Performance Enhancing Drugs: Will They Ever Go Away?

In light of the recent events surrounding Houston Texas’ Linebacker Brian Cushing, it’s clear to see that the use of human growth hormones and other performance enhancing drugs has not stopped but only slowed down. 

Granted, the NFL has made it tougher for their players to take performance enhancing drugs but there are still those that use them, get away with it, and compete, thus giving themselves an unfair advantage over their competition.

I am sure many older NFL fans will remember Lyle Alzado, a former defensive lineman who, in his own admission, used steroids and in the end lost his life as a result.  Alzado died of cancer (brain tumors) and attributed his use of steroids to his death.  It was a slow and painful death and towards the end he declared that steroids were his downfall.

Something else that Alzado shared prior to his death is perhaps even more alarming.  He admitted that almost nine out of 10 athletes in the NFL had taken steroids because of the fact that no one could “naturally” have the skills required to play football in the NFL.  You had to do something to enhance yourself, make yourself better and thus last in the sport and make money.

Steroid use has many different side effects, most of them physical and some of them mental.  They have been known to cause short term physical side effects such as tumors on the liver, yellowing of the skin, baldness, high blood pressure and undesirable physical changes. 

Some of the long term physical side effects of steroid use include sicknesses as a result of a depressed immune system, urinary tract infections, obesity, skin diseases and even diabetes.  Some of the mental effects of taking steroids include making snap judgments, consistent irritability, feelings of invincibility and extreme jealousy. 

So why do athletes take steroids?  The answer is simple: to gain a competitive advantage over the other players on the field.  Football is not only a game but it’s a way of life for all of the players in the NFL (and in other kinds of sports as well) and they don’t want to be out of a job.  It’s like any other career that a person loves and wants to remain in—they are always looking for an edge and the use steroids to gain that edge.

The NFL has put in place a testing program that appears to be working very well and is catching most of those who are taking steroids or other performance enhancing drugs.  And the shock of getting a four week unpaid suspension is something that a lot of players consider before putting anything that might be considered to be illegal by the league goes into their bodies.  It’s a strong deterrent.

So why did Houston Texan’s linebacker Brian Cushing and Alzado take steroids?  They didn’t want to end up losing their jobs to someone else and both aimed to seek a competitive advantage.  That is why steroids and other performance enhancing drugs are used—no one wants to lose.  Everyone always wants to win.

It’s too bad that the use of steroids ended Alzado’s life early (and perhaps others that we do not know about).  While the short term benefits of taking steroids may appeal to some of these athletes, in the long run they are dangerous and will only end up destroying their lives.  They need to know that they can gain an advantage over the other players on the field by hitting the weight room or spending a lot of time in the film room.  They need to know that steroids are not the answer.

The question now is, when will these performance enhancing drugs not be available?  How long will it take to make them completely disappear?