LLT
08-07-2010, 04:42 AM
LeBeau, the player, was anything but paper lion
Saturday, August 07, 2010
By Ray Fittipaldo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/201008/20100807lebeau2_500.jpg
Lebeau, currently the Steelers' defensive coordinator will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame today.Modern-day professional football fans, especially those in Pittsburgh, have a keen understanding of Dick LeBeau's contributions to the game as a coach. He is regarded as one of the finest defensive coordinators of all time and is credited with perfecting the zone-blitz defense that has revolutionized the way teams have played the past generation.
But how many of those same fans have a true appreciation for Ricky LeBeau, the defensive back for the Detroit Lions from 1959-72 who was regarded as one of the finest players of his time?
LeBeau was known as Ricky, or sometimes Dickie-Bird, among his Lions teammates. In George Plimpton's best-selling book, "Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback," LeBeau is described as a young player in the following passage:
"Thin-hipped, built like a high school basketball player, his hair worn longer than most of the others', he was called Ricky, less a diminutive of Richard than derived from a crop of teenage movie stars and singers of the time, all of that name, whose manner and attitude he seemed to cultivate," Plimpton wrote.
It is hard to picture the humble and reserved LeBeau, who will turn 73 next month, in that context, but it is one glimpse into a long forgotten playing career that will finally be recognized today with the game's highest honor: induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
LeBeau and six others, including former Pitt stars Russ Grimm and Rickey Jackson, will be honored in a ceremony today in Canton, Ohio.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10219/1078421-66.stm#ixzz0vuaDp5b4
Saturday, August 07, 2010
By Ray Fittipaldo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/201008/20100807lebeau2_500.jpg
Lebeau, currently the Steelers' defensive coordinator will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame today.Modern-day professional football fans, especially those in Pittsburgh, have a keen understanding of Dick LeBeau's contributions to the game as a coach. He is regarded as one of the finest defensive coordinators of all time and is credited with perfecting the zone-blitz defense that has revolutionized the way teams have played the past generation.
But how many of those same fans have a true appreciation for Ricky LeBeau, the defensive back for the Detroit Lions from 1959-72 who was regarded as one of the finest players of his time?
LeBeau was known as Ricky, or sometimes Dickie-Bird, among his Lions teammates. In George Plimpton's best-selling book, "Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback," LeBeau is described as a young player in the following passage:
"Thin-hipped, built like a high school basketball player, his hair worn longer than most of the others', he was called Ricky, less a diminutive of Richard than derived from a crop of teenage movie stars and singers of the time, all of that name, whose manner and attitude he seemed to cultivate," Plimpton wrote.
It is hard to picture the humble and reserved LeBeau, who will turn 73 next month, in that context, but it is one glimpse into a long forgotten playing career that will finally be recognized today with the game's highest honor: induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
LeBeau and six others, including former Pitt stars Russ Grimm and Rickey Jackson, will be honored in a ceremony today in Canton, Ohio.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10219/1078421-66.stm#ixzz0vuaDp5b4