From roughly the early ’70s through 2000, the Pittsburgh Steelers were fortunate to have elite-level talent at the center position.
Ray Mansfield started things for the Steelers with two second-team All-Pros in 1972 and 1975, and then Mike Webster took the torch and ran with it through the 1988 season.
After that, it became the Dermontti Dawson show through the 2000 season for the Steelers. In that span, the Steelers never had to worry about the center position because of the talent on hand. While the transition from Webster to Dawson after the 1988 season that saw Webster play two more years with the Kansas City Chiefs was difficult due to what Webster meant to the franchise, his departure created a new era with Dawson as the game’s best — and most athletic — center.
Ultimately, Dawson put together a Hall of Fame career. To this day, it may not have been as outstanding without the influence of Webster and that one season spent with him.
Appearing on “The Irish Steelers Podcast,” Dawson spoke highly of his former teammate. He said he tried to emulate the “consummate pro” that Webster was on and off the field, even while being intimidated being the next guy up at the center position to follow in the footsteps of Webster.
“It’s intimidating when you first go into camp as a rookie because you got all these veterans there and you come in as the rookie. So, just seeing Mike, Mike was in his 15th year, my rookie year in ’88. And, you know, Mike, man, he was… talk about a worker. He was always first in every drill in practice. He was the first in the weight room. He was the first in the film room, and that was 15 years,” Dawson said regarding Webster, according to the show’s podcast page. “And I considered myself coming in early in the morning as well, but Mike would always beat me into the weight room. Mike was a consummate pro, and I learned a lot from Mike. And I give a lot of credit to Mike and just watching him as an example of how to be a pro and how to conduct yourself.
“And so I give Mike a lot of credit for my career because I wanted to be like Mike. So, what’s the best way to do that? You try to emulate what he does and how he does it. And that’s what I did each and every year. …Mike was constantly working, so I tried to do the same things as Mike and follow his direction.”
Dawson couldn’t have picked a better role model to try and emulate his game after.
A team captain during the Steelers’ dynasty of the 1970s, Webster split time at center with Mansfield in his first two seasons. He started the final game of the 1975 season. He didn’t miss a start after that until 1986 when he suffered an elbow injury. He started 150 consecutive games as a true ironman at the position.
Webster truly was the total package along the offensive line. Coming out of Wisconsin, he was a bit undersized, but his quickness and play strength really set him apart during that era. That size issue led to him falling to the fifth round, and the Steelers were fortunate he did, snapping him up as part of the greatest draft class in NFL history in 1974.
The Steelers’ great went on to play in 245 total games from 1974-90, including 217 with the Steelers. During that 17-year stretch, Webster was a monumental figure in four Super Bowl championships for the Steelers, earning six first-team All-Pro accolades, two second-team All-Pro nods, and nine trips to the Pro Bowl.
Along with his accomplishments on the field, Webster racked them up off the field, landing spots on the NFL’s All-Decade teams for the 1970s and 1980s. He also earned spots on the NFL’s 75th and 100th Anniversary teams, as well as the Steelers’ all-time team, and was inducted into the Steelers’ Ring of Honor in the inaugural class of 2017. Prior to that, Webster was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997, five years before his death at age 50 from a heart attack in 2002.
Dawson did well to model his game and day-to-day happenings after Webster. The former Kentucky standout played 13 seasons with the Steelers, was named to seven Pro Bowls, and earned six first-team All-Pro accolades as the best center in the NFL, bar none. Dawson was also named to the 1990s All-Decade Team and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the Class of 2012.