{"id":8833,"date":"2021-11-17T11:57:10","date_gmt":"2021-11-17T17:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/?p=8833"},"modified":"2021-11-17T15:33:40","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T21:33:40","slug":"terry-bradshaw-inspires-sold-out-crowd-as-farmers-bank-distinguished-speaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2021\/terry-bradshaw-inspires-sold-out-crowd-as-farmers-bank-distinguished-speaker\/","title":{"rendered":"Terry Bradshaw inspires sold-out crowd as Farmers Bank Distinguished Speaker"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Terry Bradshaw delivers remarks as the 2021 Farmers Bank & Trust Distinguished Speaker.<\/p><\/div>\n

Four-time Super Bowl quarterback Terry Bradshaw enthusiastically and humorously urged a sold-out audience at Southern Arkansas University Tuesday night to live joyfully, embrace opportunities, and find reasons every day to be thankful. Bradshaw delivered his remarks as the 2021 Farmers Bank & Trust Distinguished Speaker in the W.T. Watson Gymnasium.<\/p>\n

Dr. Trey Berry, president of SAU, welcomed friends and alumni. \u201cTonight is all about our students,\u201d he said, stressing the importance of SAU\u2019s history with Farmers Bank & Trust. \u201cYou can drive around this campus, in any direction, and see the influence of Farmers Bank. It was here from the very beginning.\u201d Berry announced Kimber Birdsong of Prescott, Arkansas, and Seth Horn of Farmington, Arkansas, as the recipients of the Farmers Bank & Trust Scholarship. \u201cThanks to Farmers Bank for its indelible impact on generations of students,\u201d Berry said.<\/p>\n

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Terry Bradshaw fires up the audience as the 2021 Farmers Bank & Trust Distinguished Speaker.<\/p><\/div>\n

Elizabeth Burns Anderson, executive director of the Farmers Bank Foundation, announced the creation of the Dr. Bob Burns Endowment Fund, which will provide scholarships for generations to come.<\/p>\n

Bradshaw used his signature humor to regale the audience with stories of inspiration and encouragement. \u201cI knew from the age of seven that I wanted to play for the National Football League,\u201d Bradshaw said. \u201cWhen I put my hand on the football, something magic happened. Find the one thing in life that you want to do, and don\u2019t let anybody talk you out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 73-year-old Shreveport native played high school football at Woodlawn High. He was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 1970 from Louisiana Tech. Bradshaw became one of the most prolific quarterbacks in history, leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl championships, six AFC championship games and eight straight playoff appearances (1972-79).<\/p>\n

He encouraged the Magnolia Panther football team in advance of its upcoming playoff game in Little Rock. \u201cPlay the best you\u2019ve ever played. I am a firm believer that if you believe it, it can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bradshaw stressed the importance of good leadership, shaking hands, and offering a friendly smile. \u201cEverybody follows somebody.\u201d He also emphasized the need to express gratitude. \u201cI love saying \u2018thank you,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cThe most important thing in life is how you approach people. You cannot be successful in life until you learn how to love everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his warm, folksy humor, Bradshaw shared that living joyfully is more important than temporary happiness. \u201cIf your favorite team wins, you\u2019re happy,\u201d he said. \u201cJoy sustains us. It\u2019s rock solid. There should be something that triggers joy in your life, that says to you, \u2018let\u2019s go, let\u2019s accept the challenge.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that throughout his career, he never lost faith in his abilities or in the knowledge that \u201cGod\u2019s greatest gifts are compensation for trials and tribulations.\u201d \u201cI never was any good,\u201d he said of his early football years. \u201cI didn\u2019t know how to snap, I couldn\u2019t run out of my own way. Not one time did I ever question, \u2018I\u2019m going to the NFL.\u2019 Pursue, pursue, pursue.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recalled his experiences in the huddle for the Pittsburgh Steelers as an example of leading people to victory. \u201cI never yelled at anybody on the football field,\u201d Bradshaw said. \u201cI led them with love.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four-time Super Bowl quarterback Terry Bradshaw enthusiastically and humorously urged a sold-out audience at Southern Arkansas University Tuesday night to live joyfully, embrace opportunities, and find reasons every day to be thankful. Bradshaw delivered his remarks as the 2021 Farmers Bank & Trust Distinguished Speaker in the W.T. Watson Gymnasium. Dr. Trey Berry, president of… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":564,"featured_media":8835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[97,276,16360,265,7753],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-alumni","8":"category-community-corner","9":"category-development","10":"category-events","11":"category-homepage","12":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/564"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}