Q&A with Jerome Bettis

Do you take in live music or shows on Broadway when you come to town?
I don't.

Do you take an annual buddies trip?
We call it the by the name of the guy who's hosting the tournament. The last one, my business manager hosted and his name is Jahmal Dokes, so it was called the Dokes Open. We went up to Northern Michigan and we played the courses at Treetops.

When you host it, where is it played?
I haven't hosted mine yet, but I'm debating between a couple of places. Yesterday I had the luxury of playing Wade Hampton in North Carolina. That was awesome. I'm thinking maybe a mountain course. I'm not sure. I want to give the guys something they haven't seen before. A trip we always take is to Vegas to play Shadow Creek. That's a consensus favorite.

Are there any current or former NFL players involved in the buddies trip?
Yes. From time-to-time Kordell Stewart will tag along.

If you fly commercial, do you always fly first-class?
Yes. Every chance I get I fly first-class, but sometimes it's not available, so when you're in Rome, you have to do what Romans do. It's not that I'm too big, but I'm very very uncomfortable in coach.

You played in the celebrity golf event in Lake Tahoe this past summer. You beat Emmitt Smith, Michael Jordan and Lou Holtz. Who did you take more satisfaction from beating?
Michael Jordan, because when I was first starting to play, I'll never forget it. I was playing at the Mario Lemieux event and they had a dinner the first night. Michael called me over. He immediately looked at the sheet to see what I shot that day and I'll never forget, I shot a 95, and he said, "You're not ready yet." Basically he told me to come back when I'm ready. So for me to beat him in Tahoe, that was pretty cool.

How bad is Barkley?
Oh, wow. It's great that Barkley is such a good person because if he wasn't such a great guy, it would be really, really easy to tell him to quit.

What's your favorite course in the United States?
Obviously, having played Augusta, that was cool. But second to Augusta, if there's one place I love to play, it's Shadow Creek. I love to play that course. I just met Tom Fazio yesterday at Wade Hampton and that was a treat. He's a very cool guy.

You took a lot of punishment on the playing field. Does that affect your golf swing at all?
Yes, it does affect the way I swing because my left knee is a little weak. So to hit against my left side is always a struggle.

You can empathize with Tiger.
Yes, I can.

I read that you spent some time with President-elect Obama in Pittsburgh recently. Did you guys talk golf at all?
No. We talked football but we didn't get a chance to talk golf.

Where does the nickname "The Bus" come from?
The nickname comes from Notre Dame. Someone in the student body started calling me The Bus and it stuck.

When's the last time you were on a bus?
Oh my goodness. That's a good question. I was on a bus at a golf event in Lake Las Vegas and they had a bus shuttle that took us over to the course. And everyone there started going crazy, "The Bus is on a bus." Everybody had a ball with it.