Former Steelers star Bettis mum on book details

By Mike Prisuta
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, August 24, 2007


Jerome Bettis, presumably, wasn't faking it when he said during a Thursday afternoon visit to Wilkinsburg that he's prevented by his publisher from discussing his controversial new book until it's released to the public next month.

"The one thing I'm going to say about it -- I really can't talk about it -- is that I want everybody to get an opportunity to read it," Bettis said. "Nobody's been able to read it except in excerpts. You really need to read it.

"When the book is released, I'll kind of explain my thoughts. At the end of the day it's my opinion, what I feel. I want to explain it, and if there are any questions from a public standpoint I want to address them."

"The Bus: My Life In and Out of a Helmet" will be available on Sept. 4.

The book includes a revelation that Bettis faked sustaining an injury to avoid being released by the Steelers in training camp prior to the 2000 season.
His enthusiasm seemed most genuine during a Thursday visit to Hosanna House, a community service center in Wilkinsburg.

Bettis arrived unannounced to check on the progress of children in the process of building computers through The Jerome Bettis Cyberbus Computer Engineering Program, an offshoot of The Jerome Bettis Bus Stops Here Foundation.

The children didn't finish their computer construction yesterday, but when they do they'll get to take the fruits of their educational labor home with them.

"We try to bring kids in and get them involved in computers by first teaching them how to build a computer," Bettis said. "And then once they build a computer, now they learn how to actually use that computer and they get to take that computer home.

"It takes kids from learning about computers to getting vested in the sense that, 'I built this computer, I have ownership in this computer and I want to learn about this computer.' I think that's a great way to teach kids about computers and computer literacy."

Bettis' foundation is sponsoring the program here and in his hometown of Detroit, with plans to "at some point, possibly" introduce it in Atlanta.

"When you build something, it's yours," Bettis said. "It's like anything else: If you've worked on something long enough, you feel the ownership and you want to do everything you can to try to get all the benefits from it.

"I really believe it closes the digital divide that we see sometimes in the inner cities."

Mike Prisuta can be reached at mprisuta@tribweb.com or 412-320-7923.