Thomas Lynn Beasley (born August 11, 1954) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

defensive lineman in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

and Pittsburgh Steelers. Beasley won two Super Bowl rings when playing with the Steelers, in the 1978 and 1979 seasons. He played college football at

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

. His accomplishments at Tech led to his induction into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1988. Beasley is a native of

Elkhorn, West Virginia Elkhorn is an unincorporated community in McDowell County, West Virginia, United States. Elkhorn lies on U.S. Route 52 and takes its name from the creek that flows through the community. The John J. Lincoln House was listed on the National Reg ...

and played for Northfork High School. In his senior season for the Gobblers in 1976, Beasley was in on 78 tackles, 11 of them for loss. As a senior, he made the All-South Independent team and was honorable mention All-America as the Gobblers posted a 6-5 mark. After his senior season he was selected to play in the Blue-Gray game and the American Bowl, highlighting senior standouts. Beasley was the 60th overall pick by the Steelers, going in the third round of the 1977 draft. In 1979, he established what was then a Steeler's record with 11 solo tackles in a start against the Houston Oilers. He was named NFL Defensive Player of the week for his effort. He ended his career with 11.5 sacks, his best year coming in 1982 when he had 6.5 for the Steelers. His son,

Chad Beasley Thomas Chad Beasley (born November 13, 1978) is a former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns. He played college football at Virginia Tech and was drafted in the seventh round of the ...

, also played for

and in the NFL.

References

1954 births Living people American football defensive linemen People from Bluefield, West Virginia Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from West Virginia Virginia Tech Hokies football players Washington Redskins players People from Elkhorn, West Virginia {{defensive-lineman-1950s-stub