Jerome Bettis: I nearly quit before Steelers chapter | Trending Now

0:00Propel Fitness Water with Gatorade electrolytes, zero sugar, and vitamins. Propel hydrates better than water to help you get the most out of your workout and get back to your best self. What propels you? Propel with Gatorade electrolytes. From athletic stuff like a full court pickup game, swish, to athletic-ish stuff like a half mile stroll. Get those steps in! Head to Sierra or Sierra.com for the brands you want at the prices that let you do it all. From athletic to athletic-ish, Sierra's got it. Hey guys, Graham here. It's Friday, which means we get to share with you another one of our most popular clips from a past interview.

0:39The clip you're about to hear is trending on our Instagram right now. Hope you enjoy.

0:47You were drafted by the Rams. Started in Los Angeles because they were the LA Rams at the time. relocated with the team to St. Louis. You're in the prime of your career, yet you reach a point where you're ready to retire as opposed to having to continue to play with the Rams. Explain what was going on there. Well, I had a situation. A new coach had come in to the organization. His name is Rich Brooks. And he had just left University of Oregon, and so he came to be the head coach. Well, when he got there, we were having, you know, we were in the summer, in the OTAs, spring, and so we were having practices.

1:33And so he asked that would all of the veteran players meet with him. So he had his veteran 10 or so guys, and he asked us if we would be willing to go to training camp early so that he could implement the offense and the defense, because it was totally different than what we had been used to. So we all agreed, yes, we'd all come in. Well, what he didn't realize is that I was going through a contract dispute with the organization, And when training camp time came, I had to hold out because I was still playing under a rookie contract, and I had outplayed that contract, two Pro Bowls and 2 ,000-yard season.

2:24So it was clear that I had outplayed and outperformed the contract. So I held out. when I came back to the team, the coach felt as though I lied to him because I told him that I would come early to training camp. But what he didn't realize is that it was a contract issue, had nothing to do with him and my promise to him. And so he took that as an act of defiance against him and so we got off to a bad start in terms of how he felt about me. So at that point he really did everything he could to really kind of sabotage my career at that point. And so by the end of the year I was fed up, completely fed up, and I was ready for a change.

3:19And if they weren't going to give me opportunity to go to another team that I was ready to to retire because the love of the game wasn't there and they gave me permission to just seek a trade and that's when the opportunity to come to Pittsburgh presented itself and and they allowed me to define the right landing spot which was a great opportunity for me because I got to decide where I went. And usually in the trade, you don't get that opportunity. I was very fortunate in having that opportunity, and I was very fortunate that the Steelers were in need of a running back as well, so it was a perfect relationship.

4:09How was playing the Rams that following November? What's that like for you? Oh, that was fun. That was fun. Was it? It was fun on a number of different levels. One was the fact that, you know, they had released me and traded me. And it was, you know, whenever you get traded, it's that feeling that they don't want me anymore. And it still hurts because you say, okay, I got traded, I'm out of there. But you still, in the back of your mind, say, well, there was a team in the NFL that thought that I was not good enough to play for them, and they didn't want me. And so that always kind of stuck in the back of my head.

4:56And so there was another statement that the head coach had made that I was not a game-breaker, and I couldn't change the outcome of the game in one play. And I took offense to that. And so in that game, which was so it was like a vindication of sorts, I had a 50-yard run that I broke off for a touchdown and changed the game. And so, you know, the exact things that he said I couldn't do, I did against him. And that was the icing on the cake for that. And we beat up on him pretty good. As always, thanks for listening. To see more trending clips from my team, go to youtube.com slash Graham Bensinger.

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6:27Okay. Here's a review. Dr. Crowderick really takes his time. No, I don't have time. What about Dr. Charles? His patients say he can help find a quick fix. And he's in network. Great, now we're talking. Book it. Booked. One mile down, 19 to go. Bring it on. You've got options. Download the ZocDoc app today.