Mike Beech, Millennium Hall of Fame

Paving the way for bulldozing running back Steve Brazas and pass

blocking for quarterback Shane Foley, offensive tackle Mike Beech was a

true blue-chip lineman for Coach Mike Giddings’ thunderous Newport Harbor

High football teams from 1982 to ’84.

But Beech, a 6-foot-7, 285-pounder who was recruited by every top

four-year college in the nation and signed with UCLA, crashed before he

could get started for Coach Terry Donahue’s Bruins.

In the spring of Beech’s freshman year, he fell off a balcony one

night on fraternity row and almost lost his life, suffering massive head

injuries and spending 3 1/2 weeks in a hospital.

“Considering the type of injury it was, doctors were amazed at my

speedy recovery,” Beech said. “They listed me among the walking miracles,

because the night of the accident, the doctors told my parents they

didn’t expect me to live through the night.

“For me to come out of it without any physical or mental disabilities

is a miracle in itself. It’s funny, to some extent, I truly, honestly

believe that somebody was looking over my shoulder, an angel, or God,

somebody up there.”

Beech was a two-time first-team All-Sea View League tackle, a two-time

All-CIF Southern Section choice, the Sea View League Lineman of the Year

in 1984, and a member of the prestigious Best of the West team, gaining

seven of 10 votes in a publication used at the time by the Pac-10

Conference as a grading source for recruiting.

For three years, Beech started on Newport Harbor teams that finished

7-5, 8-3-1 (with a Sea View League championship in 1983) and 9-1-2 (with

a league co-title in ‘84). He was one year behind Brazas and one year

ahead of Foley, two players who defined a generation in the Long Gray

Line.

But Beech was right there, following Dave Cadigan as the next great

Harbor lineman.

“As an athlete, the things I always tend to remember most are the

details of the failures,” Beech said. “We had such talented teams that

I’d have to say the inability for myself to help our team get past the

quarterfinals in the three years I (played varsity football) is something

that I remember in detail, each one of those (season-ending) losses (in

the CIF playoffs).”

Beech, however, can boast of two league titles and never having lost

to Back Bay rival Corona del Mar in four years. In fact, Beech’s best

memory might well be the 1983 Battle of the Bay, when the Sailors edged

the Sea Kings, 7-3, and he was allowed to play defense for the first

time.

Jeff Brown was CdM’s primary weapon on offense, but Beech enjoyed an

outstanding game, stopping him in the backfield once and providing a

quarterback sack and several harasses.

“That was probably one of my most satisfying games,” Beech said. “We

played a tough team and it was anybody’s game.”

Also in his junior year, Beech said the Sailors’ 28-7 loss to El Toro

cost them the league title outright, but with Brazas out because of an

injury, the Chargers threw everything at Beech except the kitchen sink.

“They threw three different players at me, trying to figure out some

way to get through,” said Beech, who had El Toro players coming up to him

after the game with congratulations.

As a senior, Beech, who had narrowed his recruiting list to UCLA,

Colorado, SMU, USC and Washington, punished the Sea Kings again in a 34-8

victory for the Tars. “We had a field day against them,” Beech said.

Beech never lost a battle in the high school trenches, striking fear

into opponents with his size, strength and savvy, along with an attitude.

In Beech’s final high school game, a 28-22 loss to Sunny Hills in the

1984 quarterfinals, the Newport Harbor coaching staff was aware of an

opposing player who was shown on film trying to submarine linemen at the

ankles or knees. It was a big mistake for that player when he tried it on

Beech early in the first quarter.

“He caught me low, and I looked at him, then he made a gesture and I

just pointed at him and said, ‘Let’s go!”’ Beech said. “For the remaining

of the game, I ended up picking him up and dropping him five yards back.

Me and Joey James were just killing him.”

In three years, Beech never allowed his man to get through and sack or

harass the quarterback, something Giddings and the coaches always praised

him for. The way Beech could pass protect, who knows how long he could’ve

played?

But Beech never saw the field at UCLA. After his head injury, doctors

said if it happened again on the gridiron, “no matter how close you are

to a hospital, you won’t make it.”

That’s when Beech, who still suffers from memory loss, decided his

career was over.

Today, Beech is working toward his college degree at Vanguard

University, where he’s expected to graduate next spring, and, eventually,

earn a teaching credential.

Beech, 32, lives in Newport Beach with his wife, Tiki, and two

children: Daughter Jasmine, 7, and son Austin, 21 months.

Beech is a member of the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame, celebrating

the millennium.