One thing we have learned from the performance enhancing drug era of pro sports in America today is that if you admit your guilt, you can be forgiven.
A plethora of athletes, in both Major League Baseball and the NFL, have been caught cheating over the past few years.
Many, if not most, of the abusers’ identities have been either forgotten or simply disregarded by fans and the media.
The two greatest baseball players of the modern era, slugger Barry Bonds and ace pitcher Roger Clemens, have been caught using performance enhancing drugs. Both men went in front of a congressional committee, and under oath, claimed to have never used PED.
Bonds was indicted by the federal government on perjury charges after the revelation of positive drug tests in 2003 contradicted his testimony. Without a miracle or some nifty legal work, Barry Bonds will forever be known as the king of the steroid era. His image and reputation are tarnished forever.
Mark McGwire, the first man to surpass Roger Maris’ 61 home run season, chose to plead the fifth at his congressional hearing, which was as good as admitting his guilt.
Where is Big Mac now? Certainly not in Cooperstown.
Roger Clemens, the seven time Cy Young award winner, was voted as the greatest living pitcher by a panel of 32 ESPN analysts in 2006. Now, in 2008, he finds himself in the same fight that Bonds has been fighting for years.
When he was brought in front of Congress, Clemens vehemently denied the allegations from former trainer, Brian McNamee, that he used PED. Even after Andy Pettitte, long time friend and workout partner, confirmed the information in McNamee’s report regarding his past HGH use. He told the committee that Clemens was also an abuser, Rocket stuck to his story.
I guess it’s better to go down swinging.
With Clemens on the verge of sinking as dramatically as Bonds did before him, it got me thinking about other PED abusers in MLB and the NFL that have admitted their faults and escaped their tarnished image.
Rodney Harrison, the inspirational leader of the Patriots defense, was suspended for the first four games of the 2007 regular season after admitting to federal investigators that he knowingly purchased and used HGH. According to federal agents, Harrison also received a shipment of HGH with his name on it days prior to the 2004 Super Bowl.
Harrison is currently the only player in NFL history to amass 30 interceptions and 30 sacks during his career. Has his past abuse of HGH tainted his image as one of the fiercest hitting safeties to ever play the game? I don’t think so, but you can be the judge.
Similarly, Shawne Merriman, the 6'4'', 270 lb. linebacker of the San Diego Chargers, was suspended four games during the 2006 season after testing positive for use of anabolic steroids. Despite only appearing in 12 games, Merriman finished as the league leader having 17 sacks.
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