To be Iron Mike or to not be Iron Mike

For the purpose of this blog I chose to examine retired athlete Mike Webster.  In 1974 the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Mike Webster in the 5^th round. From that moment on Webster’s career skyrocketed. In his first year with the Steelers, they won the first of four Super Bowls for the Steelers (HallofFame, 2014).  In his second year Webster began sharing time on the field with Ray Mansfield who at the time was coming to an end with his professional career in football (HallofFame, 2014).  Within Webster football career he completed 15 seasons and 220 games with the Pittsburgh Steelers, which happens to be more than any other player in the Steeler’s history (HallofFame, 2014). Within his career, Webster became known as “Iron Mike” (Villanova Sports & Entertainment Law Journal, 2008). Webster has also been selected all pro-choice seven times, All- AFC five times, and has played in nine total pro bowls (HallofFame, 2014).  

As his career began to slow down and retirement approached Webster’s body and mind were wore out. Webster struggled to maintain a job after his football career. He encountered failed business ventures, an arrest, period of homelessness, (Marks, 2008). and drug abuse (Garber, 2005).  Once Webster and his family moved back to Wisconsin, his will to provide for his family decreased in which he began spending his retirement savings and began relying on selling autographed memorabilia as a source of income (Marks, 2008).With his life taking a turn for the worst Webster began getting into legal trouble, which forced him to use his four Super Bowl rings as collateral (Villanova Sports & Entertainment Law Journal, 2008).Webster would not eat for three to four days and would sleep in his beat up truck  (Garber, 2005) or motel room if he could afford it (Marks, 2008). His financial decisions and lack of motivation led him to lose his family and face is battles alone.

Iron Mike was not as invincible as many thought. Webster’s football career left him with many long term injuries such as Loss of hearing, back pain, a chronically damaged right heel, loss of cartilage in both knees, loss of range of motion in his elbow (Garber, 2005) and brain damage (Marks, 2008). The most significant injury that altered his life completely is that he suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) (Cantu, 2007).  To dull the pain and agony from these injuries Webster took a variety of pain medications such as Ritalin, Dexedrine to keep him calm, Paxil for anxiety, Prozac for depression, Klonopin to prevent seizures, Vicodin, Ultram, Lorcet for pain, and Eldepryl for Parkinson’s Disease (Garber, 2005) which all would be paid out of pocket (Marks, 2008). And if worst came to worse, Webster would use a taser gun to himself to fall asleep (Marks, 2008).  In his mind the drugs were way to try to make him feel better but thoughts of suicide were constantly going through his head (Marks, 2008).  At the age of 50 Iron Mike suffered from a heart attack, which eventually took his life (Marks, 2008). 

By looking at Mike Webster’s story it is challenging to understand how someone with so much prestige, struggle with issues like this. One would think that Professional athletes would have the best and life-long health care once retired.  However, that was not the case for Webster and his family fought for his retirement rights. His family wanted more than just a disability check, which only covered over a span of three years. The family went to court in hopes they would receive an additional $1.142 million in disability payments, legal fees and expenses 

(Estate of Michael Webster vs. Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement plan and NFL Player Supplemental Disability Plan) (Garber, 2005).

In this social justice case the power relations between the National Football League and their players are very unbalanced. The players and their families are ultimately the ones who are oppressed in these types of circumstances. They are the ones who have to deal with the daily issues and struggles of what their husband’s profession put him through and ultimately these affects are negative and life threatening.

I believe that is important that professional leagues continue to be responsible for their athletes in terms of providing extended health care options, helping them find career opportunities off the field and or help them go back an get a higher education during retirement. If these options were more available to the players like Webster back then, maybe he would have been able to save his marriage and been a better father figure or he would have been able to receive therapy and care before his CTE symptoms got worse. Players like Mike Webster literally put their life at risk for this league and it is only right that the league take on the responsibility of their player’s injuries long-term affects.

References:

Cantu, R. (2007). Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in the National Football League.  Retrieved April 28^th, 2014, from www. Neurosurgery-online.com

Garber, G. (2005, January 24). Garber: A tormented soul. ESPN.com. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1972285

Hall of Famers, (2003) Mike Webster. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.aspx?PLAYER_ID=227&print=y

;Marks, D. (2008). One for Twenty-five: The Federal Courts Reverse a Decision of the NFL’s Disability Board For First Time Since 1993 in Jani v. Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan. Villanova Sport & Entertainment Law Journal. Vol 15 (1).