Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame on Saturday. The snippet above was just the concluding remarks to what was an outstanding fifteen minute speech. If you’d like to see the entire speech, click here to watch. But before you do that, you may want to see NFL Films fantastic introduction package which had Dick’s brother Bob introduce some really great footage of his younger brother’s playing career by clicking here.
As promised, the entire Steelers organization was there to support their beloved “Coach Dad” on his proudest day. That includes head coach Mike Tomlin and even Ambassador Dan Rooney. Some of the players, notably James Harrison and James Farrior, were rocking #44 Detroit Lions throwbacks in honor of LeBeau. Former Steelers Joey Porter and Clark Haggans also made the trip to Canton to be there in support of their former coordinator. Now tell me how many coaches would inspire this degree of loyalty and respect…
If you listen to the speech, you’ll immediately understand why. This was Dick LeBeau’s moment in the spotlight and he spent almost all of it talking about his players. Even though he was being enshrined because of his playing career, LeBeau preferred to share the moment with all the great Steelers who have played for him. Honestly, this man is the definition of a class act. Between his speech and seeing the sea of Steelers in the audience waving Terrible Towels to acknowledge their coach, it had to rank as one of the most memorable HOF moments ever.
It’s times like this which make me proud to be a member of Steeler Nation.
Congratulations, Mr. LeBeau, on a well-deserved honor. And thank you.