Curse of the Champions?

PITTSBURGH, July 20, 2006 — -- You'd think winning a Super Bowl championship would put to rest any questions about a curse. In the tight football community of Pittsburgh, though, the Steelers' championship and a sobering statistic has got people wondering.

Since 2000, 18 former Steeler players between the ages of 35 and 58 have died in circumstances that range from the commonplace to the bizarre.

"We all just shake our heads. Where is this all going to end," former Steelers executive Joe Gordon said.

Out of the 18, seven died of heart attacks or heart failure and several others died of cancer, but other former players succumbed under more unusual circumstances.

"We called him Jughead," said longtime sportswriter Vic Ketchman about Strzelczyk. "That's the one that hurt me the most. When the inner demons weren't chasing him he was a great guy." Ketchman covered the Steelers for various newspapers from 1972 through 1994, and is now senior editor of Jaguar Inside Report for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars.

Demons of one form or another can often chase former players, says Ken Ruettgers, the director of gamesover.org, which offers services and counseling to former NFL players. Ruettgers played for the Green Bay Packers from 1985 to 1996. During that time he broke his back, his shoulder and both his ankles, and went through nine knee surgeries.

But after he left the game, he experienced a different kind of pain, and he said that is not uncommon for professional athletes when they retire.

"I missed it. These guys can get depressed. They may not eat right, they may not exercise. Their injuries may actually prevent them from exercising," Ruettgers said. "And then they may turn to overeating or drinking."

Ruettgers points to some alarming statistics. The suicide rate for football players is six times the national average. And, according to Ruettgers, within two years of leaving the game, a staggering 78 percent of players are either divorced, bankrupt or unemployed.