'Promise made, promise kept': Jerome Bettis keeps word to mother, graduates from Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Most of it went exactly like Jerome Bettis first imagined it some 32 years ago as a full-of-promise freshman fullback at Notre Dame.
A march to Notre Dame Stadium in his cap and gown with fellow football players. A snapshot with a proud coach. A college diploma under his arm.
On Sunday morning Bettis, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champion, walked to commencement with other graduating football players. He took that photo with now Irish head coach Marcus Freeman.
It was a picture he could have taken in 1994 with then Irish head coach Lou Holtz in the middle.
"I came here back in 1990, with every intention to graduate," Bettis told Notre Dame's 177th graduating class during his commencement speech inside the same — all be it extensively renovated — stadium where he made a name for himself as a running back with a scary blend of speed and power. "But after three amazing seasons, the NFL and its fortunes came calling.
"I have been waiting 28 years to celebrate this moment."
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The wait is over. He did it, fulfilling a promise made to his mother, Gladys Bettis, when he decided to forego his senior year for the NFL Draft in 1993.
Gladys Bettis, affectionately referred to as "Mama Bus," is a breast cancer survivor, who works closely with the American Cancer Society.
On Sunday, Jerome Bettis walked down the quad at the front of the Mendoza Business School line with a grin from ear to ear. He received multiple yelps of “Go Bus!” and “Atta Boy Jerome.”
Bettis gave them a fist pump.
As the commencement ceremony neared its end, Notre Dame officials asked "The Bus" — Bettis' apt and colorful nickname — to punch it into the end zone one more time, this time with the day's final speech.
He joked with his classmates that he had 30 years on them, but spoke about everyone leaving behind a legacy and positively impacting lives.
"With apologies to the class of 1994," Bettis said, "I am proud to be a graduate in the class of 2022."
The Bus stop in South Bend
In 1990, he decided to play his collegiate football at Notre Dame under Holtz, who had recently led the Irish to a national championship in 1988.
Bettis, who was from Detroit and said on the NDInsider.com Pod of Gold podcast that he first dreamt of playing football at Oklahoma, picked the Irish over Michigan.
"Notre Dame's system best fit me individually as a fullback because it gave me the ability to run the ball, catch the ball, and block, which the other schools didn't quite allow the fullback that much freedom," Bettis recalled. "So, it was a no-brainer."
Bettis played sparingly as a freshman, carrying 15 times for 115 yards and a touchdown. It was during his sophomore and junior years that he made a name for himself nationally after accumulating more than 1,000 all-purpose yards each of those seasons and scoring 36 touchdowns.
With that type of production, and the projection of being a first-round draft pick, Bettis and Holtz decided it was time for the All-American to test NFL waters. Bettis' mother wanted to see her son graduate from Notre Dame, so he made a promise to her.
"I promised her years ago, sitting in Coach Holtz's office, that I would come back and graduate," Bettis said. "So, I owe that to her as well."
The Los Angeles Rams drafted Bettis 10th overall in 1993. Bettis fit right in, rushing for more 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns and earning Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Bettis would play 12 more seasons in the NFL, 10 of them with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He decided that he would be calling it quits after the 2005 season, with the Super Bowl being in his hometown of Detroit. Bettis had his fairy tale ending as the Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL (40).
It was The Bus's final stop. He finished his career with 13,662 yards (eighth most in NFL history) and 91 rushing touchdowns (11th in NFL history).
Back to school
With his remarkable NFL career behind him, Bettis turned his attention to business ventures while the promise he made to his mother lingered. Now 50, Bettis thought there was no better time than the present to finish up the final few credits needed to earn his business degree.
So, he enrolled for the spring semester, and moved himself from the Atlanta area to South Bend to be a student again.
Back on campus, Bettis said he tried to keep a low profile as he resumed his studies. Easier said than done for a Notre Dame and NFL legend, even at Notre Dame.
"I was just trying to sit in the front and get out of the way in the corner and take care of business," Bettis said with a laugh. "But none of the professors allowed me to do that."
On his first day, one of Bettis' professors asked students to introduce themselves. Before Bettis could even stand up, a classmate recognized him.
"Holy (expletive), guys, I think that's Jerome Bettis," said Notre Dame senior Peter Horne. "Then I was checking Twitter and I'm seeing a video he posted on Twitter about how he was back on campus, everything. I'm like, I think that's him. No way. It's absurd."
Their strategic management professor announced a group project that day.
"I didn't know anybody in the class," Bettis said. "I'm thinking to myself, 'how in the hell am I going to get in the group? And I don't know anybody.' So, I'm sitting there like I'm at the ballpark saying, 'Pick me! pick me!'"
Horne saw an opportunity to make a new friend with a guy who had a history of being a great teammate.
"He was very, very open to the idea," Horne said, "and we just went from there."
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The assignment was to research a company and figure out how to improve it. Bettis and Horne chose Under Armour, a strength of both Bettis and Horne. Bettis is a former athlete signed by Nike, so he knows the business. Horne had just finished an internship at the company.
"(Bettis) was always looking to help, always asking what he could do for the project, which I was very impressed by," Horne said. "I've taken classes with my fair share of bad partners. So having a good partner, especially being him, I was very impressed."
Horne and Bettis hit it off with Bettis inviting his new friend to Notre Dame's Pro Day back in March.
They even ended up traveling together.
Bettis had postponed his family vacation to Cabo San Lucas in December because of the spike in COVID cases. He moved it to spring break. Horne was at a wedding in Atlanta before heading to Cabo.
"The first person I recognized off the plane is him," Horne recalled. "I went up to him like, 'Oh, this guy looks familiar,' And he's like, 'Oh, what's up Pete?'"
"It was just the weirdest moment," Bettis laughed. "But it was funny in the sense that I am a senior. That's where the seniors are going, and I happen to be there."
Returning to school wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Bettis.
"The technology gap is huge," Bettis said comparing 2022 academia to that of 1992.
His first day back in class Bettis recalled classmates taking notes on their laptops while he was scribbling away, pen to paper.
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He also had to adjust his time management and re-engage good study habits. No more flipping through the TV channels. Much less "free" time to relax.
"That just doesn't work in a college setting in terms of you've got responsibilities, you got readings, you got all these classwork to do," Bettis explained. "You just have to be more deliberate with your time, and I struggle in that department."
His business foresight class took him for a whirlwind. He found himself studying until 3 a.m. for the midterm and then woke up early to continue studying.
"I was very pissed off after that," Bettis joked. "It was a tough one, but I think I'm going to pass, but ... (it) won't be pretty."
The return was also a chance for Bettis to experience what it was like to be a student without the heavy schedule a student-athlete has to carry. This semester he attended numerous men's and women's basketball games while sitting in the student section.
"When I was a student here (back in the 1990s), we didn't have that many opportunities to do any of that," Bettis said of being on the football team. "So, it was an opportunity for me to take it all in to experience it as a student."
Welcome back to the program
Even though Bettis was trying to keep a low profile, just as he became a sensation in the classroom, the football program wasn't far behind.
Marcus Freeman had just taken over as the football team's head coach. He had heard rumblings that Bettis was on campus and and texted him.
"When Coach says, 'hey, I want you to come be a part of the program,' it's special," Bettis said. "You get a chance to help influence these young men."
That text turned into a weekly meeting.
"Since he's gotten to campus, we meet once a week to talk," Freeman said during Spring practice. "It could be a 20- to 30-minute chat or a two-hour chat. I run things by him in terms of former players. I run things by him regarding helping our current players."
Bettis zeroed in on Irish running backs, spreading some of his vast knowledge of the position. His story and accomplishment can be inspiring.
"It is motivation," said current Notre Dame running back Audric Estime. "I want to be an All-American college player. I want to be a Super Bowl champion. I want to be a first-round pick. Just seeing that gives me motivation. I can make it happen if I just put in that work."
Bettis also spent some time with running back Logan Diggs. Even defensive players reached out to him, like starting linebacker J.D. Bertrand. Bettis and Bertrand had a class together this semester, and as soon as the professor dismissed students, the linebacker would ask Bettis for football help.
They would walk into an empty classroom Bertrand would pull out his tablet, so they could watch film and break it down.
"I'm helping him from a perspective of a running back to a linebacker, so he understands what that guy is thinking on the other side of him," Bettis explained. "So, it gives him a better idea and a different perspective of those plays and how that's coming about."
Freeman, who has made a point in his tenure to reach out and welcome back former players to the program, knew that having Bettis around was an asset that his players would appreciate.
"He has credibility because of who he is," Freeman said. "The ability to have that guy talk to your team; he's saying the same things that you're preaching as the head coach. He is saying to the players to hold up the standards and hold each other accountable."
Next stop for The Bus
The hall of famer has left his mark, whether in the classroom or on Notre Dame's young football team. Now that he's graduated Bettis won't be around as often, but he will be just a plane ride away.
In finishing his degree, Bettis took classes that could help him learn more about how businesses are now and the direction they are headed in the next five to 20 years.
"How can we provide the best possible environment for our employees, things of that nature," Bettis said of what he learned in his business ethics class. "(We were) looking at moral dilemmas that employees are put in. I'm trying to understand that. Trying to eliminate a lot of that is a process."
So, what is next for The Bus?
"Maybe starting a small company and looking into doing some small investing in that way and seeing where that goes," Bettis said. "I'm open to the possibilities now."
A young kid from Detroit went from making questionable decisions to being a fullback at Notre Dame to an elite NFL running back to a Super Bowl Champion.
This degree might be above all of those things because of that assurance he gave his mother.
"Mom," Bettis said during his commencement speach. "Promise made, promise kept."