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Yes, that Terry Bradshaw: four-time Super Bowl champion quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers, two-time Super Bowl MVP, Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, and the only NFL player with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.<\/p>\n
His blazer lay folded neatly on the seat next to him. He wore a long-sleeved shirt and tie. He looked up and flashed a polite, though barely sincere, smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, how are ya?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFine, thanks. I\u2019m Dave Williams. I\u2019m your emcee. They told me I should wait here until it\u2019s time.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not offer him my hand because I was a social dork, and he was Terry Bradshaw holding a prescription pill bottle.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a pleasure and an honor to meet you,\u201d I added impetuously.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks. Same here.\u201d<\/p>\n
As I sat on the RV sofa opposite him, Terry twisted open an orange plastic Rx bottle, shook out a couple of tablets, and swallowed them with a swig of water from a plastic bottle.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t think of anything to say, so I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
We didn\u2019t have mobile phones in the late 90s. I couldn\u2019t look down, pretending to be engaged in some serious business matter, and neither could he. But Terry finally broke the silence when he tossed back another pill from the other bottle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a pounding headache,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
I think I told him I was sorry, but I’m not sure. And there we sat, total strangers with nothing in common and nothing to say to each other.<\/p>\n
Looking back on it, I would like to think he was pleased that I didn\u2019t start peppering him with lame football fan questions. I might have if I had been a serious football fan, but to this day, I can\u2019t watch a game without wondering why it takes 22 guys banging into each other to advance or stop the ball. Wouldn\u2019t three guys on each side work just as well? Maybe I should have asked him that.<\/p>\n
Terry took a stack of index cards from his jacket pocket and started looking them over. I assumed he was studying his speech, which was a great idea. I took out my one index card with my prepared introduction and studied its three sentences.<\/p>\n
There was a tap at the door. Being closest to it and not being a famous athlete and TV star, I stood and opened it to find John Major<\/strong>, the most recent former British Prime Minister, standing on the step below with a pip-pip-cheerio smile on his Time magazine face.<\/p>\n I was literally looking down at him.<\/p>\n \u201cMight I come in?\u201d<\/p>\n
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