Me and My Big Mouth

1. Me and My Big Mouth Terry Bradshaw with David Fisher

2. Background information about the author In 1969, Terry Bradshaw was considered by most pro scouts to be the most outstanding college senior. As such, he was the first player selected in the 1970 National Football League Draft. It took the 6-3, 215-pound Louisiana Tech graduate a few seasons to adjust to the pro game but once he did, he became the dominant quarterback of the NFL and led the Pittsburgh Steelers to eight AFC Central championships, and an unprecedented four Super Bowl titles in a six-year period from 1974 to 1979.

3. Bradshaw, who was born September 2, 1948, in Shreveport, Louisiana, had a powerful throwing arm and called his own plays throughout his pro career. His physical skills and on-the-field leadership played a major role in every one of Pittsburgh's championship seasons. In the 1974 AFC Championship Game against Oakland, his fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Lynn Swann proved to be the winning score in a 24-7 victory.

4. In the Steelers’ Super Bowl IX victory over Minnesota that followed, his fourth-quarter touchdown pass put the game out of reach. In Super Bowl X, Bradshaw again threw the winning touchdown pass on a 64-yard bomb to Swann. He was named the Most Valuable Player in both Super Bowl XIII (35-31 over Dallas) and Super Bowl XIV (31-19 over the Los Angeles Rams).

5. In four Super Bowls, he passed for an impressive 932 yards and 9 touchdowns. In 19 postseason games, he completed 261 passes for 3,833 yards. In his 14-season career, Bradshaw completed 2,025 of 3,901 passes for 27,989 yards and 212 touchdowns. He also rushed 444 times for 2,257 yards and 32 touchdowns. Bradshaw, who was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player by the Associated Press and others in 1978, was also named All-Pro and All-AFC that year. He was selected to play in three Pro Bowl games.

6. Leading-in Pre-reading

7. Pre-reading questions: • Who is your favorite footballer or pop singer ? Who do you admire him/her? 2. What would you do to meet with challenges or cope with frustrations in your life or work ?

8. While-reading

9. Skimming • 1. Why did the writer accept toupee modeling as his first job? • 2. What was the writer’s most intolerable thing as a toupee model? • 3. Why did the writer’s partner, Verne Lundquist, at first assume that the writer could be a dependable co-announcer? • 4. What was(were) the frustrating problem(s) the writer had in his first broadcast? • 5. Eventually, the writer got better and better in his sports broadcasting. How did he make it?

10. Analysis of the text • Paragraph 1 • The first paragraph is the introductory part of the whole text. The author introduces the setting, the character and prepares the ground for conflict.

11. Paragraphs 2-3 • These 2 paragraphs serve as the beginning of the story’s second part which includes three episodes in his frustrating experience as a toupee company’s spokesman. Here the writer tells of his engagement with the toupee company and the company’s marketing strategy. • Paragraphs 4-7 • In these 4 paragraphs the writer gives an account of the first episode in the second part of the text.

12. Paragraphs 8-9 • The writer describes his parents’ reaction to his modeled head sent to them. So these 2 paragraphs are closely related to the previous account. • Paragraph 10 • This is second episode of the writer’s experience as a toupee model. The making of the film commercial is deemed as damaging to his personal image.

13. Paragraphs 11-13 • These paragraphs are about the third episode of the writer’s toupee model experience. It is the climax of the second part of the text. In this episode, the writer undergoes intolerable annoyance and frustration. • Paragraph 14 • This is a transitional paragraph which marks the end of the first conflict( the second part of the text) and the beginning of another conflict.

14. Paragraphs 15-16 • The writer tells how he enters the broadcasting business and begins a new career, so it is the beginning of the third part of the text. • Paragraphs17—22 • These paragraphs build up the writer’s second conflict in which the writer describes how he fumbles through his first sports broadcasting and what problems he has.

15. He quickly learns the difference between a football player and a sports broadcaster, which actually suggests that a good player does not necessarily make a good broadcaster. Then he enumerates many things he does not know. He even does not know where to see and how to see as a broadcaster.

16. Paragraphs 23-26 • These paragraphs tell us how the writer progresses in sports broadcasting. With his hard and enduring effort, the writer gradually gets some experience and masters the know how in sports broadcasting. Thus the second conflict is resolved. Marking the end of the third part of the text.

17. Paragraphs 27—28 • In these last two paragraphs the author concludes his story with his own remark that serves as an emphatic assertion of the theme: it is important to know who you are and what you can do to be the best of yourself.

18. Post-reading Task

19. NFL：匹兹堡钢人队简介 • 作为NFL历史上成立最早的五支球队之一，匹兹堡钢人队由亚瑟-约瑟夫-鲁尼（Arthur Joseph Rooney）1933 年7月8 日创立。原名匹兹堡海盗（Pittsburgh Pirates）。 • 他们五次参加超级杯：第9，10，13，14，和30届，赢得4次冠军：第9，10，13， 和14届（关于超级杯详细介绍，参见www.NFLChina.com）。 • 作为传统强队，匹兹堡钢人队涌现出一大批著名人物。其中包括四分卫特里.布莱得萧(Terry Bradshaw)，跑卫,佛朗哥.哈里斯(Franco Harris),接球手林.斯万(Lynn Swann), 约翰.斯涛沃斯(John Stallworth)等大批名人堂成员。

20. Search information about NFL on the internet • http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp • http://www.nflchina.com /NFL_Knowledge

21. Thank you! Bye-bye!