Saturday was the 157th running of the Belmont Stakes, but four-time Super Bowl winner Terry Bradshaw swears the final leg of the Triple Crown doesn’t look a day over 137.
‘Hello folks,’ the Pittsburgh Steelers great said in Saratoga during the traditional ‘Riders Up’ call. ‘On behalf Fox Sports and the millions of thoroughbred racing fans around the world. Welcome to the 137th running of the Belmont Stakes.’
The 76-year-old Louisiana native then gave the ‘Riders Up’ command and the race began shortly thereafter, with Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty outpacing Preakness victor Journalism for the victory.
Despite the exciting race, many were instead focused on Bradshaw’s gaffe.
‘Terry Bradshaw is a legend, but on the set with 32 mins before the third jewel of the Triple Crown is a choice,’ one critic wrote on X.
Another added: ‘Fox Sports broadcast of the Belmont is a joke with Terry Bradshaw.’
No, Saturday was not the 137th running of the Belmont Stakes, which took place 20 years ago
Sovereignty with Junior Alvarado up, and and Baeza with Flavian Pratt up, head into the first turn in the 157th running of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday
Chris Fallica, an NFL research producer, also appeared on the broadcast with Bradshaw, prompting one critic to describe the pairing as a ‘microcosm of everything wrong with Fox Sports.’
Bradshaw recently told Mirror US Sports he plans to retire after the 2029 Super Bowl.
The Louisiana Tech product also confessed he has two more years in his contract with Fox but hopes to work through Super Bowl LXIII at 80 before hanging the mic up for good.
After being honored in New Orleans prior to Super Bowl LIX, Bradshaw revealed an honest conversation he had with his wife about his career.
‘I told my wife before I left the room a while ago, I’m sitting there… I said, ‘”I’ve got two years left at FOX,”‘ Bradshaw said. ‘”I’m 76. Okay, so it’s a young man’s game. I get that.”‘ Everybody wants the new.’
Bradshaw has come under pressure from viewers to retire in recent years but has remained adamant about staying on the air in the face of criticism.
‘I told FOX: “If I could just die on the show, think about the ratings, right? Are we not about ratings? That’d be huge. Not only that, there would be a huge carryover,”‘ he previously told Denver Sports radio station 104.3 FM.
