To: NFL Analysts

From: Andrew Marchand

Re: Jerome Bettis

CC: Bill Cowher

Dear Analysts:

Please reveal more private conversations.

Last Sunday, Jerome Bettis made his debut on NBC’s NFL pregame show by saying he doesn’t think Bill Cowher will return as the Steelers’ coach next year. How does Bettis know? Bettis said he and Cowher spoke about it after the Super Bowl.

Great stuff. Well, not to Cowher.

Cowher was a bit miffed because he didn’t think his conversation last March was going to be parroted on national TV. Cowher denied he has decided to leave Pittsburgh next year, but it seems to us there might be a better chance that Chuck Noll is coaching the Steelers in 2007.

What Bettis did seems a bit unfair to Cowher, but it is great for the viewer.

By next year, maybe Cowher will be a TV analyst revealing little secrets.

Ultimately, The Memo is still not convinced that Bettis is going to make a great studio analyst. But we hope he is a trendsetter.