Mike Webster often played in pain.
Died young, with black spots on his brain.
In football, helmets oft collide,
concussing all that’s hid inside.
A nose may break, a lip get fatter:
what becomes of one’s gray matter?
Years of tackles, spears and blocks:
much like butting heads with rocks.
A diagnosis, finally,
showed brain disease called CTE.
Amnesia, pain, severe depression:
sometimes football’s last impression.
Approaching fifty, out of luck,
“Iron Mike” lived in a truck.
All-star center, Hall of Fame:
now a victim of the game.
This sad Steeler’s tale, we’re sorry,
hasn’t changed the post game story.
To deal with damage of this sort
may change the nature of the sport.