Steelers Now
Tommy Reamon, a former Pittsburgh Steelers running back, a legendary football coach and educator in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area, and a mentor to Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, has died at the age of 73.
Reamon’s son, Tommy Reamon Jr., announced his father’s death in a post on Instagram on Thursday.
Reamon was a ninth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1974 NFL Draft out of Missouri, but never played a regular-season game for the team. Instead of joining the Steelers after he was drafted, Reamon played for the Florida Blazers of the World Football League, and was one of the league’s MVPs as a rookie, leading Florida to a World Bowl appearance.
That December, the Blazers folded after the arrest of their owner, and Reamon returned to the Steelers an the NFL. He played in the 1975 preseason, but did not make the team, instead spending time with he Jacksonville Express of the WFL.
In 1976, the Steelers traded Reamon to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played 11 games and rushed 103 times for 314 yards and four touchdowns. After that, Reamon spent time with the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins, and also the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL, but never played in another NFL game.
After his playing career, Reamon went into acting, appearing in North Dallas Forty and
also episodes of Charlie’s Angels, The Fall Guy and Quincy, M.E.
Reamon then returned to his native Newport News as an educator and high school football coach for several decades. He coached at a number of schools in the region, most recently Denbigh High School in Newport News from 2023-24. Tomlin, a Denbigh alumnus, talked Reamon into returning to coaching after a brief hiatus. Reamon returned for good in December.
MIKE TOMLIN 🙌🏽 Former Steeler Tommy Reamon Sr. And @COMCSPORTS had the privilege of being the guest of honor for todays game vs the Browns. Thank you @steelers for the first class treatment! pic.twitter.com/MQ0ctTnqxc
— Tommy Reamon Jr. (@CoachReamon) January 8, 2023
“When I was a teenager, I went to his camp,” Tomlin said in a video posted to Twitter by Reamon Jr. “We didn’t have money to go to nobody else’s camp. We went to Coach Reamon’s camp for $5; man, he’d give you lunch and a T-shirt. … I ain’t played one down for this dude, but he always checked on me.”
In addition to Tomlin, among the players he mentored over his career were former Steelers quarterback Michael Vick, who is now the head coach at Norfolk State.
“The Norfolk State University athletic department is saddened to hear of the passing of local football legend Tommy Reamon,” an athletic department statement read. “Coach Reamon was a one-of-a-kind figure who impacted countless members of the Hampton Roads community — including our head football coach Michael Vick. He will be deeply missed. At this time, we request privacy for Coach Vick and his family as they mourn the loss of a...
