Mark McGwire Comes Clean, Proving That He's the Bravest Man of the Steroid Era

Monday, Mark McGwire came clean about steroids in baseball. He said that he used them during his 1998 home run chase with Sammy Sosa, who is also rumored to have used steroids. The '98 home run chase arguably saved baseball, as almost the entire 1994 season was canceled due to a strike.

McGwire retired a few years later. However, he finally came forward on Jan. 11, 2010, and stated the obvious: He used steroids.

He was mentioned in former teammate Jose Canseco's book Juiced as one of the many players who used performance enhancers.

Although McGwire said in an MLB Network interview with Bob Costas that he believed the steroids didn't add to his performance, that is either an outright lie or brought on by denial.

However, because of the interview with Costas (and later with ESPN's Bob Ley) you have to respect McGwire.

Sure he's a cheat. But he came clean, and he's the first player of that era (other than Canseco) to come clean.

You can still hate him. But I won't.

I respect him for going on national television (twice) to talk about how he cheated the MLB, Oakland A's, St. Louis Cardinals, the Maris family and, most of all, the fans.

Hopefully, McGwire's interview will resonate with other cheaters of the era. If Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, and Rafael Palmeiro all come forth and admit that they used PEDs, then they will at least gain some of their respect back. Who knows, they might even go to the Hall of Fame.