When a highly regarded member of the Steelers organization dies, their funeral is the closest thing Pittsburgh gets to a state funeral.
Former and current players have gathered en masse along with Steelers staff members and fans in the past to mourn “The Chief” Art Rooney, Dan Rooney and former coach Chuck Noll.
But one person who wasn’t present during any of those was four-time Super Bowl Champion and Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw.
Speaking with The Fan Morning Show on Monday, the original TB12 said the only one he regrets missing is the one for the founder of the club, Art Rooney.
“The Mr. Rooney funeral was something, I really screwed that up,” said Bradshaw.
While he regrets not attending the service for “The Chief”, he doesn’t feel bad about missing Dan Rooney or Noll’s funeral.
“Dan Rooney, I didn’t know Dan Rooney that well,” said Bradshaw.
“I just don’t see going to show respect to somebody when you don’t have a relationship with them and someone you haven’t seen in such a long time; it makes no sense to me.”
Bradshaw says flat out he doesn’t go to funerals and that he only attends when family is involved.
The only funeral involving the Steelers Bradshaw says he attended was for Joe Greene’s wife Agnes, who passed away in 2015 after a battle with cancer.
While he had good things to say about his former coach, there was a sense that Bradshaw’s relationship with Noll still bothers him.
“I wasn’t ever going to Chuck Noll’s funeral,” said Bradshaw.
Bradshaw says he knows that Steelers fans now love him and he says the feeling is mutual but it’s well known that his relationship with the organization and city was strained for years after his departure from Pittsburgh.
“I feel appreciated now, it wasn’t really the fans,” said Bradshaw. “I had a problem with Chuck Noll. I didn’t have a problem with the fans.”
But the one person who he was close with, even after his time at quarterback was “The Chief.”
“IF Mr. Rooney could say he loved a player, he’d say he loved me,” said Bradshaw. “We were really buddies. I had a key to his office, I had a key to his cigar room, I used to go over his house and we’d watch Monday Night Football together . . . he used to always give me encouragement and just a good man. That one I regret, but that’s the only one.”