{"id":1877,"date":"2015-08-14T16:03:47","date_gmt":"2015-08-14T16:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/?p=1877"},"modified":"2015-08-14T16:03:47","modified_gmt":"2015-08-14T16:03:47","slug":"the-bus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/?p=1877","title":{"rendered":"The Bus"},"content":{"rendered":"

We were remiss in talking about the Bus’s induction in the Hall of Fame. There has been so many great articles about it and I wanted to write something worthy of my thoughts on him. Let me just say, the Bus is one of my favorite players in Steelers history. The Steelers traded a 2nd round pick\u00a0in 96 and\u00a0their 4th in 97 to the Rams for Bettis. The Rams picked Lawrence “Lady Killer” Phillips as their starter, the Steelers went with Bettis.\u00a0Bettis is now in Canton, Phillips is now in a California State Prison. Guess the Steelers chose wisely!<\/p>\n

People always forget that on the depth chart the Steelers had RB\u00a0Erric “PeeWee” Pegram ahead of him, I remember wanting to see Bettis in action. It didn’t last long and while Pegram played well “the Bus” was born. Bettis put together a monster year. He rang up 14oo yards and 11 Td’s. It would be a string of SIX straight 1000+ yard seasons for the Bus as he was the lynchpin of the Steelers offense.<\/p>\n

The Steelers experimented with other backs, but Bettis always held off all challengers. In 2004 after a few slower seasons, the Steelers brought in Deuce Staley. Staley started out great and they were a great tandem together. Unfortunately Staley was injured after he rushed for 125 yards against the Patriots and\u00a0“The Bus” was called upon again.<\/p>\n

I was at the game and got to meet Bettis in the Hotel Lobby. When I saw him, I knew it was going to be a special day. We watched as Bettis destroyed the Philadelphia Eagles rushing 33 times for 149 yards! The Steelers won out the rest of the season and Bettis had five more 100 yard games. Including a 140Yard Performance against the Giants. (Which I was at.)\u00a0The Steelers sat him out the last game of the season, opting to let their backup’s backups beat the Bills, and Bettis was denied another 1000 yard season. He finished the year with 941 yards! It was a magical season with a bitter end as the Steelers lost to the Patriots. (Who everyone knows cheated.)<\/p>\n

Of course we know how the story ended. He came back for one more year, while he only had 110 touches\u00a0he had a whopping\u00a0NINE Td’s\u00a0and finished as a Super Bowl Champion in his home town!<\/p>\n

We are proud to dedicate this year’s shirt to “The Bus” Jerome Bettis!<\/p>\n

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Some cool links!<\/p>\n