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Mike Webster

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Mike Webster
No. 52, 53
Position:Center
Career information
College:Wisconsin
NFL draft:1974 / round: 5 / pick: 125
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Pro Football Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Pro Football Hall of Fame

Michael Lewis "Iron Mike" Webster (March 18, 1952 - September 24, 2002) was an American football player who played center in the National Football League from 1974 to 1990. He played his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Kansas City Chiefs. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "Iron Mike" anchored the Steelers offensive line in their dynasty era and is considered by some as the best center in NFL history.

Football career

Webster was regarded as the best center in the Big Ten during most of his career at the University of Wisconsin. At 6-foot-1, 255 pounds, he was drafted in the 5th round of the 1974 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Serving as a backup at center and guard for two years and being mentored by veteran Ray Mansfield, Webster became the team's starting center in 1976, where he would remain for 150 straight games until 1986. These years included four Super Bowl wins by the Steelers, and Webster and Terry Bradshaw are consequently one of the most well-known center-quarterback pairs in history. Webster was honored as an All-Pro seven times and played in the Pro Bowl nine times.

Webster is also perhaps the best-known of a long line of All-Pro centers for the Steelers from 1964 to 2006, which primarily included just four men in 43 years: Mansfield, Webster, Dermontti Dawson, and Jeff Hartings. In his last year in Pittsburgh, Webster returned the favor by mentoring the then-rookie Dawson in the same manner Mansfield mentored Webster earlier in his career.

Retirement and legacy

Webster was a free agent after the 1988 season. He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs, who initially made him an offensive line coach before allowing him to return as the starting center. His career ended after the 1990 season, with a total of 245 games played at center.

One of his teammates said he was the prototype center for today's game. Joe Greene remembered when he and Ernie Holmes used to be able to beat him up. They couldn't do that after about 4 years.

While the Steelers do not retire numbers, Webster's #52 has not been reissued by the team since he retired and it is generally understood that no Steeler will wear that number in the foreseeable future.

In 1999, he was ranked number 75 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

Post-football life

Webster was a controversial figure due to his tumultuous personal life after his retirement. He is believed to have been legally disabled in 1996, and possibly before, suffering from amnesia, dementia, depression, and acute bone and muscle pain. He lived out of his pickup truck or train stations between Wisconsin and Pittsburgh even though he had friends and former teammates willing to rent apartments for him. He attended his Hall of Fame ceremony in 1997, but disturbed some with a rambling, 20-minute long, incoherent acceptance speech. In his last years Webster lived with his youngest son Garrett, who was only a teenager at the time but had to act more as the parent to his own father than Webster did. His wife divorced him six months before his death in 2002. He was only 50 years old.

Webster is seen as an example of the difficulties American football players suffer when their careers are over. Other players notable for having retired due to head injuries include Johnny Unitas, Merril Hoge, Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Joe Gilliam, Dave Pear, Wayne Chrebet, Al Toon, and Mike Utley.

Webster was cremated after his death. His ashes were split among his wife and their four children.

Ailments

It is universally believed that Webster's ailments were the result of damage sustained over his playing career, and some doctors estimated he had been in the equivalent of "25,000 automobile crashes" in over 35 years of playing football at various levels. Protective equipment, in particular helmets, was inferior during Webster's time, and defensive players sometimes employed a "head slap" move that was then accepted although illegal. Nicknamed "Iron Mike", Webster's reputation for durability led him to play even though injured. While widely believed to have used them, Webster never admitted to using anabolic steroids at points during his career. He did state, however, that if he did take steroids, "they were legal at the time".

Lawsuit

A lawsuit was filed in Maryland's U.S. District Court between Webster's estate and the National Football League. Webster's attorneys argue that he was disabled on his retirement, and is 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. With the addition of interest and fees, that amount will likely exceed $1.60 million. The NFL appealed the ruling, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia, on December 13, 2006 affirmed 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 still playing football.

Trivia

  • In 2004, Rhinelander High School, located in northern Wisconsin (where Webster is an alumnus) re-opened its aging football/track complex under the name Mike Webster Stadium.
  • Mike Webster was an accomplished juggler.
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