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[projector whirs and buzzes]
[siren blaring]
[fans chanting]
- [Announcer] The only guy whose gone to the dressing room.
There's a line, they're going at it right away.
Looks like Tie Domi with Probert.
Probert and Domi going at it, off the face off.
- [Announcer] Probert's got em nailed down now.
He knows Domi's a tough kid.
Domi's been [drowned out by screaming fans]
fight for a long time.
- [Announcer] Look at this, boys, oh, boys.
Look at him, he even throwing with the left hand.
- [Announcer] Probert struck on that one.
- [Announcer] Holy mackerel, look at him.
Holy smokes, do you believe this?
Probert is cut badly.
- [Announcer] Well, he caught him with a left.
- Wrestling was becoming a real entertainment
thing at the time, you know,
there's Hulk Hogan, and Macho Man, and Bret Hart.
And these guys were, you know, really living it up,
I think I was kinda tryin' to transition that
into hockey a little bit.
[slow gentle music]
- The second one was, you know, obviously,
the hype on the New York Times front page
and everything else, you know.
It was like a boxing match, Frasier, Ali,
they had the size difference, and all that stuff.
He had the advantage for sure,
but he smarts going in.
- They have tried to put the emphasis on hockey
and not fighting, but tonight,
there isn't much they can do about it,
as the Detroit Red Wings face the Rangers in New York.
Actually, it's about Tie Domi of the Rangers
and Bob Probert of the Red Wings.
- I'm not steering for anybody,
but I'm not backing out or anything,
but I'm gonna stick up for my teammates, like I said.
And the whole idea is to help this team win,
and back my teammates up.
- Are you getting a little tired of having.
Yeah, I'm sure I'll see him then.
- He was like, he was like, I'm telling ya,
he was, his eyes were like light bulbs.
[crowd cheering]
[Announcers speak indistinctly]
- [Announcer] The whole bench is mocking Domi
with the championship belt.
- [Announcer] Oh my goodness.
- 20 thousand people there, going nuts,
and you people that don't like fighting,
how many of ya did you walk out and get a coffee
while that was on?
[crowd chanting]
- [Woman] Ooh, cool, open it for You.
[slow piano music]
You can't be a wimp or anything
you have to be strong and that's what they did.
- Well I was on the police department with Bobby's dad, Al.
As a matter of fact, we rode motorcycles together.
Way things are scrutinized for police today.
I mean we probably had have more open hand
with our police work then.
[mellow piano]
- My husband had his first stroke March 21st.
He died the following August 28th.
He wasn't himself at all.
He couldn't really talk too much or walk, whatever.
I think it was hard on the boys
to see the way their dad went
because he was always big, strong, man
and then for this to happen.
It was pretty hard on the boys,
I know that.
But they never talked about it.
- He never cried at his dad's funeral.
That's how he was raised.
You know,
boys don't cried. Men don't cry.
- It sure makes you grow up quick.
There's times you wish you had you dad around
to get a man's perspective on different situations
you run into later in life.
Things would've turned out different
if he woulda been around a little longer.
- Then he left the day after the funeral.
And the day after the funeral,
one of my police friends drove him down to camp in Branford.
So he really didn't grieve with his father, nothing,
'cause he was gone.
So I lost my husband,
and the next day my son was gone to Brandford.
Junior Hockey.
- He didn't like fighting.
At least what he told me,
he did it because he did it.
He had to do it.
- [Announcer] Dalgorno and Probert.
- [Announcer] These guys are still going at it.
They just got outta the box again.
- [Announcer] I believe it is Baumgartner and Probert.
And they were just talking the whole time
in the penalty box.
We knew something was going to happen.
[music plays]
-$80.00
- He certainly was brought up in a culture
where drinking was a center piece.
- The adjustment from being away
from your parents is quite large
'cause you're on your own at 15, 16.
[soft music plays]
- I recall, in Bradford,
he even began under 19, him going into the bars there.
They knew he was underage and he would still go to the bars,
take the waitress home or whatever.
That led to him getting kicked out of his place in Bradford.
He brought her into the crawl space at the Billot's house,
and where he was sleeping with a Billot, as well.
And when he saw the girl getting snuck out in the morning,
she really got upset over it.
I think the Billot got very jealous.
- When he missed the Ontario Hockey League All Star team,
the game, he missed it
because he was drinkin' the night before.
- We got selected to go to the OHL All Star Game.
You know, we went out.
And we had a few beers.
Unfortunately, we slept in in the morning
and we had a meeting at the rink the next day.
We were gonna be suspended for two weeks
from league play,
from the Alexanders, so...
You basically think the world is over,
your hockey world's over, your dream is done.
And in hindsight it was a dumb ass thing to do.
- I wanna talk about Bobby Probert.
Is he beautiful or is he beautiful?
I mean, his reputation proceeded him every place he went.
Back in those day, what he was,
he was a gunfighter, a young gunfighter.
And they used to go up to em
and say you wanna go?
I gotta make a reputation.
He'd go, you say when.
But if the guy survived,
it would be alright.
- The fighting has changed quite a bit.
Back then it was, let's see who can hit the hardest
and who can knock each other down.
[crowd cheering]
He was the big boy on the block, without a doubt.
Bob Probert was unbelievable for any team he played for.
Because whenever he was dressed
the other team feared him so much
that everybody on his team
became bigger, stronger, braver.
- [Announcer] And they are just hammering each other.
My goodness.
Look at these two trading punches.
I'll tell ya, I can't believe--
oh, wow.
Man, oh man.
- The night before you have a difficult time sleeping.
- [Announcer] Bob Probert, you remember hits Bob Rouse,
and there's the helmet.
You're gonna see the helmet come right off.
- [Announcer] Probert's still loose.
He's gonna go after MacGuire.
Now, he comes in...
He's gonna get suspended without a doubt.
There's no question.
- [Announcer] And we got Probert going at it with Ewan.
I knew that was coming.
Oh!
Look at Ewan!
He decked Probert did he ever--
- If he lost a fight, he would fight comin' out of the box.
I remember when we were young and we were in St. Louis.
And he fought Todd Ewan and down he went.
- He certainly got him in the right hand.
The whole time in the box, I could see him.
Just fuming.
And of course, in the old days,
they came out of he box and right to each other.
Bob landed a lot of blows.
And it was retribution of you know, I can't lose.
- [Announcer] Bob Probert,
as he does so often in these fights,
as it goes on he seems to gain momentum.
And now he's got Ewan back peddling.
- [Announcer] I guess Probert
has really messed up that right hand.
He may have caught that on Ewan's helmet.
- We do crazy things like that.
He had no calms about hittin a goalie.
Non whatsoever.
- [Announcer] Denied by Keens,
Keens traps it behind the net but hooza.
Oh, and down on the ice, a heavy hit there.
Keens just got leveled by Probert.
Now watch Probert.
I don't wanna say Probert's tough or anything
but keep your eye on Butcher.
Now, watch Riendeau's pointing.
Don't point at Probert.
Don't point at Probert
because bad things happened to ya.
[laughing]
Isn't he a beauty?
- [Announcer] That's brutal.
- [Announcer] I know, that's terrible.
[laughs]
- Sitting in the dressin room before hockey game,
he and I would pull out the roster for the other team.
And we'd kinda pick and choose who was goin after who first.
Who gets to run the goalie tonight.
'Cause we knew when someone run the goalie,
it's gonna be a brawl.
- It was the 80's.
You know, back in the 80's they said it was social.
And if you were in the mindset that me and Bob were,
where you could keep drinkin' 'cause of it.
The first time you did it
you knew you could drink for another 3, 4 more hours.
Well then, hell,
scratch me in.
Bobby was so valuable to the team,
they looked the other way for a while.
But until it the papers
they had to try to do somethin'.
- The concrete of the light standard
crumbled to the ground.
He carried on beyond that
and drove through a window of the restaurant bar.
His car ended up right in front of the bar,
where people were seated at bar stools
in this restaurant.
- He had gotten into a fight
with several Windsor Police officers
and he was beaten pretty badly.
And you know, kind of impressed upon.
You're not a kid anymore.
You're a professional athlete now.
People are watching,
people are gonna be testing you.
You're gonna have to show some restraint.
- His cross examination went something like this,
Mister Probert, I understand
that you are considered by many
to be the heavy weight champion of the NHL.
Bob fell for it and of course,
was quite proud to announce yes,
he was indeed a hockey player.
Yes, he was a pretty good fighter.
And he wouldn't want to fight himself,
he was that good.
So we had a break in the action,
the case wasn't quite over.
And he came out during the break and he said,
I wasn't very good was I?
In front of a criminal judge,
where it's alleged that you resisted arrest
and you fought several officers
and actually had the best of them for a period of time,
those were not good answers.
- I do remember that he did bring somebody home,
some girl.
I don't know...
She seemed like a nice girl.
But I don't think he should ever have done that.
[laughs]
You know?
[laughs]
- Even some of his treatment counselors
would fall for his lying.
And I'm thinking, these are seasoned treatments officers,
they should know.
Everybody with those addictions
become a con man or con woman.
And he could con anybody into thinking everything was okay.
- First came to light Bob totaled a car
and was in jail in Windsor.
How do you total a car in a 30 mile per hour zone?
I don't know.
But Bob managed to do it.
And we had a meeting the next day.
Jim Lites just said, how could he get this way?
Who's lookin after this guy?
No one's sitting in the room.
And I look around, so I put my hand up.
That was the beginning of a tough love relationship.
We were selfish too.
We knew what good Bob was and how he could help us.
So we didn't fix it the way we really had to fix it.
We wanted him cleaned up in two weeks.
He spent a lifetime getting the way he did.
And we thought we could fix it up in seven to ten days.
We tried a lot of things.
We went to Antabuse,
which is a pill you take
that makes you violently ill when you drink.
We're staying around practice one day
and we could smell it.
And I remember Steve Eisman and Jerry standin there,
we're looking around at each other like,
who drank last night?
well I changed the pills in your office in the container.
So I was givin him an Advil or something.
- There wasn't just one private investigator,
I think he had a team of people
that would kinda keep tabs on Bob.
It didn't last long.
None of the news was very good.
- There's a lot to of Probert jerseys in there.
I would say there's probably more Probert jerseys in there
than there was any other jerseys that I remember.
Bob was an asset to that team.
And if he wasn't an asset,
trust me, they wouldn't have put up with him
as long as they did.
- He was almost Mister Detroit.
And it was almost like he can do anything in Detroit
and get away with it
'cause he was so big in Detroit.
He was loved by his team mates.
- When Probie and I came to Detroit,
back in the earlier, mid 80's,
the Wings weren't winning.
People start talking to us and call us the Bruise Brothers
and a team would score a goal,
there wouldn't be a whole lot of people standing up.
But every time someone dropped their gloves,
the entire stadium stood up.
- [Announcer] Now we gotta fight!
[Crowd Cheers]
- [Announcer] Probert now gets the right hand,
oh my god!
- [Announcer] With a knock out punch
on Gary Nyland!
- [Announcer] We're back live
and everything has broken loose here.
Probert conquers, oh!
Probert just decked--
[buzzer]
[crowd cheering]
- Nobody wanted to play against him.
He scores, what, 29 goals that year
and 398 penalty plays in the All Star game.
- [Announcer] Bob Probert!
[crowd cheering]
- I mean,
he was just that valuable.
- [Announcer] From the Detroit Red Wings,
in his All-Star Game debut,
on of the most rugged players in the league,
number 24, right winger, Bob Probert.
[crowd cheering]
- [Announcer] On now, comes Bob Probert.
He scores!
[crowd cheering]
- The ability to score 20 or more goals
and the ability to operate as the heavy weigh champion
of he NHL for the majority of his career,
I think you'd be hard pressed to find that combination,
that package in one person throughout all of NHL history.
It's pretty rare.
[upbeat horns]
- There was 8 or 10 other players there,
a couple that were playing and a lot of guys who were hurt.
And Bob was there
and I was more upset that they allowed Bob to drink.
When they all knew he problem he had.
- I looked at him and said, so,
understand Klima and Probie were out drinkin last night.
And Demers just kinda turned white.
He took a deep breath and he leaned back
and he spilled his guts.
He told us everything.
Everything.
Which was highly unusual.
We let Jacques just go on and on
about how devastated he was, how disappointed he was.
How his players were a bunch of idiots.
How he let their team mates down
and on and on and on.
Turned out to be a pretty good story.
- Bob Probert pictured on the
front page here.
Headline is Red Wings star misses key goal: Staying sober.
One night after Bob Probert
broke Gordy Howes Red Wing scoring record,
he broke his coaches heart.
Is about the [mumbles]
in Edmonton.
- I guess that the couple of stories
that we had the last couple of days has been reinstated
that I was right because of what happened last night.
- Kieth Gave was a writer for the Detroit Free Press.
Very, very negative.
I was hittin the papers all the time.
- Probie's career misconduct chronology, it's called.
And it goes on page after page after page
of his issues with alcohol and other things.
July second, 1986,
charged with assaulting a police officer
after a scuffle at a Windsor bar.
Shocker.
August 1986, discharged from a Minnesota hospital
after treatment for alcoholism.
This is 1986,
this is right after his rookie season in the NHL.
And it goes on page, after page, after page.
- Jacques created a certain amount of mess.
- [Announcer] The rumors have gone as far as the years
of coach Jacques Demers.
- I gotta tell you this too.
I had written so much
about Bob Probert and Petr Klima and others.
And I felt like a hypocrite
writing about some of the things I had to write about.
The only difference between Bob Probert and me,
is that he got caught and I didn't.
I'm guilty of the same things
and many of us are.
Having a few drinks and the press box finishin up my story,
hittin' last call, driving home,
certainly past the legal limit.
I coulda got caught and nailed any number of times I didn't,
I was luckier than him.
[soft orchestration]
- I met Bob at the front desk at The Relax Plaza,
here in Windsor.
He was staying there in a little hiatus.
He was having some problems with his visa I think,
his work visa.
The chemistry was just there. We went on our first date
and went to a Chinese food restaurant
that his dad just loved
in downtown Windsor.
We enjoyed that.
And then we went out for some frozen yogurt.
It was his first time for frozen yogurt.
I fell for the, this doesn't smell right, smell this.
And I got yogurt up my nose.
Wasn't that cute?
[laughs]
Though, I just, I don't know...
Everything about him, he was just adorable.
Really was.
- Just said, stay away from him.
Yeah, all my instincts went up.
You look like trouble. [laughs]
- Cocaine made him slow down.
Most times it's speedin you up.
But with Bob, it slowed him down.
You know, one of the things that...
You know, Bob never got arrested
when we were together.
I guess he did get arrested.
We got in a scrap in Dallas but...
You know what, I think we just went harder than others.
I think that's basically how I can sum that up.
- I remember him telling me
about playing against the New York Islanders
and not remember even being on the ice, he was so high.
- That was a drug that was used widely in the NHL.
It's pretty scary when you get a guy
chasing you around on the ice that's doin' cocaine.
It seems like it gave you this crazy strength
and you know, this energy.
So it was dangerous.
I'm saying it's not right that you're on that shit
and you're running around.
Probie was actually really sincere and said, you're right.
[crowd cheering]
- I think the first time I really did notice that,
was the night that he was caught at the border.
To back it up, we were at the bar in Windsor.
And watching him behind the bar and drinking.
Drinking out of the bottle.
It was like a switch
of seeing something that I hadn't seen before.
Or like this nonstop, couldn't stop.
And then going through the tunnel,
him scrambling to hide things.
- [Reporter] Last night,
it was the Red Wings versus the Islanders.
Today, it's the people of the United States
versus Robert Allen Probert.
The Red Wings star could face up to 20 years in prison
if convicted of drug smuggling charges.
Customs inspectors stopped him and three companions,
as they reached the American side
of the Detroit, Windsor tunnel.
It was 5:15 a.m.
If customs' version is true,
Probert was almost inviting a search.
- The examining customs officer
saw that the immigration document had expired.
They noticed empty liquor containers
and beer cans in the vehicle.
- [Reporter] A check of Probert's pockets
revealed a mill,
a device often used to grind cocaine.
A strip search followed.
Inspectors say they found
14.3 grams of cocaine in Probert's underwear.
- I think he really wanted to get caught.
And talking to him later on,
he basically said that.
One of the customs immigration officers said to him,
according to Bob, do you wanna go in the wash room?
Bob said no.
He said, no, do you wanna go in the wash room?
Maybe you should go in the wash room.
And Bob finally got the hint the guy was helping him out.
Bob had some cocaine with him,
a whole bunch of cocaine.
And they officer said,
maybe you wanna flush it down the toilet.
And Bob was ready to flush it down the toilet.
He said, I can't do that.
He said, I sniffed it all in.
I looked like I was having a powder jelly donut
when I walked outta there.
- I was 21 years old, so the strip search was terrifying.
The questioning, now that I look back,
it seems 15, 20 minutes, probably.
21 year old Dani was probably feeling
like it was an eternity.
After that I remember the sun coming up
and everything hitting the news.
- [Reporter] Probert is scheduled back in court March 22nd.
He faces, not only a possible jail term,
but banishment by the National Hockey League.
And the Immigration and Naturalization Service says
it will seek to deport Probert,
regardless of the outcome of this drug case.
- The arrest of Bob Probert on cocaine charges
could certainly devastate his career.
- Today's news comes as a tremendous disappointment
to the Red Wings.
His drinking problem, of course, has been well documented.
He's been in alcohol rehabilitation clinics
five times in the past.
- Officials found over 14 grams of cocaine
in his possession.
For Probert, a possible jail term in his future.
For the Red Wings, a hit and sigh of relief.
- For some reason, can't help himself.
Are drugs the demon that's ruined him?
Those close to him have to share responsibility
for his demise?
Or is Probert just bent on self destruction,
a cruel and wanting accomplice in his own ruination.
- You know, somebody runs a follow the rules,
they oughta suffer the consequences.
I know a lot of people expressed that.
- I feel sorry for his parents
and it's a rough mark for the city of Windsor.
I think he should be thrown in jail.
- [Interviewer] You don't have any sympathy for him at all?
- No. He shoulda been kicked out the NHL a long time ago.
- The media coverage, I don't even think was guilty
of sensationalizing
when they predicted that it was the end of his career.
You know, that he would, most certainly be incarcerated.
Most certainly be deported
upon completion of his incarceration.
And off it went.
- For all you kids out there, all you young hockey players,
I just wanna say something.
Think of something, when somebody offers you some just
or something like that.
Think of Bob Probert.
Here's a guy, big guy, six foot three.
Three year contract.
He had Detroit in the palm of his hand.
Everybody loved him, coach loved him.
He walked in room, every eye turned to him.
Now it's all gone.
- You know, I do sympathize, or have sympathy for Bobby.
Because I think his problems
have gotten beyond his own control.
I think even if he wanted to
change, he needed more help than just himself to do it.
- He's gotta get his life straitened away
and straightened out.
Until he does that, he's not really good to himself
or to us.
- First couple times, you know you say,
well you know, he screwed up and let's give him a chance,
but now it's been about 12, 15 times.
I don't think we feel sorry for him now.
- [Reporter] Robert walked in to the courthouse
not knowing if he would walk out again a free man.
Facing Judge Patrick Dougan,
the tears welled up in his eyes as he tried to speak.
Probert told the judge that he was sorry
for what he had done.
Sorry he'd let his teammates, his family,
his friends, and his fans down.
- It really hurt to see the people I let down
that still care about me.
- [Interviewer] Would you like to be able
to play hockey someday?
- I would like to get back into hockey.
I do miss it.
You know, there's a few obstacles in the way right now.
But yes I would like to play hockey again someday.
- Remember visiting Bob in Rochester, Minnesota,
when he was at that federal facility there.
Never been to a federal prison before.
It's an intimidating thing,
they finger print you.
And you go in there to visit.
And we probably spent an hour with Bob visiting.
He was, you know, nervous.
And anxious,
as you would expect a 24 year old guy to be.
[crowd chanting]
- Probie takes the ice.
I get chills thinking about it.
You know, the crowd starts chanting his name.
- [Announcer] And the crown reacting to number 24,
Bob Probert, taking his first shift this afternoon.
[crowd chanting]
- [Announcer] Score!
Bingo!
[crowd cheering]
Whoo hoo!
[horn buzzes]
- Well Bob, I don't really think
lost a fight up until that point.
It was a big thing and momentum started building
like I was the new up and coming guy.
And he was the reigning king,
the hype grew.
- [Announcer] Let's go, let's go,
and away they go.
[crowd cheering]
Crowder gets a couple early ones in.
- [Troy] I always said it was kinda like riding a bullet.
You better hold on.
You better stay on top of it.
Because he seemed to get more worked up
as the fight went on.
- [Announcer] The two of the face to face,
right in front of their jersey bets.
Oh, Probert gets [mumbles]
oh!
Probert nails--
he knocks him down!
- I know Ron MacLean and Don Sherry
had drove down to watch the game.
- We got a fight coming up here.
- Show it!
Alright, here we go,
how watch helmet go flyin.
This is a great fight.
This is a return of Probert and Crowder and 20,000 people.
This is a knock out here.
- Ron MacLean and I, we went to Detroit
and it was like a heavy weight championship fight.
It was unbelievable.
Detroit, they didn't care, the puck was the far end,
they just kept their eye on Bob and Troy.
And sure enough they get into it.
And Bob hits Troy so hard,
his helmet went about 10 feet in the air.
And they had two beauties.
Everybody knows, I don't think he ever got beat.
I can't remember, it might be somebody.
But I don't ever remember him being beaten.
- [Announcer] Here comes Manson.
Look at this he got Grimson - [Announcer] That's Probert.
And here they go.
Grimson came right out of the Chicago bench,
came after Probert and was [mumbles]
he wanted him to go.
And he got his wish.
- I think it had a lot to do with
just his personal disregard for his own physical wellbeing.
He wasn't the least big concerned about getting hit.
[crowd cheering]
- [Stu] The emotional drain of having to get up
for a battle with a guy like Probert.
That can really consume your thoughts
and your state of mind.
You just feel like there's no way you could hurt him.
- He had that Bob Probert look, like I wanna kill you.
- [Announcer] Now, we're gonna have a scrap.
Probert and Simpson drop the gloves in centers.
- [Reid] He wanted to kill you every time he fought.
- [Announcer] Probert got in another!
Oh, and an uppercut landed for Probert
and now he's plugging away.
- [Announcer] With the right hand loose
gotta couple in to Probert.
Probert hasn't even begun to fight yet.
- There was two sides to Bob
and you just didn't wanna be on the wrong one.
- [Announcer] We got Probert and Twist.
- [Tony] For Bob's generation of hockey,
he was the measuring stick.
How does he stack up?
If you're the measuring stick,
that means you're the man.
- [Announcer] These guys are pure heavy weights
in this league.
Wow!
- [Tony] You're gonna fight the biggest kid
at your school, in the field,
and everybody's gonna watch.
- When he was in his wild and crazy days in Detroit,
you never knew what he was going to do.
- [Announcer] Detroit goes away,
and the fights on Bob Probert.
Oh man, that's Jeremy Roenick.
- [Announcer] Jeremy Roenick and Probert.
- [Announcer] Now the Blackhawks are trying to get in.
Oh, wow, they gotta get in. There's no choice here-
- It was that sense of no knowing
that sometimes was more fearful about Bob.
- [Announcer] Probert again sends it in.
Probert and McSorley, oh, Probert took a swing at him.
Probert and McSorley!
They're bumping!
Oh, yeah.
[crowd cheering]
- [Announcer] They're not done yet. Oh no.
- [Announcer] They can't step into these punches.
This is one of the longest fights I've ever seen.
- [Announcer] I've never see on go this long
with officials watching.
- [Announcer] Lord almighty.
- [Dani] His brother didn't want him marrying me.
He was going go get a stack of money
and head to Vegas with his brother.
I think it was my maid of honor
and my mom discussing in the hallway a little bit of,
yeah, they're looking for Bob.
They couldn't find Bob.
And I was detecting a little bit of panic in the room.
- Was a train wreck, right?
It wasn't a smooth transition to get Bob to the wedding
facility
I can tell you that.
- Bob, I'd just like to say,
take care of our baby.
You're the son that Leslie never had.
We've taken the daughters very precious to us.
And we love you both very much.
And we wish you the best of life from here on in.
- The swirl of activity that always surrounded Bob
was not something I was ever really comfortable with.
It was a fanatic pace, it was...
Just high energy, is probably the best way.
Anything he did was always high energy.
- Needless to say, on July first, 1993,
45 minutes late, we did get married.
It happened.
[clapping]
- Here is the newlyweds Bobby and Dani.
Is she beautiful or what?
[audience cheering]
- Alright, now listen, I gotta ask you the question,
is he as tough at home as he is on the ice.
- Big teddy bear.
- Big teddy bear!
- [Dani's Father] Baby girl, come on.
Holy cow, look at that.
He's a big one.
- I spoke later to one of the arresting officers
that was there.
And he told me that when he leaned over Bob,
trying to find out if he was okay,
Bob said to the officer, just arrest me with the usual.
- He was handcuffed to a bed in a room when I walked in.
And he cried when he saw me.
He cried when he saw me
and my full eight months of pregnancy.
He was always worried about hurting me
or hurting the kids or the pain he caused others.
So him laying eyes on me, seeing me waddle in,
it hit him.
He knew he screwed up.
Big.
- The media's once again blown up.
They have every right to think that his career's over.
Then it's announced in the media
that the Red Wings have cut him loose.
The phone rings.
They're inviting us to come to Chicago the next day.
24 hours later, Bob and I
are in mister Werx's beautiful townhouse
on Lake Drive in Chicago.
And an accident that should have killed him,
took him to a million dollar annual raise.
- Um.
[Dani laughs]
- Okay. [sigh]
Okay, the straps go in the back right?
- Everything changed.
Everything changed instantly.
- [Woman] Bye Brogan!
- Bye!
- [Man] Bye Brogan!
- Going to Chicago,
it was full time recovery.
So he had eight years of sobriety in Chicago.
- [Dani] What do you say when you knock on the door?
- [softly] Trick or treat.
Trick of treat.
- [Dani] Which one's your favorite pumpkin, Brogan?
- Trick or treat!
[Bobby laughs] - [Dani] Just like that.
Which one's your favorite pumpkin?
- Which one do you like better out of the two?
- Dada's.
- Yeah, that's daddy's.
[laughing]
- All of the cushions off the couch
and us bouncing around where there was jumping on the bed.
Or listening to oldies and having a good time.
Bob dancing with the kids.
And each of them getting thrown around
and having so much fun.
- Everything was adrenaline based.
It had to be on the boat, tubing.
It had to be on the dirt bikes, on the four wheelers,
on the motorcycles.
We were on motorcycles before we could even walk.
We were sittin' with him.
Everything was just on the go all the time.
- He loved his duck call,
which I'm sure the other kids will say that.
That duck call, he'd be like [duck call]
from a mile away.
- [Woman] This I gotta get.
Big Bob.
- [Daughter] Wrong way.
Oh my god, you're so graceful.
[laughing]
- The first half of his career,
where he wasn't looking at you,
he just seemed to be staring past you.
And you were almost a non entity in the equation.
He had this kinda faceless countenance, almost.
You were waging war with this inanimate being.
[crowd cheering]
I didn't see that, that same version of Bob
towards the end of his career.
He seems far more human.
Far more mortal than he used to.
- He was on the last year of his contract
and he wasn't under that drug, alcohol,
or gambling policy at the beginning of the year.
And you just saw him slowly starting
to fall off the wagon a little bit.
They call him the night before
and as soon as the door knocks,
he knew it was the guy who gonna be takin' his sample.
Before he answered the door,
he would take that urine that was clean
and put it in a microwave for,
I don't know, small amount of seconds.
He knew the temperature where the pee has to be
for when they take the temperature, they know it's real.
You wanna do something, he found ways to do it.
- His intake of the pills were
pretty excessive.
I remember he would take oxi 80s and what he would do
is dip em in Coca-Cola.
To take the time release off them.
And use one of those foot file scrapers,
scrape em down and snort em.
I hated seeing it.
And I remember him doing up to 18 of em a day.
That's enough to kill anybody.
- It was legit.
He had back pain.
There were days that I had to push him out of bed,
with both feet, to help him get up.
There was no denying that he was in a lot of pain.
But the doctor's quick to prescribe the opioids.
- I think, in the end, the opiates got a hold of him
and took him down.
- We gotta remember, Bob was in a lot of fights.
He lived in bodily pain, daily.
That's what they gave him.
And they're so easy to get addicted to.
[angelic humming]
- Hockey players abuse their bodies.
Fighters really abuse their body.
You're jammin' shoulders and backs
and necks and hands.
So I had many, many friends that were fighters
that did a lot of pills.
- I don't think the average, everyday person
would never understand the punishment
we put our bodies through everyday.
The stress, the strain, the beating.
And I mean it's constant.
And it's everyday.
I can tell you all but you couldn't imagine.
- He had CTE.
Dr. McKee, in the conference call that we had,
basically was saying that on a scale from one to four,
he was a two, bordering on a three.
You can't sit there and speculate
whether or not he woulda had dementia,
early onset dementia, Alzheimers.
But the likelihood was, yes.
[crowd cheering]
- I remember just playing hide and seek
with him one day and I kid you not,
probably the same space between me and you.
I was standing right in front of him,
and he honestly couldn't even see me.
It's like I wasn't even there to him.
And I literally talking to him.
And he was just very confused
and you could bring up something that happened
a couple hours ago an he wouldn't know
or he wouldn't remember.
- I don't wanna get on that shit, you see.
Why get into concussions?
You notice in coaches corner,
I never talk about concussions.
You really getting into something...
You guys better be very careful
because that's a touchy subject right now.
- [Announcer] Looks like he didn't wanna drop the first hit.
[mumbles] got the machine gun moving the left.
Boy, oh, boy, he hit him right on the butt.
- The reason I had to leave the game, ultimately,
was due to post concussion syndrome.
[announcer calling game indistinctly]
I don't wanna know, I always say, I don't...
Doctors are trying to get me in these scanning machines.
I don't wanna break their machines, you know.
But the reality is,
I should be taking care of myself
because of things that happened
to guys like Bob and other people.
I think it's just us, with stubbornness and stuff so...
Trying to change a little bit at a time
to really...
think of my kids and my family, my wife
and everybody 'cause it's...
It's real.
Life is a very delicate thing.
I think...
When you're not prepared for it like
no body was for Bob,
anything can happen to anybody at any given time.
- And goes down and take another right hand.
- I've hit some people pretty hard
and I've felt things break
and I've felt things shift
and I've felt things move.
I think to myself, oh no.
You kind of have that sense of
oh shit, what did I just do?
- [Announcer] Here we go.
Caron and Parker.
- It was almost a war mentality,
like kill or be killed.
- [Announcer] Oh, Probert hit him in the right!
Another one!
- You know, getting punched really hard in the head
does do things to you over time.
At the end of the day,
you do want a quality of life
where you wanna be able to hold your kids
and do things with your kids
and not be cooped up in the basement
because light affects you so bad
that it just sends you into a tizzy.
[intense orchestra]
- The post career is tough on a lot of guys.
Plenty of players struggling with that
not being around the guys,
not having your regiment schedule to follow.
You know, being on the bus,
being at the rink at certain time.
So you find yourself with so much time
and nothing to do, you miss the guys.
- [Dani] Good morning, Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
- [Bobby's Daughter] He's farting all the time--
- [Dani] I wouldn't get too close.
- It takes its toll on you.
I think Bob felt that like I did.
We felt like we were kinda lettin the team down,
the fans down, and it was a tough time.
Then you're left with nothing.
You're home with a wife and kids
and you don't have that adrenaline rush you need to fill.
- Dad!
- Ho ho ho!
Merry Christmas!
- [Dani] Christmas afternoon, how are ya?
- What time is it?
- [Dani] Don't worry, we've been videotaping you,
puttin toys on your head, frogs stuck to you,
everything, you haven't even noticed.
- Where's my toys?
[coughing]
Christmas kicked my butt.
[coughing]
- [Woman] I'll give you a family shot.
- [Girl] Uncle Rob!
- [Man] Get in there, I want some lovin too.
- [Girl] Uncle Rob.
- Can you feel the love?
Can you feel the love this Christmas morning?
- Ho ho ho.
- He just wanted to to AWOL.
He just wanted to disappear and...
Didn't want us to see this side of him.
He wanted to protect us from that bad side of who he was.
But no, he was very ashamed.
I know, you could see it in his face.
That was just something in his eyes,
you could see the sadness when he would come home.
And that would be so heartbreaking.
"Dear disease, you have taken away my freedom
"to make healthy choices.
"You have taken away my valuable time
"from my wonderful wife, Dani, and my four kids.
"You have taken away my self respect and dignity.
"You have turned me into someone I am not.
"You have hurt me financially.
"You have controlled my thoughts and my feelings.
"You took me away from things I used to do to have fun.
"You took away my ability to keep promises
"by running my will.
"At times you took me away from people that truly love me.
"You took away from me our twins birthday.
"You took away from me, Christmas of 2002.
"You took a lot from me but that is about to stop.
"To change."
that's when it was that he ended up going to Florida,
to the Karen Foundation.
That was the rehab that really helped him.
Really clicked.
He was doing the halfway house part of it.
[ambulance sirens]
- He was arrested, tasered three times.
Yeah, three times.
Soiled himself, was thrown in jail,
got accused for trying to clog the plumping
but it was his...
He was trying to rinse out his...
Boxers.
Not one of his greatest highlights in his life,
that's for sure,
it was a terrible time.
- When Bob was drinking,
he was a different person, he wasn't Bob.
I think when he drank,
he turned off that family switch.
- I don't think I've ever seen him that messed up.
It was crazy, he had crazy eyes and the way he was acting.
He was flippin out.
He had the butcher block of knives.
I had called my father and I didn't know what to do.
And he's like, you need to hang up and call 911.
- He was just grabbin' things and throwing them
and there was just no getting through to him.
Say, slow down, you're ruining your house.
You're gonna hurt somebody, slow the hell down.
And finally the cops came
and grabbed him and toned him down.
- He was pepper sprayed on the front porch.
I remember seeing that.
I was angry with the police for taking him away.
I didn't understand, he's my dad, he's my superhero,
he can't be doing anything wrong.
[ominous melody]
- I packed up the kids and took off for a while.
- When they had that little trial period there,
maybe that scared him.
Maybe he thought he was gonna lose her.
The thought of losing her would have devastated him.
- We came back within a couple of weeks
and I think that's when we buckled down
and started coming up with some plans,
as far as what needed to be done next.
He did see that his actions,
how they were affecting the kids.
That's when he was gettin' his shit together.
That's when he was starting to be more present
and more involved, not missing things.
More responsible.
It's a lot of things I miss about that guy.
Yeah, he didn't care.
No concept of time, that was Bob.
But him walking down the hall,
and I could picture it in our old house.
He would start up Brogan's room
and he would say,
well they could be sound asleep
or they can be reading a book, didn't matter.
Good night, Brogita chiquita.
Brogita chaquita banana, give her a kiss.
I love you.
Then he would go to T-rows or TT-Lee, Tierny Rose.
Have to announce his little goofy name
that he would have for them
and same thing, I love you and a kiss good night.
And into Ducky's room with his famous duck call
and give the the I love you and a kiss good night.
And the last one would always be,
Jack my boy...
And the same, I love you, goodnight.
Would always come in, Dan Dan, Baby, Dan Dan.
And I would get the same thing.
So whether he's working on the car or the motorcycle,
putzing around in the garage.
Or going into the kitchen to make some toast
or one of his favorite late night snacks.
We all got the goodnights, I love you.
And then he'd go off and do his thing
or he'd just go to bed.
Okay.
Yeah, that one always gets me.
Okay, pull it together, let's go.
[mellow ominous piano]
When we left the house at around one o'clock
it was a hot day.
And we took off, heading east,
we were further down the lake
and we were coming in this direction.
Coming here in Belle River for lunch.
There was a noise coming from the boat.
And he was six foot four and 200 and whatever
bent over on a 95 degree day over the side of the boat,
working his way.
And he was mid boat, when he just collapsed,
he was on his knees.
That's when I could see his face
and I could see his lips going...
His lips were black, his lips kept changing color
and his tongue, and I could see that.
And they laid him down and my stepfather,
is a police officer, he started to perform CPR
doing the chest compressions and mouth to mouth.
I immediately called 911.
And I was disoriented, I couldn't see where we were.
I knew we were past the sand bar.
I didn't know how far.
It was hard to pin point where we were.
[seagulls cawing]
[ominous music]
- His face was completely blue.
He was purple and blue and that's why I said,
Dad I love you.
Because I wanted to be able to remember
what my last words were to him.
And I just remember saying, baby, where are the keys?
I can't find the keys.
And he managed to touch the seat,
so I knew the keys were tucked in behind the seat,
they must have fallen back.
I grabbed the keys and I didn't...
I only started the one engine,
it was a jet boat, I didn't start both.
I couldn't understand why we weren't going,
then Kai made it to the boat
and that was my first introduction to Kai.
He jumped on the boat and I got onto his jet ski
and he brought the boat in to shore.
- I went to them and asked them, what's wrong?
Dani says, can you bring the boat in?
[ominous music]
[water splashing]
I just remember screaming for the paramedics
and running to the road.
And flagging down the paramedics to get to the shore
and help me with Bob.
Get them to the dock and then to get my kids off the boat
and everybody out of the way.
I just remember coming on shore, rushing to the road,
getting the paramedics to the back
and then clearing off the boat.
Getting the kids off, placing them over by the fence area.
[somber piano]
We made it to the hospital.
All I could think of was the drive to the hospital
was calling up people to get my kids around.
I had Decland at a sleepover birthday party.
And Brogan was at that new job.
I was so afraid that they were going to hear something
on the radio.
So had to get them rounded up
and get everybody home.
Just keep them protected.
This whole time I didn't know that Bob had died.
I hadn't been told yet.
And they called us, my mom and I,
into a separate room.
And the doctor came...
The doctor came in and told me that he didn't make it.
- I was walking upstairs and my phone went off
and someone said, I'm so sorry to hear about your dad.
And I was like, what are you talking about?
And they're like, I'm sorry about your dad,
I'm sorry to hear about him, I'm sorry that he passed away.
And I responded like, he's not dead,
he's just in the hospital, he's gonna be fine,
he's not dead.
Because the news outlets heard about it before we did.
So people started texting us.
- I remember walking in and all of them in a little huddle
in the family room around the coffee table.
They all looked up at me when I walked in.
And all I could say was, you're dad loved you so much.
And I couldn't get out anymore.
- Your dad loved you very much.
And...
But they couldn't do anything else to help them,
to help him,
That's when at that moment we all just broke.
I went out back and I started crying outside.
Everyone was just crying everywhere.
My cousin was there
and we were all just like, there's no way.
There's no way that happened.
He was such a big...
He was so full of life.
And he was just such a big presence in our lives,
that just to think that, oh he's gone like that.
- That was July fifth, 2010.
[sniffles]
[somber celestial sounds]
- There was a massive heart attack.
It wasn't very good.
Not good at all.
It was such a shocker.
- We did everything together.
We're only 13 months apart.
He was someone that,
you always see him as invincible, I guess.
That's why it was such a shock when he died.
He always seemed to survive anything.
But [mumbles] it's still hard to believe.
- I was sad that he wasn't there for me graduating college
or for my prom.
And I know a wedding, one day if that happens.
That's definitely gonna be hard.
'Cause there's no one there to walk you down the isle
or to have that first father daughter dance.
I know that in the future and if I'm having babies
and he doesn't get to meet them.
They don't get to understand
how cool of a person my dad was.
Those are definitely things that, yeah,
I miss him being here.
- You're just like, wow.
I wish I had him to give me advice on this
or I wish I could have a hug.
Or I wish I could just heard him laugh again.
There's certain things you don't know
and you expect that you would need him to help you
grow throughout certain situations in your life.
And every day's different.
Every day you can miss, you think about him more,
you miss him more.
And sometimes it's always gonna be in the back of your head,
but some days it's just,
wow, I wish I had him here to get me through this day.
- Having it absent is definitely different sometimes.
But then you look around and you're like,
you know what, he would be proud of me regardless.
Just because he's not here physically,
doesn't mean he's not looking down on us.
Because I think he is.
[celestial bells and humming]
[orchestral music]