Old friends watch Ronde Barber get gold jacket in Canton

Ronde Barber, right, receives his gold jacket from Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin during the gold jacket ceremony in Canton, Ohio.

Ronde Barber waves after receiving his jacket during the Pro Football Hall of Fame gold jacket dinner in Canton, Ohio, as John Lynch (left) applauds.

Former Cave Spring coach Steve Spangler was on hand for Friday's gold jacket ceremony.

Former Cave Spring fullback O.J. Beane attended Friday's gold jacket ceremony.

Former Cave Spring, UVa and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive back Ronde Barber, shown in 2020, will be inducted Saturday into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He received his gold jacket Friday.

file 2020

CANTON, OHIO — Steve Spangler coached Ronde Barber in junior high school and high school.

O.J. Beane was one of Barber’s teammates in rec league, junior high school and high school.

So they weren’t about to miss Barber’s big weekend.

Barber, a former Cave Spring High School, University of Virginia and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive back, will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

But on Friday night, Barber and the rest of the Class of 2023 were presented their gold jackets, signifying them as hall of famers, in a ceremony at the Canton Memorial Civic Center.

Spanger and Beane were on hand Friday for Barber’s gold jacket ceremony and will be attending the induction ceremony Saturday as well.

“What a story he has,” Spangler said of Barber on Friday at the civic center before the gold jacket ceremony began. “He is such an inspiration for all the young players coming up as to what you can do.

“It’s been fun to be able to be there and see him grow and turn into an elite athlete. … I had the best seat in the house.”

More than 100 returning hall of famers, including Peyton Manning, Bruce Smith, Art Monk and Mean Joe Greene, attended Friday’s ceremony. Barber hugged many of them as he walked to the stage to receive his gold jacket.

Barber was presented his jacket by John Lynch and Mike Tomlin. Lynch, a hall of famer, was one of Barber’s Tampa Bay teammates. Tomlin, the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was once Barber’s position coach at Tampa Bay.

Spangler used to be the head coach of the Hidden Valley Junior High School football team. So he coached Barber and his twin, former Cave Spring, UVa and New York Giants running back Tiki Barber, when they were in the eighth grade. He then became the running backs and defensive backs coach at Cave Spring High School, so he was the position coach for the twins when they were high school sophomores and juniors. Spangler then succeeded Jerry Little as the Cave Spring head coach, so he was the twins’ head coach when they were high school seniors.

“I’ve been able to follow this journey,” said Spangler, who is retired from both coaching and from being Cave Spring’s principal. “I’ve been down to Tampa — when he was inducted into [the Buccaneers’] ring of honor, I was there for that. It’s been nice to be part of the family.

“I’ve been waiting for this since the day he [retired].”

Ronde and Tiki, both 48, graduated from Cave Spring in 1993.

“They had some real talent in high school, but I had never coached anybody like that before,” Spangler said of the twins. “As they get into college, you started to watch them blossom.

“When folks told them you can’t do something, they’re going to just go full at it and prove them wrong. It was fun watching the determination.”

Ronde was a safety and running back for the Knights.

“It’s just very special to see him be inducted into the hall with the greats,” Spangler said. “I am hoping his brother will be making his way here [as an inductee] in due time.

“They were just such great kids. Anything you would ask of them, they would do. And then they would go above and beyond. You knew that they were special. They would go through a track practice — they had been accepted to go to UVa — and they would leave track practice and go down to the weight room and do the workout for UVa. They were very focused on improving.”

Beane, who is two years younger than the twins, has been friends with the twins since Beane was 5 years old.

“This is something I couldn’t miss,” Beane said at the civic center before the ceremony. “I wanted to support [Ronde].

“It’s just a blessing to get to witness it. Sometimes I still can’t process it because I’ve known him so long. But to see it manifest is just a beautiful thing.

“To know my good friend has made it to football heaven, the hall of fame, to see him at this level, it’s hard to process sometimes.”

Beane was Ronde’s Cave Spring teammate in football, track and wrestling.

“What made Ronde a good wrestler was the endurance and the heart,” Beane said.

Beane and Ronde both live in the Tampa, Florida, area.

“I first started visiting Ronde in the summers and started really liking it,” said Beane, who is a seventh grade special education teacher. “He twisted my arm to come on down [and move to Tampa].

“About every day, I’m over there after work, go by his house, work out and we just chop it up about old times and good times.”

Ronde played in the NFL from 1997 through 2012, spending his entire pro career with Tampa Bay.

“As kids, when we were playing, there was always a little something different about him — a little bit faster or just work a little bit harder,” said Beane, who was a fullback for Cave Spring and Emory & Henry. “When we were playing Wiffle ball or hide-and-go-seek, riding bikes, there was just a little more agility than everybody else.

“I found out that you can’t tell him he’s not going to do something at an early age because he was my first fistfight. I told him, ‘You’re not going to hit me,’ and man, he got me good. Tiki was there to console me.”

Ronde was a three-time All-Pro and a five-time Pro Bowl pick. He was a member of the NFL’s all-decade team for the 2000s. He helped the Bucs win a Super Bowl at the end of the 2002 season.

“No matter what his level of success came to be, he always remained the same guy,” Beane said.

Mark Berman (540) 981-3125

[email protected]

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