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Steelers' Webster dead at 50

The troubled Hall of Famer, who likely had a heart attack, played 17 seasons.

Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 25, 2002

PITTSBURGH -- Mike Webster's durability and toughness made him a four-time Super Bowl champion and one of the NFL's best linemen. Those qualities also might have led to a brain injury that resulted in drug use and homelessness.

The bare-armed strongman nicknamed "Iron Mike" died Tuesday at age 50. He was remembered as a great center whose sturdiness personified the Steelers' championship teams and whose off-field health and drug problems saddened them.

The Hall of Fame lineman died in Allegheny General Hospital's coronary care unit. At his family's request, the cause of death was not released. The Steelers initially said Mr. Webster died of a heart attack but later declined to comment. He was diagnosed with brain damage in 1999.

"He was one of the main reasons why we won four Super Bowls," Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris said. "Unfortunately, he had some turmoil and misfortune after his football career. He is now at peace."

Chosen as the center on the All-Time NFL team in 2000, Mr. Webster found life after football the opposite of his disciplined, overachieving 17-season career.

Bothered by debt, depression and bad health, he separated from wife Pam before his Hall of Fame induction in 1997 and was homeless for a short time, living in his pickup truck. He was placed on probation in Beaver County, Pa., after pleading no contest in September 1999 to forging prescriptions to obtain Ritalin, a drug used to treat hyperactivity in children.

Mr. Webster was the last of the 22 who played on all four Pittsburgh championship teams to leave the team and first to die. He refused to leave the lineup for serious injuries, once playing six straight seasons without missing a snap.

That insistence may have led to the brain damage. Doctors said the concussions during his career damaged his frontal lobe, causing cognitive dysfunction, which affected his attention span, concentration and focus, leading him to act erratically. Doctors said the condition could not be cured and an operation would not improve his brain functions.

Mr. Webster started three years at Wisconsin, making the All-Big Ten team. At 225 pounds, he was considered too small by some NFL teams and was not taken until the fifth round of the 1974 draft.

With four future Hall of Famers in the first five rounds -- Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Mr. Webster -- the Steelers' Class of '74 easily became the best in NFL history.

Mr. Webster became a free agent in 1989 and retired. But after accepting a Chiefs assistant coaching job, he decided to play again and spent two seasons with the Chiefs before quitting after 1990. He had offers to coach, but his health began to deteriorate after he quit playing.

"He went through a lot of tough years, but he never complained about anything," said Terry Bradshaw, who presented Mr. Webster at the Hall of Fame. "The last 10 days, we've lost Johnny Unitas, Bob Hayes and now Mike. What I wouldn't give to put my hands one last time under the greatest center of all time. I'm sure up in heaven, Johnny U. is doing it for me."

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