Bettis played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers, earning first-team All-American honors in 1954.

He was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 1955 NFL draft 5th overall.

He played nine seasons for the Packers, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Chicago Bears.

Bettis served as interim coach of the Chiefs in 1977 after the firing of Paul Wiggin.

This biographical article relating to an American football linebacker born in the 1930s is a stub.