 Webster at 18, 1970 | |||||||||
| No. 52, 53 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Center | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1952-03-18)March 18, 1952 Tomahawk, Wisconsin, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | September 24, 2002(2002-09-24) (aged 50) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Rhinelander (Rhinelander, Wisconsin) | ||||||||
| College | Wisconsin | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1974: 5th round, 125th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Michael Lewis Webster (March 18, 1952 – September 24, 2002) was an American professionalfootballcenter in theNational Football League (NFL) from1974 to1990 with thePittsburgh Steelers andKansas City Chiefs. He is a member of thePro Football Hall of Fame, class of 1997. Nicknamed "Iron Mike", Webster anchored the Steelers' offensive line during much of their run of fourSuper Bowl victories from 1974 to1979 and is considered by many the greatest center in NFL history.[1]
Webster died in 2002 at the age of 50 of aheart attack. The brain diseasechronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was initially discovered in his brain during his autopsy, and brought attention to the disease.[2]
Webster was born inTomahawk, Wisconsin north ofWausau on March 18, 1952, the second child of six children. He grew up on a 640-acrepotatofarm nearHarshaw, Wisconsin southeast ofPark Falls. As a child, Webster idolizedGreen Bay Packers fullbackJim Taylor. Webster attendedRhinelander High School inRhinelander, Wisconsin, earning several awards inwrestling and participating intrack and field. Due to Webster's responsibilities on his family's farm, he did not start playingfootball until his junior year. His coach Dave Lechnir had to drive Webster home after practice so the latter could get home in time to do his chores. Despite Webster's late introduction to the game, he quickly learned how to command the offensive line and earned a football scholarship.[3]
After graduating from high school in 1970, Webster committed to theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison.[4] He was 6'1" and around 230 pounds when he began his college career, he later bulked up to 255 pounds while he played for theBadgers.[5] He was regarded as being the best center in theBig Ten during most of his career with the Badgers.[6] While at the University of Wisconsin, Webster started at center for three seasons and was a team captain during his senior year. He earned recognition as the team's Most Valuable Player and received All-Big Ten honors. Webster also showcased his skills in many postseason games including the College All-Star Game, East-West Shrine Bowl, Hula Bowl, Senior Bowl, and the Coaches All-America Game.[7]
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At 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) and 255 pounds (116 kg), he was selected in the fifth round of the1974 NFL draft by thePittsburgh Steelers. Webster served as a backup at center and guard for two years while being mentored by veteran centerRay Mansfield. He became the team's starting center in1976, where he remained for 150 consecutive games. He was the Steelers' offensive captain for nine years.[8] That ended in 1986 when he dislocated his elbow, causing him to sit out for four games. The Steelers won Super BowlsIX,X,XIII, andXIV. Webster was honored as anAll-Pro seven times and played in thePro Bowl nine times.
An avid weightlifter, Webster was known for playing with bare arms to keep opponents from grabbing his sleeves;[9] as his techniques were primarily done to reduce holding calls, this eventually led to teams and athletic suppliers to gradually shorten the sleeves on football jerseys to the point that the sleeves were nonexistent and several teams jersey stripes (including the Steelers) no longer went around the sleeve and in many cases partially missing. This would eventually spread to all levels of football.
Webster became afree agent after the1988 season. He was signed by theKansas City Chiefs, who initially made him an assistant offensive line coach before allowing him to return as the starting center.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.[10]
At the time of his retirement, he was the last active player in the NFL to have played on all fourSuper Bowl winning teams of the 1970s Steelers. At the time of his retirement, he had played more seasons as a Steeler than anyone else in franchise history (15 seasons), one season ahead ofTerry Bradshaw andHines Ward.Ben Roethlisberger tied Webster's record in the2018 season, and broke it in2019.[11]
Despite the Steelers ceasing officially retiringjersey numbers at the time of his retirement, Webster's No. 52 has not been reissued by the team since he retired in deference to his legacy with the Steelers. In 1999, he was ranked number 75 onThe Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. The football stadium atRhinelander High School, his alma mater, is named Mike Webster Stadium in his honor.[12] Webster was posthumously elected to theWisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.[13]
Webster was proven to have been disabled before retiring from the NFL.[14] After retirement, Webster hadamnesia,dementia,depression, and acute bone and muscular pain. He lived out of hispickup truck or intrain stations betweenWisconsin andPittsburgh, despite friends and former teammates offering to rent apartments for him. Teammate and fellow hall of famerTerry Bradshaw regularly covered expenses for Webster and his family, while Steelers ownerDan Rooney paid for a hotel room for Webster for over three months.[15] Nonetheless, Webster continued to disappear for weeks at a time without explanation and without contact with friends and family. He exhibited unusual changes in behavior, and became so agitated and restless that he usedelectroshock weapons on himself to induce sleep.[16]
In his last years Webster lived with his youngest son, Garrett, who though only a teenager at the time, moved from Wisconsin to Pittsburgh to care for his father. Webster's wife Pamela divorced him six months before his death. He died of aheart attack at the age of 50 on September 24, 2002.[17][18][19] Webster was cremated and his ashes were returned to his ex-wife and their five children, two sons and three daughters.[20]
After death, Webster was diagnosed withchronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease.[21] Webster was the first former NFL player diagnosed with CTE. Dr.Bennet Omalu, aforensicneuropathologist, examined tissue from Webster and eight other NFL players and determined they all showed the kind of brain damage previously seen in people withAlzheimer's disease ordementia, as well as in some retired boxers.[17] Webster's brain resembled those of boxers with "dementia pugilistica", also known as "punch-drunk syndrome".[2][22] Omalu's findings were largely ignored by the NFL untilCincinnati Bengals wide receiverChris Henry was diagnosed with CTE shortly after his death at age 26 in 2009.[23] 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.[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. His wife Pamela stated years later that she felt that she caused Webster's change in personality in the years before his death and placed guilt on herself over her decision to divorce Webster, until discovering after his death about the CTE diagnosis.[2] Webster played during an era when protective equipment (especially helmets) was inferior, and head injuries were considered part of the game of football.[citation needed] At the time of his death, Webster was addicted to prescription medication.[24]
Nicknamed "Iron Mike", Webster's reputation for durability led him to play even through injuries. So strong was Webster that he was one of eight players that participated in a "Strongest Man in Football" competition that aired on CBS in 1980. Whileanabolic steroids were considered legal to use during the time of Webster's career, he never publicly stated that he ever used steroids.[25] His struggle with mental illness, as a result of CTE, at the end of his life was depicted in the 2015 filmConcussion. Webster was portrayed byDavid Morse and Dr.Bennet Omalu was portrayed byWill Smith. He is one of at least 345NFL players to be diagnosed after death with this disease, which is caused by repeated hits to the head.[26][27]
Webster's estate brought a lawsuit in Maryland'sUnited States District Court against theNational Football League. The estate contended that Webster was disabled at the time of his retirement, and was owed $1.142 million in disability payments under the NFL's retirement plan. On April 26, 2005, a federal judge ruled that the NFL benefits plan owed Webster's estate $1.18 million in benefits.[14] With the addition of interest and fees, the amount was estimated to be over $1.60 million. The NFL appealed the ruling. On December 13, 2006, theU.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit inRichmond, Virginia upheld the Baltimore federal judge's 2005 ruling that the league's retirement plan must pay benefits reserved for players whose disabilities began while they were playing football.[28]
Media related toMike Webster at Wikimedia Commons