Former Football Player Cornell Webster Leaves Legacy After Battle With CTE

A former Tulsa and NFL player, Cornell Webster, was laid to rest on Saturday. He died earlier this month from complications of CTE.

His family says they want to honor him and bring awareness for other players who might be battling the same thing.

"We lost him at age 67 but Cornell lived a full life," said Jeffrey Webster, Cornell's brother.

Webster played cornerback for the University of Tulsa in the 70's and later played four seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.

His teammate and Hall of Fame Wide Receiver, Steve Largent, says Cornell made him work for every snap at every practice.

Largent says the bond they shared off the field was even stronger.

"It's the greatest thing you can take away from the game," Largent said. "It's not the money or the accolades, it's the friendships that you build while you're there."

The funeral was at Morning Star Baptist Church where Webster would give back to the community by creating the Cornell Webster Youth Foundation. His wife, Angelia, says he was just as good, if not better as a person, than a football player.

"He would coach the guys and he would always talk to them about education and bettering their lives," Angelia said.

Angelia says she started seeing signs of CTE from Cornell back in 2015 after he started forgetting how to get home.

She says he progressively got worse and died from complications on July 7th.

Angelia says she and the rest of Cornell's family want to bring awareness to CTE and advocate for other football players who might be battling the disease.

"For the wives that have husbands that have passed, that have husbands that are now diagnosed with dementia or Parkinsons, if I can help in any way, I'm going to be there for him," Angelia said.