Dick LeBeau, who played 14 seasons with the Detroit Lions and another 45 years coaching in the NFL, has never seen anything like it.
Of all the plays he witnessed during his Pro Football Hall of Fame career, both as a player and coach, nothing comes close to what he witnessed right before halftime of Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa.
“Numero Uno, without question,” LeBeau said. “Without any thought, it’s my favorite defensive play I’ve ever seen.”
LeBeau, the Steelers defensive coordinator for 13 years, was talking about his former outside linebacker, James Harrison, and the incredible 100-yard interception return for touchdown that is considered one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history. It occurred nearly 14 years ago, igniting the Steelers’ 27-23 victory against the Arizona Cardinals, but LeBeau, who is 86, can recall just about every dazzling detail.
On 1st-and-goal at the Steelers 2, with 18 seconds remaining, LeBeau called a zero blitz, which meant nobody would be left in the middle of the end zone. Harrison’s assignment was to come off the right edge and pressure Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner. Instead, he took a step toward the tackle as though he was going to blitz, then on his own dropped into coverage.
“I’m standing on the sideline and I’m screaming, ‘Dadgum, what are you doing?” former linebackers coach Keith Butler was recalling the other day.
What Harrison did was pick off Warner’s pass for receiver Anquan Boldin, get blocks from nine of his other 10 teammates on the field and produce the longest play in Super Bowl history. And, arguably, the greatest.
For years, LeBeau used that play as a teaching tool for future defenses, showing them what relentless determination and teamwork can accomplish.
“All you need to know about James is he’s a big guy and it was over 100 degrees on that field and the way he was weaving, he probably ran 160 yards,” LeBeau said. “But he came back and played the second half like it was the first half. I don’t know many linebackers who can do that in that heat. He was a special talent, is what he was.”
James Harrison will be back at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday as one of four former players who will be inducted into the team’s Hall of Honor. He will be joined by former teammate and defensive end Aaron Smith, former tackle Gerry Mullins and the late center Ray Mansfield. Who knows? He might even smile.
For six of his 13 years with the Steelers, Harrison was the most-feared player in the league, using his brute strength and explosive style to terrorize anyone who happened to be in his path. And if that didn’t scare them, his menacing glare did.
In a period from 2007 to 2012, Harrison registered 60 sacks, 78 tackles for loss, 29 forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and four interceptions. In 2008, a season in which he had a then-team record 16 sacks and a league-high seven forced fumbles, capped off by his dramatic play in the Super Bowl, he was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year.
“There weren’t too many like him,” said Butler, who would eventually replace LeBeau as defensive coordinator in 2015. “He was probably as good as anybody at the time.”
An undrafted free agent who was cut three times early in his career, Harrison thrust himself into the Steelers’ consciousness in 2004 when he was forced to start a Week 10 game in Cleveland because outside linebacker Joey Porter was ejected for a pregame fight with Browns running back William Green.
Harrison was new to the Steelers that season. He was signed right before training camp because outside linebacker Clark Haggans had a broken hand.
“I told coach Butler, ‘Go get James Harrison and find out what defenses he’s most comfortable with,’” LeBeau said. “Keith laughed. I said, ‘I’m not joking.’”
Harrison ended up leading the team with six tackles and had a big sack on Browns quarterback Jeff Garcia in the third quarter. LeBeau said that performance by Harrison was his favorite memory.
“Here’s a guy who figures he’s going to cover kicks, and in five minutes, he’s ready to start the game,” LeBeau said.
But the game that sent Harrison into league-wide prominence came in 2007 in a nationally televised 38-7 victory against the Baltimore Ravens, a game in which his first-half performance alone was one of the greatest in team history.
Harrison had 2.5 sacks, five quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and an interception — all before halftime. He also had a forced fumble on special teams.
He finished with 3.5 sacks and six quarterback hurries, arguably the greatest individual performance by a Steelers defensive player since Joe Greene single-handedly lifted beat the Houston Oilers in a December 1972 game in the Astrodome. In that game, Greene had a club-record five sacks, a forced fumble, fumble recovery and blocked a field goal in a 9-3 victory.
“He was dominant,” Butler said. “Nobody could block him. He pretty much had his way with Baltimore the whole game.”
It was that way most of the time with Harrison. He would use his short stature (5-foot-11) to get underneath offensive tackles, but he had the power to bull through them and the speed to run around them. For six years, he was the baddest man in football.
“He was outstanding,” LeBeau said. “He was a walking sack machine. If I had to pick one adjective for James, I’d say he was relentless. He never took a play off.”
Not even after running 100 yards on the greatest play LeBeau has even witnessed.
Gerry Dulac: gdulac@post-gazette.com and Twitter @gerrydulac
First Published: October 27, 2023, 1:52 p.m.
Updated: October 27, 2023, 9:01 p.m.
