Skip to content
  • About
  • Events
  • Old Crime
  • N'At
  • People
  • Places
  • Sports
  • Yinz
  • About
  • Events
  • Old Crime
  • N'At
  • People
  • Places
  • Sports
  • Yinz
January 6, 2017 / Sports

Can Terry Bradshaw spell ‘cat?’ The history of an insult

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter

Terry Bradshaw mugs for the camera. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Terry Bradshaw mugs for the camera. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Hollywood Henderson romps in the waves (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Hollywood Henderson romps in the waves (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Art Rooney with granddaughter Duffy, age 15. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Art Rooney with granddaughter Duffy, age 15. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Tony Dorsett, Pitt grad and Dallas running back, surrounded by admirers (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Tony Dorsett, Pitt grad and Dallas running back, surrounded by admirers (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Fans at the Steelers hotel. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Fans at the Steelers hotel. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Steeler linebackers Loren Toews, Jack Lambert and Jack Ham. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Steeler linebackers Loren Toews, Jack Lambert and Jack Ham. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Myron Cope, center, at the team's hotel. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Myron Cope, center, at the team’s hotel. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Terry Bradshaw during an interview session with sports writers. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Terry Bradshaw during an interview session with sports writers. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Cowboy Ed "Too Tall" Jones (second from left) with friends on the beach. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Cowboy Ed “Too Tall” Jones (second from left) with friends on the beach. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Steelers team picture. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Steelers team picture. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Steelers Joe Greene and Dwight White with Pittsburgh mayor Richard Caliguire. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Steelers Joe Greene and Dwight White with Pittsburgh mayor Richard Caliguire. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Steeler Lynn Swann signs autographs. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Steeler Lynn Swann signs autographs. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Franco Harris, Terry Bradshaw and Rocky Bleier. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Franco Harris, Terry Bradshaw and Rocky Bleier. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Defensive lineman Dwight White, Joe Greene, Steve Furness and L.C. Greenwood. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Defensive lineman Dwight White, Joe Greene, Steve Furness and L.C. Greenwood. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Steeler coach Chuck Knoll addresses sports writers. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Steeler coach Chuck Knoll addresses sports writers. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Dan Rooney. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Dan Rooney. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Cowboys Tony Dorsett, Roger Staubach and Robert Newhouse. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)
Cowboys Tony Dorsett, Roger Staubach and Robert Newhouse. (Morris Berman/Post-Gazette)

The idea that Terry Bradshaw lacked the brainpower to spell “cat” emerged in Miami in 1979, while the Steelers were preparing to play the Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII (that’s no. 13, Terry). Playing linebacker for Dallas that year was Hollywood Henderson (his mother named him Thomas but the son thought Hollywood more appropriate).

Hollywood Henderson liked to have fun. He was always talking. Some called him the NFL’s Muhammad Ali. “He’s the greatest, I’m the latest,” Hollywood said.

The Latest said Bradshaw was so dumb “he couldn’t spell ‘cat’ if you spotted him the c-a.”

Bradshaw’s response: “This isn’t nuclear physics, it’s a game. How smart do you have to be?”

This all came to mind last week, after Bradshaw called Steelers coach Mike Tomlin a good “cheerleader guy” but not a great coach. Tomlin suggested this comment was unprofessional and added, “But what do I know? I grew up a Dallas fan, particularly a Hollywood Henderson fan.”

Henderson was a trip. He stepped off the plane in Miami in January 1979 chanting, “Hey, hey, Hollywood is here.” He and his teammates stayed at a posh new hotel close to the beach. He and his teammates, including Ed “Too Tall” Jones, posed with bathing suit models and romped in the ocean waves. We have a picture in the archive of Henderson doing just this — splashing through the water, a big smile on his face.

The Steelers stayed at a Marriott by the Miami airport (pictures show a hotel that looks somewhat like a motor lodge). The closest body of water was the swimming pool. Players hung out with fans and local folks like Pittsburgh mayor Richard Caliguiri. Bradshaw was the most flamboyant Steeler. He ran around shirtless, mugging for a camera. A snakeskin belt held up his disco-era pants.

Newspapers made a big deal out of the contrasts between the two teams and their fans who’d made the trip to South Florida. It was kielbasa vs. escargot, said The Pittsburgh Press. Dallas fans were on an expense account; Steelers fans were blowing the rent money.

Pittsburghers took pride in these comments. It fit our image of the city as home to hard-working folks. And then we beat Dallas 35-31. Take that, Hollywood.

Actually, Henderson was considerably less biting in his remarks after the game. “Right now I’m on the verge of a heart attack,” he said. “I hurt. I gave it all I could, and the team gave it all.”

Henderson’s career ended in ‘81, when he broke his neck in a preseason game. He was playing for the Dolphins. Cowboys coach Tom Landry had fired him in ‘79. Henderson was mugging for the cameras on the sidelines, and that was too much for the conservative Landry.

Henderson developed a drug and alcohol habit, then got clean and sober in ‘84. He twice won the lottery, once for $28 million and then for $20,000. He’s now a motivational speaker. And he’s established a charity in Austin, Texas, called East Side Youth Services & Street Outreach.

Bradshaw, of course, is a football analyst on TV. Sometimes people still question his IQ. He once said of Denver quarterback John Elway, “Is he a great quarterback? Nope.”

To which Denver coach Dan Reeves responded, “Those TV commentators, they’re not quite as smart as they’re given credit for.”

— Steve Mellon

You might also want to see...

Topics related to this:1970s Dallas Cowboys Morris Berman Photographer Morris Berman Steelers Super Bowl terry Bradshaw

Steve Mellon

Steve, a writer and photographer at the Post-Gazette, has lived and worked in Pittsburgh so long that some of his images appear on "The Digs."

Old Pittsburgh photos and stories | The Digs

Browse by topic

  • Events (150)
  • Greatest Sports Photos (5)
  • Old crime (37)
  • People (107)
  • Pittsburgh n'at (138)
  • Places and landmarks (120)
  • Sports (102)
  • World (3)
  • Yinz (18)

Follow The Digs

RSS feed RSS - Posts

Find old photos

Most read this week

  • Can Terry Bradshaw spell 'cat?' The history of an insult
  • Jenkins Arcade, a victim of 'Renaissance II'
  • The complex and tough Dante “Tex” Gill
  • Isaly's in Oakland and the secret to Skyscraper Ice Cream Cone
  • A tale of two frames: The iconic Y.A. Tittle photo(s)

Archives

Tags

"wow" photographs 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s baseball bridges Civic Arena Downtown Pittsburgh football Forbes Field historic moments holidays industry music and musicians North Side Oakland oddities Photographer Darrell Sapp Photographer Harry Coughanour Photographer Morris Berman Pittsburghers you know Pittsburghers you might not know Pittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pittsburgh skyline Pittsburgh Steelers Pittsburgh traditions Pittsburgh women politicians pollution and smog rivers stage and film street scenes The Pittsburgh Press Things that are gone Three Rivers Stadium tragedies transportation University of Pittsburgh urban development weather and seasons

Tracks WordPress Theme by Compete Themes.

 

Loading Comments...