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Steelers' LeBeau Has Been Around, And It Shows
By Barry Svrluga
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 16, 2009

PITTSBURGH -- There is no way to tell this by looking at him, because he has his full head of hair, only flecks of which are gray; his face is not unusually creased or jowled; and when there is time, just before practice, he sneaks off to the side of the field and does pushups. Vigorously. But Dick LeBeau played for the late Woody Hayes at Ohio State back when players served on both sides of the ball. He played in the NFL with men who are now both legendary and late, from Lane the defensive back (Dick "Night Train") to Layne the quarterback (Bobby), at a time when players held offseason jobs to support their families.

Since he broke in with the Detroit Lions in 1959, that franchise has churned through 15 head coaches and just hired a 16th, and the league has added 20 teams. When he began his coaching career as an assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1973, only one of the players he is responsible for as the coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense had even been born.

"He's our heart, he really is," Polamalu said. "Things have changed, you know, [since] when he first came in. Football, to him -- he doesn't approach it as a business, which I've heard that other people do. He's just friends with people. He's the Godfather, I guess. He's the Marlon Brando of our team."

Which is one way of saying LeBeau's players would do whatever he asks of them, just as he once did whatever Hayes asked. When the Buckeyes won the national championship in 1957, LeBeau scored two touchdowns against Michigan as a running back and stood out as a defensive back. He latched on with the Lions two years later, teaming with Lane as a cornerback, maniacally studying the game.

"Dick was recognized widely by me and a lot of other corners as a coach still playing," said Lem Barney, a Hall of Fame cornerback whose first six seasons with the Lions were also LeBeau's last six as a player. "He was that intuitive about the game. He taught me what offensive coordinators were trying to do, what they were setting us up for."

Steelers' LeBeau Has Been Around, And It Shows - washingtonpost.com