The sports world knows who Terry Bradshaw is. The No. 1 overall pick in the 1970 NFL Draft, Terry led the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl victories until ultimately retiring in 1983. Two years before he was into the Football Hall of Fame in 1996, Terry joined FOX NFL Sunday and has been one of the most celebrated sports analysts in television history. So, everyone knows that – but do they know the woman who knows Terry simply as “husband?”
Since 2014, Terry’s better half has been Tammy Bradshaw. Fans have been able to get to know more about Terry and Tammy — and the rest of their family — thanks to the new reality television show, The Bradshaw Bunch. But, for those who are curious about Tammy (and want to know about the women Terry married before her), here’s all that you need to know.
Terry & Tammy Bradshaw
Though Tammy (b. Tamera Alice) and Terry have only been married for a handful of years – the couple tied the knot in 2014 – their relationship spans decades. They dated for nearly 15 years before they walked down the aisle. I went to counseling and found out that all my [ex-]wives were the same,” Terry told Closer Weekly in 2019, “and it wasn’t good! This time I married my best friend. Everyone should!”
Like Terry, Tammy was married before she met the NFL icon. The Bradshaw Bunch shows Terry and Tammy’s blended family of kids and grandkids. Tammy was previously married to David Luttrull, per Distractify. Their daughter, Lacey Hester-Luttrull, is featured on The Bradshaw Bunch. Sadly, Tammy lost her 23-year-old son, David Cody Luttrull, in 2009 to a drug overdose. In 2014, Terry’s daughter, Rachel, lost her husband, former Tennessee Titans player Rob Bironas, to a car accident. An autopsy revealed Rob had a .218 blood-alcohol level. In 2017, Tammy and Terry got involved in the 525 Foundation, which aims to spread awareness about substance abuse.
How did Terry and Tammy meet?
“We dated 13 years, never lived together,” Terry told Closer Weekly in 2019. [We were both] coming out of bad divorces, and when I was getting close to her, I’d run and hide for six weeks, then come running back. I said, ‘There’s nobody getting their hands around my heart again. I fought her for 13 years, and to her credit, not one time ever did she ever say, ‘Where’s this going?”
Terry Bradshaw’s Past Relationships
Tammy is Terry’s fourth wife. The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback was first married to Melissa Babish, Miss Teenage America 1969. The couple divorced after 18 months of marriage. “I felt a lot of guilt over the divorce, and I’d lost my job. I’d failed. I didn’t become an alcoholic or a whoremonger, but I was moody and depressed, and I drank and hustled women in bars—a total jerk having a ball. I have never enjoyed those things,” Terry told Sports Illustrated in 2007. He met Alicia “JoJo” Starbuck, an Olympic skater, after seeing her perform with the Ice Capades. The couple married in 1976, but the happiness didn’t last.
“Terry had talked to Jo Jo just the day before, and there had been no indication anything was happening,” a man who worked with Terry, who claims they were there when JoJo’s lawyers called, told the Washington Post in 1980. “Jo Jo had said, “Terry, our marriage is floundering, ‘ and Terry told her, ‘I know it’s floundering. If you want to get it on the right track, come to Pittsburgh to be with me.’ The next day after they’d talked, it hit. Jo Jo’s lawyers filed for divorce. I never saw Terry so shook up.” The couple finalized the split in 1983.
In early 1986, Terry married Charla Hopkins, a family attorney, according to the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times. “I met her when she was 19, but I thought she was 22,” he told the Tribune. “We dated four years, and I put her through the grind. We broke up and then got back together. I had been afraid she really didn`t love me. Once I realized this was the real thing, it was wonderful.’”
Terry and Charla welcomed their first daughter, Rachel Bradshaw, in 1987, and their second, Erin Bradshaw, in 1991. Charla and Terry’s marriage dissolved at the turn of the century, leaving him single once again.
“I could not bounce back from my divorce – emotionally – I just could not bounce back,” the told USA Today in 2004. “With any bad situations I’d experienced before – a bad game or my two previous divorces – I got over them. This time I just could not get out of the hole. The anxiety attacks were frequent and extensive. I had weight loss, which I’d never had before. I couldn’t stop crying. And if I wasn’t crying, I was angry, bitter, hateful, and mean-spirited. I couldn’t sleep – couldn’t concentrate. It just got crazy.”
After seeking help, Terry crossed paths with Tammy. A romance bloomed, and ultimately, they tied the knot in 2014. “I passed her in the hallway and said, ‘Oh listen, we’re getting married Tuesday in Hawaii.’ She said OK, and we kept going,” he told Closer Weekly. “We get there, and she said, ‘If you’re serious, we need to get a license.’ So we got one. I’d already called my preacher. It was fun!”
Terry Bradshaw’s Top Moments With His Wife
It might seem weird to say that Tammy, who is on a reality television series, is relatively private with her family’s personal life. So it’s hard to pick a “top moment” for these two – unless you want to count what is arguably the biggest fail on Celebrity Family Feud.
During a 2021 episode, the Bradshaw family took on Dee Snider and his family. When host Steve Harvey asked Rachel to name “something about Superman you might make fun of,” she suggested, “his mask?” This caused Terry, Steve, and the rest of the family to break down in laughter. Tammy even turned her back to the camera, just so the camera couldn’t capture her reaction.
Moving Forward
Right now, Terry and Tammy are enjoying life. “My wife wants me to go parachuting with her — that ain’t gonna happen,” Terry told Closer Weekly with a laugh. “So my bucket list is my two grandchildren. I look forward to the other girls bringing more. As Roy Rogers said, ‘Happy trails to you!’”