Former NFL Star and Public Figure Terry Bradshaw Doesn't Shy Away From Talking About Politics

When he was an NFL quarterback, no one thought Terry Bradshaw would still be a popular household name almost five decades later. But 54 years after he started playing with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Terry is more relevant than ever. After he retired from football in 1983 with four Super Bowl wins, he became a sports announcer and analyst. Now, he’s touring his one-man musical comedy show around the United States during another contentious election year.

Throughout his years in the public eye, Terry has been unafraid to speak honestly about his various struggles with mental and physical health. A major bout of anxiety and depression led him to retreat from the crowds and he just shared details of his last year battling cancer, although he is now thankfully cancer-free. But as an honest and outspoken figure, what are Terry’s politics?

When Terry played football, we all just thought he was a “good ole boy” from Louisiana. He’s always played up his southern drawl and charm, perhaps as a way to charm viewers and potential fans, but he’s also always been more intelligent than people expect. In fact, NFL coach Jimmy Johnson said that Terry deflects criticism of his intelligence by saying he's “so dumb that he has to have somebody else fly his private plane,” an obviously very smart joke.

And it’s Terry’s down-to-earth sense of humor and intelligence that have guided him throughout his life, including his political views. He grew up in southern America, surrounded by the classic Republican party, so it shouldn’t be surprising that he was a long-term Republican. In fact, in 2012, he supported Newt Gingrich’s campaign for the Republican nomination. However, Mitt Romney ultimately won the bid and lost the presidency.

But in an October 2020 interview with Business Jet Traveler, Terry revealed that he had officially dropped his affiliation with the Republican party. “I've been a Republican, but now I'm a registered independent,” he revealed. “I don't want to alienate anyone and the minute you say, ‘I'm a Democrat’ or ‘I'm Republican,’ you're kicking off the other side. I want the best person [in the White House], and I'll pick the one who's most like the way I feel.”

We don’t know for sure if Terry voted for Trump or for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential Election, but we know now that Terry is unafraid to criticize the felonious former POTUS. He first commented on Trump in 2017, long before he revealed his dissociation from the Republican party. “This is America. If our country stands for anything, folks, it's freedom. People died for that freedom,” he said in a Fox NFL Sunday segment regarding Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling protest.

“I'm not sure if our President understands those rights. That every American has the right to speak out, also to protest. Believe me, these athletes do love our this great country of ours. Personally, I think our President should concentrate on North Korea and healthcare rather than ripping into athletes and the NFL."

As Terry continues his broadcast career and performs his one-man show around the country, fans are naturally hoping he’ll speak up about the election. He has never publicly criticized or endorsed Joe Biden as far as we can tell, so there’s no way of knowing which way he’ll swing in the 2024 election.