Pittsburgh Steelers fans should be well aware that few players are ever able to go out on their own terms. Whether it’s injury, money, decline in performance, or just plain being on a bad team, a true storybook swan song is rare. Even Jerome Bettis’ can be questioned. Sure, he retired in his hometown after winning the Super Bowl. But his biggest moment of his final season was a fumble that nearly cost them the chance to go to that game, and he served as a backup that year.
Terry Bradshaw won four Super Bowls and had a Hall of Fame career with the Steelers, but the way things ended—because of injury, with no fanfare, no press conferences—wasn’t how the script is supposed to go.