"I'd Have Gone Into the Vietnam War": Terry Bradshaw Makes Honest Admission on Rejecting Popular College Football Program

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Terry Bradshaw’s road to football immortality almost took a very different turn. Before he became the Pittsburgh Steelers’ legendary quarterback, a four-time Super Bowl champion and one of the most recognizable figures in NFL history, Bradshaw was a 17-year-old in Shreveport, Louisiana, staring at a college decision with consequences far bigger than football.

“I didn’t want to go to LSU because I wasn’t mature enough to go to LSU,” Bradshaw said on The Long Game podcast. “I wasn’t emotionally and mentally mature enough to handle that. I would have been lost. I would have been a failure. I’d have gone into the Vietnam War.

“I knew I should have never signed with LSU, but it sounded good to be going to LSU. How stupid was it for me to sign with LSU when the very guy that was a freshman quarterback at LSU was the very quarterback that kept me on the bench at Woodlon High School for two years!”

Bradshaw never seemed to like LSU football. He said at an event in 2019 that the Tigers misused quarterback Bert Jones, too. He added in the podcast that he flunked the ACT, and was very happy.

Terry Bradshaw's path to greatness wasn't inevitable, and his story reminds us how much hinges on the choices we make early on. Subscribe for more interesting stories.

The failed ACT ultimately pushed Bradshaw toward Louisiana Tech, where his career took time to develop. He lettered all four years, serving as a backup during his first two seasons before becoming the starter as a junior. The Bulldogs went 4-16 during his first two years, then flipped to 17-4 over his final two. In 1968, Bradshaw produced 2,890 yards of total offense as Louisiana Tech went 9-2 and won the Grantland Rice Bowl. He led the NCAA College Division in passing yards that year, and finished third in 1969.

That year, he led Tech to a conference championship and finished his college career with 25 school and conference records. He was twice named a College Division All-American before Pittsburgh selected him first overall in 1970.

Two quarterbacks (Bradshaw and Trey Prather, the quarterback who signed with LSU) went two different ways. Bradshaw was entering college during a period when the Vietnam draft was expanding, and student deferments were under increasing scrutiny. A full-time student could generally receive a deferment, provided he met the requirements for satisfactory academic progress.

By 1966, however, Selective Service was tightening the system, with local boards examining factors including a student’s progress and, in some cases, academic standing. For Bradshaw, academics were already a difficult fight: he struggled with ADD as a child, which went undiagnosed at the time.

Prather was deployed to the Vietnam War, where he sadly passed away in 1968. Bradshaw called him the “best quarterback” he’d played behind in those formative years.

The school Bradshaw could not enter became one of the most important “what ifs” of his life, while the smaller Louisiana Tech program became the place where he eventually developed into the quarterback Pittsburgh believed was worthy of the first pick.

Bradshaw was pursued by schools like Arkansas, Alabama, Texas A&M, and Baylor, too. All Power Five schools. Yet, the iconic quarterback chose to play for a team that wasn’t as competitive. He is among seven NFL greats who didn’t go to LSU despite being Louisiana natives; the list includes Marshall Faulk, Peyton Manning, Ed Reed, Reggie Wayne, and others.

Baton Rouge sure has missed out on a lot of talent.

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