Remembering Brett Bech

by saints-nation on Oct 14, 2009 1:06 PM CDT Comment 15 comments

I stumbled upon this story on NOLA.com. Looks like former LSU Tiger and New Orlean Saint Brett Bech will be at the Superdome on Sunday, signing autographs at the Saints' Hall of Fame Museum before kickoff.

My Brett Bech anecdote: I remember Bech well from his time with the Saints. His crowning moment was a home game I attended at the end of the 1998 season against the Buffalo Bills. I was eighteen at the time and he ended that game with four catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns - including what will go down in my opinion as one of the most unreal grabs made by a Saint in history. On that play: Billy Joe Tolliver overthrew a ball in the end zone and Bech dove to haul in the touchdown pass, completely outstreched with one hand. He also scored on a 72 yard pass in that game. The Saints lost the game 45-33, but that was the best game of his career and one of the the best catches I've ever seen period. I've had a chance to watch Eric Martin and Joe Horn in their prime, and neither had a highlight reel grab like the one I saw Bech haul in on that day.

Do any of you have Brett Bech memories?

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I remember the play well

and it was, without a doubt, the most amazing catch I’ve ever seen by a Saints receiver. The only two NFL catches I’d rank above that are Antonio Freeman’s (the one where the ball rolled across his back as he was lying on the turf) and a Cris Carter MNF reception, where he was completely outstretched against his body along the sidelines, reaching back with one hand to haul it in. Pretty much the same catch Bech made, only more difficult due to the angle of the throw. There’s been a few more famous ones — Lynn Swann’s SB stumbler, Franco Harris’s Immaculate Reception, Dwight Clark’s leap — but none rank up there with the three aforementioned, imo. The Bech catch being the least seen of them all.

"Paralyze resistance with persistence" -Woody Hayes

by coldpizza on Oct 14, 2009 1:33 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

i have no memory of brent blech

but i do remember jay marriotti and have a personal anecdote i could share about meeting him once. so i was in washington dc for a bachelor party and a friend and i were in the lobby of our hotel when we see jay marriotti stumble in all drunk. i go, hey, youre that guy from espn! and he goes, no im not! and i go, yeah you are, and youre terible! and marriotti saw my LSU hat on and he goes, oh yeah, LSU, too bad no one ever graduates from there, youre probably an ididot. and then my huge dumb drunk friend stands up and goes, whatd you say to my friend? and then marriotti ran away crying like a little girl.

great anecdote huh? anyone else ever meet jay marriotti?

Lets hope that when gut check time comes again the Mets will pass it with flying colors.

by kendynamo on Oct 14, 2009 6:24 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Will you tell it again, grampa?

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by Saintsational on Oct 14, 2009 7:56 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Back in the Dell

I mostly remember Brett from back in high school playing against him in soccer. I played at Salmen and he was at Slidell High. I liked Brett alright but I really couldn’t stand his older brother, Malcolm. He played really dirty.

by no brainer on Oct 14, 2009 9:53 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

If Bech had a qb he might have had a longer career

bad luck. Brees would have turned him into a superstar.

by xen-cuts on Oct 14, 2009 10:28 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

#84 on MNF in 1989

It was probably this game . . .

http://articles.latimes.com/1989-12-19/sports/sp-420_1_philadelphia-eagles

. . . lasting 4 hours on a Monday night.

In maybe the hardest hitting game I’ve ever seen (DAMN that was a GREAT GAME!!), John Fourcade fires it to Martin who is in the endzone but invisible, as he’s in the middle of a mob of what seemed to be about 6 defenders. The ball rockets over the top of the pack and a single hand snaps up to arrest the ball’s trajectory and then pulls it down just as quickly. Eric Martin! Touchdown! That was the best catch I’ve ever seen from a Saint.

by DrZin on Oct 14, 2009 11:54 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Brett Bech

He’s a classic example of what happens to many incredibly talented receivers with great hands and technique but not enough speed by NFL standards. It’s kind of ridiculous really. The NFL will take a guy that has tons of speed or size and no technique or hands (see Ted Ginn Jr. or Terrel Owens) and take them over someone with amazing hands and technique but lacking speed (too many to name). There are a ton of incredible players from 30 years ago that would never have played a down in the current NFL due to speed. Fred Biletnikoff, Steve Largent and Danny Abramowicz come to mind. They probably never would have seen a down today due to NFL ignorance.

The people who say, "Winning isn't everything," don't win very often.

by Hooahsaint on Oct 15, 2009 11:33 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

T.O.

doesn’t drop a high percentage of passes. The only season he really had a problem in that department stemmed from having a pin in his finger. I agree with what you’re saying, to some extent. There are still quite a number of those type guys in the NFL, though. Kevin Walter, Kevin Curtis, Drew Bennett, Brian Finneran … Wayne Chrebet, Ricky Proehl, Ed McCaffrey in recent years … Raymond Berry was an all-time greats, as was Elroy Hirsch. I think a lot of that has to do with perception based on skin color. Most Caucasian WRs aren’t as athletically gifted as African-American WRs, but they can still catch, so it stands out as their exceptional attribute. Some are probably given the benefit of the doubt because of that. How many not-so-athletic black WRs that excel at pass catching can you name? Mike Hass … Josh Reed … uhhhhhh … That’s not to say that there aren’t many, many more at the college level. I just don’t think they’re given the same leeway in the NFL that the white ones are. I’m sure this post will be met with the typical opposition of “race has absolutely NOTHING to do with it”. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. Even perception. Yeah, ok. Keep telling yourself that.

"Paralyze resistance with persistence" -Woody Hayes

by coldpizza on Oct 15, 2009 12:54 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Even the guys you mention, Kevin Walter, Kevin Curtis, they aren’t slow. They’re still wide receiver speed. Brett Bech and Fred Biletnikoff could get beat by some tight ends in a race. Heck, Fred could get beat by some linemen probably. My point is mainly that route running, hands, and technique should be considered more over speed. I’d take another Eric Martin or Danny Abramowicz over a Donte Stallworth or Devery Henderson any day. I’m with you on the race thing, some people are either retarded or just have problems identifying norms. All men were not created equally. There are certainly exceptions to every rule, but there’s a reason why men can throw the ball 60 yards and 99% of women can’t get it past 35-40 yards. Same is true for races. If skin color is genetically and physically different from one person to another, why is it so hard to understand that hip place, muscle tone and fluidity of movement may be different?

I’ve personally played football my entire life, and I’m VERY fast. I ran a 4.35 in high school and usually scored on the first pass play to me every game, because “the white guy can’t possibly be fast.” Anyway, I’ve never had another white guy beat me in a race . . . never. But I have been beat by a few black guys, and when they ran, it looked effortless. I also noticed over the years that black men and white men throw the football differently (throwing motion). I’m thinking it might have to do with the muscle build and/or how their shoulders are built, but white quarterbacks tend to keep the ball closer to the body when they throw, which creates more accuracy and a faster release but less velocity. Likewise, the throwing motion when throwing on a run demands that you bring the ball further away from your body to create the amount of velocity required to be accurate. In essence, the reason I think you see more white quarterbacks that are accurate pocket passers (See Drew Brees) and more black quarterbacks that are scramblers, throw on the run, and can air it out better (See Donovan McNabb and Mike Vick) is based on genetics.

Anyone who cares to disagree can explain to me why 90% of running backs in the NFL are black, almost all kickers are white, etc. And it’s not just football that norms are prevalent.

The people who say, "Winning isn't everything," don't win very often.

by Hooahsaint on Oct 16, 2009 1:40 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You’re absolutely right on Walter and Curtis. Bennett’s pretty fast, too. I just threw a few extra white boys in there to see if anyone would go along with it and prove my point. Shameless baiting on my part. Good catch, if you’ll pardon the pun. YOU obviously see how easy it is to get caught up in the stereotypes. Many don’t. Finneran, McCafrey and Matt Jones have/had SIZE going for them, too. There’s a lot of big white dudes out there, but how many RIDICULOUSLY ATHLETIC big white dudes? I think all races bring a little something different to the table. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule and to varying degrees. I’d take Donovan McNabb over Jake Delhomme any day, just as I’d take Brad Daugherty over Erick Dampier. Tim Dwight was ridiculously fast, but wasn’t exactly a reception magnet in the open field. Same goes for Larry Burton and Renaldo Nehemiah. Last time I checked, those guys were sipping Kool-Aid out of wine glasses. Getting back to the original topic, I think it’s a stretch to call Brett Bech “ridiculously talented”, but he DID have exceptional hands. My point is, so did Keith Poole, Rich Mauti, Tinker Owens and Wes Chandler. I don’t think many people would need a pair of binoculars and a stopwatch to tell which one of those former Saints WRs was the best all-around athlete.

"Paralyze resistance with persistence" -Woody Hayes

by coldpizza on Oct 16, 2009 2:30 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wes

But, I would argue that Poole tried to put a run on there for awhile. He had two good seasons and then just disappeared. I still remember Boomer saying, “He only catches touchdowns!” He scored on something ridiculous like every 3 catches or something. Keith was one of those exceptions to the rule. He was pretty dang fast. Like Don Beebe only not as talented.

The people who say, "Winning isn't everything," don't win very often.

by Hooahsaint on Oct 16, 2009 5:39 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Beebe’s helmet shell was badass. I’m kinda surprised that never caught on, especially with the whole movement towards protecting QBs. Seems as though exterior padding like that would cut down on the likelihood of a concussion on a helmet-to-helmet hit. I can’t really see how it would be restrictive in any way.

"Paralyze resistance with persistence" -Woody Hayes

by coldpizza on Oct 16, 2009 7:10 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was trying to find a picture of it … pretty sure I’m thinking of Mark Kelso.

… though, I could have sworn Beebe wore one, also.

"Paralyze resistance with persistence" -Woody Hayes

by coldpizza on Oct 16, 2009 7:17 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually, Beebe stayed with the two bar helmet for his career, but it was kind of abnormally shaped. Just seemed more round.

Maybe towards the very end he did. Can’t really remember.

The people who say, "Winning isn't everything," don't win very often.

by Hooahsaint on Oct 16, 2009 11:27 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bech

Bac in the dell…i love it. I had to get out of there.

Brett was one year ahead of me in shool. My best memory was when he was the holder for LSU. He flipped it over his shoulder. Everyone remembers a few years later when it was done again but he was the first.

Brett ended up playing arena ball for indiana.

Great kid

by RyanWellness on Oct 15, 2009 12:48 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs