Six-time Pro Bowler, NFL Comeback Player of the Year, Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, Super Bowl champion-for thirteen punishing years running back Jerome Bettis, "The Bus," was one of the most respected players in the NFL. But while fans might know Bettis's stats, they've never before had a chance to get to know the man behind the numbers. Now he teams up with the award-winning sportswriter Gene Wojciechowski in an exciting and revealing memoir in the tradition of such bestsellers as Favre and Payton.
Raised in a rough neighborhood in Detroit, Bettis was a troubled and trouble-making teenager who found a route to escape on Motown's high-school football fields. His prodigious talents made him a college hero at Notre Dame, but despite his incredible performances on the field, he always worried that he would revert to Detroit Jerome and blow his chance to make good. Even when he was drafted by the Rams in the first round, Bettis wondered if he had what it takes to succeed. After he was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in one of the most lopsided trades in NFL history, he became the most beloved player in that football-obsessed town. Before retiring in 2006, he topped off his career by helping the Steelers win their record-breaking fifth Super Bowl.
THE BUS captures the special qualities Bettis brought to every aspect of surviving fourteen years playing the most difficult position in professional football. He was a running back with the nimbleness of a ballerina; he played with the kind of injuries that would make other people faint; and he mastered the cutthroat business tactics of the NFL, negotiating some of the smartest deals in the history of the league.But he was also a husband, a father, a mentor, and a loyal friend to his fellow players. Written with candor and humor, THE BUS is a rare, intimate look at a man who triumphed over unbeatable odds.
