Randy Smith
I have never met Terry Bradshaw, though I have admired him for years. He was one of the best quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL, winning four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has also been a well respected analyst and broadcaster for Fox Sports for years as well as a highly regarded pitch-man for several products. Heck, I even liked some of the movies he's been in. Just last week, Bradshaw brought the entire Alabama nation down on him for disrespecting the great Nick Saban and saying he expected Tennessee to roll over the Crimson Tide in 2017.
He made the comments as a guest on the Paul Finebaum Show and naturally 'Bama fans took issue with him, especially Finebaum's most vocal caller, Phyllis from Mulga.
"I'm a Volunteer fan," Bradshaw said. "And they'll probably walk all over Alabama. Tennessee is back. Rocky Top will roll this year." He also said of Coach Saban, " What's he making now, $12 million? That's the entire athletic budget at Louisiana Tech. The entire budget. That's shameful. Shameful."
You would have thought Bradshaw had said that Nick Saban was the anti-Christ and he hated babies. Phyllis went off on Terry Bradshaw and the rest of the Tide fans followed suit. Even though host Paul Finebaum stated on the air that he was just getting a rise out of Phyllis, they bought it hook, line and sinker.
When Bradshaw realized how upset Phyllis was getting he went even further. " If he (Saban) had the personality of Steve Spurrier, I would like him. Now you're talking about a great coach. Steve Spurrier is a great coach. Steve Spurrier not Saban. Saban who hates people. The man doesn't even like people."
Terry Bradshaw had her, and he knew it. He probably had more fun that day on Finebaum's show than he's had in quite a while. I watched parts of that show and even went back and read several stories that have been written on social media about it and I quickly realized he was just messing with those 'Bama fans and he really got under Phyllis' skin.
Before leaving the show, Bradshaw took one parting shot at Alabama. He mentioned the name of former coach Bear Bryant. "Alabama recruited me, Bear Bryant was all over me and I told him no. I didn't want to go to Alabama. I wanted to get an education."
Ouch. That hurt me and I'm not even an Alabama fan. Make no mistake about it; Terry Bradshaw knows how to get under your skin better than anyone. And I'm sure that Phyllis from Mulga, Alabama as well as all the other Tide fans who bought in to what he was saying, are all still fuming almost a week later.
That's what makes shows like Paul Finebaum's program so much fun to listen to this time of year. You can't really talk about the games because they're still months away. There are no game break-downs and no game results to talk about. It's all speculation right now, and Terry Bradshaw speculated as well as anyone as to how to rile up Alabama fans from Valley Head to Orange Beach. Remember.....he's just messing with you.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for 30 years. He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga television for more than a quarter-century. In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith. They have five grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, Mattingly, DellaMae, and CoraLee.