Dwight White, former Steeler DE, passes away

[HughC]

The Pittsburgh Steelers have confirmed that former player and one of the original members of the Steel Curtain, Dwight White, has died. He was 58.

White, a former defensive end, was hospitalized in intensive care last month due to complications from back surgery.

Officials say White originally went home after the surgery, but he had to be taken back to the hospital.

"Dwight White was one of the greatest players to ever wear a Steelers uniform," says Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney, in a statement. "He was a key member of the Steel Curtain defense and a member of the greatest defensive line in NFL history. He played with a relentlessness that led us to four Super Bowl titles in the 1970s.

White was an All-American in college who played with the Steelers from 1971 to 1980. White earned the nickname "Mad Dog" because of his intensity both on and off the field.

He was a member of the "Front Four" of the Steel Curtain along with Ernie Holmes, Joe Green & LC Greenwood. Holmes passed away in January at age 59.




http://www.pro-football-reference.co...W/WhitDw00.htm

[BallHawk]

Welcome to the forum, HughC. Hate to have it on a sad occasion such as this one. Complications from surgery is definitely a strange way to go.

[MadtownPacker]

58? I wonder if all the steroids the guy took caught up with him.

Welcome to the forum Hugh C.

[Rastak]

Man, that sucks. The steel curtain was really fun to watch. That's really sad to hear.

[MJZiggy]

So many former players die so young, especially linemen.

[oregonpackfan]

So many former players die so young, especially linemen.

That is very true, MJ. I remember reading a report about that observation. The medical researchers noted that while playing, linemen are used to consuming huge quantities of food. They burn off much of those calories either in practice or in the games.

Once their playing days are over, they find it difficult to scale back on their food consumption as well as find other alternative forms of exercise to keep their weight down.

Many former linemen become obese which leads to health risks of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke.

Certainly the physical pounding they receive during their playing days in a factor in early death as well. Many suffer from arthritis and other degenerative illnesses.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

I read, dont' recall where, that the average lifespan for an NFL player is like 55 years old.

Lots of pounding, lots of drugs (pain meds, shots, etc.), lots of illegal drugs (roids, etc.)...those guys in the 60s and 70s were taking them before they were illegal..on the training table.

Modern day gladiators.

[KYPack]

58? I wonder if all the steroids the guy took caught up with him.

Welcome to the forum Hugh C.

Mad Dog was not a steroids guy.

He was a lanky guy who played with a lot of intensity. The big juice explosion didn't hit until the '80's.
Dwight was a crazy sumbitch on the field, but a real smart dude in business. All the Steelers liked Dwight.

That is wierd that Fats Holmes just died at 58 also.

[Rastak]

58? I wonder if all the steroids the guy took caught up with him.

Welcome to the forum Hugh C.

Mad Dog was not a steroids guy.

He was a lanky guy who played with a lot of intensity. The big juice explosion didn't hit until the '80's.
Dwight was a crazy sumbitch on the field, but a real smart dude in business. All the Steelers liked Dwight.

That is wierd that Fats Holmes just died at 58 also.

Wow....that is interesting. Holmes had the arrow carved into his hair, correct?

I hope Joe Greene doesn't follow the trend, he seems like a helluva guy.

[KYPack]

58? I wonder if all the steroids the guy took caught up with him.

Welcome to the forum Hugh C.

Mad Dog was not a steroids guy.

He was a lanky guy who played with a lot of intensity. The big juice explosion didn't hit until the '80's.
Dwight was a crazy sumbitch on the field, but a real smart dude in business. All the Steelers liked Dwight.

That is weird that Fats Holmes just died at 58 also.

Wow....that is interesting. Holmes had the arrow carved into his hair, correct?

I hope Joe Greene doesn't follow the trend, he seems like a helluva guy.

Ernie Holmes shaved an arrow head in his hair for two reasons:

1. He was insane. He had serious mental problems and was institutionalized on several occasions. Many of the Steelers were scared of Ernie bc he was so nuts.
2. Marketing. Holmes hoped his little trademark would lead to advertising riches.

The Steel Curtain boys were just before the steroid era. It's pretty easy to trace based on their weight.

RDE Dwight White 6'4" 255
RDT Ernie Holmes 6' 3" 260
LDT Joe Greene 6' 4" 275 (Considered huge for his time)
LDE L.C. Greenwood 6' 5" 245 (LC sported gold shoes and a flashy nickname. This inspired Holmes to shave his head like he did)

Their are many fullbacks on current rosters that are heavier than LC was for his whole career. By the early 80's, check the roster weights. The whole league gained 50lbs a man in the trenches. They all gassed up.

[Iron Mike]

Ernie Holmes was insane.

That may be, but Frenchy Fuqua was a pimp:

[Guiness]

The Steel Curtain boys were just before the steroid era. It's pretty easy to trace based on their weight.

RDE Dwight White 6'4" 255
RDT Ernie Holmes 6' 3" 260
LDT Joe Greene 6' 4" 275 (Considered huge for his time)
LDE L.C. Greenwood 6' 5" 245 (LC sported gold shoes and a flashy nickname. This inspired Holmes to shave his head like he did)

Their are many fullbacks on current rosters that are heavier than LC was for his whole career. By the early 80's, check the roster weights. The whole league gained 50lbs a man in the trenches. They all gassed up.

It is something else to look at the weights. Greene would be considered terribly undersized today.

I don't know that it's just the roids though. They've been around since the '60s, and ballers have been using them the whole time.

I always tend to think the huge jump in size coincided with big salary increases that allowed players to buy whatever they wanted with respect to food, supplements, and roids. The steroids were there before, but it wasn't until the 80's that the players could take full advantage of the benefits they gave.

[Patler]

Clearly steroids were around at that time. Lyle Alzado of the Raiders died from a brain tumor which he believed was caused by his steroid use as a player. Some people argue that the Steelers were the first steroid-fueled dynasty, and at least one Steelers player admitted to use and said it was team-wide.

Steve Courson, a guard with the Steelers during the 1970s and early '80s, admitted to using steroids in an SI article in 1985. He was still playing with Tampa Bay when the article appeared, and was cut the year after. He then wrote a couple books about rampant use of steroids through out the league, and said virtually all the Steeler linemen used them. He claimed that team officials knew about and condoned the use of steroids.

Shortly after his playing career ended, he had severe medical problems which were attributed to his excessive use of steroids. He was on a transplant list for a long time. He died in a tree-cutting accident a few years ago.

"By the time of our dynasty, it was pretty widespread throughout the league," said Courson.

In his book "False Glory," published six years after he left the league, Courson wrote that Noll "conveniently and most definitely turned his head to it." At one time, Courson wrote, he injured his hamstring and Noll yelled that all the lineman wanted to do was ingest steroids and lift weights -- two years before Courson confessed to drug use in a magazine article.

Courson's memories echo recent disclosures by New Orleans Saints coach Jim Haslett, an Avalon native, that a large number of NFL linemen took steroids during the 1980s, a trend he said began with the 1970s Steelers. Haslett, who played linebacker in the NFL from 1979-86, was the Steelers' defensive coordinator from 1997-99.

Today, Courson believes the Steelers of the '70s would have won their Super Bowls without steroids, "as long as everyone else wasn't on the juice. That's the issue."

[Guiness]

Although Lyle admitted to being on steroids, and blamed it for many of his problems, his brain tumour was not likely one of them. There has never been any connection drawn (by the medical community).

He was also a known to take pituitary derived growth hormone - considered by many to be much more dangerous.

[KYPack]

Clearly steroids were around at that time. Lyle Alzado of the Raiders died from a brain tumor which he believed was caused by his steroid use as a player. Some people argue that the Steelers were the first steroid-fueled dynasty, and at least one Steelers player admitted to use and said it was team-wide.

Steve Courson, a guard with the Steelers during the 1970s and early '80s, admitted to using steroids in an SI article in 1985. He was still playing with Tampa Bay when the article appeared, and was cut the year after. He then wrote a couple books about rampant use of steroids through out the league, and said virtually all the Steeler linemen used them. He claimed that team officials knew about and condoned the use of steroids.

Shortly after his playing career ended, he had severe medical problems which were attributed to his excessive use of steroids. He was on a transplant list for a long time. He died in a tree-cutting accident a few years ago.

"By the time of our dynasty, it was pretty widespread throughout the league," said Courson.

In his book "False Glory," published six years after he left the league, Courson wrote that Noll "conveniently and most definitely turned his head to it." At one time, Courson wrote, he injured his hamstring and Noll yelled that all the lineman wanted to do was ingest steroids and lift weights -- two years before Courson confessed to drug use in a magazine article.

Courson's memories echo recent disclosures by New Orleans Saints coach Jim Haslett, an Avalon native, that a large number of NFL linemen took steroids during the 1980s, a trend he said began with the 1970s Steelers. Haslett, who played linebacker in the NFL from 1979-86, was the Steelers' defensive coordinator from 1997-99.

Today, Courson believes the Steelers of the '70s would have won their Super Bowls without steroids, "as long as everyone else wasn't on the juice. That's the issue."

Steeler offensive lineman used gas. The Steelers were one of the teams that used a lot of gas. But not the DLine, like we were discussing. Steroid use was happening in the '70's. I saw it going down. The '80's were the decade that steroids exploded. Team wide, position wide, player wide. Every gym in the country had a guy hanging out that sold Wistrol V and the other roids in the '80s.

It got so bad that they were made a sched III illegal drug in 1990.

Steroids were around in the 60's, use spread in the 70's, and they whole thing erupted in the 80's.

[Patler]

Here is a link to the 1985 Sports Illustrated article about Steve Courson:

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.c...9449/index.htm