While the Pittsburgh Steelers are currently in rebuild mode in hopes of securing their first Super Bowl since 2009, former six-time Pro Bowl running back Jerome Bettis is calling out one of his former coaches.
Before getting traded to the Steelers in 1996, Bettis spent three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams Franchise, two seasons in LA and one in St. Louis. Although early in his career, Bettis claimed a new Rams coach during the 1995 season tried to “sabotage” his career over contract disputes.
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Jerome Bettis Claims St. Louis Rams Coach Sabotaged Career During RB’s Prime
After a Pro-Bowl nod and Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 1993, Jerome Bettis sought out a raise in salary ahead of his third season. The Rams front-office refused to negotiate, causing Bettis to stage a 14-day training camp holdout.
“Well, I had a situation,” Bettis said on In-Depth with Graham Bensinger. “A new coach had come in to the organization 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.”
The Rams hired Rich Brooks in 1995. Brooks brought new expectations to the Rams franchise ahead of training camp that Bettis was unable to keep due to his contract negotiations.
“And when training camp time came, I had to hold out because I was still playing under a rookie contract,” Bettis continued. “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 the 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.”
That next season, Bettis’ time on the field dropped significantly, so much that he even considered retirement.
He went from 319 carries and 1025 yards in 1994 to 183 carries and 637 yards in 1995.
The Rams went on to trade Bettis to the Steelers in April of 1996 after drafting running back Lawrence Phillips in the first-round.
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Jerome Bettis Claims the Pittsburgh Steelers Revamped His Career
After considering retirement following a down season with the Rams, Jerome Bettis’ career turned around in Pittsburgh. In his first season with the Steelers, Bettis tallied 320 carries, 1431 yards, and 11 rushing touchdowns.
He went on to win a Super Bowl in his final season in 2006. Bettis earned Hall of Fame honors in 2015 after an incredible 13-year career.
Bettis played in 192 regular-season games, registering the sixth-most rushing yards (13,662) in NFL history. He surpassed the 100-yard mark 61 times in the regular season and three times in the postseason. Bettis recorded 78 rushing touchdowns as a Steeler, the second-most in franchise history. While also getting HOF honors for the NFL, he earned Steelers HOF honors in 2017.
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