Jerome Bettis Becomes Third Former St. Louis Ram to be Inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame
Though Jerome Bettis will be remembered by nearly every fan of the NFL as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, it was still a proud day for the St. Louis Rams organization on Saturday as the running back, who spent the first three seasons of his 13-year NFL career with the Rams, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Bettis devoted a small part of his speech to the Rams organization. Those remarks follow, courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
"To the Los Angeles Rams, I want to thank Chuck Knox for drafting me and saying that, you know what, you’re not a fullback, you can play tailback. Because I saw what the fullbacks were making and I saw what the tailbacks were making, and I said, yeah, Coach, I can be a tailback (laughing). Chuck Harris, my running back coach. I want to thank him for helping me make that transition from fullback to tailback. It took a lot of work, but he was patient and he worked with me. So, thank you. To my teammates with the Rams. I want to thank those guys because they did a lot in helping a young football player, and one in particular is sitting behind me, Jackie Slater. I came to the Rams a young guy, and Jackie showed me how to be a professional in this game. He was in the last years of playing, but he handled himself with grace and class, and Jackie, I’ll never forget that. Thank you."
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Bettis played in 47 games with the Rams over three seasons, rushing for 3,091 yards on 796 carries. Despite his short stay with the organization, he is 11th all-time in Rams career rushing yards. He was traded to the Steelers for a second and fourth round draft pick following the 1996 season. He finished his career with 3,479 carries for 13,662 yards and 91 touchdowns on the ground, as well as a Super Bowl Championship during his final season in 2005.
Bettis is just the third former Ram inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame who spent any portion of his career in St. Louis. He joins offensive tackle Jackie Slater, who like Bettis, only spent the 1995 season in St. Louis before finishing a 20-year career that was spent entirely with the Rams organization, and fellow running back Marshall Faulk, who was with the Rams from 1999 to 2005.