Bill Cowher was a surprise guest at the Steelers’ Hall of Honor dinner Saturday night, and he did not disappoint. While celebrating 2024 inductees Jason Gilden, Casey Hampton, Willie Parker and Dick LeBeau, he told some great yarns, much to the delight – and laughter – of the roughly 500 people in attendance.
Hampton is one of the most beloved players in franchise history because of his colorful nickname, “Big Snack,” and the thankless work he did as perhaps the premier nose tackle of his generation.
Cowher recalled the Steelers working out Hampton at the University of Texas prior to the 2001 NFL Draft. The session was cut short after Hampton pulled his hamstring while running the 40-yard dash.
“I said, ‘Hamp, you don’t need to run 40 yards anyway. Playing nose tackle I just need you to take care of those five yards right in front of you,’” Cowher recalled.
That did not turn out to be entirely true after the Steelers drafted Hampton in the first round.
He played primarily on first and second downs, coming off the field on third down when the Steelers played a nickel or dime defense.
One game, as Cowher recalled, the Steelers found themselves on the wrong end of a methodical drive. They kept getting the opposing offense into third down but couldn’t get off the field.
Which meant Hampton had to keep running back onto the field after doing his job on first and second down. This happened four times by Cowher’s recollection.
“Now he’s getting pissed,” Cowher said. “He’s like, ‘What the hell is going on Coach?’ I go, ‘Listen I’m not out there with you. Talk to them.’”
Hampton did in his own inimitable style after the Steelers forced another third down.
He starts [running off the field] and stops right at the numbers. And he says, ‘I ain’t f’ing coming out here again!’” Cowher said as the room broke up in laughter. “We stopped them, and I said, ‘You need to talk to the defense a little sooner next time.’ A special guy.”
If running on and off the field left Hampton gassed (and pissed), Bill Cowher found out that Parker would sometimes be out of breath for a different reason. One time after a big run, the player affectionately known as “Fast Willie” was gasping for air on the Steelers’ sideline.
“I’m like, ‘Man, what’s wrong with you? Do you have asthma?’” Cowher said. “He goes, ‘No, no, it was just a long run and I don’t breathe when I run.’ I go, ‘What? You don’t breathe when you run? We gotta work on that.’
“So every time Willie has a good run, I go, ‘Breathe, Willie, breathe!’”
Given this revelation, it seems more fitting than ever that Parker’s breathtaking 75-yard touchdown dash in Super Bowl XL remains the longest run in Super Bowl history.
LeBeau was the defensive coordinator on that team, which won the Steelers’ first Super Bowl since the dynastic 1970s squads. By then, he was in his second stint coaching with the Steelers under Cowher.
He started on Cowher’s first staff in 1992 as secondary coach, eventually ascending to defensive coordinator. During that time a tradition developed between Cowher and LeBeau. Before every game, LeBeau would put two Hershey chocolate bars with almonds in Cowher’s locker. Cowher said he ate them to get his “sugar rush.”
LeBeau never forgot that, as evidenced by what he did after he became the Cincinnati Bengals’ head coach in 2000. Before their first game matching wits, the two caught up on the field.
“He said. ‘Put your hand out,’ I put my hand out and he puts in my hand a Hershey kiss,” Cowher said. “I said, ‘What’s this?’ He goes, ‘I wanted to give you your chocolate. I can’t wish you too good of luck today.’ So those couple of years we played Dick LeBeau would give me a Hershey kiss.”
