[Buckskin86]

Friends, former teammates honor LeBeau
By Scott Brown, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, June 28, 2009

LONDON, OHIO ? He returned home and showed he has never strayed far from the small Ohio town that sprouted up amidst the cornfields that still frame it.

He signed one autograph after another at the high school where he is seen as a legend by everyone except for probably himself. Dick LeBeau may not like to be the center of attention, but the Steelers' defensive coordinator couldn't avoid it Saturday night.

More than 400 people, including a handful of his former college and NFL teammates, packed into the gym at London High School for "A Night with the Coach." They were part of a fundraising effort that is expected to produce a new building that has already been christened the LeBeau Field House.

They were also part of an evening that celebrated the man who is going into his 51st season in the NFL.

"When you're growing up, you don't expect to have your name laying around anything on your high school," LeBeau said. "That's really a sincere honor that I don't take lightly."

Among those who were at the dinner and ceremony that followed were Buffalo Bills coach Dick Jauron and Bengals coach Marvin Lewis ? both are LeBeau proteges ? as well as LeBeau's mother, Beulah, who is in her mid-90s.

No Steelers were in attendance ? a video message from coach Mike Tomlin was played during the ceremony ? and part of that could be attributed to one of the few ground rules LeBeau set for the fundraiser.

He did not want any of his players contacted about it so they would not feel obligated to attend it while they have down time before the start of training camp next month.

That, in a nutshell, is LeBeau.

"He's the best," said Jauron, who played for LeBeau in Cincinnati from 1978-80. "Anything anybody told you about him, if it was good, it was true. I'm just really thankful I know him."

Friends, former teammates honor LeBeau - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review