| The Steelers acquired Jerome Bettis in a draft-day trade in 1996 and "The Bus" has been the mainstay of the Steelers running game ever since, as well as being an NFL premier running back. After a college career at Notre Dame with 337 carries for 1,912 yards, Bettis was drafted 10th over-all by the Rams in 1993. Jerome had a Pro Bowl rookie season, after finishing second in the league in rushing, and shared 1993 NFL Rookie of Year honors with former Notre Dame teammate and Seattle QB Rick Mirer. Bettis again made the Pro Bowl in 1994 with another 1000-yard season. Some injuries hampered Jerome in 1995, although he still led the Rams with 667 yards rushing. In 1996, the Steelers were more than happy to make the draft-day trade with the Rams to acquire Bettis for 1996 second-round and 1997 fourth-round picks and attempt to regain the smash-mouth running attack that had been eluding them the past few years prior to that. The attempt was more than successful, to say the least. Here is a list of Jerome Bettis' accomplishments since coming to Pittsburgh:
1996: Steelers MVP and NFL Alumni Running Back of the Year honors, All-Pro by College & Pro Football Weekly and USA Today, AFC All-Conference by Football Digest, Football News, and United Press International,AFC Offensive Player of the Month (November), All Madden Team, career-high 1,431 yards.
1997: Steelers MVP for second consecutive year(first since Terry Bradshaw to win the award two consecutive years), fourth Pro Bowl selection, 1,665 yards rushing for the season - second to Barry Foster, who had 26 yards more in 1992.
1998: A third consecutive 1,000-yard season, with 1,185 yards on 316 carries - seventh in the AFC and 12th overall in rushing.
1999: A sixth 1,000-yard career rushing season and his fourth as a Steeler with 1,091 yards on 299 carries - this after missing the preseason with a knee injury, passed John Henry Johnson as second on the Steelers all-time rushing list.
2000: After missing most of the preseason with a knee injury, he finished the season with 1,341 yards (his highest total in two seasons), team MVP.
2001: Once again surpassed the 1,000 yard mark before succumbing to a groin injury in December, but not after virtually carrying the Steeler offense up to that point, when the passing game began to come together so that the Steelers could go on to the playoffs.
Bettis signed a six-year contract March 1st, 2001 prior to becoming an unrestricted free agent. Although it seems that there are perennial doubts as to how much longer he can remain durable with his physical running style, Bettis has continued to put the doubts to rest over his years with the Steelers.
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