Ageless Dick Lebow got more football recognition on Saturday when he was named to the Steelers Hall of Fame Class of 2024 along with Jason Gildon, Casey Hampton and Willie Parker. He didn’t need it.
The most recent reminder of his outstanding performances during his 59 years in the NFL is LeBeau’s performance as a key player in helping the Steelers win two Super Bowls and another between 2005 and 2010.
One of the things that makes Dick LeBeau unique is that he never strayed from his roots on his way to becoming a legend. His small-town sensibility is never more evident than when he talks about his unwavering love of high school football.
It happened a few weeks ago when the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee spoke at the Western Pennsylvania High School football coaches’ annual meeting in Pittsburgh. I don’t remember how it came out, but LeBeau talked about his playing career at London High School in Ohio.
And the man, who usually hated talking about himself, had a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.
“They called me ‘805 White Lightning.’ They had the kickoff at 8 o’clock and at 8:05 I was in your end zone,” he said, amid laughter from the coaches. “I think I scored 27 points. [touchdowns] “I played nine games in my final year. One thing about London is that it’s a football city. You couldn’t date anyone if you didn’t play football. We all played football.”
They had to, or London would have had a hard time fielding a team. LeBeau’s graduating class had 48 students, and less than 20 of them were boys. Despite playing for such a small school, 805 White Lightning couldn’t stop themselves from getting noticed by the big boys. Ohio State included.
When the Buckeyes offered him a scholarship, LeBeau couldn’t turn it down. He quickly learned that playing for his dream school was challenging, to say the least.
“The first day we brought all the freshmen in, and we were all in the room together. I looked at these guys, and they were 6-foot-3 and all 275 pounds,” LeBeau said. “I’ve never seen guys this big in my life. I said, ‘I don’t know if I made the right choice here.’ In London, we had a 145-pound fullback. One thing I learned when I went out on the practice field was that if you hit them, they [a smaller player].”
LeBeau played both halfback and cornerback at Ohio State, helping the Buckeyes win a national championship in 1957. He was one of the last players released by Paul Brown after the Browns drafted him in the fifth round in 1959.
He spent the rest of his playing career proving that even a coach as famous as Brown can sometimes make bad decisions. It was a 45-year coaching career. LeBeau’s addition to the Steelers Hall of Honor is the latest proof of the tremendous impact he made while wearing a headset.
From 805 White Lightning to Black and Gold Immortality, it’s been a long journey for Dick Lebeau.
