Mike Webster survivors left out of awards
By Ken Belson | The New York Times
When the Pittsburgh Steelers begin their march to a potential seventh Super Bowl championship on Sunday afternoon, Garrett Webster will be delivering pizza from his 14-year-old Honda Pilot.
This might surprise fans and his customers, but Mr. Webster, the 33-year-old son of Mike Webster, the stalwart center of the Steelers’ dynasty of the 1970s, has to make ends meet. Playoff game days are especially busy.
Mike Webster, who died in 2002, was the first N.F.L. player to receive a diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head hits. His central role on those great Steelers teams, combined with his tragic decline, landmark diagnosis and long fight for disability benefits, led to hundreds of cases filed by retired N.F.L. players who said the league had hid from them the dangers of playing football.
Yet 15 years after his death, and two years after the courts cleared the way for a settlement that would pay an estimated $1 billion to retired players,
