FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Fifty years after Paul Brown cut him from his first NFL training camp and 30 years after he hired him as a secondary coach, former Bengals head coach Dick LeBeau joined him Saturday in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

No. 44 was in full karma mode for LeBeau, 72, the current defensive coordinator of the Steelers. A day before the 44th Super Bowl the 44-member board of selectors gave the nod to LeBeau 37 years after he last wore No. 44 for the Lions.

Joining LeBeau in the Class of 2010 is the NFL’s all-time leading wide receiver Jerry Rice, a man that broke LeBeau’s heart with 11 catches a scant 10 miles from where the vote took place in the 49ers’ win over the Bengals defense LeBeau coordinated in Miami’s Super Bowl XXIII.

Also in the class that is to be inducted Aug. 7 at Canton, Ohio, are the league's all-time rusher Emmitt Smith, Jon Randle, Rickey Jackson, Russ Grimm and Floyd Little, LeBeau's fellow senior candidate who also wore No. 44 in Denver.

"I also told you three weeks ago that I hope the 44s are reunited," LeBeau told Little over the phone.

Snowbound in Pittsburgh, LeBeau did a conference call on the NFL Network with one of his players, Hall of Fame cornerback Rod Woodson conducting the interview. It was Woodson who pushed LeBeau's case during his own induction speech last year. 

"It’s a lifelong dream, really. I just cannot imagine anything else that could be any more rewarding for any individual who has made football," LeBeau said. "I'’ve been fortunate enough to make football my life pursuit. Now, to have my name alongside all those great NFL players throughout history is an incredibly humbling honor and one that I do not take lightly.