Don Beebe Chases Down Leon Lett in Super Bowl XXVII
It was a good thing for the Cowboys’ Leon Lett – who committed a mental gaffe in Super Bowl XXVII in front of a worldwide television audience of 133 million – that his team had won. Luckily, his infamous concentration lapse on the last day of January in 1993 came in the fourth quarter, with the Cowboys leading the Bills, 52-17. With just under 5 minutes remaining at the Cowboys’ 31, Bills QB Frank Reich got sacked and lost the ball. Lett, a 6-foot-6 defensive tackle weighing 290 pounds, recovered the fumble and rumbled toward the end zone, completely by himself…or so he assumed. What he didn’t know was that a speedy and hustling Bills receiver, Don Beebe, had all the while been gaining on him. Just shy of the goal line, a hot-dogging Lett held out the ball, which Beebe knocked loose. The ball bounced into the end zone and out of bounds, for a touchback. Technically, Lett was credited with a 64-yard return, but that memorable play has often overshadowed the lineman's two career Pro Bowl appearances and three Super Bowl rings.