Ryan Tucker, a Cleveland Browns lineman, will be sitting out 4 games due to a steroids policy infraction (CBS News). Wonder if the Browns knew this was coming, leading to draft choice Joe Thomas?
The story line reads as if Tucker suffered from a Depressive Disorder at the end of the 2006 season. The player admits he took 'a banned substance' while be teated for a 'mental disorder'. Either the substance was an anabolic steroid or a street drug.
Ignoring the entire 'roid rage debate -- which entices people with no medical training to become experts on the subject -- almost anything on the NFL's banned list can produce psychiatric effects. Anabolic steroids themselves can contribute to depression and psychosis in high enough doses. Steroid withdrawal can also produce mental effects.
We just wonder if these players receive good medical care during the 'episode'. Hope so.
Desperate to resume his career, a "down and out" Ryan Tucker risked his football future by taking steroids.
He'll pay for it _ and so will the Browns.
Tucker, Cleveland's rock-solid right offensive tackle, was suspended Friday for the first four games of the season for violating the NFL's policy on anabolic steroids and related substances.
Tucker admitted taking a banned substance, saying he did so while being treated for a mental disorder that limited him to nine games last season.
"I didn't intend to compromise the integrity of the NFL, my team," a remorseful Tucker said following Friday's morning practice. "I want to apologize to the fans, my family. It's been a long road in which I was pretty down and out last year. In my attempt to come back I took a banned substance.
"I'm going to fulfill this punishment and get it behind me."
Tucker can practice with the Browns throughout training camp and the preseason. However, he cannot be with the team during his suspension, which begins Sept. 1 and runs through Oct. 1. He is not appealing the ban.
Browns coach Romeo Crennel said he would support Tucker, but characterized the suspension as disappointing.
"We were counting on him," Crennel said. "He's an integral part of that offensive line and created some depth and competition for us. When you lose a guy like that it definitely hurts."
Crennel also said releasing Tucker at the end of his suspension is an option.
"That's always an option for any player we have," he said. "Like I said, at the end of these four weeks we will see where he is, we'll see where we are and than we'll do what is best for the Browns."
The 32-year-old Tucker, one of Cleveland's team leaders on the field and in the locker room, refused to divulge any details about what substance he took."There was a point last year that I didn't know if I was going to play again," he said. "Bottom line, I'm healthy now. My family is healthy and happy. People are behind me here, and my family is behind me. That's really all I have."
Tucker will be out during a brutal stretch of games for the Browns, who went 4-12 last season and have had only one winning season since 1999...
Tucker was placed on the reserve-non-football-illness list for the final eight games last season. At the time, the Browns said Tucker's disorder was one "commonly experienced by the general population as well as by professional athletes."
Tucker has given no details about his illness. He said he is healthy.
"Everybody i faced with countless obstacles," he said. "The other day somebody asked me if all this stuff is behind me _ I just had to laugh. There's nothing funny about it, believe me. My family is suffering more than anybody because it's going to be public and people will make their own assumptions."
The suspension is the latest distraction for the Browns, who have had to overcome countless injuries, bad drafts and rotten luck since their expansion return eight years ago.
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