While interviewing Terry Bradshaw earlier this week, the NFL Hall of Famer, Fox NFL analyst, ad pitchman, actor and investor interrupted himself mid-sentence to say, “I just bought an airplane while we were on the phone!” Bradshaw is always working.
He first became famous for racking up passing yards on his way to winning four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers, with whom he played between 1970 to 1983. Now 71, he likes to use his celebrity to educate his fellow baby boomers on the importance of taking care of themselves. Bradshaw has been a health advocate for many illnesses and he’s currently teaming up with Pfizer PFE, +1.01% to educate people about pneumococcal pneumonia, an infection caused by the Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. It’s a disease that kills thousands of people a year over the age of 65.
““I got into bourbon because I love bourbon, but my preacher doesn’t know that I drink bourbon.””
In our interview, the famously talkative Bradshaw started by saying I should grow back my “sweet beard” — he must have Googled me — before talking about, among other topics, why he flips planes and why losing $900,000 ended up being the best financial move he ever made.
MarketWatch: Tell me about the project you’re working on with Pfizer.
Terry Bradshaw: I am doing this with Pfizer because it’s so important for all of us as we get older to take care of ourselves. Pneumococcal pneumonia is just a disease that slips in and if you don’t take care of yourself, my friend, it could be life-threatening in severe cases. I work out now more than I have ever in my life. I’m 6 inches bigger in my chest than I was when I played professional football. My legs are bigger, my calves are bigger. Men historically just flat don’t want to go to a doctor, probably because we are scared of what they’ll tell us. I’m not one of those, I go. I want to know that I’m healthy on the inside so I can enjoy all of the things on the outside. I got grandkids, I got horses to ride, I got cattle, I love to fish, I love to travel.
MarketWatch: You’re Terry freaking Bradshaw, you only have so much time to spend on any project you want. Why was this one in particular important to put your name on?
Bradshaw: I’m 71 years old. I’m not getting younger. I’ve experienced a great deal of health changes over my life. Professional athletes especially suffer from many different kinds of injuries, so health is of utmost importance. I haven’t ever asked Pfizer why they asked me to be a part of this, but I think they are glad that they did. We have had fun doing it.
MarketWatch: You’ve been an active promoter of shingles care in the past so it seems like people trust you as a spokesman.
Bradshaw: I don’t get involved in things for money, I just don’t. If you and I were having a beer, I would tell you about all the stuff I turn down. I had shingles when I was 27. They wanted a football player in the ad, and they got me.
““I buy a lot of planes. You have to be smart when you buy one. You have to use it for business. Then I learned how to flip a plane. You spend $4 or $5 million bucks and it might scare the heck out of you, but not me.””
MarketWatch: As a former Steelers QB, what did you think of Steelers QB Ben Rothlisberger going down with an injury this weekend, and where do you see Pittsburgh’s season going now?
Bradshaw: They lose Ben and the backup is this kid Mason Rudolph out of Oklahoma State. He played pretty well — had a couple of touchdown passes. I feel bad for Ben. He tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow which is the same ligament that I tore that ended my career, so it’ll be interesting. I wish him well. Plus Eli Manning gets benched in New York and then Drew Brees gets hurt with a thumb injury.
MarketWatch: All these quarterbacks are going down.
Bradshaw: I might have to come out of retirement at 71 (laughs).
MarketWatch: You have been outspoken about [former Steelers wide receiver] Antonio Brown in the past. What are your thoughts on his situation right now?
Bradshaw: I am right where I want to be, as far away from him as I can be. I don’t like guys like that. I don’t want to play with guys like that. As far as I am concerned he’s a selfish, immature player. I’m disappointed in New England for picking him up. I’m disappointed he could last in the league this long but I guess if you have talent you can be rewarded for bad behavior. It’s not the way I was raised.
MarketWatch :When you were playing, teams would run the ball a lot more than they do today. But you actually stood out because you and the Steelers were more of an air-raid attack than most teams at the time. What do you think the next innovation in football is going to be?
Bradshaw: It’s going to be passing because running the football is becoming a dinosaur. Now teams want to throw 50 times. I wasn’t a big supporter of this Kyler Murray [first overall NFL draft pick in 2019] and Kliff Kingsbury [first year NFL head coach] deal out there in Arizona but I got to tell you man (laughs) it’s got my attention!
MarketWatch: What’s the best financial advice you’ve ever been given.
Bradshaw: Make sure the people you have are the most qualified people. I’m smart enough to know that there are people a lot smarter in finance than I am. My father always told me to invest in things that I know. So I invest heavily in real estate, horses and cattle.I don’t want to get “rich rich rich,” I want to be smart with my money, I’m conservative by nature. I have a clothing line coming out, and I have a whisky coming out this Christmas. I have gotten involved with things that I know about. I got into bourbon because I love bourbon, but my preacher doesn’t know that I drink bourbon.
MarketWatch: Don’t worry, we’ll edit that part out. What’s one thing you don’t mind spending money on?
Bradshaw: Planes. I buy a lot of planes, I’ve owned a lot of jets. You have to be smart when you buy one. You have to use it for business. Then I learned how to flip a plane. I learned how long to use it and when you need to move it. As a matter of fact, I just bought one while we were on the phone! I have been at this a long time and jets don’t scare me at all. You spend 4 or 5 million bucks and it might scare the heck out of you, but not me.
MarketWatch: What’s your favorite possession?
Bradshaw: My conscience. Man, that is heavy. Make sure you right that down. That just popped out of my mouth (laughs).
MarketWatch: Have you made any big money mistakes?
Bradshaw: I lost $900,000 in real estate right when the recession hit. I was heavily invested, about 13 million bucks to be exact. I came home one day and I just didn’t feel good, I was kind of sick to my stomach. I felt nervous about what was going on in the money markets and I asked a friend to help me out. In 3 days, I sold all of my property in Texas, Oklahoma and Mexico. I lost $900K. I got a call from Merrill Lynch telling me that’s the smartest investment decision I had ever made because the recession was about to come. I lost a lot, but it could have been a lot worse.
