Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis on selling drugs: ‘That was awful’
Jerome Bettis’ story, ultimately, is a great one. But it’s pretty amazing to consider what he came from.
In an interview for “In Depth with Graham Bensinger,” the former Pittsburgh Steelers running back and new Pro Football Hall of Famer didn’t hold back about his upbringing. He grew up poor in Detroit, in a bad neighborhood, and for a while in high school he and his brother turned to selling crack. It’s not something he’s proud of, but he felt that was his only option at the time.
“The mindset was, we’re in the hood, mom and dad are working their butts off, there’s no money around and we need to make some money,” Bettis told Bensinger. “So we said, you know what, let’s give it a shot.
“It was one of those moments you regret. But at the moment, that was the only thing that was really available to us. That’s the disheartening part of it all, is that here you had two young men and this was the opportunity that was available. So we took it. We took it and we sold drugs.”
Getting into that realm meant making other dangerous decisions, such as carrying a gun. Bettis told Bensinger that he shot at other drug dealers during that time.
“Yeah, yeah. That was part of growing up in our environment, our neighborhood,” Bettis said when Bensinger asked if he shot at anyone. “That wasn’t out of the realm of normal. That wasn’t something I ever wanted to glorify, because I know in retrospect that was awful. Here you are in the position to take someone’s life. That’s never a good thing.
“As I look back on it now, I always see that the wrongs, you never want to bring light to it in that respect, that it was a good thing. It was the worst thing I could have ever done, it was a bad decision, but it was the decision I made and I lived with at that moment.”
Thankfully for Bettis, a series of events led to a better path. He said he and his brother simply weren’t good at selling drugs, because they weren’t “mean spirited” enough. A friend was shot in the biceps, which was a wake-up call. Another wake-up call came when Bettis’ high-school football coach called him out on his drug dealing, told him that he had a future in football instead and could be an NFL player.
“I thought I was pretty good, but I didn’t think I was that good,” Bettis said. “That moment affected my life and helped me and showed me I can be a better person, a different person.”
Bettis explained on Twitter that he used his past as an inspiration for his foundation, to help troubled youths:
The story turned out well. Bettis spent most of his career with the Steelers, became one of the most popular players in the NFL and finished his career with a Super Bowl championship. He was fortunate that football led him to a better life. It sounds like had a thing or two gone differently, he might not have ended up with such a positive ending.
– – – – – – –
Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
