Steeler Coach Turned His Back on Him After Injury, Bradshaw Says in Book

After leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl championships in six years, Terry Bradshaw says he was abandoned and ignored by Coach Chuck Noll.

In “Looking Back,” to be published next month, Bradshaw wrote: “Perhaps it’s a miracle we ever went to the Super Bowl, let alone won four of them,” because his relationship with his coach was so strained. Bradshaw wrote that Noll ignored him after he injured his right elbow and could play only one game in 1983.

However, Bradshaw concedes that Noll’s stern handling made him a better quarterback and he now hopes to reconcile with the coach he called “a jerk” last fall.

Bradshaw also wrote that the only regret of his 14-year career is that he was labeled a “dummy” early in his career.

“Once you’re labeled, you’re labeled for life,” Bradshaw wrote. “Even though people say later on, ‘Well, he was a good quarterback,’ or ‘He was a nice guy,’ they’ll always preface it with, ‘He overcame his dumb image.’ ”