Bill Romanowski and the NFL's Other Elephant in the Room

The line between professional football and the rest of the sporting world will be drawn the minute Bill Romanowski becomes the new strength and conditioning coach of the Washington Redskins, if that does indeed happen.

Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com reported Tuesday that the Redskins brought Romanowski in to interview for the position.

The news will raise some eyebrows because many people probably instantly responded, “Um, why in the world would you want that guy representing your organization?”

Given the fact that Romanowski was one of the league’s biggest bad boys during his 16-year career, often finding himself amidst scandals and controversy, it’s a fair gut reaction.

But gut reactions usually don’t pass for informed opinions.

With Mike Shanahan taking over as head coach in Washington and a losing football culture preceding him, we can expect him to take a vacuum cleaner to the organization’s personnel.

If the Redskins are going to succeed under Shanahan, he must begin with a clean slate.

This makes Romanowski a creative option.

The reason why Romanowski lasted so long in the NFL and had such a dominant career is because he was extremely committed to maintaining his body and doing anything to keep himself healthy.

His workout routines would make most professional athletes quit. He endured extreme levels of pain through intense stretching routines simply so he could drag his body out to the field every Sunday.

Romanowski took supplements and nutrition to the extreme (hold that thought). I remember watching a short television feature on him some years ago, and he pulled out a case that I swear looked like it belonged to a rifle.

Romanowski flipped it open and the case was divided up into a bunch of individual squares, all separating different pills and supplements he took every morning. I forget the number, but he must have taken 50 pills a day during his career.

When he was at Boston College in the ‘80s, Romanowski would go out for pizza with his buddies. His buddies would take their pepperoni with beer. Romanowski enjoyed his with milk.

The next morning, when his friends were sleeping off the previous night’s brewskis, Romanowski would build his legs by running steep grass inclines in Chestnut Hill. 

The man was vicious, he was nasty, but he also sacrificed a great deal more than most players are willing to. Those are positives that Romanowski can bring to the Redskins. 

Of course, there’s one blotch underlying all of this that is more sensitive than an ingrown nail.

Romanowski used steroids.

In 2005, Romanowski appeared on 60 Minutes and admitted he used steroids and human growth hormone during his career that was supplied to him by Victor Conte, the madman behind the BALCO scandal.

OK, this is as surprising as Mark McGwire recently coming clean about his use of the juice, but still. The potential for controversy is enormous.

But the problem is the difference in cultures.

If the Redskins hire Romanowski, I wonder if he will receive the same amount of backlash as McGwire is receiving for trying to get back into baseball? I doubt it.

Now this could be for many reasons. For one, Romanowski faced America and fully explained what he took, where he got it, and other questions.

And when you’re a middle linebacker in the NFL and taking steroids, even the casual fan doesn’t need to strain too hard to realize how that may help your performance in a violent game like football.

McGwire won’t admit that steroids helped him hit home runs, the one trait that defined him as a baseball player, and that dash of ignorance (or arrogance) is generating much of the criticism.

Steroids are a big issue in baseball because it is a sport that prides itself and its record books on statistics. We use numbers more than anything else to define the greatest players, and we attempt to use stats as a way of comparing different eras.

In football—how do I say this nicely?—nobody cares. The NFL has become such a cash cow and entertainment giant that fans aren’t all that concerned with what these enormous men are putting into their bodies in order to beat each other 16 times per year, not including the playoffs and preseason.

I’m not berating the NFL, but Alex Rodriguez admits steroid use and it’s everywhere. Shawne Merriman tests positive, and people take a glimpse at the headline over their morning coffee before turning the page. Big difference.

To the NFL’s credit, it is doing a pretty good job of discouraging steroid use. In 2007, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell strengthened the league’s drug policy to include more frequent testing and harsher penalties.

The NFL will test 12,000 players league-wide, up from 10,000. First-time offenders will be suspended four games, or one-fourth of the season.

Now is the time for Goodell to emphasize this issue because the league is concerned about the long-term health of its players.

The increased concern about concussions and post-concussion symptoms this season speaks to that.

Research done last year by the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation showed approximately 10 percent of retired NFL players used steroids during their career.

The long-term affects of steroid use are equally as daunting as those accompanied by concussions.

This isn’t an opportunity to bury Romanowski and label him as a loony steroid user. This is an opportunity for him to use his vast knowledge to improve the league and educate current players.

I never thought I’d say this, but Bill Romanowski can make a monumental difference on the NFL.

Raising awareness about steroids is imperative to the current and future health of players, and is something the league owes to the men who generate millions and millions based on their athletic gifts.

If there is one drive the NFL cannot let die in the red zone, education regarding the health of its employees is it.

Follow Teddy Mitrosilis on Twitter . You can reach him at [e-mail].