Fox's Bradshaw once called Coughlin a 'jerk'

Neil Best

February 3, 2008

GLENDALE, Ariz.

'Jerk!"

Even the giddily uninhibited Terry Bradshaw regretted the word as soon as it escaped his mouth.

This was in 2004, shortly after Tom Coughlin began his term with the Giants. He was under fire after fining players for arriving late to a meeting, even though by standard clocks they were early.

Speaking on Fox's pregame show, Bradshaw called Coughlin "mean and hateful."

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Then he added this: "There is a little part of me that hopes this guy falls flat on his face, because that's a total lack of respect for the players. I'm realizing this guy is a jerk."

Four seasons, one partial personality makeover and an NFC title later, Bradshaw stood on the Fox set at University of Phoenix Stadium Friday and recalled his early assessment of the coach. He still regrets the word he chose but not the sentiment.

"That jerk thing, where did I get that information?" he said as fireworks crackled, flag-carriers waving Giants banners marched and Michael Strahan's voice boomed over the loudspeakers during rehearsals for Super Bowl XLII. "I had to have some pretty good information to go on the air and be so upset.

"But it's a live show. I got caught. I could almost feel the flushness in my face, like, 'Oh, man, don't say jerk, anything but jerk.' But I got emotionally wrapped up in the stuff going on and it chapped me."

Why does any of this matter now? Because if the Giants pull off the improbable, guess who's going to be in the middle of the action as they receive their first Lombardi Trophy in 17 years?

Awkward? Fortunately, Bradshaw and the team had a dry run after the NFC Championship Game. And how did that go?

Bradshaw took plenty of abuse, not because of the "jerk" comment but because Fox analysts regularly have picked against the Giants in the playoffs, something Coughlin pointed out to players.

"I went into their locker room and people were screaming at me," he said. "It wasn't the best reception I ever got ... Mrs. Mara or Mrs. Tisch, I'm not sure which, said, 'You just keep picking against us.' I said, 'I picked you in this game.' That took the air out of their sail. They may be surprised this week, too."

Bradshaw did pick the Giants over the Packers, marking the only time in 12 chances any of Fox's four prognosticators has chosen the Giants in the playoffs.

Like everyone else in Football Nation, Bradshaw praised Coughlin for how he has evolved since those dark early days.

"I think great coaches are smart enough to realize, here are my shortcomings, here are my strengths, and we all work on our shortcomings," he said. "I think he's done a great job of that."

Bradshaw also criticized Eli Manning in 2004 for his pre-draft maneuver of avoiding San Diego.

"I've said to be patient with Eli," he said. "I didn't like the fact he didn't go to San Diego; I never have liked that kind of stuff. But as far as a player, he's done well."

Of course, it's possible the Patriots and Tom Brady could win tonight. Any mixed emotions about a possible newcomer to the club of four-time Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks occupied only by Bradshaw and Joe Montana?

"Not at all, no," Bradshaw said. "There's Mount Rushmore, so if he comes on board, we have enough folks now that we're going to create Mount Passmore."

Bradshaw said that as a sports history buff, he'd find a Pats victory irresistible. "It would go down as easily one of the greatest television moments ever," he said. "But this game will be great either way because if the Giants take care of business, it's one of the great upsets in the history of sports."

Even off camera, Bradshaw displays the goofy charm that has made him one of the most popular former jocks on TV. He passed idle time in rehearsal kibitzing with his fellow cast members, "smoking" an unlit cigar and singing songs.

Bradshaw now has been at Fox as long as he was a Steeler - 14 seasons each - and still is the personality around which the famously loose program is centered.

Said Scott Ackerson, his producer for 14 years, "He is the guy you see on the air. He's brilliant, he's funny, he's fast, he's unpredictable."

Curt Menefee, who joined the show full-time this season, said, "He has been as welcoming as anybody could've imagined; it's unbelievable . . . And he's crazy like a fox, no pun intended. He's got a good thing going where everybody thinks he's a local yokel, but he's not by any means. He is sharp as a tack."

Sometimes he can deliver a sharp tack, too, as Coughlin and Manning learned.

"My job is not to be your friend," he said. "My job is to be honest. There are players who won't talk to me, coaches who don't like me, owners that can't stand me, p.r. people that can't, but if I'm doing my job honestly, aren't I supposed to have some folks pretty upset with me?"