SteelerSal
08-27-2010, 06:36 AM
PITTSBURGH -- Mike Webster is regarded as perhaps the best center in NFL history.
As anchor of the Steelers' offensive line during the team's four Super Bowl victories in the 70s, he used his body as a battering ram to punish opposing defenses.
But the punishment "Iron Mike" was inflicting was also taking its toll on his own body, especially his brain.
Following his death at the age of 50 in 2002, Webster was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease.
Now there's a movement to rename it after Webster.
"He was the first modern athlete diagnosed. He was certainly a great player on perhaps football's greatest team and was the cornerstone of the offensive line and the offense and the team spirit, I believe," said neurosurgeon Dr. Julian Bailes.
Bailes, of West Virginia University, showed Channel 4 Action News anchor Michelle Wright an example of an injured brain.
Dark spots represented tau protein, which are like sludge that won't allow cells to work properly.
Bailes said that as the brain gets rattled inside the skull, especially from repetitive concussions, it can be easily damaged.
He said that he believes that fundamental changes need to be made to professional football, where the speed of the game continues to increase. READ MORE (http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/steelers/24778870/detail.html)
As anchor of the Steelers' offensive line during the team's four Super Bowl victories in the 70s, he used his body as a battering ram to punish opposing defenses.
But the punishment "Iron Mike" was inflicting was also taking its toll on his own body, especially his brain.
Following his death at the age of 50 in 2002, Webster was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease.
Now there's a movement to rename it after Webster.
"He was the first modern athlete diagnosed. He was certainly a great player on perhaps football's greatest team and was the cornerstone of the offensive line and the offense and the team spirit, I believe," said neurosurgeon Dr. Julian Bailes.
Bailes, of West Virginia University, showed Channel 4 Action News anchor Michelle Wright an example of an injured brain.
Dark spots represented tau protein, which are like sludge that won't allow cells to work properly.
Bailes said that as the brain gets rattled inside the skull, especially from repetitive concussions, it can be easily damaged.
He said that he believes that fundamental changes need to be made to professional football, where the speed of the game continues to increase. READ MORE (http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/steelers/24778870/detail.html)