Mike Webster
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| Position: | Center | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | March 18, 1952 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | Tomahawk, Wisconsin | ||||||||
| Date of death: | September 24, 2002 (aged 50) | ||||||||
| Place of death: | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Rhinelander (WI) | ||||||||
| College: | Wisconsin | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1974 / Round: 5 / Pick: 125 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Games played: | 245 |
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| Games started: | 217 |
| Fumble recoveries: | 6 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Michael Lewis Webster (March 18, 1952 – September 24, 2002) was an American football player who played as a center in the National Football League from 1974 to 1990 with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, class of 1997. Nicknamed "Iron Mike", Webster anchored the Steelers' offensive line during much of their run of four Super Bowl victories from 1974 to 1979 and is considered by some as the best center in NFL history.
Webster was the first former NFL player diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Since his death, he has become a symbol for head injuries in the NFL and the ongoing debate over player safety. His doctors were of the opinion that multiple concussions during his career damaged his frontal lobe, which caused cognitive dysfunction.
Webster died at the age of 50 of a heart attack.
Mike 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 while being mentored by veteran center 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. An avid weightlifter, Webster was known for playing with bare arms to keep opponents from grabbing his sleeves. Webster is also perhaps the best-known of a long line of All-Pro centers for the Steelers. From 1964 to 2006, just four men started at that position: 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.
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