And, you know, I always thought all things can be true.
10:56You know, Mike Tomlin to me was phenomenal as a coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
10:59I also think it was time.
11:01I saw him with Maria Taylor, you know,
11:03when he was introduced on NBC and he talked about, you know,
11:06the lack of, of playoff wins at the end.
11:08And I think both are accurate in terms of Tomlin was phenomenal in Pittsburgh.
11:12And I think for everyone, for Mike, for the organization, it was just time.
11:17Look, I think Mike McCarthy is a fantastic coach.
11:20He's won a Superbowl, won a lot of games,
11:22won 12 games three years in a row in Dallas coaching for Jerry Jones.
11:27That to me was a huge deal.
11:29He's a Pittsburgh guy.
11:31That matters to me.
11:32That's a unique market.
11:34You know it.
11:34You have to understand the fans, the culture, what Steeler football is,
11:39what it represents.
11:40What did you think of the coaching change going from Mike Tomlin to Mike McCarthy?
11:44Yeah.
11:45First, I was surprised that it happened, but I wasn't shocked.
11:49I understood that 19 years in one place is quite a long time.
11:53And so, you know, everybody was ready for the change, right,
11:58in the sense that coaches were ready to move on.
12:02The team is ready for a new voice.
12:04And Mike McCarthy, I think he's the guy that you need
12:08because this is a broken offense.
12:11This is an offense that needs to be resuscitated.
12:14You need a guy who has the ability to do it,
12:17who's done it before at a high level
12:20and has championship experience and pedigree.
12:23So I think it was a great decision.
12:25I think initially it threw me off because I thought the Steelers would go young,
12:30historically like they had.
12:32But once you saw the things that really bring him into focus
12:40in the sense that you said it, he is a Pittsburgh guy.
12:44He's won 12-plus games in Dallas multiple years,
12:48which is something that's hard to do.
12:50He's won a championship.
12:51So he's done all the things that you need him to do.
12:54But more importantly, he's been able to really develop quarterbacks.
13:00And I think that was the one piece that the Steelers have been missing this whole time.
13:04I don't believe they ever had, in Coach Tomlin's time,
13:08a coach who could develop a quarterback.
13:12And that was the one issue that they really had and they needed to address
13:16because now they're going into an era where they're going to have a young quarterback
13:20at some point, not this year, obviously, but they're going to have a young quarterback
13:25and they need someone who can develop a young quarterback.
13:28Yeah, I agree with you completely.
13:30I think it's an excellent take.
13:31I also love, and I want to pick your brain on this, the fact that the running back is back.
13:35And I personally have never really felt like the running back went away.
13:39But I feel like, you know, certain circles or how they were getting paid, you know,
13:44or where they were drafted.
13:46Now forget about it.
13:47Running backs are rightly getting paid.
13:48You have to run to win.
13:49And they're getting drafted high in the draft, which I absolutely love.
13:53How would you describe this running back renaissance?
13:58I mean, you look at all these running backs getting paid.
14:00Your guy from Notre Dame, my guy who I love, Jeremiah Love, getting picked third overall.
14:05He's not a running back to me.
14:06He's a weapon.
14:07How would you characterize what we've seen over the last 365 days plus in the NFL?
14:13So here's what's happened.
14:16And it hasn't, it's not just this year.
14:19I think the last five years, teams have realized that if you can find that special running back,
14:27you better take him because he's going to change your football team.
14:31He's a game changer.
14:32And the problem, though, in years past, that the colleges weren't producing these talented running backs
14:41because when the game changed to four wide receivers, the thought was,
14:46let's get a smaller running back who can run horizontally and run through holes horizontally
14:51and not downhill vertically.
14:53And so as a result of that, you wanted a smaller running back.
14:57Well, the NFL never changed.
14:58They always wanted a bigger back that could carry the load.
15:02So you had to go two platoon.
15:04You had to get a guy who could run and a guy who could catch
15:06because the colleges weren't producing that one guy.
15:10Well, there started to be a resurgence, and a couple schools started to really keep that big back philosophy.
15:18You saw Georgia and Alabama and Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio State.
15:25Just some of those schools, USC, a couple schools kept with those big backs.
15:29And so you started to see, hey, Texas, we got this guy.
15:34And now all of a sudden, Alabama, we had this guy.
15:37But now all of a sudden, you see the production that these guys are producing.
15:42And now all of a sudden, you say, where's my running back?
15:46But they're not out there.
15:48You can't just pick them off a tree.
15:50And so when you find them, the teams are saying, we got to get them first
15:55because there's only one or two in each draft.
15:59It used to be, in my era, you had eight or ten guys who could be a successful, you know,
16:05bell cow running back.
16:06That's not the case anymore.
16:08So if you find one, you better grab them.
16:11Think about it.
16:12Saquon, he was a high pick.
16:15Gibbs, high pick.
16:17Bishon Robinson, high pick.
16:19All these guys that are studs in the game, it's a reason because they're special,
16:24and you can't find them.
16:26They don't grow on trees.
16:27And now you're starting to be rewarded.
16:29You see these contracts.
16:31You're starting to see that, hey, I've got to have this guy.
16:35And when you lose a running back like that, your offense is never the same.
16:40So teams are understanding, I can't afford to lose this guy
16:43because I can't find another one.
16:46You nailed it.
16:47I totally agree.
16:48And I think we've seen that.
16:49And, frankly, you just summed it up perfectly in terms of what is happening,
16:54what should have been happening, and, you know,
16:55where we are right now at the running back position.
16:58Jerome, finally, I want to pick your brain on Notre Dame.
17:00And first and foremost, I still can't believe how Notre Dame got screwed last year.
17:05I am just angry.
17:06I'm pissed off.
17:07I'm livid.
17:08It was an injustice.
17:10It was a joke.
17:11I'm so disgusted.
17:13I felt bad for Coach Freeman, for the fans, for the players,
17:16for an alum like you, the whole thing.
17:18It just drove me absolutely nuts.
17:20So what was your reaction then?
17:23And kind of in this weird, wild world of college football,
17:28take the temperature where Notre Dame is when it comes to the landscape.
17:34Because not in a conference.
17:36I've argued they should be.
17:37I know it's not going to happen per se.
17:39But I'm curious, in your position and who you are,
17:43where you kind of view Notre Dame in that prism of college football.
17:49Well, you know, it's great that they're back in the conversation.
17:53You know, there was a while there.
17:55You know, after I left and, you know, up until when Coach Kelly got there,
18:02there was a drought, a serious drought.
18:05And there was a lack of talent, to be quite honest.
18:07They just weren't recruiting the way that they needed to be able to compete
18:12against the top schools in the country.
18:15And now that's changed.
18:17They're back in the conversation.
18:18And, yes, you know, they got railroaded last year.
18:21We all understand that.
18:23That was devastating to see because I really felt they had a great football team.
18:30And they had probably a better team than they had the year before
18:34when they played in the national championship game.
18:36So that was the disappointing part.
18:38They didn't get a chance to show what they were really capable of.
18:42And so, you know, you take that with a grain of salt.
18:45But when you look at the landscape, I think Notre Dame is positioned correctly now
18:51that they have an opportunity.
18:53If they are in the top 12, they get an automatic bid.
18:57And so that ensures that that doesn't happen again last year.
19:03Now, it doesn't ensure that they are, you know, ranked high,
19:07but it ensures that they're in the playoffs, right?
19:12And that's all you want is an opportunity to prove your worth.
19:16And so it was unfortunate that it happened, but the benefit is going forward
19:23that won't happen again if they're in position late in the year like they were last year.
19:29How would you characterize Marcus Freeman as a head coach?
19:32Do you think Notre Dame is going to keep him, or at some point he goes to the NFL?
19:36I mean, I think the world of Coach Freeman, and I'm not surprised NFL teams had interest in him.
19:41What do you see when you look at Coach?
19:43I am so scared because he is dynamic.
19:47He is incredible.
19:50He's great with the players.
19:51He gets it.
19:52He understands it.
19:53He's got the energy that you want.
19:56He's got the passion.
19:57He believes in what he's doing.
20:00And I'm just one of those like, oh, please don't go.
20:03Please don't go.
20:04Because he is the perfect head football coach at Notre Dame.
20:09He embodies everything that Notre Dame is all about.
20:13He believes in the university.
20:15He gets it.
20:17He understands the challenges that are there at Notre Dame.
20:22Because make no mistake, there's challenges to being the head coach at Notre Dame.
20:27But he understands it.
20:28He loves that challenge.
20:30He's embracing it.
20:31So NFL coaches, I mean, NFL organizations are looking at him, and they're saying he definitely has what it takes.
20:40I think it's probably a situation where he wants some more seasoning in the sense of some more head coach
20:48experience.
20:49And if hopefully his alma mater doesn't call him back home, that is always a concern.
20:57But I believe the real threat is the NFL, an organization looking at him saying he can help build a
21:05championship organization.
21:06Because I really believe that he can.
21:08And that would be the scariest part for him if we lose him.
21:14Because he's special, and he's really taking the program to the next level.
21:19Jerome, you're the best.
21:20This was great stuff.
21:21We always appreciate the time.
21:22Can't wait to see you teed up again in the American Century Golf Classic coming up in the middle of
21:26July.
21:27We'll be watching on NBC and on Peacock July 10th through the 12th.
21:31And as always, great stuff, and we appreciate it.
21:34Thanks.
21:34Thanks, Adam.
21:35Appreciate having me.
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