Webster played two seasons in Kansas City before announcing his retirement on March 11, 1991, after a 17-year career with a total of 245 games played at center. My dad played 17 years and we did eventually win our pension suit. '', At the time, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Webster was ''homeless, unemployed, deep in debt, beset with medical ailments, lacking health insurance, in the midst of divorce, in the care of a psychiatrist and on medication, and involved in a complex lawsuit over real estate investments.''. They cant go out in public like normal people and stuff like that.. [15] Webster's brain resembled those of boxers with "dementia pugilistica", also known as "punch-drunk syndrome". Mike Webster autopsy 'one of the most significant moments in the history of sports' Authors of the book "League of Denial," ESPN investigative reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada and his brother,. He would become the first football player. Im feeling good, the quarterback says, moving stiffly. There is a problem with your email/password. Steelers legendary center Mike Webster was simply not himself after his career ended. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, class of 1997. In 1999, Webster was charged with forging 19 prescriptions to obtain Ritalin, a stimulant mainly used for children with attention deficit hyperactivity. Send Flowers. Webster's wife Pamela divorced him six months before his death in 2002 of a heart attack at age 50. ''You only fail if you don't finish the game,'' he said. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Mike Iron Mike Webster I found on Findagrave.com. But Rooney refuses to believe Websters problems were more than psychological or that he was truly entitled to an NFL disability. I remember the NFLPA bragging about how they had something like $10 billion in their retirement fund. You look at the center position as the foundation, says legendary running back Franco Harris. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. An avid reader, Webster could still devour books on Winston Churchill and World War II, yet his memory was so fragmented he couldnt remember the simplest things, sometimes sleeping in his car by the side of the road because he didnt know how to get home. It started with Mike Webster's brain. You couldnt help but take it as a slap in the face. Hed cut off his sleeves in the freezing cold, zero degrees, to intimidate the other teams, Rooney says with a grin. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1974, he played for 17 seasons, 15 with the Steelers. His toughness made him a winner: He was voted onto the All-Pro team six straight years, won four Super Bowl rings, and joined the greatest players ever in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Webster is also survived by two sons, Colin of Camp LeJeune, N.C., and Garrett; two daughters, Hillary and Brooke; two grandchildren; his father, William, of Harshaw, Wis.; two brothers, Reid and Joe Webster; and two sisters, Wendy and Jane Webster. Mike Webster, 50, Dies; Troubled Football Hall of Famer, https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/25/sports/mike-webster-50-dies-troubled-football-hall-of-famer.html. Resend Activation Email. You can always change this later in your Account settings. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. I think that all athletes and anybody whos been in an all-consuming career field, once thats over, they deal with a part in their life in which they are aimless. Jani began to handle the increasingly frequent crises, bailing Webster out of awkward jams. I couldnt leave him in that situation, Garrett recalls. '', See the article in its original context from. When I was young, he said he wanted me to be somebody, like a lawyer, says Garrett, who moved in with his father three years ago. I got to sit down with Art Rooney. 10% of all contact sport athletes sustain concussions yearly. A traumatic brain injury occurs every 15 seconds. Money quickly became a problem. I didnt realize he had a brain injury, says Pamela. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. games, including 177 in a row. He didnt watch the games, he didnt know the teams, and he certainly didnt know the name Mike Webster. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. The Steelers young guard hasnt been great, but he deserves another chance in 2023. boxers, very old people with Alzheimer's disease, Steelers vs. He was an undersized 225-pound center at the University of Wisconsin who lingered in the N.F.L. It was kind of like, whats the point of having something if its basically impossible for people to get a pension? [4] [5], Mike Webster was regarded as the best center in the Big Ten during most of his career at the University of WisconsinMadison. Pam Webster had to take a job as a waitress to support her family, and the couple ultimately divorced, shortly before Mike's death at age 50. [2], It has been speculated that Webster's ailments were due to wear and tear sustained over his playing career; some doctors estimated he had been in the equivalent of "25,000 automobile crashes" in over 25 years of playing football at the high school, college and professional levels. I cant do that again. He died at age 50, possibly from brain injuries sustained from his work. A lot of guys look back, and they love the game, says Harris. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. Meanwhile, Mike began drifting back to Pittsburgh, spending more and more time there. Mike Webster, whose Hall of Fame pro football career was followed by more than a decade of physical and psychological turmoil apparently brought on by repeated blows to the head on the field,. People who play in the NFL, theyre not normal guys. We recommend our users to update the browser. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. In 1999, he was ranked number 75 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. [21] Webster's son Garrett now serves as the administrator to the Brain Injury Research Institute in Pittsburgh, which is dedicated to encouraging individuals who have had head trauma to donate their brains after death as well as being an advocate to players who have similar conditions that his father had. Former colleagues soon began to hear disturbing stories about him, but no one knew what was wrong, and Webster was mystified and frustrated himself, embarrassed that he couldnt seem to hold a job or even remember scheduled meetings. Rather, a league doctor would tell him, the trouble was in the implications for football. And I don't want their pity. Healthy brain cells will eventually devour those proteins, but in cases like Webster's, the proteins eventually overwhelm the amount of healthy brain cells available to clear the brain. Since 2017, the National Football League has paid $714 million for brain damage sustained by 1,023 of its. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. I dont think he cared about being a hero, he just liked the game.. Garrett shared his experiences of his late father, going through the initial stages of the NFL settlement, the familys relationship with the NFL/Steelers and the community of families who have similarly been affected by neurological diseases. He wasnt eligible, to be honest.