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Testimony of Garrett Webster BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE Hearing on Oversight of the NFL Retirement System September 18, 2007
The following people all helped Mr. Mike Webster in his final years, and I would like to include their names on this document-- Bob Fitzsimmons Sunny Jani Devin jani Alexis Jani Dr. Charles Kelly Dr. Jim Vodvarka Freddy Shaheen Sam Nuci Terry despoy Cy Smith Pamela Webster Brooke Webster Colin Webster Garrett Webster And the entire Pittsburgh Steelers Family
Ladies and gentleman, before I begin my testimony, I would like to express my gratitude for being included in today’s proceedings. I am humbled to be able to appear here today, in the capitol of the greatest country in the world, to share the story of a great football player and a great man who was abandoned by the league he helped build. Because I am proud of the way my father lived and still agonized at the way he died, I may struggle in my oral presentation of this testimony against being inappropriate. I hope I am at my best for you Members of the Committee who have kindly taken oversight of the great injustices of the NFL’s disability system, and for the men who have suffered, and who continue to suffer, under it. I know that, for their sake and for the memory of my father, whom I represent today, that I must try to put hurt feelings aside and coolly expose the deceptions in that system that will rob other children of fathers, mothers of sons, and wives of husbands if it is allowed to continue. I ask you to listen with open hearts and open minds with concern not for icons, superstars, quarterbacks, lineman, or football players, but for your fellow human beings. In return, I will try to be as brave before my task as my father was in life. Today you will hear, first hand, from former players about what it’s like to try and obtain relief for their disabilities from the NFL. You will hear what its like to be in constant pain. You will hear what its like to fear the loss of your mind, body, and perhaps even your very soul while you are still relatively young. But that is not my story. I cannot tell you what its like to wake up and not be able to walk to the shower without being in constant pain. I cannot tell you what its like to fear the loss of your mind and to feel it actually happening. I cannot tell you what its like to become a stranger even to yourself. However what I can tell you, and what I will tell you, is what its like to standby, helpless, as your father’s life is turned into a constant living hell that most people would take their own lives to escape. My father was Iron Mike Webster. He played 17 years and was perhaps the most widely respected player in the league during the 1970’s and 80’s for his strength, for his work ethic, and for his devotion to his team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was the Steeler the fans viewed as one of them--a regular man who would dedicated hundreds of hours to helping raise millions of dollars for spina bifida, who would stay long after autograph shows so everyone got a souvenir signed, who greeted everyone with a handshake from those massive hands and made them feel like they where a personal friend. Ask all of these people who Mike Webster was and they will tell you that he is the definition of an all time great. I would love to tell you that Iron Mike Webster lived out his remaining years, a proud man, sharp as a tack, humorous, warm, and caring, a wonderful husband and father. But I cannot lie and, because I care about my Dad’s memory and I care about the people that here today who are suffering under the same system that failed him so miserably, I must try to tell the truth as I saw it, through the eyes of a surviving son. I’m proud of my father, and as all sons are, I think my dad was the greatest dad in the world. When I was young, I remember my dad wrestling with my brother Colin and I in the pool, chasing robins with my sisters Brooke and Hillary in our front yard and reading stories into a tape recorder so we could hear his voice when he was away on road trips. My Mother, who could not be here today, remembers my dad as a good father and husband who could remember the street layouts of Chicago after taking one look at a map, and who would play practical jokes on the neighbors, not limited to putting a few rubber snakes in Mrs. Gregg’s mailbox. But, as I grew older, I grew more and more aware that the Mike Webster I knew was dying. I remember the day I knew something was wrong when, on my 10th birthday, my dad was nowhere to be found. I didn’t even receive a phone call, which was not like him. Later that month I found out why, when our family discovered “Iron Mike” bloated to over 300 pounds, shivering in a bed at a rat infested motel. At his side were not pictures of his kids, nor his super bowl rings, but a bucket of human waste because he was too weak to make it to the bathroom. As time passed, my dad’s condition only got worse. I have lived through things I would not wish on my worst enemy. Have any of you had to shock a family member with a tazer so he could be without pain for a few moments, have any of you, at the age of 13, received a phone call from your father in which he tells you he is about to kill himself? Have any of you witnessed a once strong, proud man, reduce himself to begging for Kentucky Fried Chicken? I hope not. I have and I cannot forget. My father is gone, now. I cannot help him. But I can do what he would do for his teammates and fellow football players if he were here, and healthy, and the man he was before repeated head injuries suffered on the football field took his mind and body from him at an early age, and took him from me far too soon. What I’m asking is that the NFL Players Union and the National Football League as a whole look beyond the bottom line and help the modern day gladiators in every way they can to find peace, self respect and a measure of health when there very short time in the game is over so they don’t end up relieving themselves in an oven in a flash of dementia as my father did once. Believe me, there are millions of kids who play this beautiful game of football who have no idea of the risks. I’m calling on the League, the Players Union, the Commissioner, the retired players, and the United States government to put aside egos and hurt feelings and work on a way to educate people about the health risks involved with playing the game, and to take care of those athletes who got hurt while playing it in a fair and balanced way, whether that be with healthcare, social workers, insurance or whatever help can be provided by a multi-billion dollar corporation. The final plea I will make is to you, Commissioner Goodell. I personally think that you’re a good man who wants to promote positive change and in today’s game. You have shown good leadership with things such as making sure NFL players are accountable when they break the law, so they are good role models for kids today. I’m making a plea to you, not as the son of Mike Webster, not as a 23 year-old kid who has lost his best friend and father, but as a young man who desperately wants no one to ever feel the pain that I feel every morning, to feel the loneliness when I feel when I need to turn to my father for advice and he is not there, to feel the heartbreak that I feel when I hear about Chris Beniot, Andre Waters, Reggie White, Justin Strylzick and the web of people connected to them, that have had there life’s destroyed by repeated concussions and head injuries. I ask you, Mr. Goodell, to use your position as NFL Commissioner to lead the charge to educate the public about brain injuries and show them how to rehab and take care of someone that is slowly becoming a stranger to himself and those around him. I pledge to offer whatever help I can in support. My father would like that, I know. I would give my life to never see another family end up like mine. I am ready to help. Please join me. Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, I thank you for your time.
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