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  • This is why I don't think the Rooney Family is heroic. They should have put an end to this rather than hire an HGH doctor for 22 years. I feel worse about this article than Steeler fans that only want to count counterfeit trophies and rings. That football program just hasn't offered anything to root for.

    Steelers lost 18 former Players Since 2000

    By LA Times in 2006

    One was lifting weights at home. Another was training for a triathlon. A third was watching a game at a friend's house.

    Regular guys doing regular things.

    Then there were the others.

    One drank antifreeze. Another was in a high-speed chase.

    Two things in common among all:

    They were Pittsburgh Steelers; and they died in the last six years.

    Fresh off their first Super Bowl victory in 26 years, the Steelers have experienced the emotional gamut. The franchise has lost 18 former players -- age 35 to 58 -- since 2000, including seven in the last 16 months.

    "There is no explanation," said Joe Gordon, a Steelers executive from 1969 through '98. "We just shake our heads and ask why."

    The numbers are startling. Of the NFL players from the 1970s and '80s who have died since 2000, more than one in five -- 16 of 77 -- were Steelers.

    "It's just an anomaly that we can't explain," said John Stallworth, who starred at receiver for Steelers teams from 1974 to 1987. "From an emotional standpoint it just makes you sad and makes you feel like the time we spent together was even more precious."

    Freak accidents led to some of the deaths, and at least one was a suicide. Others share hauntingly familiar details.

    Seven died of heart failure: Jim Clack, 58; Ray Oldham, 54; Dave Brown, 52; Mike Webster, 50; Steve Furness, 49; Joe Gilliam, 49; and Tyrone McGriff, 41. (In 1996, four years before the steady succession of Steelers deaths, longtime center Ray Mansfield died of a heart attack at 55.)

    There is speculation that steroid abuse could have played a role in some of the deaths, but no hard evidence. It's just as plausible that weight issues were a factor. Counting Mansfield, five of the eight heart-attack victims played on the offensive or defensive line.

    The circumstances surrounding some of the other deaths were unusual:

    • Steve Courson, 50, was killed outside his Farmington, Pa., home in November while trying to remove a 44-foot tree from his property. The former guard was crushed while apparently trying to save his dog, after a gust of wind changed the direction of the falling tree. His black Labrador retriever was found alive, tangled in Courson's legs.
    • In March 2005, David Little was bench-pressing weights alone at his Miami home when the coroner determined he suffered a heart arrhythmia, causing the 46-year-old former linebacker to drop a 250-pound barbell on his chest. The bar rolled across his neck and suffocated him.
    • Terry Long, 45, an offensive guard whose eight-year career was derailed by a positive test for steroids, committed suicide in Pittsburgh in June 2005 by drinking antifreeze. Twice divorced, he had serious legal problems stemming from his failed food-processing business and had made two previous suicide attempts.
    • The youngest of the Steelers to die was 36-year-old Justin Strzelczyk, a tackle who had a series of run-ins with the law after he retired. He died after a 40-mile, high-speed chase on the New York Thruway in September 2004. Driving his Ford F-250 pickup at speeds in excess of 100 mph, Strzelczyk made obscene gestures and tossed beer bottles at the police following him. The chase came to a fiery end when, while on the wrong side of the road, he slammed into a tanker truck.

    The string of deaths -- most recently that of receiver Theo Bell, who died June 21 of kidney disease and the skin ailment scleroderma -- have reverberated through the Steelers, the city of Pittsburgh and beyond.

    "Just the fact that the Steelers are such an integral part of this community -- probably more so than most NFL cities -- it obviously hits home for a lot of people," Gordon said. "It's hard to accept."

    Men who won a combined 20 Super Bowl rings, the deceased Steelers were part of one of the most hallowed organizations in sports. "When I was young I convinced myself that I was going to do something with my life so that my death wouldn't be the end of me," Stallworth said. "In the lives of these men, they were a part of something special. People in Pittsburgh and around the country will remember them for that."

    Some were as much pioneers as players. Gilliam was among the NFL's first black quarterbacks. He started for Pittsburgh in 1974 before Terry Bradshaw reclaimed the job.

    When Gilliam's career ended, his life took a downward turn. He struggled with addictions to cocaine and heroin, and sometimes was homeless. In 1995, he was discovered sleeping in a cardboard box under a bridge in Nashville.

    But his life was on an upswing just before his death. Saying he was drug free, he lectured children on the perils of drug abuse. In 2000, on Christmas Day, he died while watching a football game at a friend's house.

    Of the 22 players who were part of all four Pittsburgh Super Bowl teams of the 1970s, Webster was the last to retire and, after Furness, the second to die.

    An All-Pro center who played in a franchise-record 220 games, "Iron Mike" was known for playing bare-armed no matter how cold the conditions, and for dominating larger defenders. He paid a price, however. Doctors said the battering he had taken damaged the frontal lobe of his brain, affecting his attention span and concentration. That likely contributed to the many setbacks he endured after his career, among them a failed marriage, a string of bad investments, and occasional homelessness.

    Also after his career, he admitted he tried anabolic steroids as a player, but maintained they were not responsible for his condition. He died of a heart attack in September 2002.

    "Webby was my hero," longtime Steelers tackle Tunch Ilkin said. "That broke my heart. I'd seen what was going on with his life at the end."

    For years, the Steelers have been dogged by rumors that several of them used performance-enhancing drugs in the 1970s. In an interview last year, Jim Haslett, then coach of the New Orleans Saints, admitted to experimenting with steroids as a Buffalo linebacker, and said the use of those drugs among NFL players started with the Steelers. The NFL didn't begin testing for steroids until 1987, becoming the first professional sports league to do so.

    Although Haslett didn't deny making those comments, he later apologized to Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who called the accusation "totally false." Former Pittsburgh receiver Lynn Swann agreed with Rooney, saying he was "very surprised" by Haslett's claim.

    "He's misinformed," Swann said. "He was not a part of that team. I was on that team, and I don't use steroids. And I couldn't tell you of who was on that team if anybody used steroids. Pittsburgh the epicenter of steroid use in the NFL• No. I find that very difficult to believe."

    However, Peter Furness told the Providence Journal last year that he suspects his brother, Steve, who played defensive tackle for the Steelers from 1972 through '81, used steroids. Steve Furness died in 2000.

    In a 1985 interview with Sports Illustrated, Courson became the first NFL player to speak on the record about his steroid use. During his playing days, he had 20-inch biceps and could bench press 600 pounds. He later said that contributed to a life-threatening condition that weakened his heart muscles -- though he also pointed to his hard-living lifestyle as a factor.

    For years, Courson was Mr. Steeler. He played in Pittsburgh from 1977 through '83, when he was part of two championship teams. In the last few years of his life, however, he stopped wearing his Super Bowl rings and contemplated starting over in the mountains of Colorado. He felt betrayed, his girlfriend said, by his teammates' refusal to come clean about their steroid use.

    "He wanted them to come out and be straight, seeing as it wasn't illegal back then," said Denise Masciola, who dated Courson the last few years of his life. "None of them would. They thought it would hamper their reputation. He felt like they left him just hanging."

    Former Pittsburgh safety Donnie Shell, now director of player development for the Carolina Panthers, had hoped Courson would work with Carolina players last fall. A few months earlier, the former teammates had discussed getting together.

    "Then I saw it come across the crawl that Steve Courson is dead," Shell said. "You don't know why until you hear the results of the news. Sometimes it's just shocking to hear."

    Shell, like Gordon, sees no rhyme nor reason to the deaths. Only a relentless drumbeat of tragedies -- and a reminder that life can be too short.

    "There's nothing you can do," he said, "except pray for the families, cherish the memories that you had with them -- they're good memories -- and move on."


  • I don't know how I'll sleep tonight knowing you don't think the Rooneys are heroic. In other news...water is wet.

  • Browns 31

    (3-2, 2-1 home)

    Steelers 10

    (3-3, 2-2 away)

    http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=400554295

    last game. 2014. STFU.

  • Blah blah blah blah blah. Shut the fuck up all o' yinz.

  • @josephsuxdick said:

    By the way, nobody wants to talk about that phony yourteamcheats site?

    Seriously, nobody else realizes who's actually behind that sack o' bullshit?

    Nobody cares.....simple.

    We hang here because we care about the Browns. Who gives a crap about NE, Brady or who is behind some dumb ass web site.

    Maybe get a hobby or some actual interests to occupy the hours and hours and hours you invest here, in pointless and meaningless forum debates about pointless and meaningless topics.......

    Whoops....gotta go.....just used up the 3 minutes Im willing to waste on this kind of stuff.....carry on....

  • @josephsuxdick said:

    Who cares? Oh I don't know, maybe the guy WHO TOOK THE TIME TO START A TOPIC ABOUT THE WEB SITE.

    You knuckleheads never cease to amaze me with your knuckleheadedness.

    The guy who started it in May?

    With no commentary?

    You have to admit, you bitches are easy.

    Z

  • I hope we can can the two dickhead squealer whiners when the regular season starts.

    All their garbage' is stinkin up the joint.

  • @josephsuxdick said:

    Who cares? Oh I don't know, maybe the guy WHO TOOK THE TIME TO START A TOPIC ABOUT THE WEB SITE.

    You knuckleheads never cease to amaze me with your knuckleheadedness.

    The guy who started it in May?

    With no commentary?

    You have to admit, you bitches are easy.

    Z

    Zombo said:

    The guy who started it in May?

    With no commentary?

    You have to admit, you bitches are easy.

    Z

    Now THAT's funny...

  • @josephsuxdick said:

    By the way, nobody wants to talk about that phony yourteamcheats site?

    Seriously, nobody else realizes who's actually behind that sack o' bullshit?

    Nobody cares.....simple.

    We hang here because we care about the Browns. Who gives a crap about NE, Brady or who is behind some dumb ass web site.

    Maybe get a hobby or some actual interests to occupy the hours and hours and hours you invest here, in pointless and meaningless forum debates about pointless and meaningless topics.......

    Whoops....gotta go.....just used up the 3 minutes Im willing to waste on this kind of stuff.....carry on....

    @mudfly said:

    Nobody cares.....simple.

    We hang here because we care about the Browns. Who gives a crap about NE, Brady or who is behind some dumb ass web site.

    Maybe get a hobby or some actual interests to occupy the hours and hours and hours you invest here, in pointless and meaningless forum debates about pointless and meaningless topics.......

    Whoops....gotta go.....just used up the 3 minutes Im willing to waste on this kind of stuff.....carry on....

    Well done Mud!

    Joe Rassic's-Bark IV is nothing more than an extended terrible 2s tantrum about all these media sources taking inventory of swept under the rug outcomes of Rooney's "Win at all Costs" program. If Jerry Sandusky did all the same stuff under Rooney (like Ben Rapen turning 1 victim into a trend) - guess who would be in here sticking up for their favorite fanny pirate? Joe, Trolling and Stuart.

    What these Pittsburgh hollow-domes like Joe, Trolling and Stu don't realize is how funny it is to watch them try to convince themselves of their own jibberish. When you get right down to it, NFL Football after HGH testing has left them defenseless. It's like the BB King classic reminds us "the thrill is gone." Suddenly, Pittsburgh can't win a playoff game or sweep a Cleveland team capable of beating them by 21 points. Suddenly, young LBers like Worildsies are throwing in the terrible towel while vets like Ike Taylor, Pollyneedsahaircut, and Brett Keisel are all out of deisel. That means Joe, Trolling and Stuart are terrified to talk about the 2015 season we're so excited about. When it's too tough for them - it's just right for us!

  • @josephsuxdick said:

    By the way, nobody wants to talk about that phony yourteamcheats site?

    Seriously, nobody else realizes who's actually behind that sack o' bullshit?

    Nobody cares.....simple.

    We hang here because we care about the Browns. Who gives a crap about NE, Brady or who is behind some dumb ass web site.

    Maybe get a hobby or some actual interests to occupy the hours and hours and hours you invest here, in pointless and meaningless forum debates about pointless and meaningless topics.......

    Whoops....gotta go.....just used up the 3 minutes Im willing to waste on this kind of stuff.....carry on....

    @mudfly said:

    Maybe get a hobby or some actual interests to occupy the hours and hours and hours you invest here, in pointless and meaningless forum debates about pointless and meaningless topics.......

    Like steroid use.

  • @mudfly said:

    Nobody cares.....simple.

    We hang here because we care about the Browns. Who gives a crap about NE, Brady or who is behind some dumb ass web site.

    Maybe get a hobby or some actual interests to occupy the hours and hours and hours you invest here, in pointless and meaningless forum debates about pointless and meaningless topics.......

    Whoops....gotta go.....just used up the 3 minutes Im willing to waste on this kind of stuff.....carry on....

    Well done Mud!

    Joe Rassic's-Bark IV is nothing more than an extended terrible 2s tantrum about all these media sources taking inventory of swept under the rug outcomes of Rooney's "Win at all Costs" program. If Jerry Sandusky did all the same stuff under Rooney (like Ben Rapen turning 1 victim into a trend) - guess who would be in here sticking up for their favorite fanny pirate? Joe, Trolling and Stuart.

    What these Pittsburgh hollow-domes like Joe, Trolling and Stu don't realize is how funny it is to watch them try to convince themselves of their own jibberish. When you get right down to it, NFL Football after HGH testing has left them defenseless. It's like the BB King classic reminds us "the thrill is gone." Suddenly, Pittsburgh can't win a playoff game or sweep a Cleveland team capable of beating them by 21 points. Suddenly, young LBers like Worildsies are throwing in the terrible towel while vets like Ike Taylor, Pollyneedsahaircut, and Brett Keisel are all out of deisel. That means Joe, Trolling and Stuart are terrified to talk about the 2015 season we're so excited about. When it's too tough for them - it's just right for us!

    @flugel said:

    Well done Mud!

    Joe Rassic's-Bark IV is nothing more than an extended terrible 2s tantrum about all these media sources taking inventory of swept under the rug outcomes of Rooney's "Win at all Costs" program. If Jerry Sandusky did all the same stuff under Rooney (like Ben Rapen turning 1 victim into a trend) - guess who would be in here sticking up for their favorite fanny pirate? Joe, Trolling and Stuart.

    What these Pittsburgh hollow-domes like Joe, Trolling and Stu don't realize is how funny it is to watch them try to convince themselves of their own jibberish. When you get right down to it, NFL Football after HGH testing has left them defenseless. It's like the BB King classic reminds us "the thrill is gone." Suddenly, Pittsburgh can't win a playoff game or sweep a Cleveland team capable of beating them by 21 points. Suddenly, young LBers like Worildsies are throwing in the terrible towel while vets like Ike Taylor, Pollyneedsahaircut, and Brett Keisel are all out of deisel. That means Joe, Trolling and Stuart are terrified to talk about the 2015 season we're so excited about. When it's too tough for them - it's just right for us!

    Oh the irony. You laud Mud for his take on pointless debates then proceed with a reply like this. Also ironic how you make accusations of gibberish with gibberish .

  • @flugel said:

    Well done Mud!

    Joe Rassic's-Bark IV is nothing more than an extended terrible 2s tantrum about all these media sources taking inventory of swept under the rug outcomes of Rooney's "Win at all Costs" program. If Jerry Sandusky did all the same stuff under Rooney (like Ben Rapen turning 1 victim into a trend) - guess who would be in here sticking up for their favorite fanny pirate? Joe, Trolling and Stuart.

    What these Pittsburgh hollow-domes like Joe, Trolling and Stu don't realize is how funny it is to watch them try to convince themselves of their own jibberish. When you get right down to it, NFL Football after HGH testing has left them defenseless. It's like the BB King classic reminds us "the thrill is gone." Suddenly, Pittsburgh can't win a playoff game or sweep a Cleveland team capable of beating them by 21 points. Suddenly, young LBers like Worildsies are throwing in the terrible towel while vets like Ike Taylor, Pollyneedsahaircut, and Brett Keisel are all out of deisel. That means Joe, Trolling and Stuart are terrified to talk about the 2015 season we're so excited about. When it's too tough for them - it's just right for us!

    Oh the irony. You laud Mud for his take on pointless debates then proceed with a reply like this. Also ironic how you make accusations of gibberish with gibberish .

    Stuart said:

    Oh the irony. You laud Mud for his take on pointless debates then proceed with a reply like this. Also ironic how you make accusations of gibberish with gibberish .

    Well it is a Browns board so I see why Mud understands what you are incapable of. You can't be very smart if you continue to stay here protesting your well earned lack of acceptance/respect this message board holds for you.

    As for you becoming an expert on jibberish - practice makes perfect. I don't make accusations, I deliver the countless articles you and your circle jerk dismisses. Then you guys spend your entire time explaining why you root for inevitable body counts as if you're going to change even 1mind in here that it's admirable. If we wanted to root for a bunch of junkies and a 2 time rapist as a franchise QB - we would be Steeler fans. We're not and that is another episode of the inconvenient truth. Ready to talk 2015 and NFL Football after HGH yet? Didn't think so...

  • a we need now is another steelerfag (gafreleets) in here to ruin everything.......

    hey, wait.

  • Riddle me this........

    Who is the only group of people who talk about the Steelers more than Steeler fans?

    Browns fans with a horrible case of hateritis. Who's your QB again?

  • missed u too miktoxic!

    good to see that this is still the best place to hear people talking about their favorite team........the Steelers!

  • a we need now is another steelerfag (gafreleets) in here to ruin everything.......

    hey, wait.

    @miktoxic said:

    a we need now is another steelerfag (gafreleets) in here to ruin everything.......

    hey, wait.

    They don't ruin anything Mik. They never have.

    The guy that foots the bill of this message board today used to go over to the Steeler Board and get half their fanbase on prozac. He also recruited to the hollow domes from Pittsburgh like this thread is seeing. Which of their dumb bastards in particular should we take serious? Anyone that roots for junkies and a 2 time rapist at QB is just misery wanting company. Their visits never go as well as they hoped they would.

  • @miktoxic said:

    a we need now is another steelerfag (gafreleets) in here to ruin everything.......

    hey, wait.

    They don't ruin anything Mik. They never have.

    The guy that foots the bill of this message board today used to go over to the Steeler Board and get half their fanbase on prozac. He also recruited to the hollow domes from Pittsburgh like this thread is seeing. Which of their dumb bastards in particular should we take serious? Anyone that roots for junkies and a 2 time rapist at QB is just misery wanting company. Their visits never go as well as they hoped they would.

    @flugel said:

    They don't ruin anything Mik. They never have.

    The guy that foots the bill of this message board today used to go over to the Steeler Board and get half their fanbase on prozac. He also recruited to the hollow domes from Pittsburgh like this thread is seeing. Which of their dumb bastards in particular should we take serious? Anyone that roots for junkies and a 2 time rapist at QB is just misery wanting company. Their visits never go as well as they hoped they would.

    i'm just hoping i'm not losing a bet to one of these guys/gals this year. i'm tired of sending good brews to the middle of nowhere or to some hobbit. 😆

  • @mudfly said:

    Maybe get a hobby or some actual interests to occupy the hours and hours and hours you invest here, in pointless and meaningless forum debates about pointless and meaningless topics.......

    Like steroid use.

    Stuart said:

    Like steroid use.

    @gafreleets said:

    Riddle me this........

    Who is the only group of people who talk about the Steelers more than Steeler fans?

    Who's on who's board? Steelers fans - the only group of people who spend more time on Browns boards than most Browns fans do.

    The irony is that all of you missed the whole point of this thread. Look up, because thats the point flying way over your puny little heads. Which is very understandable from yinz. This thread started with a simple link to a list of cheaters and thats it. But(here's the irony) the Steelers trolls took offense(after they spent hours on the Browns board searching and yapping. In fact, they went way back(months) to dig up this ancient discussion that us Browns fans let die, and THEY made the discussion about their team and why they aren't cheaters blah blah blah. The thread is packed with whiny pukeburg bitches crying about a stupid link a Browns fan posted MONTHS AGO. Its really pathetic.

    Riddle me this. Why is every steelers discussion filled with steelers trolls? Guaranteed there are no threads with just Browns fans talking about the steelers.

    We are obsessed and constantly talk about the Steeles, But its the Steelers fans who live on the Browns board and cant let a comment about the steelers go.

    Insecure much?

  • Stuart said:

    Like steroid use.

    @gafreleets said:

    Riddle me this........

    Who is the only group of people who talk about the Steelers more than Steeler fans?

    Who's on who's board? Steelers fans - the only group of people who spend more time on Browns boards than most Browns fans do.

    The irony is that all of you missed the whole point of this thread. Look up, because thats the point flying way over your puny little heads. Which is very understandable from yinz. This thread started with a simple link to a list of cheaters and thats it. But(here's the irony) the Steelers trolls took offense(after they spent hours on the Browns board searching and yapping. In fact, they went way back(months) to dig up this ancient discussion that us Browns fans let die, and THEY made the discussion about their team and why they aren't cheaters blah blah blah. The thread is packed with whiny pukeburg bitches crying about a stupid link a Browns fan posted MONTHS AGO. Its really pathetic.

    Riddle me this. Why is every steelers discussion filled with steelers trolls? Guaranteed there are no threads with just Browns fans talking about the steelers.

    We are obsessed and constantly talk about the Steeles, But its the Steelers fans who live on the Browns board and cant let a comment about the steelers go.

    Insecure much?

    @manzier said:

    Who's on who's board? Steelers fans - the only group of people who spend more time on Browns boards than most Browns fans do.

    The irony is that all of you missed the whole point of this thread. Look up, because thats the point flying way over your puny little heads. Which is very understandable from yinz. This thread started with a simple link to a list of cheaters and thats it. But(here's the irony) the Steelers trolls took offense(after they spent hours on the Browns board searching and yapping. In fact, they went way back(months) to dig up this ancient discussion that us Browns fans let die, and THEY made the discussion about their team and why they aren't cheaters blah blah blah. The thread is packed with whiny pukeburg bitches crying about a stupid link a Browns fan posted MONTHS AGO. Its really pathetic.

    Riddle me this. Why is every steelers discussion filled with steelers trolls? Guaranteed there are no threads with just Browns fans talking about the steelers.

    We are obsessed and constantly talk about the Steeles, But its the Steelers fans who live on the Browns board and cant let a comment about the steelers go.

    Insecure much?

    Good post! HGH Testing has destroyed their tradition and flatlined their enthusiasm toward 2015.