RIP - Dwight White

[Inky_Wretch]

Former Steeler dies at 58 ...

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jseFKQNyZG2Kf7Yj0AG9aWVmuOSgD914ONEG0

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Seriously... what virulent type of steroid were those 1970s Steelers teams hopped up on?

 

[Inky_Wretch]

He apparently died following complications from back surgery.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jseFKQNyZG2Kf7Yj0AG9aWVmuOSgD914SH304

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

At least 38 former Steelers players have died since 2000, with 17 of them 59 or younger, as was White.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

That stat is something.

 

[Oz]

Heard the news on the way to work, was sad to hear about that at 58. RIP.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

At least 38 former Steelers players have died since 2000, with 17 of them 59 or younger, as was White.

St Petersburg Times, Jan. 29, 2006:

<i>A 1994 study of 7,000 former players by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health found linemen had a 52 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease than the general population. While U.S. life expectancy is 77.6 years, recent studies suggest the average for NFL players is 55, 52 for linemen.</i>

 

[Baron Scicluna]

This may sound strange, but I wonder if the Astroturf at Three Rivers has anything to do with it.

Years ago, I read an interview with Franco Harris. He described watching workmen tear up the turf to put down a new field. He said he was shocked to learn there was only an inch of carpet on top of concrete.

Can help but think that the pounding those guys took on their bodies slamming on that hard field has something to do with their shortened lifespans.

 

[pressmurphy]

This may sound strange, but I wonder if the Astroturf at Three Rivers has anything to do with it.

Years ago, I read an interview with Franco Harris. He described watching workmen tear up the turf to put down a new field. He said he was shocked to learn there was only an inch of carpet on top of concrete.

Can help but think that the pounding those guys took on their bodies slamming on that hard field has something to do with their shortened lifespans.

Can't believe the surface at Three Rivers had anything to do with the Steelers specifically, because I think 50-75 Philadelphia Eagles would need to die retroactively to account for the horrible surface at the Vet.

But I'd entertain debate on the wear and tear inflicted on NFL players in general by the first few generations of artificial turf. So many of the early fields seemed to lose their sponginess after the first four or five years and then weren't replaced for another five years because the process was so expensive.

The newer stuff, sitting atop a fill of crushed tires, seems much gentler on the body. Of course, some of those products are now being questioned because of lead levels and other possible toxins.

 

[zagoshe]

Seriously... what virulent type of steroid were those 1970s Steelers teams hopped up on?

And the same middle-aged (and older) white guys who are stuck in the 1970's and run around with their silly terrible towels chanting "here we go steelers" and drinking arn city's all day long while waxing poetic about the Super Steelers -- are the biggest hypocrites because they are the loudest ones screaming about putting an asterisk next to Barry Bonds accomplishments due to his steroids use......

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Seriously... what virulent type of steroid were those 1970s Steelers teams hopped up on?

And the same middle-aged (and older) white guys who are stuck in the 1970's and run around with their silly terrible towels chanting "here we go steelers" and drinking arn city's all day long while waxing poetic about the Super Steelers -- are the biggest hypocrites because they are the loudest ones screaming about putting an asterisk next to Barry Bonds accomplishments due to his steroids use......

Is that broad brush available at Lowe's or Home Depot?

 

[zagoshe]

Is that broad brush available at Lowe's or Home Depot?

Have you ever listened to a sports talk show in town?

One of the best bits ever was when board favorite Mark Madden spent an entire segment -- and it turned into his whole show -- challenging Steelers fans to justify their acceptance of a team built almost entirely on steroids use.

Then he'd throw the Bonds question in and the but, but, but, but, brigade would begin.

It goes to a larger point -- if you want to start diminishing the accomplishments of some because of steroids, well, you better start in your own backyard because I'm quite sure some of your favorite players and teams have some dirty laundry in their closet as well.......

 

[93Devil]

The O-line on juice? That I beleive.

The D-line? What member of the defense had muscles growing on his earlobes? Ham? Lambert? L.C.? Mel? Wagner? Shell? Fats Holmes? Dwight? Mean Joe)

So Swann was on the juice? Stallworth? Rocky? Franco? Bradshaw?

****ing Grossman?

Was Webster, Brown and some of the other offensive lineman? Yeah. I'm not going to say that they were not.

But those are not the guys in Canton.

 

[93Devil]

RIP Dwight

 

[Oz]

Seriously... what virulent type of steroid were those 1970s Steelers teams hopped up on?

And the same middle-aged (and older) white guys who are stuck in the 1970's and run around with their silly terrible towels chanting "here we go steelers" and drinking arn city's all day long while waxing poetic about the Super Steelers -- are the biggest hypocrites because they are the loudest ones screaming about putting an asterisk next to Barry Bonds accomplishments due to his steroids use......

I'm not like that. My dad's not like that. My family's not like that. To paint all Steelers fans the same is quite stupid to do.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

This may sound strange, but I wonder if the Astroturf at Three Rivers has anything to do with it.

Years ago, I read an interview with Franco Harris. He described watching workmen tear up the turf to put down a new field. He said he was shocked to learn there was only an inch of carpet on top of concrete.

Can help but think that the pounding those guys took on their bodies slamming on that hard field has something to do with their shortened lifespans.

It apparently only affected White to the degree that he had back problems that required surgery, and he wound up with a blood clot as a result of the surgery. Not really a direct connection.

Ernie Holmes died in a car wreck, Joe Gilliam had longstanding issues with drug abuse, Terry Long committed suicide, Justin Strzelczyk died in a car crash, Steve Courson was killed by a falling tree, Theo Bell had kidney disease, James Parrish had cancer, David Woodley had alcohol abuse problems that led to kidney failure, David Little was suffocated by a barbell that fell on his neck.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

If I'm not wrong Strelczyk had some severe issues with depression.

Courson had some bigtime heart problems until his freakish death. Which the usual suspects here joked about.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

Maybe this helps:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_462321.html

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

Good story.

I would question Stallworth's incredulity, re.: Pittsburgh's non-status, in his mind, as a drug "epicenter."

I guess the 1980s Pirates were on Flintstones Chewables.

 

[93Devil]

The O-line on juice? That I believe.

The D-line? What member of the defense had muscles growing on his earlobes?

Please tell me you're not serious about that being your standard for steroid use ...

More utility infielders have tested positive for steroids in minor league baseball than any other position. NONE of them are muscle-bound lineman types.

You brought up a couple of good points. I would caution though to compare the steroids of today with what was being used in the 1970s. Steroids are a medical product that is constantly being changed and improved upon by doctors, cheats and crooks. What was being used back then might compare with the computer of 1970 and what I am typing on today.

One thing that would make me question that steroids were making Swann jump higher, Bradshaw throw longer and Harris run faster is that if all this was true in the 1970s, why did it take over a decade for these wonder drugs to make it into baseball?