When former Kaneland High School standout Don Beebe signed with the Green Bay Packers, he said he'd do anything to get them to the Super Bowl, even if it meant running water out to Reggie White.
Regarded as something of a long shot to make the team entering training camp, the eight-year veteran who went to four Super Bowls with the Buffalo Bills beat out Anthony Morgan and survived what general manager Ron Wolf called "the toughest cut we've had to make."
"I wasn't really concerned about making the team", said Beebe, still one of the fastest receivers in the NFL. "That never really entered my mind."
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| Don Beebe outruns Minnesota |
| safety Harlan Barnett for an 80 |
| yard touchdown reception. |
"All I was concerned about was joining a team that I felt was going to go to the Super Bowl and win it", Beebe said. "For me and my football career, that's the only thing that I have to do. I've been to four and lost all four and really I just want to go to the Super Bowl and know what the feeling is like to win one. And I thought Green Bay had the best chance."
Beebe and Desmond Howard, another player reviving his career in Green Bay as a receiver and kick returner, spell starters Robert Brooks and Antonio Freeman in coach Mike Holmgren's West Coast offense.
After the first four games this season Beebe has four catches for 124 yards, a 31-yard average, and has a 22.1 yard rickoff return average in nine tries.
Beebe, 31 was waived by Carolina on Feb. 14 and signed a $375,000 deal with the Packers in March.
He had signed a two-year, $1.375 million deal with the Panthers as an unrestricted free agent in 1995 after six seasons in Buffalo. But he caught just 14 passes last season after cracking a rib in training camp and losing his starting job to Willie Green.
"I really enjoyed my time in Charlotte because I may not have grown as a football player, but I grew as a person," he said. "I really did. I think it really helped me as far as character and persevering through a tough time".
Holmgren likes the attitude Beebe brings to the Packers. He and backup quarterback Jim McMahon are the only players on the team who have been to a Super Bowl, so Holmgren counts on them for quiet leadership.
It's Beebe's hustle, however, that has made the biggest impression.
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