Terry Bradshaw urged to retire after Sam Darnold rant leaves Michael Strahan and Fox crew confused

Terry Bradshaw looked all out of sorts on Sunday night.

The legendary NFL quarterback turned analyst for NFL on FOX finished off his 2025 season with yet another high-profile gaffe.

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During FOX Sports’ NFL coverage of the NFC Championship game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field, the 77-year-old appeared all confused during the halftime show.

The Fox studio crew featuring host Curt Menefee, Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan and Rob Gronkowski were briefly discussing the AFC Championship game in which the New England Patriots defeated the Denver Broncos 10-7 in a snowy affair.

When Fox’s coverage returned to the studio following a sideline interview with Pats cornerback Christian Gonzalez after his game-winning interception, Bradshaw unleashed a speech on Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold instead.

“You know what, Sam Darnold, they turned him loose in the first half; Klint Kubiak, offensive coordinator for Seattle,” Bradshaw said, momentarily after the Patriots-themed interview aired.

“I think he said, ‘Oh, I can trust [Sam Darnold] with the football today.’ 209 yards passing and a touchdown in the first half.”

The four-time Super Bowl champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers finished his speech saying, “Sam Darnold is playing great football for Seattle!”

After a few moments of awkward silence, Strahan couldn’t help but laugh before responding, “Yeah, I mean, he is. But we thought we were talking about the first game. But it’s OK.

The crew then went back to discussing the Patriots’ victory.

“It was a great first game. I think whoever is going to play either one of these teams, I think the Patriots are going to have their hands full with either one of these teams,” Strahan continued.

“But you never know. As we see today, second-year quarterback. Back in the Super Bowl for the Patriots. 12th Super Bowl. Congratulations to them. It’s going to be a good one.”

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Fans calling for Bradshaw to retire

But Bradshaw’s gaffe didn’t go unnoticed by fans, who have called for the champion to retire.

“Legendary run, but he should have been off the air 5 years ago,” one fan posted to X (formerly Twitter).

“It might be getting time for Terry to step down & allow younger voices to prevail,” a second fan commented.

“They HAVE to cut him loose after this season, it’s well past time,” a third wrote.

“That was bad but why did Strahan have to laugh at him like that? Couldn’t just redirect the convo back to the first game without making it more awkward?,” a fourth added, whilst also defending Bradshaw.

Bradshaw has been one of the leading faces of Fox’s NFL Sunday coverage since 1994, but over the last few years he has drawn criticism from fans.

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Back in December, Bradshaw suffered another gaffe when appearing to forget that Jordan Love and Micah Parsons were both on the Green Bay Packers when the studio crew were discussing Parsons’ ACL injury ahead of their divisional matchup against the Chicago Bears.

At other points throughout the 2025 season, he has gone on a strange Josh Allen-airport ramble and also shared a bizarre story involving Andy Reid and a pig.

Although some have called for Bradshaw to retire, Menefee could never see his colleague walking away of his own free will.

“It’s never gonna happen!” Menefee said back in December. “They’re going to be carrying him out in a hearse — he is not leaving the show. Nor should he!”

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