I thought you might like to see a memorial for Mike Iron Mike Webster I found on Findagrave.com. That morning, on a stainless steel autopsy table inside the Allegheny County coroner's office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, lay the body of Mike Webster, the legendary center of the Pittsburgh . If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. With the Steelers winning Super Bowl IX, X, XIII, and XIV, Webster and Terry Bradshaw form one of the best-known centerquarterback pairs in history. His anguish is evident as he writes about his mental state: deep, confusing, twisting fishing line tangled up mess of confusing things go on all the time.. Its too tough. Just acknowledge it and say, how can we prevent this stuff from happening again? He put on a brave front, though, for his two daughters. But when he died, I felt this calm come over me. Omalu published his findings, believing NFL officials would want to know more. He never came out and said that he was hurt by it but it was a feeling of you were being cast aside, being thrown out. [10] Webster was posthumously elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. We couldnt imagine us not being included. He experienced fits of rage and confusion, drained his assets, and even went through a period of homelessness. [/pullquote]. Players worry about ending their career, she says. Using findings from the autopsy, Dr. Bennet Omalu studies the long-term effects of football collisions on Mike Webster's brain. I dont really remember anything of Dad playing before Kansas City, but there are parts of memories. Players with CTE have battled depression, memory loss, and in some cases dementia. In organized high school sports, concussions occur more often in competitive sports, with football accounting for more than 60% of concussions. [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. Biography He was born on March 18, 1952, in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, USA, as Michael Lewis Webster. "If you take out the head injuries, Dad was ruled completely disabled from football," Webster explained. Family members linked to this person will appear here. Obviously there are times when things are in the news you cant avoid. Mike would call at 2 a.m. and say hes lost. Webster saw a slew of doctors during this period in the mid-90s, including one who told him he appeared to be brain-damaged. Weve updated the security on the site. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. The father and son slept on the floor, surrounded by pizza boxes. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. games, including 177 in a row. For years prior to his death, he battled symptoms resembling depression, dementia, and amnesia. I know growing up, one of the biggest things that was tough was having people that you could tell things to and you can relate to. On April 26, 2005, a federal judge ruled that the NFL benefits plan owed Webster's estate $1.18 million in benefits. That stuff gets passed on through the grapevine. [6]This ended in 1986 when he dislocated his elbow, causing him to sit out for four games. Dad was never a part of those, even when he was alive. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. You can find out when League of Denial airs on your local PBS station here. [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. We all worked hard, but none as hard as Mike did. In the film, which premieres Tuesday, Oct. 8 beginning at 9 pm EST, FRONTLINE investigates the hidden story of the NFLs response to head injuries. He stopped hanging out with the family as much. Contact Us | Mercury Morris: The Owners dont want to pay benefits! You look at the center position as the foundation, says legendary running back Franco Harris. [dropcap]M[/dropcap]ike Webster grew up on a potato farm near Tomahawk, Wisconsin, where rooting for the Green Bay Packers was a religion. Derek Helling is a journalist out of Chicago. !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)? Why the Steelers shouldnt give up on Kevin Dotson. Gambling problem? AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. The COVID-19 Effect, When the Victim Becomes the Accused: The Kamrin Moore Story, Kelechi Osemeles Saga Reminds Us of NFLs Toxic Culture, Perspective: The NFL Doesnt Need Headhunters, CTE Risk More Than Doubles after Just Three Years of Playing Football, When CTE Steals Your Dad: Garrett Remembers Mike Webster, Two Stanford Alumni. And Webster's acceptance speech was emotional and prophetic. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Money quickly became a problem. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. Privacy Policy. Football injuries associated with the brain occur at the rate of one in every 5.5 games. I want to work for a living, I want to earn my keep and stuff like that. He noted that Mike Webster's body was sixty-nine inches long and weighed 244 pounds. They eventually cost him his marriage. A traumatic brain injury occurs every 15 seconds. Oops, we were unable to send the email. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. Indirectly, football was his life, and it was what cost him his life. But Webster's transition to post-football life was filled with setbacks.