Terry Bradshaw’s crystal ball is showing an East-Coast-vs.-West Coast Super Bowl LIV.
While the legendary Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback-turned-Fox TV guru didn’t identify which team he believes will win the Lombardi Trophy Feb. 2 in Miami, he divulged for the first time this season the two franchises he believes will be this season’s finalists.
“I'm going to go with something new in the AFC,” said the genial, outgoing 71-year-old during a Tuesday phone conversation. “I'll go with the Ravens.” As for the NFC representative, while he professed admiration for the 49ers’ offense, after a few seconds of out-loud contemplation, he proclaimed his belief in the Seahawks because “Seattle’s beaten the 49ers and will have home-field advantage.”
The conversation was occasioned by The Terry Bradshaw Show, which hits the Music Box at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa Friday. The 70-minute program promises to introduce fans to a side of Bradshaw they may not know existed—the entertainer side.
As he described it, the presentation is a variety-style affair that shows off Bradshaw’s way with a tune and a tale.
“It's a show that's full of humor and songs,” he explained. “I open the show with [Brooks & Dunn’s’] ‘Boot Skootin’ Boogie.’ I talk to the audience; I'll do a Q-and-A.
“The songs set up my life quickly. They’re an abbreviation of how I was raised. I tell stories about football, college, high school. And then I put it to song. I talk some more about it and I'll put it to song. And then I talk about getting back [with] the Steelers and then getting hurt. I put it to ‘Bye, Bye Love’ by the Everly Brothers. I think it's a fun show. I hope it is.”
Bradshaw shouted out the late Glen Campbell, country titans Merle Haggard and Alan Jackson and famed gospel act The Statesmen Quartet when asked about his musical influences, none of which were especially surprising for someone born and bred in Louisiana. But then he hurled a bolt from the blue by effusively praising beloved British glam-rock band Queen and its immortal front man, Freddie Mercury, whom he described as “really marvelous.”
So, the question was begged, what has been a scarier experience for him, being rushed by a 300-pound lineman, or performing in front of an audience? His answer wasn’t all that surprising.
“The live audience,” he responded without hesitation. “When I opened [at the Mirage] in Las Vegas it was beyond intimidating.
“I was used to people rushing me ’cause I grew up in that environment. When you go from junior high all the way up to the NFL, you've been rushed at your whole life. But my opening night…I'll never forget it.
“I knew the opening song and the dialogue inside and out. But right before I went out, all of a sudden, I couldn't remember anything. And I'm like, ‘Oh my God, oh no, Jesus, please don’t let me go blank here!’
And the minute I got up on that stage and opened up my arms and started, boom! It happened. It just came out, you know?”
Bradshaw’s career was spent in an era when gambling ranked high on the NFL’s “thou shalt not” list. Nonetheless, he has no issues at all with the sea change in official policy that has led to the league entering into partnerships with sports- betting entities.
“No, no, no,” he replied when asked if he felt legal wagering was a problem for football. “The American energy is always about gambling. It's just the nature of humans to wanna compete. And when they compete, they wanna win something. It's exciting. And gambling is just part of it.
“The NFL has accepted it, they’ve embraced it. And we’re in Vegas now with the Raiders.
“As long as the players don’t bet on their teams, I don't find anything wrong with it.”
Borgata, 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City; 8 p.m. Friday; $59 and $49; for tickets, click here.