Pam Webster had to take a job as a waitress to support her family, and the couple ultimately divorced, shortly before Mike’s death at age 50. He is currently the chief medical examiner of San Joaquin County, Calif. and a professor in the UC Davis Department of Medical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
He had a progressive deterioration in his socioeconomic status, in his personal life and interpersonal relationships. ... Well, you know, I think if you're talking from a medical standpoint or if you're talking from a standpoint where you're diagnosing it, it's two different things of who's talking. And whatever, it seemed like he was an all-around athlete, like he had several trophies for wrestling, and actually had one bad ear from wrestling and hitting it on the floor so many times. Why would I worry about --?" ... Oh, yeah. He grew up in Harshaw, Wis. and was born in Tomahawk, Wis. His dad was a potato farmer at the time, so he worked hard in the fields. You know, it would have been a lot better staying married. [Mike and Pam's son] Garrett and I talked about it a little bit, and we don't know if it was a change of Art [Rooney] Sr., the chief, dying and this new regime coming in under Dan [Rooney, Art's son], or if they noticed something in Mike that wasn't there before. It was just so hard to stay married anymore. You know, this guy wasn't just a famous doctor from -- that everybody, was well respected. But I think that now some of the preventative steps are guys aren't going to play that long. They don't have that attitude of we're royalty and we're above everybody else. He was angrier quicker than before, and didn't have the patience to have the kids on his lap or take a walk with the kids, like he didn't have that stamina physically.
And that would be really hard, because number one, I knew it was Christmas, and number two, it had to be embarrassing for him. Omalu's study on Webster, or 'Iron Mike' as he was nicknamed, was published in 2005 despite denials from the NFL on his findings. Financially we were struggling. He wanted that dream to go back for us and the kids, even if he lost everything himself. I was afraid of letting Mike down. It's not your fault. I don't see it as football destroying our life; I think brain injury because of football destroyed what we had and made it a lot harder than it had to be. And the really sad part is, it wasn't his fault. He was a shell of what he was before. We're going back to rookie season. We're battling an institution that's never been battled here. He was 40 looking 65, 70.
It's either you have Down syndrome or you have one of the family of Alzheimer's; that is extremely rare, you find maybe in the Scandinavian countries, and there will be a family history. However, at that instance I think he was angry at himself. Your main thing is I've got to feed the kids; I've got to take care of them; I've got to get them to school. It was too hard for him to live. Pam Webster spoke to FRONTLINE’s Jim Gilmore on April 18, 2013.Well, you know, Mike had a good heart.
But the '70s and '80s was a different -- where the physical toll, especially with that position, the offensive line, defensive line, is so much different than if you're a running back or a quarterback. You're just trying to get by in this storm. I regret the divorce. … So I saw his slides.
That's all he ever wore was that. He was just angry. You know -- the suicides, I think Mike didn't commit suicide because he loved his children so much; he couldn't do that to them. Additional funding is provided by the Park Foundation, the John and Helen Glessner Family Trust, the Ford Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, But upon opening his skull, Mike's brain looked normal. He was angrier quicker than before, and didn't have the patience to have the kids on his lap or take a walk with the kids, like he didn't have that stamina physically. He was very simple, but he was very polite, a typical athlete in some ways, but nontypical in other ways. He is a celebrated football player. So I turned on the news to see what was going on, who was killing someone somewhere someplace. They fought us tooth and nail because they don't want to discuss this.
I didn't know what to expect. So I said, "Oh, Mike Webster." I mean, there was times he -- in later years he would take an ax and bash a headlight in the car if he was angry at something. Even his appearance had been not good. Lesser Known Facts. But he wasn't a complainer. ...She watched her husband, Steelers legend Mike Webster, become confused, angry and violent in the years after he retired from football. And then Mike really wanted to play. I think later in later years he went into well drilling. The circumstances fell together in all this plan. Would you want to end up like Mike Webster?
Pam Webster spoke to FRONTLINE’s Jim Gilmore on April 18, 2013. His body -- he had cellulitis. It was more dangerous because you took more hits. No. Yeah, because I couldn't explain it.