Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau meets with his defense during a game against the Houston Oilers in Cincinnati, OH, Nov. 1, 1987. The Oilers defeated the Bengals 31-29. (Paul Spinelli via AP)

No one.

Make that no one except Bengals president Mike Brown has seen as much pro football around these parts as Charles Richard LeBeau.

Although, you couldn’t tell visiting with him at Paycor Stadium this week. The man this typist once back in the ’90s called the Dick Clark of the NFL, with his ageless looks and eternal cool, is 87 now. And, still, appears as if he could tackle Jim Brown.

Which Dick LeBeau did during his Pro Football Hall of Fame career on the Detroit corner from 1959-72. He also grabbed 62 interceptions, third all-time when he retired. During 45 more years in the league as a coach, he had three as the Cincinnati head man during a career best known for devising the game-changing zone blitz for the cutting-edge Bengals of the late 1980s.

“Fulcher 23 Stay,” LeBeau reminds you of the name of the first zone blitz call, named after his Pro Bowl safety.

But when it comes to talking about the current quarterback of Paycor, LeBeau has to go back to when he played to start a discussion of Joe Burrow.

“He might be the most accurate I’ve seen,” LeBeau says of those 59 seasons. “Here’s an old-timer. When I came into the league there were 12 teams and they each had two quarterbacks. Only 24 people in the country were getting paid to throw the ball, so they were pretty damn good passers.”

LeBeau had come down to the stadium to surprise another safety in Fulcher’s secondary. Solomon Wilcots, who has gone on to become one of the NFL’s best analysts in any medium, was being interviewed for a documentary detailing Miami University’s “Cradle of Coaches,” when he caught sight of the familiar figure.

“Coach LeBeau. That’s my guy,” Wilcots says later. “His experience as a player was so real. You knew he had the answers to the test. Like someone turned on a light bulb. Not many coaches can do that. Paul Brown could. Like flying a plane and suddenly the fog lifts.”

Wilcots reminds LeBeau of another safety he coached. He just happens to be Joe Burrow’s father.

“Safety out of Nebraska. Like Solly. Tough, smart,” LeBeau says. “You could tell he was going to be a great coach.”

But Jimmy Burrow could play. That’s what LeBeau insisted to his bosses in Green Bay, where he was coaching the Packers’ secondary in 1976.

“I had to stand on the table for him,” LeBeau says. “We drafted him. Aggressive. Smart. Just like Solly. Solly’s a little bigger than Jimmy. I said we should draft Jimmy. Everybody is going to talk about his size. Jimmy was not real big, 178, 179 pounds. But tough. I played a lot of years at 178.”

LeBeau’s still got it as he remembers that draft board from 50 years ago. The all-time ledger says Jim Burrow went 5-11, 181 pounds. The Packers listened to LeBeau in the eighth round. That’s where the Bengals listened to LeBeau and drafted Wilcots 11 years later out of Colorado.

As more fate would have it, after making the team Jim Burrow played the first three games of the season before getting cut and that made his last NFL game in Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium.

“I never doubted Jimmy would play well. He’s smart and athletic. Joe’s probably a foot taller than his dad,” LeBeau chuckles. “There was concern about his size, but I don’t think that’s why we cut him. As I recall, they had to make a spot at another position.”

LeBeau followed the career route of his smart safety after Burrow went into coaching following his five years playing in Canada that included some all-star teams and 17 interceptions.

“He is and always will be The Man. Love Coach LeBeau,” Jimmy Burrow will text you. He’ll also write, “Hall of Famer in every sense of the word!!!!. Coach and Player.”

They bumped into each other during the 14 seasons Burrow coached at Ohio University and when his son has now come along firing lasers as the next great NFL quarterback, LeBeau can’t be surprised how the kid is doing it.

“Tough. That’s where it comes from,” LeBeau says. “Intelligence and knowing the game like he does. That whole family is sharp. Joe Burrow is sharp. Very precise with the ball. Quick with his decisions. He’s got competitive skills. The tighter the situation, the more likely he is to deliver. That’s an unusual combination and that’s why you’ve got a special quarterback there.”

This is exactly how special Lebeau thinks Joe Burrow is. He has to backpedal six decades.

“Van Brocklin. Starr. Unitas,” LeBeau says. “They just had ball placement, and Joe reminds me of those guys a lot. He’s a better athlete. Quicker. Can run more. He doesn’t get much credit for his escapability, but he he’s not a sitting duck back there. He can do that part. You can’t say this guy is better than that guy. But they’re all right up there and that’s where Joe is.”

Norm Van Brocklin. Bart Starr. Johnny Unitas.

“Coach saying that means a lot to me,” Jimmy Burrow says.

Van Brocklin holds the record for most passing yards in a game with 554. Starr won the first two Super Bowls. And there is Unitas with his four championships, three MVPs, 10 Pro Bowls, and those 38 game-winning drives that made your hair stand up like Johnny U.’s crewcut.

“When Joe got the Golden Arm trophy and John Unitas Jr. put the jacket on him, I got a little weak in the knees,” Jimmy Burrow says.

Yes sir. LeBeau would zone blitz Burrow.

“I zone-blitzed everybody,” LeBeau says. “And in order to make the zone blitz work, you have to flat out just man blitz some. If you just load the gun and never pull the trigger, not going to happen.”

But after more than 1,000 games if you include playoffs, LeBeau knows Joe Burrow could make him pay like few could.

“Top echelon. Very, very much top echelon,” says the ageless LeBeau who has seen all ages. “His dad was a coach.”