For a man with four Super Bowl rings, Terry Bradshaw’s most challenging battles were often fought away from the gridiron, a struggle he’s only now fully confessing to. The former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback recently addressed the dilemma surrounding his earlier marriages. Earlier in his life, Tammy Bradshaw questioned himself about why he had to tie multiple knots when it wasn’t working for him. 

During his recent presence on the Nothing Left Unsaid podcast with Tim Green, Bradshaw admitted to the fact that he is “ashamed” of the last three marriages.

“I didn’t understand why I got married the first time and why it didn’t work and second time and why it didn’t work third time, why it didn’t work,” Terry said. “It was embarrassing. I was ashamed of myself. It was tough on me. So, I went to counseling for um three divorces, true love gosh three years.”

Terry Bradshaw married Tammy Bradshaw on July 8, 2014, after spending nearly 13-15 years together. Tammy is a mother (to a daughter named Lacey and a son, Cody, who passed away). She also became a step-mother to Terry’s daughters from prior marriages. They live on a ranch in Oklahoma, cherishing family time with horses and other outdoor life together.

Before this, Terry was married three times. His first marriage was to Melissa Babish from 1972 to 1973, which was a short-lived union that happened in his early career. His second marriage was to JoJo Starbuck (a former ice skater) from 1976 to 1983. The third marriage was to Charla Hopkins, from 1983 until 1999. He also welcomed two new family members (daughters Erin and Rachel) during this time.

His last marriage to Charla ended in 1999, after which Terry took some time before starting a new life with Tammy. While the overall journey might sound messy, his first-ever interaction with Tammy turned out to be quite interesting.

Terry Bradshaw unveils that it wasn’t love at first sight with Tammy

Terry Bradshaw’s long-time relationship with Tammy didn’t start without complications. While the former quarterback decided not to be involved in a relationship after his last divorce, he recently confessed that his first meeting with Tammy turned out to be an epiphany. In the aforementioned interview, the 77-year-old mentioned how Tammy wasn’t actually ready to be with a celebrity, along with adding how her daughter convinced her to give it a shot.

“She didn’t want to be a part of the celebrity world, she didn’t think she could handle that. Probably like a lot of women, she was divorced too,” Terry revealed. “Dating a celebrity, they can be misled with this phony belief that this is really the way that things are gonna be, when in fact it isn’t. I kept pursuing her until her daughter said, ‘Mom, go out with him and you’ll find out!’ We went out, and that was it.”

With their 12th anniversary approaching in 2026, Terry and Tammy Bradshaw’s relationship stands as proof that the right connection arrives in its own time. According to the Steelers legend, the counseling he went through before getting into a relationship turned out to be the core reason behind the success of his married life.