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CB/HB Charles Richard "Dick" LeBeau (National Champion, 2x Super Bowl Champion, NFL HOF)

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Remembering a hall-of-fame mom
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
By Jeff Gates
Contributing Writer


Too bad there isn?t a hall of fame for moms.

If there were, Beulah LeBeau would undoubtedly be in it.

On any given Saturday and Sunday afternoon in the Fall as television cameras scour the sidelines of collegiate and professional football contests, a myriad of players can be seen/heard paying homage to the maternal members of their families.

For 51 years, London?s Charles Richard ?Dick? LeBeau has been prowling a National Football League sideline as a player or a coach. During those many decades, his mother has served as an inspiration to him ? either by being present at the game venue or in more recent years, by telephone.

This past November I had the pleasure of being at Pittsburgh?s Heinz Field the evening LeBeau was honored for his half-century of service to the NFL. While speaking with a number of LeBeau?s current and former players ? as well as admirers ? the tidbit of information that appeared to get the most attention was the fact that the defensive coaching genius called his then 95-year-old mother Beulah each night.

?It?s an absolute blessing to be able to do that,? LeBeau said at the time, of calling his mother.

One person who appeared to be particularly enamored with that situation was Peter King, the senior writer for Sports Illustrated. Since I passed that nugget on to him that night in Pittsburgh, King has taken advantage of several opportunities to write about LeBeau?s devotion to his mother.

And if you had the opportunity to ever meet Beulah, you couldn?t help but be captivated. When I had the pleasure of meeting her a year ago, it was quickly evident to see from where Dick and his older brother Bob inherited their humility.

Beulah had great reason to smile ? her older son is a former school administrator and a world-class musician, while the exploits of her youngest son have been frequently documented.

?I?m proud of both of my boys,? Beulah said in an interview last Fall. ?They are good boys.?
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Posted: Oct. 9, 2009 |
Dick LeBeau's success with Lions, Steelers makes him Hall worthy
Pittsburgh assistant returning to Detroit for Sunday's game
BY CARLOS MONARREZ
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

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Dick LeBeau was a three-time Pro Bowl cornerback for the Lions in 1959-72. He played 171 straight games, an NFL record for cornerbacks. (Courtesy of the Detroit Lions)
Who: Dick LeBeau, 72, Steelers defensive coordinator since 2004.

College: Ohio State.

NFL career: Lions defensive back for 14 seasons, 1959-72; 62 interceptions (team record) for 762 yards and three touchdowns; three-time Pro Bowler.

Coaching career: Thirty-seven seasons mostly as a defensive coordinator; two as head coach with Cincinnati (2001-02).
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It has been nearly 40 years since Dick LeBeau played for the Lions, but he doesn't mind admitting that when Pittsburgh visits Detroit on Sunday, some old emotions will still stir inside.

"I'll always have a lot of Honolulu blue and silver in me," LeBeau, the Steelers' defensive coordinator, said Thursday. "You don't play for somebody for 14 years and not have it continue to be a part of your life as long as you're on the planet."

LeBeau was a three-time Pro Bowl cornerback for the Lions and played in 1959-72. He was drafted by Cleveland out of Ohio State but was one of the last players cut. He liked that Detroit was close to his Ohio home, that former Buckeye Howard (Hopalong) Cassady was in Detroit and that the Lions had won three world titles in the '50s.

He joined the team about seven weeks into the '59 season and became entrenched. LeBeau played 171 straight games -- an NFL record for cornerbacks -- and his 62 interceptions are tied for seventh all-time.

That has put LeBeau, 72, on the cusp of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Voters will decide Feb. 6 if he is worthy. Lions linebacker Larry Foote, who played for LeBeau the past five seasons in Pittsburgh, said there is no question.

"Ain't no doubt about it, just as a player," Foote said. "I ain't even going to talk about him as a coach. Just as a player, he finished like top five in interceptions. ... Or if you just want to put him in as a coach, you can put him in as a coach."
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Dick LeBeau's success with Lions, Steelers makes him Hall worthy | Detroit Free Press | Freep.com
 
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Lions special to ex-cornerback Dick LeBeau
By Tom Kowalski
October 09, 2009

ALLEN PARK -- Dick LeBeau, the 72-year-old defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers, still has a soft spot for the Detroit Lions despite the fact he ended his playing career in Detroit in 1972.

LeBeau played cornerback for the Lions for 14 years before moving on to a coaching career.

"I'll always have a lot of Honolulu blue and silver in me,'' LeBeau said. "You don't play for somebody for 14 years and not have it continue to be a part of your life as long as you're on the planet, and it's always a little surrealistic to be standing on one sideline and see the blue and silver guys on the other side. It was more so shortly after I retired, but it's still there a little bit. Yeah, I'll admit that."

LeBeau has been nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame (by the seniors committee), but he won't know if he's been voted in until the day before the Super Bowl.

"I don't think that I'm the kind of guy that would be walking around saying I ought to be in the Hall of Fame, so I never really thought about it, and it's the type of honor that's almost too good to be true,'' LeBeau said. "So if it happens, great, but I don't think you ever really think that you should be in there. I just was grateful for my career and the people I played with."

LeBeau, who finished his career with 62 career interceptions, would join several former Lions teammates in the Hall of Fame.

"I think it would pretty neat,'' LeBeau said. "I think it's great that the three that are in there are in there. They were surely three of the best football players that every played.

"(Dick) 'Night Train' (Lane) and Lem (Barney) at the corner, and then Yale was a great safety and a tremendous punter, I think the best punter I've ever seen. And Joe (Schmidt) is in the Hall of Fame too. So, yeah, we've got some Hall of Fame guys there from my group. But it would be unusually great if we could get that fourth guy in there, I wouldn't be against that."

Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham said of LeBeau: "He should be in the Hall of Fame, that's one thing I know. He's one of the greatest coaches I've had the pleasure to watch and meet. He's a special guy, he knows how to communicate with players. He's had a lot of success, and I hope I get to coach as long as he has.''
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Lions special to ex-cornerback Dick LeBeau | Detroit Lions - - MLive.com
 
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Sunday Special
Lions legend Dick LeBeau finally on brink of Hall of Fame
Tim Twentyman / The Detroit News

Allen Park -- Dick LeBeau wasn't the fastest defender roaming the secondary for the Lions in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. He wasn't the strongest or most athletically gifted, either.

What LeBeau had that set him apart in his era was an uncanny ability to anticipate and break on the football.

From 1959 to 1972, LeBeau recorded 62 interceptions for 762 return yards and three touchdowns. His 62 picks are the most by any player in Lions history, and they are tied for seventh all-time in NFL history.


But, amazingly, LeBeau, 72, is still not a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame -- not yet, at least.

LeBeau, who returns to Detroit on Sunday as defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers, finally is getting his shot at the Hall of Fame as a senior committee nominee for the Class of 2010. The Hall of Fame will make its decision on new members in February.

"I don't think I'm the kind of guy that would be walking around saying I ought to be in the Hall of Fame, so I never really thought about it," said LeBeau, whose Steelers face the Lions at 1 p.m. (CBS). "It's the type of honor that's almost too good to be true. So if it happens, great. But I don't think you ever really think you should be in there. I just was grateful for my career and the people I played with."

LeBeau was a staple in the Lions' secondary for 14 years, during which time he shared the defensive backfield with Yale Lary (1952-64), Lem Barney (1967-77) and Dick "Night Train" Lane (1960-65). All three of those players are in the Hall of Fame.

"I think it's great that the three that are in there are in there," LeBeau said. "They were surely three of the best football players that ever played. Night Train and Lem at the corner, and then Yale was a great safety and a tremendous punter -- I think the best punter I've ever seen.

"So yeah, we've got some Hall of Fame guys there from my group. But it would be unusually great if we could get that fourth guy in there. I wouldn't be against that."
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Lions legend Dick LeBeau finally on brink of Hall of Fame | detnews.com | The Detroit News
 
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On the Steelers: LeBeau faces another test
Polamalu returns just as Smith goes down
Friday, October 16, 2009
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

lebeau2_500.jpg

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press
Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau must deal with the absence of injured defensive end Aaron Smith.

Dick LeBeau looks like a guy who recovered his stolen BMW only to learn thieves switched the engine. Only one thing to do, motor on.

The injury gods returned Troy Polamalu to the Steelers this week and snatched Aaron Smith for the rest of the season.

"We're better with Aaron, we're better with Troy, but the cards are what they are," said LeBeau, the Steelers' defensive coordinator.

LeBeau, who shuffled the cards at safety and elsewhere to make up for Polamalu's absence the past five games, must turn to left defensive end to turn the trick now. He expects Jamal Lewis and the Cleveland Browns to run right after the new guys there.

"There's no question about that, but our guys over there will do a good job," LeBeau said. "Aaron is a guy, he just doesn't get blocked. But we have good depth in the defensive line, and I know those guys will step in there and do a good job. There's only one Aaron Smith, but I think we'll function very well with the guys we have."
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Read more: On the Steelers: LeBeau faces another test
 
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Harris: LeBeau making winning adjustments
Buzz up!By John Harris, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 22, 2009

The genius of Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau isn't all that he's accomplished to this point in his illustrious career.

It's what coming next.

If someone knows what new looks the Steelers defense will unveil against Adrian Peterson, Brett Favre and the rest of the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at Heinz Field, please let me know because I don't have the foggiest idea.

Which is precisely the point.

"It's always exciting when coach LeBeau puts a new defense in because you look at it and say, 'man, I wonder how teams are going to block this?'' outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley said Wednesday.

"You have guys dropping back that you wouldn't expect to drop back. You have guys rushing that you say maybe they should be dropping back.''

Sagely, LeBeau is mixing up his defensive calls like a blackjack dealer shuffles cards.

The spread offense is the new rage in the NFL. Admittedly, the spread presented some problems early this season for the Steelers, who were picked apart uncharacteristically via the short pass in back-to-back losses against Chicago and Cincinnati.

Of course, safety Troy Polamalu missing 4 1/2 games because of a knee injury presented some problems for the Steelers as well, but that's another story.

Give LeBeau major props. He's human. It took him a couple of games to not only figure things out but to incorporate elaborate blitzing schemes to keep offenses guessing.
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Harris: LeBeau making winning adjustments - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
 
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Pittsburgh's LeBeau an enemy of offense
Steelers defensive coordinator could be Hall-bound
By John Erardi ? [email protected] ? November 10, 2009

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The man against whom the Bengals' high-powered offense will match wits Sunday could be headed for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, former head coach of the Bengals (2000-02), is under consideration for induction in Canton based on his 14-year playing career as a Detroit Lions defensive back.

LeBeau and former Denver Broncos running back Floyd Little were named by the Pro Football Hall of Fame's seniors committee as finalists for possible enshrinement.

The Hall of Fame's selection meeting will be held in February, the day before the Super Bowl in Miami. It's possible that both LeBeau and Little could be elected, or one might, or neither might.

To be elected, a candidate must receive 80 percent of the vote of the 44-person selection committee, comprised of one media representative from each geographical area with a current NFL franchise (there are two reps for New York). The Pro Football Writers of America also has a rep, and there are 11 at-large delegates.

What would it be like for LeBeau join his former teammates Dick "Night Train" Lane, Lem Barney and Yale Lary in Canton?

"Oh, I think it would pretty neat," LeBeau said in a recent teleconference call with the Detroit media. "I think it's great that the three that are in there. They were surely three of the best football players that every played. 'Night Train' and Lem at the corner and then Yale was a great safety and a tremendous punter.

"And Joe (Schmidt) is in the Hall of Fame too, so yeah, we've got some guys there from my group. But it would be unusually great if we could get that (fifth) guy in there, I wouldn't be against that."

LeBeau played for legendary coach Woody Hayes at Ohio State, and was on the 1957 national championship team. LeBeau was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, but didn't make the team.

"I was the last guy released," LeBeau recalled. "And the Lions brought me up, and I think the seventh game of that first year they put me on the team, and there I stayed for the next 14 years.
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Pittsburgh's LeBeau an enemy of offense | cincinnati.com | Cincinnati.Com
 
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OSU ON SUNDAY
Cornerbacks
Thursday, November 19, 2009
By RAY STEIN
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

lebeau_400.jpg

PHOTO (top): Dick LeBeau's mark of 171 consecutive games played remains the NFL record for corners . (Dispatch file photo)

Each week, Gameday examines Ohio State's impact on professional football with a position-by-position analysis of the Buckeyes who have made a mark in the NFL.

What is it about former Ohio State players being subjects of fans' efforts to have them inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame? Does Brent Musburger head the voting committee? Is there an anti-OSU bias that's keeping a whole slew of Woody's boys - including Jim Marshall, Randy Gradishar, Jim Tyrer and our favorite all-time corner - from immortality?
The Best
Dick LeBeau

College life: The pride of London High School in Madison County, LeBeau played three seasons for Woody Hayes at Ohio State, including the 1957 team that was voted national champion by United Press International. His shining moment with the Buckeyes may have been the 1957 Michigan game, when LeBeau, playing halfback and cornerback, scored twice to help OSU rally for a 31-14 win.

Path to the pros: The Cleveland Browns drafted LeBeau in the fifth round of the 1959 NFL draft, but apparently he didn't make much of an impression. The Browns cut LeBeau before the season began and he signed as a rookie free agent with the Detroit Lions. Fourteen years and 185 games later, he decided to retire.

Pro career: LeBeau was a fixture at cornerback for the Lions, enough so that his mark of 171 consecutive games played remains the NFL record for corners. In that time, he played in the secondary with three future Hall of Famers - safety Yale Lary and cornerbacks Dick "Night Train" Lane and Lem Barney. LeBeau retired with 62 career interceptions, then third-best in NFL history and now seventh. He made the Pro Bowl three straight seasons, from 1964 through '66.

Little-known facts: Well, of course he became - and remains - one of the best assistant coaches in league history, his zone-blitz defense standing as one of the great coaching innovations in football in the past 50 years. The Steelers seem to like it, anyway. If - when (2010?) - LeBeau makes the Hall, it will be because of his playing career plus his coaching. He is so respected by his players that when Pittsburgh played in the 2007 Hall of Fame Game in Canton, several Steelers defenders posed at Fawcett Stadium wearing throwback versions of LeBeau's No. 44 Lions jersey. In his long career as a player, LeBeau played in only one NFL playoff game. Detroit lost 5-0 to Dallas in 1970.
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GameDay+
 
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Posted: Tuesday December 8, 2009
All-Decade Team: NFL
By Peter King

Coordinator

Dick LeBeau
Teams as coordinator in 2000s: Bills Steelers
Seasons as coordinator in 2000s: 7
With the Bills in 2003, he parachuted in and built the league's No. 2 defense. (Buffalo shut out the Pats in the season opener.) Then he went to Pittsburgh, refined his fire-zone concepts (linemen dropping in coverage, back-seven players rushing) with solid talent, and in three of the five years that followed, he had the top defense. What's more, his players borderline-worship him. Five current and former Steelers defenders have pushed me to select LeBeau for the Hall of Fame when his candidacy comes up this year.
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Read more: Peyton Manning, Randy Moss,?Ray Lewis lead NFL All-Decade team - 2000s: The Decade in Sports - SI.com
 
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Many sing praises of Steelers defenisve coaching legend Dick LeBeau
Ohio native being considered for Pro Football Hall of Fame
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal staff writer
Dec 10, 2009

It's almost time. Almost time for perhaps the most cherished experience of anyone who has played for or coached with Dick LeBeau.

At the last team meeting before Christmas, LeBeau, the Pittsburgh Steelers' defensive coordinator, recites from memory the 56-line, 186-year-old poem The Night Before Christmas.

''He does it with such feeling and fervor, it's something you almost have to hear and see,'' said Cincinnati Bengals Director of Football Operations Jim Lippincott, who witnessed it once during LeBeau's time with the Bengals. ''It was gut-wrenching. It brought tears to my eyes.''

Even before Steelers coach Mike Tomlin got his chance, Tomlin said he had heard about LeBeau's dramatic tradition.

''I was as eagerly awaiting it as everyone else, to be a part of it,'' Tomlin said.

LeBeau, who is facing the Cleveland Browns tonight in a game crucial to the Steelers' playoff hopes, said he's ready to go this year whenever Tomlin gives the nod. But LeBeau, 72, continues to be amazed at the reaction it draws from those he has known in his 51 years in the NFL, 37 as a coach, 14 as a player.

''These tough football players, when I meet guys I coached that I haven't seen for 10 years, in the first three phrases they say, 'Coach, are you still saying The Night Before Christmas?'' LeBeau said.

Lippincott said LeBeau's Christmas poem ''is one of the things that makes Coach LeBeau unique.''

''His favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz, '' Lippincott said. ''He teaches The Wizard of Oz ? courage, it's never wrong to go home, heart, brains.''

As LeBeau continues to do that, taking it year by year with seemingly youthful vigor, it's almost time. Almost time for another big moment in LeBeau's life.

On Feb. 6, LeBeau will be considered for enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The class of 2010 is limited to seven, if LeBeau and fellow senior committee nominee Floyd Little are chosen. Sure selections in their first year of eligibility are Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith.

LeBeau's candidacy is based only on his playing career as a cornerback for the Detroit Lions. When LeBeau retired at the end of the 1972 season, his 62 career interceptions ranked third in NFL history. His total is now tied for seventh.

But Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News, who will present LeBeau's case to the other 43 selectors, knows LeBeau's reputation as architect of the Steelers' famed ''zone blitz'' could play a part.

''I'm fine making my pitch based on his playing career,'' Gosselin said. ''But it's like John Madden. When Madden was up they didn't talk about television or (Madden Football), but that was the elephant in the room. Everybody in the room knows this is a 50-year body of work, he's been a defensive guru, the zone blitz. He's had three top-10 defenses this decade.''
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Ohio.com - Many sing praises of Steelers defenisve coaching legend Dick LeBeau
 
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I saw this Youtube video of the '58 Rose Bowl and noticed that Dick LeBeau fielded the opening kickoff.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOhcNjyiPiI"]YouTube - 1958 Rose Bowl: Ohio State v. Oregon (Drive-Thru... kinda)[/ame]
 
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Townsend LeBeau, defense are sticking by each other
Sunday, December 20, 2009
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Steelers linebacker James Farrior said something the other day that clearly agitated defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau.

"I hope we're not running him off by the way we're playing."

You know, to retirement.

"I would hate to see him go out like this," Farrior said, shaking his head.

LeBeau didn't want to hear it.

"The last thing I want the players to think is that I'm going to turn tail and run away just because the going gets a little rough," he said. "We preach all the time about sticking together and fighting through adversity. How would it look if I walked away now? I'm not going to run away from those guys. I'm going to stay right here and fight with them."

That's great news on an otherwise bleak December morning with winter quickly approaching and the Steelers lugging around a five-game losing streak that has reduced their playoff chances to slim and none.

The news that LeBeau will be back in 2010 for his 52nd NFL season -- providing, of course, the Rooneys and coach Mike Tomlin sign off on it, which seems like a given -- will be greeted with big smiles in the locker room today before the team plays the Green Bay Packers at Heinz Field.

Asking LeBeau about his plans was a fair question -- and not just because he will turn 73 at the start of next season.

This has been a tough year for the man off of the field. His mother, Beulah, died at 96 in September after complications from a fall. She was his best friend and biggest fan and knew he was a finalist for the Hall of Fame, but, sadly, didn't live enough for him to get the official word, which won't come until the day before Super Bowl XLIV in February. He seems like a lock to make it.
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Read more: Townsend LeBeau, defense are sticking by each other
 
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Dick LeBeau Recites 'The Night Before Christmas
by Ryan Hudson
Dec 24, 2009

Dick LeBeau, the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator, takes time every year, in the the last team meeting before Christmas, to recite to his players "The Night Before Christmas." And it's become something pretty special for everyone involved.
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Dick LeBeau Recites 'The Night Before?Christmas' - SB Nation

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbNF6j4thKI]YouTube - LeBeau1.AVI[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KKApMTyhvA]YouTube - LeBeau2.AVI[/ame]
 
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