"Can I have that?”, this man-child of eight years asked. He wanted a piece of the big chocolate candy that we got for Easter. You know the stuff they use to make thick bunnies. Well the man-child gnawed on it for a short while and then said he wasn’t feeling very good and didn’t want it anymore. Another in the group asked "why did you take it in the first place then?" The man-child replied, “Well, you guys were eating it!” This spoke volumes about his appetite, but he had an even bigger heart and I found that out as I got to know him better.

That man-child is former Pittsburgh Panther offensive lineman Lamont Liggett. We grew up together in Economy Borough in Beaver County. In fact, we were back yard neighbors in Sunset Hills off of Conway Wallrose Road. Although he was 3 years younger than me, I think he was bigger than me from the first day I ever met him. We were friends for a long time and have managed to stay in touch now over the years. We had lost contact some over the last decade and half as I had moved from Beaver County to Allegheny County to finish high school and then attend college. Still I followed his career from afar and was delighted when former Pittsburgh head coach Mike Gottfried and assistant coach Sal Sunseri recruited and signed Lamont to a football scholarship.

I want to back track for a moment here. Lamont and I played a lot of sports together w/ other kids in the neighborhood. We batted wiffle balls, threw the Frisbee around, swam, hit tennis balls, shot many a hoops together but it always came down to our favorite sport, football. Heck, one fall, my brother and I decided to set up our own league in the neighborhood. We created 3 teams and appointed 3 head coaches; I was one of the 3 of course. Our job was to go out and recruit kids in the neighborhood to join our team. My team, not surprisingly, was the called the Panthers. I was recruiting against the Wolverines and the Lions. One of my first “recruits”, besides my younger brother who didn’t have a choice, was a 5 foot something, almost 200 hundred pounder, back door neighbor. Now Lamont was a big kid for our neighborhood not to mention his age. However, none of the other “coaches” argued that he was too big to play in our league. So as a result Lamont became the best center in our 3-team conference. The rest is history.

When Lamont arrived to the Pittsburgh campus in the fall of 1989 after starring for Ambridge High School, he stood 6 foot 5 inches tall and was probably not a pound under 300. He told me that he chose Pitt back then because “I felt that I could accomplish my goals there: to attain my degree, to be a starter on the football team, and possibly play professional football.” Unfortunately he didn’t meet all of the academic requirements and had to sit out that year. Fortunately Lamont used that time wisely and made it through school and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in liberal arts from the university. Following his freshman year, Paul Hacket took over the football team as head coach and promptly redshirted Liggett in order to get him up to speed as a lineman. The next two seasons found him playing a bit on the defensive line. At one point during the 1991 season, Hacket declared that Lamont had likely found a home.

I recently asked Lamont, whose father played football at Aliquippa High School and later with the University of Nebraska, if he thought it was bad for his career to be moved to the defensive line. He replied by saying “it didn’t really matter.” “If coach vonAppen had stayed with the program, I probably would have started on the defensive line my senior year, he liked me.” It was not to be though; instead Liggett found himself starting on the offensive line. He told me that he asked coach Majors, his third head coach, if he could be moved back to offense. Lamont earned a starting spot at tackle but was switched to guard before the season started. He suffered a leg injury a few games into the season and didn’t make it back until the last two games against Boston College and Temple. Lamont, though, had good things to say about coach Majors. “He gave me an opportunity to prove myself.”

Liggett shared some fond memories of the school and his playing days but one particular topic seemed to stand out during our conversation. He commented on how many different, successful coaches he encountered while in Oakland. Besides vonAppen, he got to know former offensive line coach Bill Myers, former Special teams coach Scott O’Brien (now w/ the Carolina Panthers), Mike Fox (Carolina Panthers head coach), John Gruden (super bowl winner w/ the Tampa Bay Bucs), Marvin Lewis (current head coach of the Bengals) and Jack Henry a former Steeler offensive line coach who helped Lamont during his senior year. In retrospect, we were both amazed with the talent on the coaching staff during that era and disappointed that more from those teams were not accomplished on the field. In addition, he also stated that another of his favorite moments on field occurred during “my first game as a starter against Southern Mississippi in the blazing heat. We were well prepared for that game and we won.”

It was now time for Lamont to move on with his life’s work. Liggett was married shortly after he graduated from Pitt and has built a nice career at PGT trucking in Monaca. He serves there as the manager of driver development. “I make sure our truck drivers know all the ins and outs of the business. They come to me for training and all questions because the other managers don’t have the time to do it.” Liggett now resides in Bridgewater with his wife Marcia and has a daughter in the elementary school there. He also has a 2-year-old son. I asked Lamont if maybe we could look forward to another great lineman in the family. Lamont quipped by saying “Oh definitely. He’s 28 pounds and growing and he’s got that muscular build already.”

I wondered if he wanted to stay in the Beaver area school district while his kids are in school. He said he wasn’t sure yet. He is thinking about having his son play for the Ambridge Bridger’s just like he did in the late 1980’s. We talked about how first year Bridger coach Don Yanessa did a nice job of getting a moribund program back into the WPIAL playoffs. I suggested that Yanessa probably wouldn’t make it that long for his son though. Lamont remarked that “well, maybe I’ll be coaching by then.” He took the words out of my mouth. I asked him if he really did have an interest in getting into some coaching. “I would love to but my job doesn’t give me much time for that these days. I think that I would have a lot to offer the young players though in terms of technique, positioning and game day experience.”

Lamont is still very much a Pitt Panther, although he doesn’t get involved with the behind the scenes work, he is a season ticket holder and still goes to all the home games. He admitted that he doesn’t spend much time on the computer so he doesn’t read the Panthelair, however, he seems to have a good handle on what is going on with the team. If you see this big affable fellow in your section don’t be afraid to say hello. Lamont is just the type of guy that could probably get to know and like all the patrons at a sell out if given the opportunity. Besides following the Panthers and helping to raise two kids, he enjoys fishing, bowling and family barbecues.

I think back about those days in our neighborhood every now and then. We learned a lot from each other and developed a love for sports while growing up in school. We also cultivated a passion for the University of Pittsburgh together as well. I always tell people that I helped recruit him to Pitt and that I taught him everything he knows. Well the man-child has turned into quite an upstanding person in his own right. I’m the better for it.

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