Terry Bradshaw has never been shy about his past, but this time there’s real significance in the confession. The Fox NFL Sunday analyst and four-time Super Bowl champion opened up about his three failed marriages. Despite a Hall of Fame career and decades on television, Bradshaw now says he believes his choices were leading him into darkness, and he’s being open about it.
“I’m the product of triple talaq, okay?” Terry Bradshaw told Lewis Howes. “Am I proud of that? Not at all. Now, you said earlier there’s shame. I’m ashamed that I’ve been divorced three times or once or twice, whatever. It’s definitely not something I’m proud of. I grew up in a Baptist family, a Christian family. You get married once, okay? I got divorced, and I’ll never forget my preacher telling me I’m going to hell.
“I never went back to that church. It’s not that I was looking for someone to say it was okay to get divorced. I wasn’t trying to find someone who agreed with me. According to my study of the scriptures, I didn’t think I was going to hell because God will forgive you.”
His first marriage was to former pageant queen Melissa Babish, and it lasted from 1972 to 1973. Some time later, in 1976, he married the famous ice skater JoJo Starbuck. He continued till 1983.
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His third wife was Charla Hopkins, daughter of Denton councilman Charles Hopkins. They married in 1986 and had two daughters, Erin and Rachel. Unfortunately, Terry and Charla divorced in 1999.
The now-retired Steelers great is talking about what it took for his fourth marriage to Tammy to really last.
On the Glass Half Full Podcast with Craig Melvin podcast in July, he put it bluntly.
Bradshaw said of his previous divorce, “I’m embarrassed by it.” “I now know exactly why I got divorced. I know exactly why I married those women. And I only know it because I spent three years in therapy trying to figure out what was wrong with me.”
Things obviously fell apart with Tammy. Bradshaw says he waited 12 years to propose and in all that time he “never even brought up the issue of marriage”. After living as a couple for over a decade, they finally got married on 8 July 2014. Bradshaw had said that after three divorces he never thought that he would find true love.
Bradshaw is a well-known figure in football because of his four Super Bowl victories. But off the field, the former quarterback had to face a lot of trouble due to his mental health. He also suffered anxiety attacks after games.
In 1999, Terry Bradshaw was diagnosed with clinical depression. Things got really difficult after his third divorce.
According to Today, Bradshaw sought help from a counselor, a preacher, and a psychologist until she found a therapist who could help. He was given medicine to deal with the problem. Ultimately, it all worked out for him and he has since been extremely vocal about his struggle with depression.
Bradshaw also talked about what counseling did for him.
“I felt like I didn’t understand why I got married three times and it didn’t work out. It was embarrassing. I was ashamed of myself. I went to counseling for three years and I realized it was not my partner’s fault, but my fault. I am one and they are three. And I had to break this chain. Through counseling, I was able to do that.”
In the end, this is a very honest story from someone who has every reason to keep it private. Bradshaw stopped blaming those around him, did uncomfortable work on himself and came away with a marriage that has remained strong for years now.
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