Terry Bradshaw: The #1 Mindset That Carried Him Through Cancer, Divorce, and Depression

1. 0:00 – 1:00

   Intro

   1. TBTerry Bradshaw0:00

      I never was supremely confident as a quarterback in the NFL. I always had fear

   2. LHLewis Howes0:06

      Well, you won four Super Bowls being afraid.

   3. TBTerry Bradshaw0:08

      Yeah. I was always scared of losing. I just had these anxiety attacks and, and emotional breakdowns for no apparent reason to me.

   4. LHLewis Howes0:19

      Three divorces

   5. TBTerry Bradshaw0:20

      Get up

   6. LHLewis Howes0:20

      ... depression

   7. TBTerry Bradshaw0:21

      Get up

   8. LHLewis Howes0:22

      ... cancer twice in the same year.

   9. TBTerry Bradshaw0:24

      Right, same year, yeah.

   10. LHLewis Howes0:25

       Is a Pro Football Hall of Famer, four-time Super Bowl champion, longtime host of NFL Fox NFL Sunday, and author of the new memoir, Looking for Terry. That's Terry Bradshaw.

   11. TBTerry Bradshaw0:36

       You won four Super Bowls, how could you have trouble? Well, I'm telling you, you didn't see it, I lived it. I took all the negative crap that I had to deal with and I turned it around and I used it to make me strong. But I don't give up. I keep clawing, I keep scheming. I'm down, but I'm not out.

   12. LHLewis Howes0:52

       What's your greatest fear moving forward?

   13. TBTerry Bradshaw0:55

       Wow. I- That's...

2. 1:00 – 7:13

   Lacking Confidence in NFL

   1. LHLewis Howes1:00

      When was the season of your life you're, and maybe it's now, but when was the season of l- your life you were the most confident in yourself, and when was the season of life where you were the least confident? Just as a human being, whether-

   2. TBTerry Bradshaw1:12

      I would say-

   3. LHLewis Howes1:12

      ... in all areas of life

   4. TBTerry Bradshaw1:13

      ... well, the first thing that come to mind is the player, I never was su- supremely confident as a quarterback in the NFL.

   5. LHLewis Howes1:20

      Really?

   6. TBTerry Bradshaw1:20

      I always had fear. I was always scared of losing.

   7. LHLewis Howes1:25

      Hmm.

   8. TBTerry Bradshaw1:25

      I hate that feeling. I mean, I watch these guys today, I watch the Peyton Mannings and the John Elways and the Staubachs that are just, you can just see it. You can see Joe Burrow in Cincinnati. You can see, uh, uh, Allen in Buffalo, uh, Matthew Stafford with the Rams. You can see, you just watch them. It, they, they're just filled with confidence, and I was always afraid-

   9. LHLewis Howes1:55

      Mm

   10. TBTerry Bradshaw1:56

       ... of losing. I just say to myself, you know, uh, uh, don't think I haven't had this conversation hundreds of times with myself. I lost my throwing motion because my confidence. And I went home and I tried to pick up and figure out how to rotate the football. I mean, I lost all of that.

   11. LHLewis Howes2:18

       Really?

   12. TBTerry Bradshaw2:18

       I had to basically start over.

   13. LHLewis Howes2:20

       Interesting.

   14. TBTerry Bradshaw2:20

       Yeah. And it was such a struggle. I wor-

   15. LHLewis Howes2:26

       You, you, you lo-

   16. TBTerry Bradshaw2:26

       I worked on it my entire career.

   17. LHLewis Howes2:29

       Huh.

   18. TBTerry Bradshaw2:30

       It was just, in college I just...

   19. LHLewis Howes2:32

       Throw.

   20. TBTerry Bradshaw2:33

       The pros, I guess for all the negative and, and afraid to make mistakes, you internalize everything. "I can't make a mistake here."

   21. LHLewis Howes2:43

       Mm-hmm.

   22. TBTerry Bradshaw2:44

       "I'm calling a pass. Oh, you gotta complete this pass. If you don't complete this pass, then you might not be able to throw another..." You know, it, it was crazy, man. I hate telling, you know what? I hate saying that because it's like, "Oh, come on, Dan, you, you did all these Super Bowls." Yeah. I'm proud of the fact that I had all these struggles and I've g- yet to play, you know? But God, I just-

   23. LHLewis Howes3:08

       What do you th- where do you think you would've been had you had, uh, more confidence in yourself? Even though you excelled so well, you won four Super Bowls being afraid.

   24. TBTerry Bradshaw3:16

       Yeah. Right.

   25. LHLewis Howes3:17

       But where do you think you would be if you were fearless and had all the confidence in the world like these guys today that you're talking about?

   26. TBTerry Bradshaw3:23

       Well, I will say this, confidence as a player or the guy that can handle the situation, I did get that.

   27. LHLewis Howes3:30

       Uh-huh.

   28. TBTerry Bradshaw3:31

       But I still struggled.

   29. LHLewis Howes3:33

       Yeah.

   30. TBTerry Bradshaw3:33

       I, I, I threw with the finger on the tip of the ball, which is wrong. I tried everything in the world to get my hand off the tip, 'cause the more skin you have on a football, the better you'll throw it and the better you'll control it, and the more accurate it'll be. I knew that, but I practiced and I just, it would not, it didn't... If they'd've had, if we'd've had quarterback clinics and quarterback gurus back in my day-
3. 7:13 – 11:13

   Rheumatoid Arthritis Struggles

   1. TBTerry Bradshaw7:13

      on.

   2. LHLewis Howes7:13

      Yeah.

   3. TBTerry Bradshaw7:13

      When I got d- diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and you swell up and you're on steroids, and you put on weight, and you're eating everything you can see, well, I'm noticing I got these marks on my body, these fluid, 'cause your socks cut and you're creasing in, you got a big, deep crease.

   4. LHLewis Howes7:27

      Mm-hmm.

   5. TBTerry Bradshaw7:27

      So we're in Hawaii. We're at Kmart buying stuff for our house, and everybody, "Hey, Terry, how you doing? Terry, how's it going?" Oh, hey, hey, hey. Yeah, y- yeah, yeah, you can tell I'm a little puffy. I put on a little weight, but I've got rheumatoid arthritis, and I'm taking steroids i- and to find out what the blend's gonna be. So I'm, you know, I'm overweight right now. "Oh, okay. Well, good to see. Good to see you, man."

   6. LHLewis Howes7:51

      [laughs]

   7. TBTerry Bradshaw7:52

      Next guy, "Hey, Terry. How you doing?" I'm, oh, I'm doing pretty good. As you can tell, I've, I've put on weight. I'm going [laughs] through the same story. And my, my wife goes, "Honey, honey, honey, wait, wait, wait. What are you doing?" What do you mean, what am I doing? I don't even know I'm doing it. You're telling everybody this. Just, "Hey, Terry. Hey, d- " You're telling them you're, you know, you're on steroids. It's, they don't care that you're on-

   8. LHLewis Howes8:12

      No

   9. TBTerry Bradshaw8:12

      ... steroids, you're puffy. They just recognize you.

   10. LHLewis Howes8:14

       They want to say hi.

   11. TBTerry Bradshaw8:15

       They just want to say hi.

   12. LHLewis Howes8:16

       Yeah.

   13. TBTerry Bradshaw8:16

       And I said, "Am I doing that?" That she said, "Yes." I said, "Oh, honey, I am so sorry. I will not do... Thank you so much-

   14. LHLewis Howes8:26

       Wow

   15. TBTerry Bradshaw8:26

       ... for bringing that to my attention." We get into the car. We drive across the highway to a magnificent Target. This T- Kmart was that good, big. This Target's bigger, got more stuff.

   16. LHLewis Howes8:39

       Yeah, yeah.

   17. TBTerry Bradshaw8:40

       It's real big. So we drive into the parking lot, go in, get our buggy. Going down the aisle, here comes this guy, "Hey, Terry, how you doing?" How am I doing? Look, as you can tell, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm a little puffy. [laughs]

   18. LHLewis Howes8:53

       You did it again.

   19. TBTerry Bradshaw8:54

       Oh, I, I, I've got rheumatoid arthritis, and they're trying to find the right blend. I'm embarrassed. I'm about 50 pounds heavy.

   20. LHLewis Howes9:02

       Mm.

   21. TBTerry Bradshaw9:02

       And I pffs, you know, lew. And I, it... You ready for this? Can I stand up?

   22. LHLewis Howes9:07

       Yeah, yeah.

   23. TBTerry Bradshaw9:07

       So I stand up, and I pull my pants up and push my sock down. And I went-

   24. LHLewis Howes9:15

       You show him

   25. TBTerry Bradshaw9:15

       ... and I went, "Look. Look at the, s- the, the, the crease from the..." But, and while I'm down, [laughs] it hits me what I'm d-

   26. LHLewis Howes9:24

       Wow.

   27. TBTerry Bradshaw9:24

       [laughs] And I started, I started laughing.

   28. LHLewis Howes9:27

       Wow.

   29. TBTerry Bradshaw9:28

       Man, I started... [laughs] couldn't help myself. Look I'm doing right now.

   30. LHLewis Howes9:31

       Wow.
4. 11:13 – 16:17

   Public Persona vs. Reality

   1. LHLewis Howes11:13

      what is the difference between the persona that you've kind of created over the years versus what people really see behind the scenes?

   2. TBTerry Bradshaw11:21

      There is, um, definitely parts of your personality that-

   3. LHLewis Howes11:27

      Mm-hmm

   4. TBTerry Bradshaw11:28

      ... you kind of push aside, depending on what you're doing. You'll say, "Well, this, this is not gonna work here. I don't want them to see this," whatever. And I am n- I'm an engaging, curious guy who likes to laugh, have fun. And I don't necessarily, I don't dislike it, but I don't necessarily get into the deep, dark stuff-

   5. LHLewis Howes12:00

      Mm

   6. TBTerry Bradshaw12:00

      ... which we all have.

   7. LHLewis Howes12:01

      Yeah.

   8. TBTerry Bradshaw12:02

      So in doing interviews- My goal today with you or anybody that is interviewing me, I want to be this, I want this to be the most enjoyable interview you've ever had. I'm gonna do everything I can to make this work.

   9. LHLewis Howes12:17

      Mm-hmm.

   10. TBTerry Bradshaw12:18

       So that, that is not pretending. That's, that's real. But I think we all, Lewis, I think we all hold back, some of us.

   11. LHLewis Howes12:28

       Mm.

   12. TBTerry Bradshaw12:29

       I try... If you ask me a tough question, a personal, I'm gonna answer it. I'm never gonna tell you, "Um, I don't wanna talk about that." I'm never gonna be rude to you. I'm gonna answer your question. And then later, after I see the interview, I may go, "Oh, man. I wish I hadn't a said that." [laughs]

   13. LHLewis Howes12:54

       Really? Wow.

   14. TBTerry Bradshaw12:55

       Oh, yeah. I embarrass myself.

   15. LHLewis Howes12:57

       Mm.

   16. TBTerry Bradshaw12:57

       I think sometimes my antics are a little silly-

   17. LHLewis Howes13:01

       Mm-hmm

   18. TBTerry Bradshaw13:01

       ... goofy. Um, where I'll... W- while I might think th- that I'm entertaining or being fun, and in some cases I am, in a lot of cases I am.

   19. LHLewis Howes13:12

       Yeah.

   20. TBTerry Bradshaw13:12

       Then in other times I'm, I'm like, "I wi- you know, I wish I hadn't a done that."

   21. LHLewis Howes13:19

       Mm.

   22. TBTerry Bradshaw13:19

       'Cause I don't... I s- I think that's one of the reasons I don't like to, to watch myself 'cause I embarrass myself.

   23. LHLewis Howes13:25

       Oh.

   24. TBTerry Bradshaw13:25

       And oh, you know, I embarrass myself. And I don't mind that be-- I don't mind that being me, what you're gonna get, but I don't necessarily wanna watch it.

   25. LHLewis Howes13:38

       Really?

   26. TBTerry Bradshaw13:38

       Yeah.

   27. LHLewis Howes13:39

       Is there something where you feel maybe you feel embarrassed by watching yourself-

   28. TBTerry Bradshaw13:43

       I think a little

   29. LHLewis Howes13:43

       ... or you feel shame or you feel like-

   30. TBTerry Bradshaw13:45

       Shame
5. 16:17 – 18:46

   Divorces & Real Love

   1. LHLewis Howes16:17

      and you've been... How long you been with your wife for now? 20-

   2. TBTerry Bradshaw16:20

      22, 23 years.

   3. LHLewis Howes16:21

      23 years.

   4. TBTerry Bradshaw16:22

      23 years.

   5. LHLewis Howes16:22

      I'm curious. What is the thing that you love the most about your wife that has made the greatest impact on your life in the last 23 years?

   6. TBTerry Bradshaw16:28

      Okay, let me tell you this. Let me just say this to everybody. I am a product of three divorces, okay? Am I proud of that? Absolutely not. Now, you said ashamed earlier.

   7. LHLewis Howes16:43

      Mm.

   8. TBTerry Bradshaw16:43

      I am ashamed that I've been divorced-

   9. LHLewis Howes16:45

      Mm

   10. TBTerry Bradshaw16:45

       ... three times or once or twi- whatever.

   11. LHLewis Howes16:48

       Yeah, yeah.

   12. TBTerry Bradshaw16:50

       That is not something certainly that I'm prou- that I'm proud of. I grew up in a Baptist family, Christian family. You get married once, okay? Um, I got divorced, and I'll never forget my preacher telling me I was going to hell.

   13. LHLewis Howes17:08

       Really?

   14. TBTerry Bradshaw17:08

       Yes.

   15. LHLewis Howes17:09

       That doesn't feel good.

   16. TBTerry Bradshaw17:10

       No, it did not, and so I never went back to that church. [laughs]

   17. LHLewis Howes17:13

       Yeah. [laughs]

   18. TBTerry Bradshaw17:14

       But it, it's not that I was looking for someone-

   19. LHLewis Howes17:16

       Right

   20. TBTerry Bradshaw17:16

       ... to say it's okay to get divorced.

   21. LHLewis Howes17:18

       Yeah, yeah, yeah.

   22. TBTerry Bradshaw17:18

       I wasn't trying to find someone th- that agreed with me. I just didn't think according to, to my study of the scriptures that I was going to hell because God will forgive you.

   23. LHLewis Howes17:27

       Mm.

   24. TBTerry Bradshaw17:27

       Right?

   25. LHLewis Howes17:28

       Yes.

   26. TBTerry Bradshaw17:28

       But I'm not proud of it. Now, here's the, the thing I am proud of, if this makes sense, it does to me, maybe not to our viewer, is that once I got divorced a third time-

   27. LHLewis Howes17:42

       Mm

   28. TBTerry Bradshaw17:42

       ... it finally dawned on me, it's not them.

   29. LHLewis Howes17:49

       No. [laughs] It's not the, the people you're choosing.

   30. TBTerry Bradshaw17:51

       It's not the women.
6. 18:46 – 25:14

   The "Mirror Evaluation"

   1. TBTerry Bradshaw18:46

      where you honestly are in a room by yourself, all right? And you're looking at a mirror. Nobody in there but you and that mirror. Now, what do you see? Let's go. So you start talking to yourself. Well, my, my right ear's bigger than my left ear. I got some stom- I got a big stomach. My eyes are deep-set. I'm a little bit bow-legged. I'm this, I'm that, I'm this, I'm that. Physically, I'm dis- I am going through everything about me. But this is good, I have a nice kneecap. Or my [laughs] ... Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got nice legs. My wife's always said, "Boy, you have great legs." Okay. Oh, I do have. I got nice leg [laughs] So you, good and bad, but you're brutally honest. Mm. Brutally honest. Now, how important is ta- how important is it to me to take the negatives and try to make 'em a positive? I know I got the good stuff. Now I gotta work on the bad stuff. Mm-hmm. And I think through counseling and [laughs] going to counseling, I am attracted, basic- I don't want to say this wrong 'cause I'm married to an awesome woman who I love madly. But I was attracted to the wrong thing. The wrong thing appealed to me. Yeah. Deep inside, it was the wrong thing. Mm-hmm. No, nothing against the women. Yes. Absolutely nothing against them. Yeah. It's me, and that's okay. At least I know now. And what I needed is what I have. And it took me a while to figure it out. I needed a friend. Mm. I needed someone that I wanted to spend all my time with. Yeah. Can you imagine? Yeah, yeah. Spend all your time with a woman? [laughs] All the time? Mm-hmm. I needed someone that I could talk to- Mm ... who didn't judge me- Interesting ... and ridicule me. And I needed a woman that made an effort to study and understand me. Mm. And not take face value, and then take the negative and go, "Well, I can't handle this." Instead saying, "Why is he acting like that? Why is he this?" Mm. "Why is he that? Is this, is this a deal breaker? Okay, let's talk about it." Mm-hmm. My wife makes me talk about stuff I don't wanna talk about. Really? A lot of men don't wanna talk about a lot of stuff. Mm-hmm. And I didn't wanna talk about it. And then finally, I'll go, "Okay. All right, here's the deal." And I'll, I dump it out. And she'll say, "Okay. All right." And then we'd talk about it. Yeah. I mar- I, I met, fell in love with my buddy. Now, here's the great thing about my wife. I couldn't do the normal courting thing. Took me over a year- Mm ... year and a half to tell her I loved her. Uh-huh. I wasn't about to tell her I loved her. Yeah. 'Cause you weren't- Wasn't about to do that ... uh, no. But to bo- to answer your question- The thing you love the most about her, yeah ... I'm at, yeah, the most I love about her is that she's such an awesome lady. Mm. In every aspect. She's, t- uh, being a Christian, she loves, she loves our Lord, which is awesome. She loves her kids. She loves my kids. Uh, my kids put her through hell. Really? And she's right there for 'em, boy. Wow. Yeah. Those daddy's daughters. Eh. Oh, yeah. Nobody's good enough for my daddy. Wow. Yeah. And she's right there. It's just, you know, I, God finally gave me my match. And you know what's great? You know what's great, Lewis? I don't ever get, I don't ever, ever get mad at her. Wow. Disagree with her. Um, occasionally I've raised my voice, and immediately... But nothing s- nothing has ever happened where I say, "I gotta get out of this." No. "I'm not a, I'm not going through this. Nah." You know what? Okay, great. But she, I mean, she's my best friend. I never thought I'd say this ever in my life. Who's my favorite golf partner? She is. Wow. Oh. I don't play golf without her. Wow, really? No. I don't play... I haven't played a round of golf in probably 12, 14 years that she's not there. Really? Yeah. You don't go do, like, a guys' trip or guys golf? No. No. Well, no. No guys' trips. I don't want a guys' trip. Right. I mean- You mean, like, a golf charity event or something? Let me, let me tell you something. Yeah. I, let me tell you about a guy trip. All right? You got a great marriage. Uh-huh. Okay. So we've been married five years, six years. Everything's great. So this one morning, I wake up early, I make coffee. I get dressed. I, I go in to tell her, you know, I'm leaving. She says, "Where you going?" I said, "Well, I'm gonna run over to so-and-so. He's got a horse I wanna look at. Then I'm going over to so-and-so. They got a baby out, out of one of our studs. I'm gonna go check on that. Then I'm gonna run by Mike's. And then, and then I'll be back this afternoon." Well, she, so she goes, "Well, wait, and I'll, I'll get dressed and go with you." I said, "No, no, I wanna go by myself." Broke her heart. Mm. So I kiss her and I, I go and get in my truck, and it bothered me. Mm. I get, I crank up. I go outside the ranch gates. I'm down, I get on the highway and I'm driving, and I can't- Stop thinking, and I'll hurt her. I exited, turned around and went back.

   2. LHLewis Howes24:24

      Mm.

   3. TBTerry Bradshaw24:25

      Couldn't do it.

   4. LHLewis Howes24:26

      No.

   5. TBTerry Bradshaw24:27

      And I've never... I will never do that again.

   6. LHLewis Howes24:30

      Wow.

   7. TBTerry Bradshaw24:33

      Why didn't I... What was I wanting? My m- man time? [laughs]

   8. LHLewis Howes24:36

      Right, right, right.

   9. TBTerry Bradshaw24:38

      I don't, I don't know what... I don't want man time. I, I, I, I like, I like we time.

   10. LHLewis Howes24:44

       Uh-huh.

   11. TBTerry Bradshaw24:44

       I don't fly anywhere without her.

   12. LHLewis Howes24:45

       Wow.

   13. TBTerry Bradshaw24:46

       I go nowhere without her. Nowhere.

   14. LHLewis Howes24:49

       Wow.

   15. TBTerry Bradshaw24:50

       We- Every trip I'm on, she's on.

   16. LHLewis Howes24:52

       Every work trip, she comes. Every-

   17. TBTerry Bradshaw24:53

       Every work trip. She-

   18. LHLewis Howes24:54

       Yeah.

   19. TBTerry Bradshaw24:55

       I turned all our businesses over to her 'cause she's... She wanted to be a doctor. She's a radiologist, so she... Very smart lady.

   20. LHLewis Howes25:02

       Mm-hmm. I know that.

   21. TBTerry Bradshaw25:02

       And she is super smart-

   22. LHLewis Howes25:04

       Wow

   23. TBTerry Bradshaw25:05

       ... and loving and kind.

   24. LHLewis Howes25:07

       Wow.

   25. TBTerry Bradshaw25:07

       And I mean, she's my angel. I mean, I'm, I'm a lucky dude.

   26. LHLewis Howes25:11

       What is the biggest lesson she's taught you over the last 23 years

7. 25:14 – 29:13

   Beating People-Pleasing

   1. LHLewis Howes25:14

      of marriage?

   2. TBTerry Bradshaw25:15

      This is the first thing that came to my mind, but j- and it's true. She just said, "It's okay to say no."

   3. LHLewis Howes25:19

      Mm.

   4. TBTerry Bradshaw25:20

      And you just said a while ago you're a people pleaser.

   5. LHLewis Howes25:22

      Yeah.

   6. TBTerry Bradshaw25:22

      "Oh, man, I don't wanna do that, but he's a buddy."

   7. LHLewis Howes25:25

      Yeah.

   8. TBTerry Bradshaw25:26

      You know? And, "I don't wanna do that. Oh, I did that two years ago and didn't enjoy it." So she said she has, she has taught me it's okay to say no. I would say it's okay to say no.

   9. LHLewis Howes25:40

      Yeah.

   10. TBTerry Bradshaw25:40

       Don't worry about hurting people's feelings, and if you hurt their feelings, you know, that's okay.

   11. LHLewis Howes25:45

       Yeah.

   12. TBTerry Bradshaw25:46

       It's okay. And then you're happy. Why should I be unhappy, but you're happy?

   13. LHLewis Howes25:52

       Right.

   14. TBTerry Bradshaw25:52

       Why not let me be happy?

   15. LHLewis Howes25:54

       Mm.

   16. TBTerry Bradshaw25:54

       So I think saying no, but I say no through her.

   17. LHLewis Howes25:57

       Yeah. [laughs]

   18. TBTerry Bradshaw25:58

       So, you know, it's easier for me.

   19. LHLewis Howes25:59

       Yeah, yeah.

   20. TBTerry Bradshaw25:59

       "Hey, hey, Lewis, would you go tell so-and-so?"

   21. LHLewis Howes26:01

       Yeah, yeah. Of course. Yeah.

   22. TBTerry Bradshaw26:02

       It's easier.

   23. LHLewis Howes26:02

       Yeah, do-

   24. TBTerry Bradshaw26:03

       Excuse me while I go... Yeah. So yeah.

   25. LHLewis Howes26:05

       She protects your energy. That's great.

   26. TBTerry Bradshaw26:07

       Yeah.

   27. LHLewis Howes26:07

       That's great.

   28. TBTerry Bradshaw26:07

       Yeah. And she, you know what? She good at it.

   29. LHLewis Howes26:11

       Yeah. At work, greatness sometimes starts with a pile of meeting notes here, follow-up questions there. But that's okay because ChatGPT Work, a new way to work in ChatGPT, can organize multi-step projects and help you make progress while staying in control. ChatGPT Work can use your apps, connected tools, and files to create things like landing pages, trackers, internal tools, even web apps. Say your team has a new product concept. Use ChatGPT Work to review customer feedback, pull themes, and draft a prototype. Maybe there's a planning doc that ChatGPT Work can organize into owners, next steps, and a shareable status update. Make it even more specialized by installing specific plugins like Google Drive or Microsoft Teams. The big picture? ChatGPT Work helps you get unstuck between thinking about your work and actually making progress on it. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at chatgpt.com by selecting Work mode. Available on Plus and Pro plans. I, I had a lot of people-pleaser in me growing up. I was also very driven as an athlete. You know, I played-

   30. TBTerry Bradshaw27:27

       Yeah
8. 29:13 – 32:21

   Losing His Dog vs. Mother

   1. TBTerry Bradshaw29:13

      shed a tear. Now you don't think that didn't dr- That still bothers me. Why? When my dog died, James died, and I picked his casket up at the vet when I came off the plane a- and took it and put it in the backseat, and I got in the car, uh, Tammy's sitting there, and I just started bawling uncontrollably-

   2. LHLewis Howes29:35

      Mm

   3. TBTerry Bradshaw29:35

      ... over a dog. All right, my mind will not let that event leave. Nobody did more for their mother, nobody put up more from their mother, uh, nobody tried to make her life better than I did, and nobody in our family was abused as much-

   4. LHLewis Howes30:06

      As you

   5. TBTerry Bradshaw30:06

      ... verbally as I was.

   6. LHLewis Howes30:08

      Wow.

   7. TBTerry Bradshaw30:08

      And, and I think when my mother died, it was like, well, now I don't have to worry about, "Why haven't you called?" ... And, and I just don't need that. "Well, I travel." "Well, I hadn't seen you in da-da." "Well, I'm gone all the time." "Well, you just need to stay home. You don't need to be traveling that much." Well, I, I wanted to say, "Well, I gotta travel that much because I gotta make this money to pay for that house I just built you, or buy that Mercedes Benz I just... I gotta pay for all this stuff." I didn't say that.

   8. LHLewis Howes30:39

      Right. But you had the-

   9. TBTerry Bradshaw30:39

      I say it now

   10. LHLewis Howes30:40

       ... you had the resentment in you, though.

   11. TBTerry Bradshaw30:42

       It pissed me off.

   12. LHLewis Howes30:43

       Yeah.

   13. TBTerry Bradshaw30:43

       Why don't you just appreciate-

   14. LHLewis Howes30:45

       Uh-huh

   15. TBTerry Bradshaw30:45

       ... appreciate what I'm, what I'm, what I'm doing. I love you to death, that hasn't changed. But I don't know. I know, I don't know, and I haven't talked to a counselor about it, but it has gotten on my wife. It's, it certainly tried to help me with it.

   16. LHLewis Howes30:59

       Sure.

   17. TBTerry Bradshaw31:00

       But when James, a dog, died, a dog, and I boo-hooed, and you know what it was? You know what I came to conclusion?

   18. LHLewis Howes31:09

       What's that?

   19. TBTerry Bradshaw31:10

       That dog was so sweet to me.

   20. LHLewis Howes31:11

       Mm.

   21. TBTerry Bradshaw31:13

       That dog was so loving.

   22. LHLewis Howes31:14

       Mm.

   23. TBTerry Bradshaw31:15

       That dog was so kind, and I had nothing but love from that little puppy. I think love and kindness is what triggers me. That's why as a football player, Lewis, my coach was hard on me.

   24. LHLewis Howes31:32

       Mm-hmm.

   25. TBTerry Bradshaw31:33

       I didn't like him.

   26. LHLewis Howes31:35

       Talking about high school coach or college?

   27. TBTerry Bradshaw31:37

       High school coach.

   28. LHLewis Howes31:37

       Okay.

   29. TBTerry Bradshaw31:38

       Nah, nah, that high school, they didn't give me a... High school was fine. Um, coaches were fine. They never screamed. They never belittled me or anything. College, I got nothing but love in college.

   30. LHLewis Howes31:50

       Mm-hmm.
9. 32:21 – 34:31

   Negativity as Fuel

   1. LHLewis Howes32:21

      you? Was it once you got to the pros, they were on top of you?

   2. TBTerry Bradshaw32:24

      On top of me, Chuck was the worst.

   3. LHLewis Howes32:27

      Mm-hmm.

   4. TBTerry Bradshaw32:28

      People didn't necessarily see it, but I spent all my time with him, and, um, he was tough.

   5. LHLewis Howes32:34

      Yeah.

   6. TBTerry Bradshaw32:34

      He never gave me, he never gave me confidence. He never-

   7. LHLewis Howes32:38

      Yeah

   8. TBTerry Bradshaw32:38

      ... I never felt that he cared for me at all. Now, Mary Anne, his wife, might say, "Oh, you should've heard all the wonderful things he..." Well, that's great, he told you, he didn't tell me.

   9. LHLewis Howes32:46

      Yeah.

   10. TBTerry Bradshaw32:47

       I, you know, stopped me going through a hallway right before we go out, out on the field to play the Cleveland Browns, I'll never forget it, and he stopped me, put his hands on me, and he said, "You play bad in, in the first quarter, I'm pulling you." "Okay, that's great, thank you. I appreciate that. Like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna run through a wall for you." [laughs]

   11. LHLewis Howes33:05

       Mm-hmm. Yeah.

   12. TBTerry Bradshaw33:07

       You know, just, um, I don't understand it. I played well, but you know, I, and I think Staubach and Landry may have been that way, 'cause I get these coaches don't wanna get close to the players necessarily, uh, or at least let you know it, because one day they gotta tell you, "Hey, you're out of here."

   13. LHLewis Howes33:28

       Yeah, we gotta cut you. Yeah.

   14. TBTerry Bradshaw33:29

       "I gotta cut you." I get that. I understand that.

   15. LHLewis Howes33:31

       Mm-hmm.

   16. TBTerry Bradshaw33:32

       But as the quarterback, um, I didn't need the negative.

   17. LHLewis Howes33:36

       Yeah.

   18. TBTerry Bradshaw33:37

       Def- you know, I want, defend me. If they're talking bad about me and I'm your guy, defend me, you know?

   19. LHLewis Howes33:42

       Yeah, yeah.

   20. TBTerry Bradshaw33:43

       But I had to... What I'm, if you're ever gonna ask me in this interview, what are you most proud of, your accomplishments, my most proud of is this: that I took all the negative crap that I had to deal with, and I turned it around, and I used it to make me strong.

   21. LHLewis Howes34:00

       Mm.

   22. TBTerry Bradshaw34:02

       I turned it to make me strong, to make me, "Okay, that's the way you feel? You know, I'm not gonna say this here, but I have some-

   23. LHLewis Howes34:09

       Yeah

   24. TBTerry Bradshaw34:09

       ... I got some choice words for those."

   25. LHLewis Howes34:11

       Sure.

   26. TBTerry Bradshaw34:11

       "And I'll show you," and I put up a wall, and I'm proud of the fact, and I know how to put the wall up today.

   27. LHLewis Howes34:18

       Mm.

   28. TBTerry Bradshaw34:19

       You know, "You're not gonna hurt me, you're not gonna get to me. You know, try, do what, say what you wanna say, I, I really don't care."

   29. LHLewis Howes34:24

       Yeah.

   30. TBTerry Bradshaw34:24

       And I really don't care. At 78 years of age, I really don't care.
10. 34:31 – 46:23

    Depression & ADHD

    1. LHLewis Howes34:31

       been open about this, and one of the things I was telling you before we started rolling is that 2003 or 2004, you opened up about depression on TV.

    2. TBTerry Bradshaw34:38

       Right, right.

    3. LHLewis Howes34:38

       And there was no one really opening up about any of this stuff, mental health, depression-

    4. TBTerry Bradshaw34:43

       Right

    5. LHLewis Howes34:43

       ... you know, sexual abuse. None of that stuff was being-

    6. TBTerry Bradshaw34:45

       Right

    7. LHLewis Howes34:45

       ... talked about in 2003, 2004.

    8. TBTerry Bradshaw34:48

       Right.

    9. LHLewis Howes34:48

       And it really wasn't until the last eight years where more kind of, uh, male-

    10. TBTerry Bradshaw34:53

        Male-

    11. LHLewis Howes34:53

        ... athletes were opening up about the different problems they were facing-

    12. TBTerry Bradshaw34:58

        Right

    13. LHLewis Howes34:59

        ... personally, right?

    14. TBTerry Bradshaw34:59

        Right.

    15. LHLewis Howes35:00

        And so first off, I wanna acknowledge you for leading the way, because I know it takes, even though maybe it didn't feel like it was courageous for you, someone, whoever starts opening up about something that's never been done before-

    16. TBTerry Bradshaw35:13

        Well-

    17. LHLewis Howes35:13

        They're the ones who get-

    18. TBTerry Bradshaw35:14

        Lead the way

    19. LHLewis Howes35:15

        ... they're the ones who get the most-

    20. TBTerry Bradshaw35:16

        Right

    21. LHLewis Howes35:16

        ... you know, not retaliation, but get made fun of the most. They get, you know-

    22. TBTerry Bradshaw35:20

        [laughs]

    23. LHLewis Howes35:20

        ... talked about in a weird way the most.

    24. TBTerry Bradshaw35:22

        Exactly.

    25. LHLewis Howes35:23

        And I know you got made fun of by other guys who weren't really accepting of you opening up about-

    26. TBTerry Bradshaw35:28

        Right

    27. LHLewis Howes35:29

        ... depression, so I wanna acknowledge you, Terry, for leading the way for all of us men who are asking.

    28. TBTerry Bradshaw35:32

        Well, I didn't know I was leading the way.

    29. LHLewis Howes35:34

        Right.

    30. TBTerry Bradshaw35:34

        You know, um, the reason I even got diagnosed, um, it's just the fact that I just had these, these anxiety attacks and, and emotional breakdowns for no apparent reason to me.
11. 46:23 – 51:25

    Hardships & Faith

    1. LHLewis Howes46:23

       evolved through all these different challenges?

    2. TBTerry Bradshaw46:26

       Ooh-

    3. LHLewis Howes46:26

       All the different suffering, the depression, the cancer-

    4. TBTerry Bradshaw46:28

       Oh, what was I someone that said, "God, why me?"

    5. LHLewis Howes46:32

       I'm just cur-

    6. TBTerry Bradshaw46:32

       "Why me?"

    7. LHLewis Howes46:32

       Yeah, what, what, what-

    8. TBTerry Bradshaw46:33

       I'd never curse God. I'd-

    9. LHLewis Howes46:35

       Oh, yeah

    10. TBTerry Bradshaw46:35

        ... I've already told you, I-

    11. LHLewis Howes46:36

        Yeah

    12. TBTerry Bradshaw46:38

        ... I, why, why, why should I not have these problems? 'Cause I'm Terry Bradshaw of, uh, of Fox, G- a guy on television, a guy that won Super Bowls? What makes me so better than you-

    13. LHLewis Howes46:48

        Yeah

    14. TBTerry Bradshaw46:49

        ... or-

    15. LHLewis Howes46:49

        Yeah

    16. TBTerry Bradshaw46:49

        ... th- anybody else? I'm not better than anybody. I, I've accomplished certain things, and I'm proud of that, and I want you to be proud with me.

    17. LHLewis Howes46:58

        Yeah.

    18. TBTerry Bradshaw46:58

        But that doesn't make me better than... Why, I'm not better than you. I don't, I, I would never think that.

    19. LHLewis Howes47:03

        Yeah.

    20. TBTerry Bradshaw47:03

        You may treat me differently because of some of the things I've done. I don't deserve that.

    21. LHLewis Howes47:09

        Yeah.

    22. TBTerry Bradshaw47:09

        Um, I've had, [laughs] I've gone to the front of the line, um, I did it Sunday after the show because they had ice cream.

    23. LHLewis Howes47:17

        Yeah. [laughs]

    24. TBTerry Bradshaw47:17

        And there were 20 people in line. I just went right up to the front and got ice cream b- because I'm Terry Bradshaw. [laughs]

    25. LHLewis Howes47:25

        Yeah, right, yeah.

    26. TBTerry Bradshaw47:26

        And I had to go and watch the game. And everybody, I know everybody, and they all go, "Go, go, go."

    27. LHLewis Howes47:31

        Yeah.

    28. TBTerry Bradshaw47:31

        'Cause, you know, so I-

    29. LHLewis Howes47:34

        But how, how is-

    30. TBTerry Bradshaw47:35

        I don't, I don't take advantage of that. I never have.
12. 51:25 – 55:58

    Advice to Younger Self

    1. LHLewis Howes51:25

       questions for you.

    2. TBTerry Bradshaw51:25

       Yeah.

    3. LHLewis Howes51:25

       This has been really powerful, Terry. I appreciate you opening up like this.

    4. TBTerry Bradshaw51:27

       Yes.

    5. LHLewis Howes51:28

       If you could go back to my age, I'm 43.

    6. TBTerry Bradshaw51:32

       Right.

    7. LHLewis Howes51:33

       43.

    8. TBTerry Bradshaw51:33

       Yeah.

    9. LHLewis Howes51:34

       Knowing everything you know in the last, um, you know, almost, I guess, 35 years, from 43 to where you are now-

    10. TBTerry Bradshaw51:41

        Right

    11. LHLewis Howes51:41

        ... if you could give advice to that, that younger Terry about what's about to happen, what advice would he give you?

    12. TBTerry Bradshaw51:48

        Oh, you know what? There's several things I could say to him. Number one, um, have you reached your full potential?

    13. LHLewis Howes51:56

        Mm.

    14. TBTerry Bradshaw51:56

        And if you haven't, why?

    15. LHLewis Howes51:57

        Mm.

    16. TBTerry Bradshaw51:59

        Why? Well, are you, are you doing something, uh, in your life that's making you unhappy, but you're being rewarded financially? Um-

    17. LHLewis Howes52:08

        Mm

    18. TBTerry Bradshaw52:08

        ... is that really something you should continue doing?

    19. LHLewis Howes52:10

        Mm. Interesting.

    20. TBTerry Bradshaw52:12

        Are you being good? There's a, there's a blessing in life for being good that's overwhelming. I'm a good guy. I know I'm a good guy. I treat people with respect. Everybody I treat with respect. Makes me feel good. Can you say that? You know? Are you happy? Are you happy? Okay, do the mirror thing.

    21. LHLewis Howes52:37

        Mm-hmm.

    22. TBTerry Bradshaw52:38

        Ask yourself, why am I not happy? And be brutally honest. Pursue that, that journey to happiness. And if you've got the wife and the kids, and, uh, they'll, they'll be happy for you and they'll go on it with you, man, gladly. So those are just four little-

    23. LHLewis Howes52:56

        Yeah. That's great

    24. TBTerry Bradshaw52:56

        ... nothings.

    25. LHLewis Howes52:57

        Really.

    26. TBTerry Bradshaw52:58

        I can't imagine, I can't imagine not waking up tomorrow morning not knowing what I'm doing.

    27. LHLewis Howes53:06

        Mm.

    28. TBTerry Bradshaw53:07

        I... That's the exciting thing about life. I got a plan. You know? And, and nothing I like more than getting in bed with my wife, snuggling up, and we put on these shows that nobody understands why we watch them. [laughs]

    29. LHLewis Howes53:24

        [laughs]

    30. TBTerry Bradshaw53:24

        I mean, we watch... I, I can, I can solve more murder cases than anybody.
13. 55:58 – 1:04:48

    Three Truths to Leave

    1. LHLewis Howes55:58

       day, imagine hypothetically you get to live as long as you want.

    2. TBTerry Bradshaw56:01

       Okay.

    3. LHLewis Howes56:02

       Long as you want, you get to stay on this earth, but it's the last day. And-

    4. TBTerry Bradshaw56:05

       I know it's the last day?

    5. LHLewis Howes56:06

       It's... Yeah, you know it's the last day. God's calling you home. This is your last day, Terry.

    6. TBTerry Bradshaw56:11

       Okay.

    7. LHLewis Howes56:12

       Uh, it can be as long in the future as you want.

    8. TBTerry Bradshaw56:14

       Yeah.

    9. LHLewis Howes56:15

       But on the last day, for whatever reason, you have to take all of your work with you. It means this book has to go with you, this conversation, anything that's ever been said by you on TV.

    10. TBTerry Bradshaw56:24

        Oh, boy.

    11. LHLewis Howes56:25

        We don't have access to it anymore.

    12. TBTerry Bradshaw56:26

        Where'd you get this?

    13. LHLewis Howes56:27

        Hypothetical. It's a hypothetical.

    14. TBTerry Bradshaw56:28

        Yeah.

    15. LHLewis Howes56:29

        Uh, but on the last day, God says you get to leave behind three lessons to the world, three truths. For you, what would be those three truths that you would leave behind, those three lessons?

    16. TBTerry Bradshaw56:40

        Three truths. Wow. I, it, that's, that's a really good question.

    17. LHLewis Howes56:49

        [laughs]

    18. TBTerry Bradshaw56:49

        How am I gonna answer that question?

    19. LHLewis Howes56:52

        It can be as simple-

    20. TBTerry Bradshaw56:52

        Three truths

    21. LHLewis Howes56:52

        ... it can be as simple-

    22. TBTerry Bradshaw56:53

        Um

    23. LHLewis Howes56:53

        ... uh, as you want. It could be anything coming to mind.

    24. TBTerry Bradshaw56:55

        Well, I kinda touched on probably-

    25. LHLewis Howes56:56

        Yeah

    26. TBTerry Bradshaw56:57

        ... most of them already.

    27. LHLewis Howes56:57

        Yeah. But if you could boil it down-

    28. TBTerry Bradshaw56:58

        I would think

    29. LHLewis Howes56:58

        ... to three things.

    30. TBTerry Bradshaw56:59

        Be kind.
14. 1:04:48 – 1:12:11

    Kindness Over Greatness

    1. TBTerry Bradshaw1:04:48

       I have sweat flying everywhere. Yeah, yeah. And I mean, I'm getting into it. And I stand back and I take a deep breath. When I... It's in your quietness of stuff that you're doing. [laughs] You forget. [laughs] I forgot the- Wow. I forgot and I made up this saying. Oh. And I'm like, oh my God, what did I do? So the, so the next speech I give, I, I take my pause and I've gone over it. I'm going over it. And I go- Yeah ... "It's in the quiet [laughs] times when we most think about..." Oh, [laughs] I just did it again. I am so mad. Uh, but I get through it. They don't know that I- Yeah, yeah, yeah ... they don't know what I'm doing. And then finally, finally I got it. You remember. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's great. Um, my final question is, what's your definition of greatness? Well, let me ask you this. Is it really that important? Is it? I mean- Ah, it's important. Yeah ... hey, greatness. Is it really important? Why not just say what, what's your greatest happiness? Mm. Why greatness? That means I gotta accomplish something. Mm. At first, when I hear great, automatically say, think to myself, great, what makes this so great? Yeah. Oh, because they accomplished so much. Mm. You don't think somebody else is gonna accomplish more? It- Yeah. Yeah ... um, why's it gotta be great? Right. Uh, is he the greatest quarterback that ever played? In his decade, yeah. Is he the greatest running back? Uh, yeah. But we, we spend all our time in America looking for who's the best. We're look, we spend all our time in America, who's number one? I already told you Fox NFL Sunday, number one. Proud of that, but- America loves its winners, and it loves to put them on a pedestal and idolize them. Only later we may, they may disappoint us by something they've done. Okay? By something they've done, be it morally or whatever. So I don't really go by what is greatness. You can look it up and say that you do things better than anybody else, or this person has, and okay, and you go, "Oh, that's great." How many times when you watch television, uh, in a sporting event, great, great, great, great, great. It's overused, great. You know? It's, it just overuse. I never for... I, I don't know that I've ever been called great. I've been called an icon.

    2. LHLewis Howes1:07:36

       Mm.

    3. TBTerry Bradshaw1:07:37

       Yeah, I don't even know what that is. But great, I don't know. Is great really that important? Is it? Maybe to you. Maybe-

    4. LHLewis Howes1:07:44

       Yeah

    5. TBTerry Bradshaw1:07:44

       ... maybe to our viewers out there who go, "Well, wait a minute, he's the greatest bowler ever. Uh, Mickey Mantle was the first guy to make a $100,000. He was great because he hit home runs and stole da, da, da, da, da." Now people are making millions. That, so he's not great?

    6. LHLewis Howes1:07:59

       Mm.

    7. TBTerry Bradshaw1:08:00

       Well, he was in it. So I, I just am not big on great.

    8. LHLewis Howes1:08:05

       Mm. Yeah. That's okay.

    9. TBTerry Bradshaw1:08:06

       I never have been.

    10. LHLewis Howes1:08:07

        Yeah. That's okay.

    11. TBTerry Bradshaw1:08:07

        I never have been big on great because something's always gonna be better.

    12. LHLewis Howes1:08:13

        Sure. Yeah.

    13. TBTerry Bradshaw1:08:14

        Always. And something about great's gonna be a disappointment.

    14. LHLewis Howes1:08:17

        Yeah. Sure.

    15. TBTerry Bradshaw1:08:18

        Look, look, I, I can sit here and start naming people that people call great, and I can point out something about them that's not so great.

    16. LHLewis Howes1:08:24

        Right.

    17. TBTerry Bradshaw1:08:24

        Maybe you don't know it. But then that wouldn't be the right thing to do.

    18. LHLewis Howes1:08:29

        Yeah.

    19. TBTerry Bradshaw1:08:29

        But I just don't live with great.

    20. LHLewis Howes1:08:31

        Yeah, I mean, I, my definition has evolved over the years. I think earlier when I was younger, it was about being the best. And now-

    21. TBTerry Bradshaw1:08:39

        Best

    22. LHLewis Howes1:08:40

        ... and now it's about, uh, pursuing your, your goals and your dreams.

    23. TBTerry Bradshaw1:08:45

        Right.

    24. LHLewis Howes1:08:46

        And in that pursuit, making the maximum impact on the people around you.

    25. TBTerry Bradshaw1:08:50

        Yep.

    26. LHLewis Howes1:08:51

        For me, that's more my definition now, rather than are you, are you number one?

    27. TBTerry Bradshaw1:08:55

        Listen, you, the greatest impact you can have on people is being nice to them.

    28. LHLewis Howes1:08:59

        Yeah.

    29. TBTerry Bradshaw1:09:00

        Out of all the things you do and accomplish in your life-

    30. LHLewis Howes1:09:03

        Mm

Episode duration: 1:12:11