Chadron State College Athletics

Beebe was an athlete at Chadron State just one year, but he definitely helped put the school and its athletic program on the map. After having a sensational season with the CSC football team in 1988, Beebe spent nine years in the National Football League. Six of those teams—four at Buffalo and two at Green Bay—went to the Super Bowl. He was the first NFL player to be a member of six Super Bowl teams.
While at Chadron State, Beebe demonstrated Super Bowl prowess. He was the first Chadron State player to score a touchdown in every game until Danny Woodhead did it in 2005 and ’06. He also was the first to score five TDs in a game and set the school’s single-season records for most touchdowns with 15, most points with 90 and most all-purpose yards with 1,663. Breaking down the latter yards, he caught 49 passes for 906 yards, carried the ball 10 times for 81 yards and returned 27 kickoffs for 676 yards, an average of 25 yards.  
The following winter while running indoor track, Beebe set the NAIA District 11 record of 6.32 seconds and then placed fifth in the race at the NAIA National Meet in 6.31 seconds. After the latter meet, Beebe concentrated on becoming a pro football player. He was invited to the NFL Combine, where he had the fastest time of 4.40 seconds in the 40-yard dash among the 45 receiver prospects, had the best time in the four-corner agility drill and demonstrated a 36-inch vertical jump.
After the Combine, representatives of 21 of the 28 NFL teams came to CSC to check him out.
He left CSC before graduating to play for the Buffalo Bills, who made him their No. 1 choice in the draft. Overall, he was the 82nd player drafted and wore that number throughout his pro career. In the spring of 1989, he was named the Omaha World-Herald’s “State College Athlete of the Year.”
Beebe played for Buffalo six years, catching 197 passes for 2,962 yards and 21 touchdowns. He then spent one injury-plagued season with the Carolina Panthers before signing with the Green Bay Packers, and helped them make two trips to the Super Bowl. The Packers won the championship in 1996, but probably would not have reached the Super Bowl if Beebe hadn’t caught 11 passes for 220 yards during an overtime victory at San Francisco during the regular season.
For his career, including postseason competition, Beebe caught 254 passes for 3,882 yards and 26 touchdowns. Perhaps his most memorable play occurred in the 1993 Super Bowl against Dallas when he came from about 25 yards behind to knock the ball out of Leon Lett’s hands before the Cowboys’ defensive tackle, who had recovered a Buffalo fumble, could score.
Beebe’s biography, “More Than a Ring,” written by Bob Schaller in 1998, was well-received and accomplished both of its purposes—to share Beebe’s Christian faith and to raise money for the CSC athletic program. All proceeds went to CSC.
After numerous delays caused by his pro career and particularly the Super Bowls, Beebe and his family returned to Chadron in the spring of 1996. He carried 21 hours that semester, earned all A’s and graduated in May. During homecoming 2000 at Chadron State, the college’s renovated football stadium was named in his honor and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. CSC’s annual golf tournament is called the Don Beebe Classic.
 With the help of his brother, Dan, who played and coached basketball at CSC, Beebe runs “The House of Speed,” which is designed to help athletes improve their speed and agility. He also coaches football at Aurora Christian High School not far from his hometown of Sugar Grove, Ill.