Steroid Nation

David Jacobs steroid buddy Matt Lehr released from the Saints

The New Orleans Saints released offensive lineman Matt Lehr over the weekend.  The NFL player was knee deep in steroids, as noted in his relationship with Plano TX dealer David Jacobs.   Lehr and Jacobs both 'catered' to bodybuilder Amanda Savell, whom was murdered by Jacobs moments before he took his own life.

Over the weekend, the New Orleans Saints terminated their contract with lineman Matt Lehr, who played for the Cowboys from 2001 to 2004.

It is unclear what role, if any, his alleged involvement with admitted steroids dealer David Jacobs played.

Before Jacobs killed himself and his former girlfriend in early June, he told federal authorities, the NFL and The News that Lehr used and helped him distribute performancing drugs to other players. Lehr was never charged with a crime, and the league has taken no action.

Lehr's attorney has consistently maintained that his client has been clean since flunking a test for performance enhancing drugs in 2006, while with the Atlanta Falcons.

Steroid Shorts: Marion Jones out, Chargers in, and Kentucky bans horse steroids

1.  Marion Jones freed form prison.  (AP)

2. Steroids are only a piece of the San Diego Charger scene.  (Village Soup)

3.  My old Kentucky home.  Govorner bans steroids in horses.  (The Horse)

NFL suspends Jets' Jesse Chatman for failed drug test

The NFL suspended the New York Jet's new running back Jesse Chatman for violating the steroids policy.  There seems to be some controversy about what exactly happened;  Chatman's agent claims the player never failed a urine test.  To Newsday:

On cut day, it was the NFL taking the ax to Jets running back Jesse Chatman.  For the first four games of the season, anyway.

Chatman, signed as a free agent in the offseason, was suspended yesterday for violating the league's drug policy, though the circumstances regarding the failed test seem to be in dispute.

"Jesse Chatman of the New York Jets has been suspended without pay for the team's first four regular-season games of 2008 for violating the NFL Policy on Steroids and Related Substances," the NFL said in a statement released minutes before Jets coach Eric Mangini addressed reporters on a conference call. "Chatman's suspension begins on Saturday, August 30. He is eligible to return to the Jets' active roster on Monday, September 29 following the team's September 28 game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Here is the statement from the player's agent:

Chatman's agent, Brett Tessler, reached last night, texted the following to Newsday:

"Jesse never tested positive for a steroid or any other performance-enhancing drug," Tessler wrote. "Near the end of last season the League claimed he had a diuretic in his system that they said could also be used as a masking agent. After spending great time and money defending his innocence, the League made its final ruling and now Jesse has no choice but to look ahead to week 5."

The Jet's responded to his suspension, in an overall favorable way:

It was not clear when Mangini found out about the failed test or even when the test occurred, though Tessler's statement indicates the Jets were not caught by surprise.

"They notify us," Mangini said of the NFL. "All the specific details are confidential. There's not a lot I can add in terms of details. I'm disappointed [but] I look forward to having him back."

    Chatman starred in the Jets' 27-20 victory over the Eagles Thursday night, carrying a game-high 29 times for a game-best 93 yards. Chatman added six receptions for 87 yards, also a game best. "I'm disappointed, he's disappointed," Mangini said. "But at the same time I respect the program the league has in place. One violation and there are consequences."

Mangini said Chatman, who was out of football for most of 2005 and all of 2006 for reasons ranging from injury to not being able to stick on any team's roster, will have a spot when he returns after the suspension.

"My experience with Jesse since he's been a Jet has been extremely positive," Mangini said. "He's done everything we've asked. There's a lot of things I really like about the player and the person. It's something that has happened. It's something you never want to see, but that's where we are."

Ex Tampa Bay Buc Luke Petitgout out with steroid suspension

Yes, there are other sports out there in August.  Most have been quiet, including the NFL, which bursts out of the shadows today when the league announced that Tampa Bay Buccaneer Luke Petitgout will be hanging out at home with a steroid suspension.  To the Sporting News:

         

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive tackle Luke Petitgout has been suspended by the NFL for four games for an undisclosed violation, according to an online report.

Petitgout, who was released by the Bucs on Saturday, is eligible to sign with another team and participate in preseason practices and exhibition games, CBSSports.com reported Monday.

The Bucs cut Petitgout after he failed a physical. The veteran lineman had been slow to recover from a severe knee injury suffered last season.

 

Petitgout played college ball at Notre Dame.  Just saying...

Sunday Doping Dose: Olympics and testing

1. Dr. Berry argues for a more open doping control and doping testing.  (Houston Chron)

2.  Wired looks a gene doping again.

3.  The NFL's San Diego Chargers has no one left after injuries and steroids suspensions (is there a a connection)  (North County Times)

Ex-Wolverine Rondell Biggs trapped with steroids

Rondell Biggs's vehicle hid his suspended license and a big bag of 'roids when Michigan cops stopped the former Michigan football player last January.  (MLive.com)  Turns out Biggs was following sprinter Ben Johnson now on his 20th anniversary of Winny use at the Olympics.  "Biggs"...perfect name for a Winny user.

A former defensive end for the University of Michigan football team faces a court hearing next week on a felony charge for illegal possession of steroids, according to Michigan State Police.

Rondell Biggs, 24, was stopped by state troopers Jan. 24 on I-94 near State Street for illegally tinted windows on his vehicle. Biggs was arrested for driving on a suspended license, and troopers searched his car prior to impounding it.

Trooper Craig Ziecina said in a press release that he found 10 yellow pills in the center console of the vehicle in a bag that had a label indicating it contained 50 pills. Biggs told Ziecina they were "post-workout pills" and said he was in Michigan assisting with the training and conditioning of the U-M football team.

Biggs said he coached Michigan players -- under the Lloyd Carr regime.  Rich Rod let him go.

U-M football spokesperson Dave Ablauf said this morning that Biggs was employed as an hourly worker by U-M's football staff under former head coach Lloyd Carr, but was not retained when coach Rich Rodriguez and conditioning coach Mike Barwis took over the program after U-M's bowl game on Jan. 1.

Ablauf said Biggs was likely working out with other former U-M athletes who are either pro players or have pro aspirations and use the Wolverine training facilities in the offseason.

Rich Rod didn't want to be 'Rich Roid'?

The pills later tested positive for stanozolol, a Schedule III prescribed synthetic anabolic steroid. It is commonly used by athletes and bodybuilders to lose fat while retaining lean body mass. Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal in the 100 meters at the 1988 Summer Olympics when he tested positive for the drug.

Hail to the Dopers, huh?

David Jacobs, Amanda Earhart-Savell, and NFL lineman Matt Lehr: Weird PED-love triangle

As well documented, heavyweight steroid dealer/user David Jacobs, bodybuilder/fitness model Amanda Savell, and NFL lineman/juicer Matt Lehr appeared to be linked in the past.  Jacobs supplied the juice to Lehr and other unnamed football players.  Jacobs hung with Savell, as the dealers/female bodybuilders are apt to do.  Apparently behind the scenes Savell and Lehr were playing their own field position game...with deadly results.

The Dallas Morning News carried a story on the Plano Plight.

In the months before convicted steroids trafficker David Jacobs killed himself and his girlfriend, the embittered dealer alleged that NFL players used his drugs. But he publicly named only one: Matt Lehr.

Mr. Jacobs, who repeatedly said he wouldn't go public with former customers' names because he did not want to disrupt their lives, made an exception with Mr. Lehr, a former Dallas Cowboys lineman now with the New Orleans Saints.

He said he felt Mr. Lehr and his attorney weren't honest about the NFL player's role in Mr. Jacobs' distribution network.

Jacobs was also jealous of the man he described as his former best friend because he thought Mr. Lehr was interested in his girlfriend.

It was true.

This sounds like a deal going bad, or as they say in 'No Country for Old Men" there 'were a few glitches'.  Steroid dealer to cops, NFL players, and bodybuilders...fem fatale bodybuilder...federal agents...NFL players with millions to lose...quite an explosive cocktail.  And so it went:

"She was in love with me, and I loved her," Mr. Lehr, 29, said in a recent interview, acknowledging for the first time his relationship with Amanda Earhart-Savell, a 30-year-old professional figure competitor and fitness magazine cover girl who also had dated Mr. Jacobs on and off since last year.

Mr. Jacobs, 35, killed Ms. Earhart-Savell in a murder-suicide last month, shattering her body with seven bullet wounds from a .40-caliber semiautomatic Glock 22 that Mr. Jacobs also turned on himself.

Ms. Earhart-Savell's family and friends say a likely scenario is that Mr. Jacobs found evidence of a relationship between her and Mr. Lehr. Mr. Jacobs had told The Dallas Morning News that he had suspected the two were interested in each other for months.

Lehr placed images of Sevall on his MySpace page upon her deminse.  Dude, why does a million-dollar NFL player author a MySpace page anyway?  Read Barrons or something else in your spare time. Plenty of other unsavory things going down too:

Last year, federal agents seized evidence of widespread steroid use by numerous clients from Mr. Jacobs during a raid on his Plano home, including e-mails, text messages and other phone and bank records. He later cooperated, helping investigators connect the dots. He received probation.

Mr. Jacobs also met several times with the NFL about his dealings with Mr. Lehr and several other players, one of whom – another former Cowboy – has been put on notice that he could face a suspension.

It's unclear whether more criminal charges, or league sanctions, will result from Mr. Jacobs' information.

(more on this after the jump)

Daily Steroids Dose, Weekend Edition

1.  Dick Butkus will kick your butt if you use steroids.  (Northwest Journal)

2.   Experts expect steroid street prices to reach an all-time high. (Satire, SSNN)

3.  Manuel Beltran: facing 5 years in the clink?  (Bangkok Post)

4.  If only Brian Roberts were doping he might have hit for the cycle.  (Deadspin)

Daily Steroid Dose

1.  Big Brown's owners make another about face, say no more steroids. (Bloomberg)

2.  Don Catlin founds organization to combat doping.  (News Blaze)

3.  Swimmer Ian Thorpe suing French newspaper. (Herald-Sun)

4.  Terry Bradshaw is a psychopathic killer who used steroids, but so what?  There are alot of those out there (thanks to Woody Harrelson aka Carson Wells, and to the Sporting News)

5. So Big Brown's problem wasn't steroid withdrawal, he simply had trouble with his spikes out there on the race track.  (Louisville Courier-Journal)

So Terry Bradshaw used steroids; unlike other Steelers (from the 70s-80s) at least he's still alive

Steroid Nation documented Pittsburgh Steeler's Steel Curtain's use of anabolic steroids (here, here, and here), and the Steelers unenviable record of early death and dismemberment.  Last week on the DNa Patrick Show (ESPN Radio) Steelier QB Terry Bradshaw said he 'roided too -- although according to this piece, there was confusion between an anti-inflammatory steroid like cortisol and an anabolic steroid like Dianabol. To the New York Daily News:

When Hall of Fame quarterback turned broadcaster Terry Bradshaw disclosed last week that he used steroids as a Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback, it was unclear whether he was referring to corticosteroids or anabolic steroids, two very different categories of drugs.

In a freewheeling radio interview with Sports Illustrated’s Dan Patrick last week, Bradshaw said he used steroids for healing purposes as a member of the vaunted Steeler teams of the 1970s, and that a doctor administered the injections.

“We did steroids to get away the aches and the speed of healing,” Bradshaw said. “My use of steroids from a doctor was to speed up injury, and thought nothing of it… It was to speed up the healing process, that was it. It wasn’t to get bigger and stronger and faster.”

Many athletes take corticosteroids in the form of cortisone shots, which are neither illegal nor banned by professional sports leagues. But Bradshaw then brought up late Steve Courson, his former teammate in those years.

Courson certainly used anabolic steroids, describing to Sports Illustrated in 1985 a complex regimen of Anadrol-50, Dianabol, Winstrol and Deca Durobilin. He became an avowed anti-steroid activist before he died in 2005 in a tree-cutting accident.

“Steve Courson didn’t die of steroid use but he had severe problems with it,” Bradshaw said.

Bradshaw said the medical care in the years he played in the NFL was less than stellar and that a recent MRI revealed two broken vertebrae he was unaware of.

Steve Courson recounted his story in 'False Glory' where he documented a real psychological (or physical) dependence on the juice.  Serious stuff as the number of Steelers coming to an early demise attests (although one cannot directly link the Steeler's early death rate to anabolic steroid use alone).

Bradshaw survived.  Perhaps the legend of the Steelers won't survive quite as untarnished as we once thought.

NFL prospect Heath Benedict died of irregular heartbeat; enlarged heart and drugs (Viagra) noted

Heath Benedict, a small college big time football player found dead at his home last March, appears to raise many questions.  At 6-6 and 320 pounds, any NFL prospect draws attention to possible steroid use, An early death compounds the concerns.  At the time this was said (USA Today)

Heath Benedict, a two-time Little All-American offensive lineman at Newberry College in South Carolina, was found dead on a couch in his Jacksonville home.

Jacksonville police said no foul play is suspected in the death of the 24-year-old Benedict, a 6-6, 326-pounder who finished up his senior season in the fall and left school to train for next month's NFL draft. He was nine hours short of a business degree.

Benedict took part in the Senior Bowl in January, the first Division II player to do so since 2004, and was invited to last month's NFL combine.

"He was a big, tough man, but he had a very gentle heart," Newberry president Mick Zais said. "He was a teddy bear."

Benedict, who redshirted at Tennessee in 2002 before moving to Newberry, was a native of the Netherlands. He played high school football at the Peddie School in Hightstown, N.J.

More than a gentle heart - an enlarged heart with an irregular heartbeat.  What might cause cardiac hypertrophy?  A congenital condition, or drug use.  Drugs like anabolic steroids or more notoriously HGH can enlarge the heart, thus causing major problems.  And what was found at Benedict's house?  These drugs (The State):

Former Newberry College football standout Heath Benedict died of an irregular heartbeat caused by an enlarged heart, according to the Duval County Medical Examiner’s Office in Jacksonville, Fla.

The report also reveals a syringe and three bottles were found near his body on March 26. One of the bottles contained water, but the other two were labeled “L-Via” and “L-Dex,” liquid forms of the drugs Viagra and Arimidex.

Deputy chief medical examiner Jessie Giles made it clear Benedict’s death was caused by dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart-muscle disease that leads to a fatal irregular heartbeat. However, Giles said the role Viagra, an erectile dysfunction medication, and Arimidex, an anabolic steroid used by post-menopausal breast cancer patients to reduce estrogen levels, could not be determined.

“The role, if any, of anabolic steroid or other similar drug/preparation use ... is unknown and beyond the scope of this office,” Giles wrote in the report.

The newspaper distorted the facts somewhat.  Arimidex (anastrozole) is not an anabolic steroid, however is a masking agent or an anti-estrogen drug.  It acts by inhibiting conversion of androgenic steroids to estrogen, thus reducing side effects like enlarged breasts.

Injections of Viagra and Arimidex is somewhat bizarre.  Was this player attempting to maximize his NFL potential, yet trying to avoid detection at dope testing?

Stories recently centered on Viagra as PED, apparently used by big time drug-cheat Roger Clemens.  (Sporting News).  Listen to this quote attributed to Clemens:

Roger Clemens, among other athletes, used Viagra to improve their athletic performance, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

Clemens got the pills -- which are not banned by Major League Baseball -- from a teammate and kept them in a GNC vitamin bottle in his locker, according to an anonymous source cited by the newspaper. He also reportedly told a friend that the drug made him feel flushed and made his heart race. 

The newspaper also quotes BALCO founder Victor Conte as saying, "All my athletes took it," in reference to a Viagra-like drug.

The drug and its over-the-counter substitutes reportedly have numerous off-label uses. These include helping build endurance and delivering oxygen, nutrients and performance-enhancing drugs to muscles more efficiently.

Researchers at universities across the country are now trying to determine whether anecdotal evidence that Viagra aids in training and improves performance is based in scientific fact.

Heart racing?  Perhaps leading to cardiac arrhythmias in an athlete who might have primed his heart with anabolics?  This isn't good.  More on the topic later...

Add#1We added a continuation of the State article which stated that Benedict showed "two puncture wounds in his arm, which isn't consistent with anabolic steroids.

Add#2:  We found a research study where Arimidex increased testosterone in 'elderly men' from about 375 to 575.  Not a bad increase.  The mechanism appears to be by blocking the negative feedback from estrogen on LH/FSH or GNRH release in the pituitary.

 

Daily Steroid Dose

1. Tennessee Titan LB Ryan Fowler denies steroid use.  (AHN)

2.   Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow will miss the Congressional session on steroids in horse racing today.  He has a virus.  Awwwww (Philly Enquirer)

3.  More on the Greek weightlifters.  (MVN)

4.  And more on Doctors prescribing HGH in Anti-aging clinics.  (ZD Net)

5.  Greg Anderson, Barry Bond's trainer now a target of the IRS -- wife Nicole Gestas receives letter (ESPN)(overall good reference at ESPN)

Forgetting Bullet Bob Hayes, LSU shaves time off 100M to claim wide receiver Trindon Holliday as fastest football player ever

As pointed out in Brooks for Sports, and in The Nashville City Paper, LSU's football player/sprinter  Trindon Holliday will be completing in the NCAA championships this week in Des Moines Iowa's Drake Stadium.  LSU either shaved time off Holliday's records or added precious 0.01 seconds on to ex-Florida A and M, and ex-Dallas Cowboy sprinter/NFL great Bob Hayes, to conclude the LSU sprinter is the fastest football player in history.

Bullet Bob Hayes  played halfback for Florida A and M from 1960 to 1964, and for the Dallas Cowboys from 1965 to 1974?   Hayes won a Superbowl ring, and an Olympic Gold Medal in the 100M Dash.  Hayes was bigger, stronger, and faster than Holliday...and more accomplished.  To the Nashville paper:

LSU this summer is touting junior wide receiver Trindon Holliday as the fastest player in college football. Ever.

That’s right. Not even Bob Hayes, Herschel Walker or Willie Gault can match Holliday’s speed, according to Tigers football publicists.

On paper, they appear to be right. The 5-foot-6 Holliday, a reserve player last year for national-champion LSU, ran a 10.02 in the 100 meters at last year’s NCAA Track and Field Championships.

Only 69 people have ever run it faster and, according to LSU, none have ever played football or were playing at the time they were clocked.

Holliday, who scored two touchdowns last season, is hoping to make the U.S. Olympic team next month. If you saw LSU play last season, you know how dynamic he can be with the ball in his hands.

“He is a football player with track ability,” Tigers football coach Les Miles told CBSSports.com.

“Just like playing football for LSU is very, very important to him, this is too,” added LSU track coach Dennis Shaver.

Not so fast, LSU....is Holliday faster than Rocket Bob Hayes...who won the 1964 Olympics with a 10.00 100M dash?  Isn't 10.02 slower than 10.00?  Not in Bayou Bengal math.  However, it grows even slower when looking at Bob Hayes's remarkable sprinting career.  Hayes clearly was faster than Holliday; following his track career, Hayes starred in the NFL at Dallas.

1963 started with two blistering long sprint WRs - 20.5 for 200m in Pointe a Pitre on 10 February to equal the World Record, and a 20.5 for 220y (worth 20.4 for 200m) at Coral Gables on 2nd March. Following this came two landmark short sprint times. First, on 27th April, Hayes became the first man to run 100m in under 10.0, with a wind assisted 9.9 at the MSR in Walnut (beating Henry Carr and John Gilbert, both of whom ran 10.0w). Then, at the AAU in St Louis on 21st June he ran 9.1 for 100y in his semi final, the first such time ever. He repeated the time to win the final, albeit wind assisted...

Moving outdoors again (1964), Hayes twice more ran 9.1 for 100y, at Orangeburg on 18th April and at Nashville on 2nd May. Neither was ratified as a WR - a recurring theme during Hayes career. He then won the Olympic trials 100m in 10.1 and placed third in the 200m (he gave his spot up for WR holder Henry Carr, who went on to win in Tokyo).

On to Tokyo in October, the zenith and the final act of Hayes' brief career. He breezed through the heats and quarters in 10.4 and 10.3 respectively on 14th October. The next day, at 10am, he produced an amazing semi final run of 9.91 with a 5.3m/s wind behind him. This was the first time anyone had beaten 10.00 with auto timing, and it remainded the fastest ever run until William Snoddy got on the end of an 11.2m/s wind in Dallas in 1977 and ran 9.87. No one ran faster in the Olympics (aside from Ben Johnson) until, incredibly, the three medallists in Atlanta, 32 years later!

If it is hard to fathom the quality of this run, what he achieved in the final is even more staggering. Hayes drew the inside lane for the final, and the last event before the race was the finish of the 20km walk. Remember, this was a cinder track, and the inside lane was so chewed up it had to be raked! Nevertheless, Hayes won in 10.06. He had a 0.19 gap over Cuba's Enrique Figuerola, who equalled the previous best ever auto time of 10.25 (Hary in 1960). Third was Harry Jerome, joint world record holder! This victory margin was not exceeded until Lewis won by 0.20 in 1984. The winning time was ratified as a WR equalling 10.0, which somewhat understated.

In the Olympics, Hayes ran on a cinder track with borrowed spikes.  And more:

It is always fun to wonder what champions of the past would achieve given today's training methods, nutrition, financial rewards, competition etc. Hayes achieved all of the above before his 22nd Birthday, running in the football off-season, on mostly cinder tracks. He estimated that had he carried on he could have brought his 100m time down by "a couple of tenths." My personal view is that if Hayes had trained full time to his mid twenties, run on today's tracks and had today's social, nutritional and training benefits, he would be running 100m in at least the low 9.70s and maybe even under 9.70.

Consider this sophisticated analysis of the greatest sprinter of the second half of the 20th century (he ran an incredible 8.6 100M leg at Toyoko too):

Consider the advantages Hayes would have had in '68 vs '64. Top competition for a start. A synthetic track. Altitude. 4 more years training. He had already run 9.9w (in '63) and 9.91w (in '64). The hand timing in Tokyo was 9.9 - 9.9 - 9.8. So it's fair to assume that we would have had a 9.9 WR well before Jim Hines managed the feat in the '68 AAU. Considering Hines ran 10.03 in the '68 AAU, just 3/100ths faster than Hayes had run on a cinder track in Tokyo, it's probably fair to assume that at least one auto-timer would have caught Hayes in under 10.00 before Mexico City. So already we've re-written the history of 100m running, with Hayes the first man under 10 seconds with hand-timing (windy and legal) and auto timing (windy and legal) all at sea level. Now, we get to Mexico City. Hines ran 0.08 faster in MC than his sea-level best (9.95 vs 10.03). Assuming Hayes would already have been down to around 9.95 - 9.99 it's easy to imagine him running 9.90 or faster. In fact, I consider that an extremely conservative estimate because I'm ascribing Hayes likely improvements from Tokyo to Mexico City to the track, competition and altitude, without wondering if he might actually have got FASTER with time (not unreasonable, although also not certain).

Terrell Owens earns double-time steroids testing from the NFL

For some unexplained reason, NFL bad boy Terrell Owens (TO) will be vulnerable to many more PED tests than other NFL players -- as many as 24 in a calender year.  The New York Times with the report:

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens and the Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones, issued statements Monday after ESPN reported that Owens was placed in the N.F.L.’s “reasonable cause” testing program for performance-enhancing drugs.

The report said Owens was put in the program because he missed day-of telephone calls to set up random tests. He could have been disciplined, but the N.F.L. decided not to fine or suspend him because it accepted Owens’s explanation for missing the calls, according to ESPN.

Under the N.F.L.’s “reasonable cause” program, Owens can now be randomly tested up to 24 times a year for performance-enhancing drugs. The additional screenings can last for the remainder of his career.

A player not in the “reasonable cause” program may be tested during the off-season up to six times, according to the N.F.L.’s 2007 policy on anabolic steroids and related substances.

Alibi in hand, TO explained the entire episode as a misunderstanding:

“This was a communication problem involving cellphone numbers,” Owens said in a statement released through his publicist. “It was openly discussed and cleared up in a meeting that I had at the N.F.L. office last week.

“I have been in the N.F.L. for over 12 years and have never had a positive test for substance of any kind,” Owens said. “That includes tests that took place as recently as last month. The matter was resolved to everyone’s satisfaction last Tuesday, and everyone has moved on.”

As if anyone in the NFL tests dirty.  The Caroline Panthers juiced up prior to the Superbowl without a worry.  Almost proves nothing that TO never tested positive.

David Jacobs posthumously brings down a Titan: Tennessee's Ryan Fowler suspended

(Update, UPI is saying Jacobs identified Fowler as a juicer to the Dallas Morning News)

Looks like Plano Texas dope-dealer David Jacobs --juice supplier to the NFL --  will posthumously bust up some NFL careers (that he previously made).  Word comes out from the NFL that Titan's linebacker Ryan Fowler will be sitting out some games this coming season.  To the National Post:

The Tennessee Titans may have to begin the 2008 season without Ryan Fowler.

According to a report by ESPN on Monday, the linebacker has been notified by the NFL that he is facing a suspension for violating the league's policy for performance-enhancing drugs.

Citing undisclosed sources, ESPN reported that Fowler received a letter from the NFL stating it has "credible information" that the 26-year-old "purchased, used or supplied" performance-enhancing drugs.

ESPN's sources also said the information came as a result of NFL security's meeting last month with convicted steroids dealer David Jacobs, who was found dead in his home in Dallas on Thursday after committing suicide.

As well known now, authorities discovered Jacob's body dead along side girlfriend Amanda Savell, a noted fitness model.  The Dallas county medical examiner ruled the incident murder-suicide.

Fowler's attorney answered the charges of doping vocally:

Fowler's lawyer, Peter Ginsberg, denied the allegations against his client.

"Ryan has never tested positive for any banned substance," Ginsberg told ESPN. "There apparently are unsubstantiated accusations that have been made by an admitted felon without any corroboration, and the commissioner apparently has seen fit to use those accusations to threaten my client's career.

"It's a violation of Ryan's due process rights and seemingly a violation of the NFL's policy itself to use these kind of unsubstantiated accusations itself. We've asked the NFL to provide to us any corroboration or support for these allegations and, to date, the NFL has provided absolutely no evidence to support any threatened discipline."

Fowler appeared in 14 games for the Titans last season, his first with the club.  The undrafted product of Duke spent his first three NFL campaigns with the Dallas Cowboys.

Fowler spent 2004, 2005, and 2006 with the Dallas Cowboys, which may have brought him into the sphere of influence of the David Jacobs crowd.  Matt Lehr met Jacobs while a member of the Cowboys (2003, and 2004).

David "Bulletproof" Jacobs -- NFL steroids dealer -- death ruled suicide

The New York Times report that Dave "Bulletproof" Jacobs death was ruled a suicide by the Dallas County Police.  A suicide by way of 2 wounds, one to the gut and one to the head.  To the Times:

A preliminary examination by the medical examiner here has found that David Jacobs, a convicted steroids dealer who had linked several N.F.L. players to the use of performance-enhancing drugs, committed suicide, according to the police.

Two self-inflicted wounds and no note???  The examiners do look at exit and entry wounds, angle of entry, and gunpowder residue...But two wounds?  (see the material after the jump)

The police said Jacobs had two self-inflicted gunshot wounds, one in the abdomen and the other in the head. No suicide note was found, said Andrae Smith, a public information officer for the Plano police.

Jacobs and his girlfriend, Amanda Jo Earhart-Savell, were found shot to death at his home here early Thursday morning. The police said they had not yet determined the circumstances surrounding Earhart-Savell’s death. They said Earhart-Savell sustained multiple gunshot wounds.

The weapon was identified a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun; no other weapons were found in the home.

“Our investigation is consistent with murder-suicide,” Smith said.

Actually, the New York Times saying it is a murder-suicide does suggest the circumstance of the girlfriend's death.

Jacobs, who was convicted on federal steroid distribution charges last year, began cooperating with N.F.L. officials shortly after he was sentenced to probation on May 1. At a meeting last month, he provided the N.F.L. with documentary evidence and testimony that tied several players to performance-enhancing drugs.

Although Jacobs, a former competitive body builder, said he stopped using steroids in April 2007, he still maintained a hulking physique.

Now the inevitable questions about anabolic steroids related to depression and suicide.  We would suggest that steroid may produce mood changes, but in and of themselves would not be both necessary and sufficient for this level of depression.

Depression and suicide are two symptoms from steroid withdrawal, but those effects normally last for several months at the most, said Dr. Gary I. Wadler, an internist and antidoping expert.

“If he did indeed stop using steroids in April of 2007, then it is highly unlikely he would still have any significant psychiatric side effects of using steroids,” Dr. Wadler said in a telephone interview. “Because of the fact that he committed suicide, it raises the question, do we really know what the period of drug usage was? As we know, steroid use is a culture known for secrecy.”

Daily Steroid Dose

1.  David Jacobs and Amanda Savell linked in bodybuilding and death (Dallas Morning News)(to the left with Matt Lehr)

2.  My Space creepy notes of above pair (NFL Juice)

3.  More on juiced-up police (McCleans.CA)

4.  Texas Tech take: former TTU tennis player (Amanda Savell).

Dave "Bulletproof" Jacobs and girlfriend Amanda Savell

Ironically, murdered NFL steroids dealer Dave Jacobs calls himself David "Bulletproof" Jacobs on his Myspace page.  This ESPN report says Jacobs worried that his activities enraged "The kinds of people I know about could put a bullet in the back of my head."

Jacob's page contains interesting photos of the late steroids dealer.  He served in the Marines, however looks slender and trim.  Later he appeared to be a normal 30s+ guy until hitting the jackpot with the juice ('roids and HGH at least).

In an empathic light, Jacobs paid much homage to his father:

My Father. Olympic Gold Medalist in Gymnastics. 2 Gold, 12 Silver and 13 Bronze Medals. Listed in the Guiness book of World Records and also Presented a Medal from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace. He is the Man.

One of the best articles (well referenced) concerning Jacobs comes from Millard Baker, entitled: The Rise and Fall of David Jacobs Steroid Distribution Ring.  We followed the Jacobs Matt Lehr story (pictured to the immediate left).  (NFL steroids investigation reports here and here)

The girlfriend (to the right below) recently appeared in a Muscle and Fitness photo-shoot.  (Many photos here)(Interview here)  She recalls times with her husband (Is there a suspect there?)

 Spending time with my family and friends, when I get home I cook and clean and wait for 

Apparently Savell was a rising tennis star as some point (Link here),  And a Flex model here.

...her family joined her in Florida, where Savell would go on to become the top-ranked player in the state. She didn't stop there; by the time she was 14, Savell was the top player in her region and ranked among the top-five players in the nation in the 16-and-under division. By the time she was 16, Savell was well on her way to qualifying for the women's professional tennis tour, with Wimbledon and U.S. Open dreams dancing in her head. Then, a torn ACL threw a wrench into her plans...

Here is a training video with Savell and Jacobs.

Did Jacob's inside knowledge of the NFL doping do him in (wouldn't that have happened before he sang to the authorities) or did her ex-hubby have something to say about this?

NFL steroid dealer David Jacobs and girlfriend whacked in Plano Texas!

Incredibly, news sources reported NFL steroid dealer David Jacobs and girlfriend Amanda Savell were found shot to death in in their Plano Texas home today.  Jacobs dealt steroids to NFL players including Cowboy/Falcon/Saint lineman Matt Lehr.  Authorities now treat the deaths as homicides.  To the New York Times or Deadspin.

A convicted steroids dealer who provided documentary evidence and testimony to N.F.L. officials last month that tied several players to the use of performance-enhancing drugs was found dead on Thursday morning at his home in Plano, Texas, the police said.

David Jacobs, who was convicted on federal steroid distribution charges last year, began cooperating with N.F.L. officials shortly after he was sentenced to probation in May.

His girlfriend, Amanda Jo Earhart-Savell [pictured right], 30 (myspace.org page)(her myspace page), was also found dead in the home, the police said.

Ok, who wanted this guy snuffed out and why (his myspace page)?  How much did he know about the inner workings of the NFL steroids business?  Or was this simply a drug deal gone bad.  Deadspin points out the eerie ending to the Time's story:

We offer our sympathy to the families of David Jacobs and Amanda Jo Earhart-Savell.As we have previously confirmed, our security representatives interviewed David Jacobs on two occasions. We are reviewing the information to determine if there is documented evidence establishing any violations of our program and will follow up on any other information that is provided. It is premature to comment on any specific player at this time. Anyone found to have violated our policies will be subject to discipline, including suspension. We will continue to be responsive to any needs of law enforcement on this matter.”

The New York Times also had this eerie little ending to their story.

“What’s new on your side of the world?” he [Jacobs] wrote in a text message on Friday. “Things here in Dallas are pretty quiet, actually.”

(more after the jump from the NY Times)

What will the NFL do with David Jacobs's steroid testimony?

Plano Texas steroid entrepreneur Dave Jacobs sang to the NFL yesterday, about his ex-NFL PED clients.  Hey, did they expect doctor-patient confidentiality or what?  The Dallas Morning News has this one covered:

David Jacobs is naming names. Just not publicly.    

The convicted Plano steroids trafficker gave NFL security officials information about football players he sold steroids to during a much-anticipated meeting Wednesday.

"The general topic was his knowledge of steroid and human growth hormone use by current and former players," said Hank Hockeimer, Mr. Jacobs' attorney, who accompanied his client to the meeting that took place in the Dallas area.

"They were thorough in their questioning," Mr. Hockeimer said. "David provided them with documents corroborating what he was telling them."

Mr. Jacobs defamed Cowboys/Falcons/Saints lineman Matt Lehr over the past few months.  Must be a falling out there (photo of three big hombres above).  Lehr's attorney says Lehr will be in the NFL for a long time, but with a different steroids supplier.

In past weeks, Mr. Jacobs has publicly accused ex-Dallas Cowboys lineman Matt Lehr of buying large quantities of banned substances. At the time, he was playing for the Atlanta Falcons. He is now signed with the New Orleans Saints.

Mr. Lehr's attorney, Paul Coggins, said he was not aware of Wednesday's meeting between Mr. Jacobs and the NFL and couldn't comment on it, other than to say, "Matt's playing in the NFL next year, and for many years to come."

It will be a relief to millions that the NFL is not compensating Jacobs for his time and effort.  Great PR for any upcoming book.  Will the NFL actually investigate PED use this time?

Mr. Jacobs has not publicly named any other players, but has said he worked with Cowboys as well as the Atlanta Falcons.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello declined to comment on Wednesday's meeting, what was discussed or whether any players will be sanctioned.

       He did say that the league was not paying Mr. Jacobs for his information.    

When asked what the league said it would do with Mr. Jacobs' information, Mr. Hockeimer said, "My assumption is that this is all part of a league investigation ... It's their investigation, and that's their call."

Daily Steroid Dose

1.  NFL officials meet with steroids dealer David Jacobs; asking for advice on HGH appearance enhancement.  (USA Today)

2.  SI in-depth review of the Bonds BALCO perjury case. (SI.com)

3.  Tony Mandarich continues to excel at professional photography.  (Mandarich web site)

4.  More on Psysops on steroids.  (TheRawStory)

Doc and Ditka damn NFL dalliance on disabled vets; Say steroid use contributes to health disabilities

Mike Ditka tends to speak up on issues; we reported his dissatisfaction concerning the NFL's poor handling of gridiron health issues.  Ditka and wounded NFL vets claim the NFL drags feet when it comes to taking care of football-related injuries and disabilities of aged NFL veterans.  Ditka found new allies in tough talking doctors with serious charges about the NFL and the NFL Players Association. The docs say PEDs will make the entire demeaning situation worse over the upcoming years. To the New York Daily News.

...Simpson (is) an obesity expert who has a stake in the physician-owned Surgical Specialty Hospital of Arizona. "I saw guys who couldn't walk and guys who could barely walk, and I thought it was disgraceful how these guys have been abandoned by the NFL and the Players Association."

Simpson (who met Ditka at a Gridiron Great's function)and officials from OAA Orthopedic Specialists in Allentown, Pa., will be in Chicago on Tuesday to announce they are teaming up with Gridiron Greats to offer free health care - including spine surgery, joint replacement, pain management, obesity counseling and physical therapy - to the ailing and financially strapped ex-players.

Gridiron Greats will screen players for financial need, and then refer qualifying retirees to the Allentown and Phoenix facilities. Executive director Jennifer Smith hopes hospitals and medical groups near other NFL cities will offer their services, too.

Mike Ditka ain't happy.  EX-Dolphin Mercury Morris ain't so pleased himself:

"If I were the NFL, I'd be embarrassed," says former Dolphins running back Mercury Morris, who will take advantage of the program to determine if he needs surgery for wrist and knee injuries. "Why does it fall on these hospitals to provide the care the NFL and the union should be providing?"

Dr. Simpson implicates NFL team physicians in this mess; he's talking malpractice here:

Simpson wants to change the way the NFL looks at medicine: Team doctors, he says, are more worried about getting hurt players back on the field than treating injuries.

"Doctors that put players on the field that don't belong there, that's malpractice," Simpson says. "Doctors who shoot up players with cortisone and xylocaine so they can play, that's malpractice. We will report that to boards of medical examiners. There are clearly patterns of abuse here."

As for the steroid & PED business:

Simpson says he expects the number of NFL disabled to skyrocket in the near future because of performance-enhancing drugs.

"Steroids contribute to the overall injury patterns," he says. "You don't see as many injuries in older players as you do younger ones. We suspect there is a steroid component to that. People don't understand the impact these drugs can have long-term."

(more after the jump)

 

Schooling NFL players in steroid testing loopholes, Texas bodybuilder Dave Jacobs gets probation

David Jacobs, the Texas bodybuilder who cavorted with ex-Cowboy Matt Lehr, says he taught NFL players the steroid testing loopholes.  The purveyor of a 1000 bottles of steroids and a 100 bottles of HGH per month, schooled the players on how to beat the testing, even to the point of coercing NFL players to ask for the masking agent finasteride, prescribed for baldness. For his efforts, Jacobs received probation in a Texas Court this week. Story in the New York Times:

For more than a year, Jacobs operated a makeshift pharmaceutical lab out of his kitchen in his one-story suburban home. Each month, he said, he sold about a thousand of his own bottles of steroids and another thousand kits of human growth hormone smuggled from China to dealers across the United States. Among the dealers he supplied were two N.F.L. players, Jacobs said, who would then supply a handful of other N.F.L. players with the banned substances...

Jacobs, a former body builder, said he advised about 10 N.F.L. players on how to exploit loopholes in the league’s drug-testing program. One way, he said, was to have team doctors write them prescriptions for drugs that would mask steroid use.

Jacobs certainly involved ex-Cowboy Matt Lehr in the drug scheme.  However the details are disputed:

The New York Times reported last month that information from the government’s investigation of Jacobs had led federal prosecutors to investigate Matt Lehr, an offensive lineman for the New Orleans Saints, on the suspicion he distributed performance-enhancing drugs. In recent years, investigators have focused largely on the distributors of drugs, not athletes or other users.

Lehr’s lawyer has denied that his client ever sold steroids or H.G.H. and said Jacobs fabricated information about Lehr after he refused to pay Jacobs’s legal fees. Jacobs said he never asked Lehr to give him money for legal expenses.

In interviews here last week, Jacobs said he sold hundreds of bottles of steroids and H.G.H. to Lehr and another N.F.L. player. Those players, Jacobs said, sold the substances to other players in 2006 and 2007.

“I thought the fewer the people I was selling to, the safer it would be,” Jacobs said. “There were many players who wanted drugs, but I didn’t want to have direct transactions with a bunch of people.”

Lehr tested positive and was suspended for four games in 2006 for testing positive for steroids, but he has not been charged in this case.

The NFL has squeezed by steroid scandals,  however isn't about time to call for an 'NFL Mitchell Report'?

(more after the jump, including Jacob's advice to players)

Agents guide prospects: Part of NFL preparation covers proper use of steroids

The New York Daily News gives us some insight on how prospective NFL players prepare for the draft -- and some of it is juicy.

For some of those players, the months leading up to the draft also include lessons on performance-enhancing drugs, says longtime Cincinnati Bengals strength coach Kim Wood.

According to Wood, prospective NFL players attend pre-draft camps run by agents where some trainers and medical personnel school the millionaires-in-waiting on the drugs that will help improve their position in the draft. Wood describes the camps as cult-like facilities where the young men are taught to do whatever it takes to boost their signing bonuses and salaries - and their agents' commissions.

Wood paints a sick picture of meat factories getting the players up to snuff before the NFL draft:

According to Wood, prospective NFL players attend pre-draft camps run by agents where some trainers and medical personnel school the millionaires-in-waiting on the drugs that will help improve their position in the draft. Wood describes the camps as cult-like facilities where the young men are taught to do whatever it takes to boost their signing bonuses and salaries - and their agents' commissions.

"It's like a cult, it's like boot camp, because they want to remake these guys," says Wood, the Bengals' strength coach from 1975 to 2002 and an outspoken critic of performance-enhancing drugs for many years. "If you can influence the mind, you can influence the money."

Most NFL prospects, of course, have already been exposed to steroids in college or even high school, Wood acknowledges.

The players look at their future, and look at the millions to be made, thus they juice up like the Chargers Luis Castillo prior to the NFL combine.  The agents look at their commissions.  Wood and steroids expert Charles Yesalis disagree on some aspect of the issue:

"They are told that they are special, that they deserve to be rich because of their physical skills," adds Wood, who worked with hundreds of players during his NFL career. "It's like they tear down their personalities and then rebuild them so they are dependent on their agents. By the time they go through the camp, they are willing to do anything to make the team, including drugs."

Doping expert Charles Yesalis, a Penn State professor, says Wood exaggerates the role that pre-draft camps play in steroids and sports.

"There's not much difference between the offensive line of a Division I school and a pro team," Yesalis says. "I think the majority of guys entering the draft have already been around steroids. Most of these guys have been already talking to agents, sometimes for years. There's nothing special about the months before the draft."

 

But according to Wood, those months mark the first time an agent doesn't have to share a player's ear with his coaches or teammates. The player is focused on one goal - going as high as possible in the draft - and his No. 1 ally in that crusade is his agent.
(more after the jump)

 

Ex-Cowboy, current Saint Matt Lehr juiced on steroids; NFL endorsed masking agent

A Texas steroids distributor says Ex-Cowboy Matt Lehr ingested and injected a ton of steroids and HGH.  The masking agent finasteride -- complete with NFL log -- covered this use, until the NFL nailed Lehr with dirty urine in 2006.  The Dallas Morning News carries the story:

Convicted Plano steroids trafficker David Jacobs said publicly for the first time this weekend that he sold large amounts of illegal performance-enhancing drugs to ex-Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Matt Lehr.

He also said that in 2006, Mr. Lehr used a hair-loss-prevention drug that can also act as a masking agent for steroid use. Mr. Jacobs said federal investigators confiscated a bottle of that medicine from Mr. Jacobs – a bottle he says Mr. Lehr gave to him. The label bore an NFL team logo, along with Mr. Lehr's name, Mr. Jacobs said.

Excellent paradox -- the NFL logo on the masking agent.  Lehr's agent seems to be masking things too, using a pretty tired old line about 'fame':

Mr. Lehr tested positive for a banned substance while with Atlanta in October 2006 and was suspended for four games. Authorities in Mr. Jacobs' case are investigating Mr. Lehr on allegations that he distributed steroids, possibly to other players, but he has not been charged with any crime.

Mr. Lehr's lawyer says that his client has not used banned substances since his suspension and has passed NFL drug tests.

"Mr. Jacobs has peddled these tales to the government unsuccessfully," said Paul Coggins, Mr. Lehr's attorney.

"He is a confessed felon awaiting sentencing, and is desperate to implicate others to shorten his sentence," Mr. Coggins said. "He has also told many individuals that he would end Matt's career because Matt would not pay Mr. Jacobs' attorneys' fees. The clock on Mr Jacobs' 15 minutes of infamy has long since run out."

The NFL blissfully seems to endorse finasteride -- prescribed for hair loss.  In one more paradox, anabolic steroid use causes hair loss.  Looks like the product wasn't completely successful:

In an e-mail Saturday, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league's "independent scientific and medical advisors reviewed finasteride several years ago and did not recommend its addition to the prohibited list. It was reviewed again in 2005 when the World Anti-Doping Agency decided to ban it, but the advisors' recommendation was unchanged. Consistent with our normal practice, however, we review our policy each off season and consider potential additions to the Prohibited List." The NFL, Mr. Aiello pointed out, does ban some substances that WADA does not.

Mr. Jacobs, 35, said, "I sold steroids and a significant amount of growth hormone to Matt Lehr." He said Mr. Lehr's purchases totaled tens of thousands of dollars from spring 2006 to spring 2007, significantly larger quantities than could be for personal use.

The NFL prescription: finasteride to mask those steroids, and to cover the hair loss propagated by the drug.  Perfect.  Lehr and his dealer Jacobs appear to be in deep to this juicing:

At one point, Mr. Jacobs said, Mr. Lehr agreed to have boxes of raw steroid powder from China shipped to Mr. Lehr's house in Georgia. Mr. Jacobs said he asked his former friend to do this because too many packages headed to his Plano house were being seized by U.S. Customs. (more after the jump)

Will Texas steroid bust be the NFL's BALCO?

According to the Dallas Morning News, a Texas bust, and the soon-to-come trial may prove to be the NFL's BALCO. Story here.  At one link to the NFL -- former Cowboy Matt Lehr -- makes this juicy.

...Mr. Jacobs build one of the largest steroid and human growth hormone distribution rings in the country, and landed him in the middle of one of the largest trafficking investigations of its kind in the nation's history, authorities say.

Authorities suspect that Mr. Jacobs, 35, and his associates supplied steroids to NFL players, professional bodybuilders and police officers.

The trial will start soon in Texas,; with links to anti-aging clinics, and pro athletes.

Authorities also are pursuing possible links between Mr. Jacobs' network and some of the pharmacies and anti-aging clinics in New York and Florida that serviced professional baseball players and other athletes. And one of Mr. Jacobs' co-defendants admitted selling small amounts of steroids to the owner of the Houston weight-loss clinic recently linked to baseball legend Roger Clemens.

Mr. Jacobs, who had a top middleman who sold nearly $30,000 worth of steroids a month, is one of seven defendants who have pleaded guilty and await sentencing as early as next month.

"David is the kingpin," said Jason Stern, an attorney who represents bodybuilders and is a former NFL agent. "I think this case could be the NFL's BALCO."

The raw materials came from China, when Jacobs wanted better quality 'roids:

Mr. Jacobs went online and found a solution: recipes for steroids using raw Chinese powder. Mr. Jacobs soon parlayed his knowledge of Asia, gleaned during his Nokia business trips, into contacts with English-speaking middlemen to the Chinese steroid powder factories.

He says he wired money to China through Western Union, and the factories shipped him the powder in boxes. Often, they included a fake lab report claiming the powder was for legal nutritional supplements. Mr. Jacobs eventually became a supplement store owner. After tinkering with his concoctions he began selling his compounds, along with Mr. Atwood, according to court documents. Mr. Jacobs initially sold steroids within the close-knit bodybuilding community.

With links to the NFL -- Matt Lehr:

In 2006, one of his top middlemen introduced Mr. Jacobs to Matt Lehr at a Dallas nightclub. Mr. Lehr was a lineman for the Atlanta Falcons, having left the Cowboys two years prior after a falling out with then-coach Bill Parcells over Mr. Lehr's association with a Dallas topless club manager. Mr. Lehr kept a home in Denton County.

Mr. Jacobs said that it was a few months after he met Mr. Lehr that the NFL suspended the lineman for four games for flunking a drug test...

Mr. Jacobs (ex-girlfriend Amber Jarrell at right) said this week that, on the advice of his attorney, he will not name names of NFL players to whom he sold steroids. He also says he didn't name names to investigators. He didn't have to, he says, because investigators tracking his enterprise had ample documentation of who his clients were by the time he was questioned.

He said that pro football is rife with drug use.    

"If people can't see what's obvious in front of them when they watch pro football, then one should never underestimate the power of denial."

Much more on the newspaper site about this developing story down in Texas.

Dissociative Identity Disorder keeps altering Herschel Walker Walker Walker Walker

Ex-UGA Bulldog great, and ex-NFL running back Herschel Walker says that he exhibited multiple personalities, known as 'Dissociative Identity Disorder" (DID).  Walker (apparently the main one) writes about his 'alters' in his new book "Breaking Free", out now.

Walker makes it clear that he did not suffer physical or sexual abuse during childhood.  Interesting because abuse is considered the causal factor of DID. Kinda like manifesting 'strep throat' without exposure to the streptococcus bacteria.

Walker opens the book with an anecdote in which he became enraged about a botched Mercedes delivery.  He attributes this rather mundane episode to DID.  We would attribute it to a temper tantrum.  Whatever, you can't write a book about your rather common anger control problems; you can write a book about your multiple personalities.  Apparently every mood a Walker feels belongs to a different personality.  Terrell Owens must harbor a few hundred personalities.

Walker also mixes in a good bit of Christian theology in the mix, along with the prejudice experienced in the South when he grew up.

Walker explains relatively mundane chapters of his life -- such as anxiety about having his wisdom teeth pulled -- as a manifestation of DID.  Sounds like he was simply anxious about needles.

Walker relates a number of behavior problems throughout his career --attributed to DID -- and complaints about teams and coaches.  It is unclear which personality messed up the famous Viking-Cowboy trade.  Walker can't remember a number of life events including threatening his wife.

Walker would be better off seeing a competent psychiatrist for a better diagnosis.  Then again, that might not be a best-seller.  However, he could no longer form his own personal multi-personality football team.

Superstar steroid investigator Jeff Novitzky traded from the IRS to the FDA

Superstar steroid investigator Jeff Novitzky, the investigative heavyweight behind the BALCO probe, appears to be traded from the IRS team to Team FDA.   The New York Times covers this story:

Jeff Novitzky, the federal agent whose investigation into performance-enhancing substances has exposed cheating in professional sports, left the Internal Revenue Service recently and joined the Food and Drug Administration to focus on the distribution of illegal drugs, according to an F.D.A. official and two lawyers who were briefed on the change.

Novitzky has joined the F.D.A. Office of Criminal Investigations as a special agent with all the same investigative powers he had during his 15 years with the I.R.S., the lawyers said.

Novitzky will remain based in the Bay Area and continue to work closely with the United States attorney’s office in the Northern District of California, the lawyers said. One of the lawyers said the F.D.A., which has fewer agents than the I.R.S., had been courting Novitzky for some time because of his work as the lead investigator on the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative case. So far, eight people have pleaded guilty in connection with the Balco investigation, including the track star Marion Jones.

Despite the trade, Novitzky will remain in the Bay Area.  Already in the FDA lineup, Novitzky was swatting at Jose Canseco:

Novitzky and two other federal agents were in Los Angeles on Tuesday to interview José Canseco in connection with their investigation into Miguel Tejada and Clemens, who are suspected of making false statements as part of separate Congressional investigations into the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Canseco was questioned for three hours, his lawyer, Greg S. Emerson, said in a telephone interview. He said Canseco was questioned about “the things we expected.”

Why did Novitzky jump teams from IRS to FDA.  Appears that a career advancement might be one issue, as well as joining a team with more talent, and better hitters in the lineup.

“I think it would give him more exposure to just doing that type of work,” Sparlin said by telephone Tuesday. He added: “For Jeff to go as far as he did in Balco was a stretch for the I.R.S., too. I think he was allowed to go a lot further than he would otherwise because of the impact.”

F.D.A. investigators work with grand juries and use subpoenas. False statements to an F.D.A. agent are no different under federal law from false statements to an I.R.S. agent; the track coach Trevor Graham, who is charged with three counts of making false statements to Novitzky, goes on trial May 19.

The F.D.A. office was involved in Operation Raw Deal, which resulted in 124 arrests in September. That case focused on human growth hormone and steroids coming from China to underground labs in the United States.

There are no reports about salaries, arbitration, trade details, or contracts.  We expect Novitzky to hit cleanup for the FDA.  There were some rumblings that Novitzky was using HGH to increase his power, however these should be quickly dismissed...

 

Daily Steroid Briefing

1. Is 'technological doping' ruining sports and causing injuries?  (The Herald)

2.  The Toronto Argonauts go with steroids and GHB: Sign David Boston (CBC Sports)

3.  Dope?  Here is something about all the dopes in America: American eduction on the rocks (NY Times)

4.  The ageless controversy over anti-aging clinics (Meso-RX)

Daily Steroid Briefing

1.  NASCAR needs to take drug use seriously. (Nevada Appeal)

2.  Patrons at Tulsa's 'Physical Edge' got their edge with 'roids.(Tulsa World)

3.  The University of Maine doesn't want Stephen Cooper any more. (Morning Sentinel)

4.  The IAAF wants Maurice Greene to write 1000 times "I did not do steroids, I did not do steroids" ( The Press Association)

Charger linebackers (and linemen) love their performance enhancers: Stephen Cooper repeats

Those pragmatic, optimistic, existential merrymakers down in San Diego have done it again.  This time the gang of frolicking Charger linebackers gulped down some ephedra, leading to a good time for all.  Except, starting inside linebacker Stephen Cooper overdid the good times, getting caught in a urine test.

Cooper will serve a 4 game suspension to begin the 2008 NFL season; gee whiz, if he were in MLB he would be granted clemency.  If he were Shawne Merriman, he would be sentenced to judging a Miss USA pageant.  Which is worse? To the San Diego Tribune:

The NFL has confirmed that Chargers starting inside linebacker Stephen Cooper will miss the first four games of the season after testing positive for a banned stimulant. Neither Cooper nor his agent was immediately available for comment, but sources said Cooper tested positive for ephedra.

Ephedra?  The substance Cory Stringer consumed prior to his death.  Not generally a good idea.  Not a good trade-off for a 4 game suspension.  Maybe better the the 'roids Coop had at Univ of Maine, though.  Cooper says:

“I regret that I mistakenly took a stimulant that I did not realize at the time was banned by the NFL,” he said. “I support the NFL's anti-doping policies, and understand that I must serve a suspension even though the stimulant that I took was not used before any game and was not used to enhance my performance. I apologize to the NFL, my team, my coaches, and to my fans, and I look forward to continuing to help the Chargers toward our goal of winning the Super Bowl in the upcoming season.”

Coop loves his PEDs.  At the University of Maine he collected about 1000 hits an an anabolic steroid, although he never tested positive.  D-2 football rules, man.

Cooper joins mates Shawne Merriman and lineman Luis Castillo on the All-Time-Juiced Chargers Hall of Shame.  Merriman tested for the juice in 2006, and Castillo peed 'roids in college at Northwestern.

If Merriman got to judge "Miss USA", Cooper should at least judge "Miss Plus" or something.   

Daily Steroid Briefing

1.  Juicer Shawne Merriman sits in judgment of beauty contestants.  Because it's all about hot dogs, ice cream, beauty contests, nandrolone, and apple pie.  (Deadspin)

2.  Terry Madden will step down as head of the US Anti-doping Agency.  (Helenair)

3.  Iowa wrestling coach Mike Zadick warned by the USADA for using triamcinolone acetonide.  Loses bronze medal too.  (Des Moines Register)(Chicago Tribune)

4.  The new slippery Speedo swimming suit declared legal (TMC Net)

5. Kansas City, KS, not happy about native Passion Richardson losing Olympic gold medal in wake of Marion Jones doping scandal.  (Kansas City Kansan)

6.  French 'doctor' sentenced in doping case. (Bicycle.net)

7.  Three convicted in 'home-based' steroids ring. (Citizens Voice)

8. Jan Ullrich pays out on fraud charges.  (Velo News)

Daily Steroid Briefing

1.  Topps predicted baseball's steroid era with 'Big Head' Bonds, Clemens, Palmeiro...  (Fan IQ)

2.  Victor Conte again says Shane Mosley took 'roids.  (LA Times)

3.  Plano TX man says Saints lineman Matt Lehr distributed steroids.  (KFAA-TV)

4.  University of San Diego reporter considered steroids to improve softball home run swing (Volante Online)

Two NFL players in Texas steroid ring? Matt Lehr named again

The New York Times reports a Grand Jury in Texas may be calling a couple NFL players to testify in the case of a Texas gym owner-steroid dealer.  Dave Jacobs, a local Plano gym owner promised to bring down a couple NFL players, and he just may deliver the goods (or bads).  He implicated Matt Lehr (and here)an NFL lineman.

When David Jacobs, a personal trainer and supplement-store owner from Plano, Tex., pleaded guilty to steroid-distribution charges in November and agreed to cooperate with federal authorities, he told a local television station that he would offer evidence linking football players to performance-enhancing drugs.

Five months later, information from Jacobs has led authorities to subpoena at least one active N.F.L. player — a member of the Atlanta Falcons — to testify before a federal grand jury in Texas, said two lawyers with direct knowledge of the matter. The player has not been publicly identified.

The lawyers also said that one of the subjects of the grand jury’s investigation was Matt Lehr, an offensive lineman for the New Orleans Saints who played for the Dallas Cowboys from 2001 to 2004 and for the Falcons from 2005 to 2006. The N.F.L. suspended him for four games in 2006 after he tested positive for a banned substance.

The lawyers said Lehr was being investigated for the suspected distribution of performance-enhancing drugs. The investigation is being led by the United States attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Texas.

This investigation simmered for a awhile; it might be picking-up some speed.  The NFL admits involvement oo:

The N.F.L., meanwhile, is cooperating with the government’s investigation, according to Greg Aiello, a league spokesman.

In an e-mail message, Aiello did not say what the league’s cooperation entailed. He also declined to say if league security personnel had reached out to Jacobs to learn more about what he told federal authorities.

Studies suggest anabolic steroids produce long term changes in muscle structure

The Wall Street Journal dug up an interesting study from Umea University.  The study from the Department of Integrative Medical Biology at Umea (Sweden) demonstrated long term muscle changes in anabolic steroids users -- despite current abstinence.   The WSJ related these changes to MLB stats. (here)

In the study, which was completed in October 2006 by the Department of Integrative Medical Biology at Sweden's Umea University, researchers took muscle biopsies from 26 elite powerlifters who have competed at the sport's highest levels. Ten of the volunteers said they were not steroid users, but the other 16 had either admitted using these drugs in the past or said they were currently using them. Not only is it unusual for scientists to study elite athletes of any kind, it's almost impossible to study top athletes who are using steroids in competition.

When the researchers looked at the subjects' muscles through a microscope, they made a surprising discovery: Rather than returning to their original proportions, the muscles of the steroid users who'd stopped taking the drug looked remarkably similar to those of the subjects who were still using. They also had larger muscle fibers and more growth-inducing "myonuclei" in their muscle cells than the nonsteroid users.

The Journal says the study was published at the U of Umea's website, however this may be the journal abstract.

Interesting that anabolic steroid use increases muscle fiber size, and increases myonuclei number.  Perhaps this priming effects on muscle cells produces not only acute effects to enhance strength, but also enhances the use of HGH later in 'abstinent steroid users' (or concurrent users) as noted in this study.

Strength, peak power output and IGF-I significantly increased and total protein, albumin and free tetra-iodothyronine significantly decreased compared to controls (p < 0.05) and within the GH group (p < 0.017). Fat-free mass index and VO₂ peak significantly increased, while body fat and thyroid-stimulating hormone significantly decreased within the GH group (p < 0.017). Conclusions: Short-term rhGH increased strength and power. Of therapeutic value is the possibility that muscle bulk and strength could be increased in patients with muscle-wasting conditions.

Thus, one of the reasons administering HGH to college students does not enhance strength -- their muscle cells are not previously primed with AASs.  Charles Yesalis understands this:

Charles Yesalis, a former strength coach and professor emeritus of health policy and administration at Pennsylvania State University, says athletes who continue to train can retain as much as 85% of their gains from using drugs. This isn't based on muscle biopsies or peer-reviewed research, he says, but on 30 years of experience with athletes. He says he has talked privately with hundreds of dopers, some of them champions, and has seen the permanent benefits of performance-enhancing drugs. "These things are like rocket fuel," he says.

Will Romo go roid rage on Florida man who hijacked his body?

A Florida man passed off a photo of 'roid rager Bill Romanowski, to pass himself off as a former Oakland Raider.  Problem was the guy tops out at 5-10, where Romo comes in at a 'roided-up 6-4, 240.  To the Palm Beach Post:

When Ed McCabe masqueraded as a retired professional football player, he lifted the image of one of the most colorful and controversial characters of the NFL.

McCabe, who organized charity golf tournaments while pretending to be a former Oakland Raider, downloaded a photograph of Bill Romanowski, who played for the Raiders from 2002 to 2003.

McCabe altered the No. 53 to his fantasy league No. 29. And, voilà, Romanowski was transformed into Ed McCabe, who claimed to be a member of the Raiders during their 1980 championship season.

Last week, McCabe acknowledged to The Palm Beach Post that he never appeared in an NFL game and did not play college football, but maintained that the photo was taken during a 1980 tryout with the Raiders. Oakland has no record of McCabe ever trying out for the team.

The photo actually was shot more than 20 years later. Romanowski was a 6-foot-4 linebacker, while McCabe, at 5-foot-10, claimed to be a safety.

McCabe chose a photo of a distinctive player to alter.

Wonder if the Florida man spits on his colleagues, breaks the jaw of his boss, and goes nuts at his kid's football games?  Did McCabe juice too?

In 2005, Romanowski appeared on CBS' 60 Minutes, saying he spent more than $200,000 a year on supplements, which included steroids.

On Tuesday, McCabe wouldn't discuss the faked photograph.

"I'm not saying a word about that," he said. "I have to get my life together."

Romanowski, who sells nutritional products on the Internet, recounted an instance in which he had been impersonated. Once, a man pretended to be Romanowski to pick up women and try to embezzle money.

"I think it's pretty sad that someone would have to do that," he said of McCabe. "At least he could have changed the number to 58. It would have been a lot easier, just change the 3 to an 8."

The NFL will investigate McCabe for infringement.  And might Romo beat the juice out of the guy?

Romanowski said he will use restraint.

"I'm not going to beat him up," Romanowski said. "I don't want to waste my energy."...

Romanowski said he wants to turn a negative into a positive, and is inviting anyone with a McCabe autographed photo to contact him on his blog (billromanowski, blog.com), and receive a free autographed copy of his book Romo.

Prepare for a tsunami: Victor Conte to pen new book on steroids

The New York Daily News says Victor Conte plans on pushing a new kiss and tell book on steroids:  "BALCO: The Straight dope on Steroids, Barry Bonds, Marion Jones and What We Can Do To Save Sports."  This should be one wild read.

Yes, He's back, and with a pen on steroids:

M

Who will play Conte in the Movie adaptation (see photo at right)?

Conte, who has remained mostly silent as the government, the media and the athletes involved have examined, analyzed and dissected the most explosive drug case in sports history, says he will now tell his side of the story.

Slated for publication in September under the Skyhorse imprint, the book's working title is "BALCO: The Straight Dope on Barry Bonds, Marion Jones and What We Can Do To Save Sports." Conte, in conjunction with co-author Nathan Jendrick, promises to share "the dirt, the drugs, the doses, the names, dates and places, and a 'prescription' for a brighter future."

He promises the "complete truth in its honest, unadulterated and raw form" and says he is "ready to tell the world everything." While the BALCO athletes, particularly Barry Bonds and Marion Jones, have been in the unwelcome spotlight in recent years, Conte, who enjoys speaking his mind, has been frustrated by being forced to assume an uncharacteristic measure of discretion because of legal jeopardy. (It has also been an expensive battle for Conte. In the case of Jones, who is serving a prison sentence for lying to the government, Conte says he spent upwards of $100,000 to defend a baseless $25 million lawsuit Jones filed against him for saying she used performance-enhancing drugs).

Maybe we don't get it...Canseco, Conte and the others conspire to cheat sports, then turn around and write books on how to save sports...OK.

(more after the break)

PSU Prof Yesalis and "Game of Shadows" authors Williams and Fainaru-Wada on steroid panel at Penn State; Yesalis says 95% of NFL players use HGH

Steroids expert and Penn State prof Charles Yesalis, and "Game of Shadows" authors Lance Williams & Mark Fainaru-Wada shared a stage in State College PA to discuss steroids and PEDs.  Report here (Pittsburgh and Tribune-Review) here(PSU Collegian), and here (personal blog).  In a startling statement Dr. Yesalis stated that 90-95% of NFL players used HGH (and PEDs).

The title of a Penn State roundtable last week -- "Steroids and baseball: Where is the public interest?" -- spoke to a societal split on the subject.

Authors Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, whose 2006 book "Game of Shadows" exposed baseball's steroids problem, and two Penn State professors spent two hours probing the issue. Rules of the legal, moral and ethical kind have been broken by steroid-users, yet two years after the book's publication, and with steroid-use revelations continuing in baseball and other sports, there are those who don't even consider using performance-enhancing drugs as cheating.

"It is unquestionably cheating," Fainaru-Wada said, addressing the competitive question. "They are banned for a reason. They work."

Interesting observations that fans under-4o don't consider the use of PEDs as 'cheating'.

"The notion of an athlete breaking the law is problematic -- at least to some people," he (Fainaru-Wada) said.

"Some" is the operative word in that statement, according to Penn State professor Dr. Charles Yesalis, an expert on performance-enhancing drugs.

"I've seen numerous fans say, 'I don't care. I just want to be entertained,' " Dr. Yesalis said. "I've talked to a lot of young people. They aren't bent out of shape about this.

"I think in the under-40 crowd, it's strictly entertainment, and if they use drugs to make it more entertaining, whatever."

(more after the jump)

 

Mike Golic talks steroids on Letterman

Long quiet, MIke Golic recently discussed steroid use on-air (Awful Announcing)  He -- and the other Mike -- showed up on Letterman last night; here is the link in Awful Announcing 2 (we can't quite get it to work).

I don't know what it is about this clip that bothers me. Is it the fact that Greenberg doesn't talk for 90% of the time and when he does he completely messes up? Or is it the fact that Mike Golic wouldn't talk about his steroid use on-air 5 months ago but he can talk about it freely now?  I guess it's a toss up.

Either way Mike & Mike was on The Late Show with David Letterman last night and here is the clip....

Another US Congress committee holds steroids hearings: Uniform testing laws?

The AP publishes this lenghty article on Rep Bobby Rush's "House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection" hearings, which invited America's sports leagues chiefs.

Some members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection used Wednesday's hearing to express doubts that the leagues have done enough since a similar session before the same subcommittee in 2005. Several called for a federal law to legislate drug testing for all the major professional sports.

"Let's get it right this time. ... Let's go ahead and get something into law that is acceptable," Texas Republican Joe Barton said. "It's no fun having this hearing every two to three years."...

There were no players at Wednesday's hearing. Instead, the commissioners sat side-by-side with their sport's union chiefs: Bud Selig was inches away from Donald Fehr; Stern was next to Hunter. Then there was the NFL's Roger Goodell and Gene Upshaw, and the NHL's Gary Bettman and Paul Kelly.

The NBA's David Stern disagreed with PED testing mandates:

No, thank you, said Stern, who twice interrupted lawmakers to cite the progress made by all four leagues since the 2005 hearing through collective bargaining with their respective unions. He and the other witnesses also cautioned against a one-size-fits-all law that would apply to their very divergent sports.

"Federal legislation in this area is not necessary for the NBA," Stern said. "Nor do I believe that a uniform, federally mandated approach to drug testing for all sports leagues would be appropriate."

(more on the issues after the jump)

"In spite of the fact that they want to pronounce that they have it under control, I still think that it's not fully under control," said the subcommittee's chairman, Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill. "And we have to do more."

The committee should consider sports frauds law -- that would protect the consumer.

HGH in the NFL: Welcome back my friend to the show that never ends

The New York Post carries a special story on the HGH problem in the NFL.  The author Matt Chaney points out the pervasive abuse of HGH by athletes, rappers, old duffers, and most likely the NFL.

The American freak show is on, in GH chic.  The buff and tough are everywhere, countless adults, all ages, popping shots of recombinant human growth hormone, the DNA-based enhancer of cultural choice.  Actors use "Growth," and so do singers, baseball players, cops, teachers and doctors.  Sixty-five-year-old men use the stuff to gain lean mass, renew the skin, quicken the step.  So what about football, our beloved blood sport in holy Super Bowl Week?

Do the Giants and the Patriots have a problem with undetectable HGH?

It would be unusual if they didn't.

The author gets it right.  HGH in combo with other PEDs (like testosterone) appears to enhance muscle size and strength.  HGH remains undetectable.  Thus HGH users like  Romanowski, Rodney Harrison, and Tim Couch continue to freak-up with the drug.

Athletes in Super Bowls have abused HGH for years without prudence, as they have throughout the National Football League and much of NCAA football: The Carolina Panthers just happened to be hapless enough to be the only ones to get caught, exposed in the Dr. James Shortt scandal involving illicitly prescribed HGH, steroids and associate chemicals.

Growth hormone builds power, size and speed, especially in synergy with low-dose testosterone, and, despite much misinformation afloat, synthetic HGH cannot be reliably detected in a blood or urine PED screen.

In the doping detection world, anabolic steroids come out 'easy' (nothing is easy as the Floyd Landis case shows); 'growth' because of the short half-life and verisimilitude to the athlete's own HGH, evades reliable detection.  Furthermore, HGH will be detected in blood, an invasive acquisition which constitutes a sticky wicket among civil libertarians.  (UCLA's Don Catlin's remarks about testing after the jump).

So enjoy those huge biceps at the Superbowl, courtesy of some real 'growth'.

Daily steroid dose: Clemens updates

1. Roger Clemens hires a new Top Gun.

Roger Clemens has bolstered his legal team, hiring a powerhouse Washington lawyer, Lanny A. Breuer, who represented former President Bill Clinton during his impeachment hearings as well as numerous corporations that were the subject of Congressional investigations...

Richard D. Emery, a lawyer for McNamee, said of Breuer in a telephone interview, “We welcome a rational voice entering the case on behalf of Clemens, and I would expect a marked and clear change in strategy quickly in order to protect his client from the obvious pitfalls of lying under oath or to federal officials.”

2. The Waxman Committee asked Clemens and Pettitte to give depositions next week.

Letters were sent to Clemens, McNamee and three other people Friday by House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis.

The letters ask the witnesses to meet with committee staff on specific dates leading up to the panel's scheduled Feb. 13 hearing. Clemens' lawyer said he would accept.

McNamee, who has been seeking immunity for his congressional testimony, was asked to meet with committee staff Jan. 31.

Clemens' former teammate and workout partner, Andy Pettitte, was asked to appear Jan. 30. Another ex-teammate, Chuck Knoblauch, was invited for Thursday.

These depositions will be fascinating. The recent message from the Feds (ala Dana Stubblefield, Marion Jones, Barry Bonds) says something like 'tell the truth while under oath, or when questioned'.

Dana Stubblefield stubs toe in federal court

Some weeks we feel like "Law and Order".  We expect that music between scenes to start playing in the background da-da.  Considering the surprise from San Francisco federal court today, da-da.

Dana Stubblefield (remember him?) found himself in court charged with lying to BALCO investigators about steroid use.  Who would have thought?  The AP goes with the story.

Former NFL defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield pleaded guilty Friday to lying to investigators in the BALCO steroids case, making him the first football player charged in the long-running federal investigation.

Stubblefield, a three-time Pro Bowl player who testified before the BALCO grand jury in November 2003, was charged with making false statements to federal agents about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The charges were unsealed Friday in federal court in San Francisco. They allege Stubblefield made false statements to an IRS agent when he said he had not used steroids linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative and denied receiving performance enhancers from BALCO founder Victor Conte.

The 37-year-old Stubblefield pleaded not guilty and was released on bail. He returned to court later Friday to enter his plea to the false statements charge. The deal calls for him to spend zero to six months in prison.

Stubblefield and his attorney, Mike Armstong, declined to comment as they left court.

Apparently the BALCO prosecutors continue to clean up that action.  Another hangover from BALCO, Marion Jones, was sentenced last week to 6 months, the same as Stubblefield.

Others involved in the BALCO investigation included Tammy Thomas (cyclist), Trevor Graham (track coach), and Barry Bonds (baseball).  Bonds will stand trial for perjury and obstruction.

The Feds appear to be putting out a message about lying to them in investigations.  Advise: don't lie to the Feds. da-da

The USOC (US Olympics), MLB (baseball), and the NFL partner against doping and steroids

The three most powerful sports organizations in the country - The Olympics, MLB, and the NFL, will partner to fight doping and steroids.  An announcement today initiated the Partnership for Clean Competition (PCC).

The Partnership for Clean Competition (PCC) will, for the first time ever, combine the resources and expertise of many of America’s leading sports entities to underwrite meaningful and scientifically-legitimate anti-doping research. Beginning this year, the focus of the PCC will be to fundraise and make targeted grants in support of non-partisan and independent scientific research to be conducted at universities and other world-class research institutions. Priorities for the collaborative will include underwriting research that addresses:

• new methods to more cost-effectively detect and deter the use of banned and illegal substances at every level of sport
• identification and detection of designer substances
• the consequences of doping, from both a medical and ethical perspective
• the further development of a widely-available, cost-effective test to detect Human Growth Hormone (HGH)

The PCC will sponsor research into anti-doping measures.  Note the NBA, the NHL, PGA and other sports organizations will also participate in this collaborative effort.  First order of business: find a test for HGH.

As the initial Founding Partners, the USOC, USADA, MLB and NFL have collectively committed to contribute $10 million to this landmark collaborative. Each Founding Partner will have one representative on the Board of Governors, which will oversee the research collaborative.

Also participating and contributing financially to the research collaborative are the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL) and Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA). The Founding Partners will seek to raise additional funds and include other entities (both sport and non-sport) in the collaborative as well.

Will the NFL and MLB really support this coalition?  If a player is a steroid user, will he be banned from the Baseball Hall of Fame, and stripped of records, as a Olympic track athlete may be stripped of medals and records?

Broncos drop kick Sauerbrun's Sauerbuns

The Denver Broncos report today that they cut punter Todd Sauerbrun.  Sauerbrun, known for juicing in the past, went all rage on someone last week.  The Broncs must have felt this was bad for PR, considering Denver's poor record this year.  Thus, they punted the Sauerbrun.  Denver Post here:

The Broncos have cut punter Todd Sauerbrun.

The team is expected to announce it later today.

Sauerbrun was recently cited for simple assault after an incident involving a cab driver in Denver in the early morning hours of Dec. 8.

He has been the Broncos' punter all season. He was Denver's punter in 2005 but was cut last year after he served a four-game NFL suspension for using a banned dietary supplement...

The Broncos traded for Sauerbrun in May 2005. Before coming to the Broncos, he was arrested in December 2005 for driving under the influence (he later plead guilty to driving while impaired) and was part of the Carolina Panthers steroid scandal.

Sauerbrun was one of three Panthers players named in an investigation of a South Carolina physician accused of writing illegal prescriptions for steroids during the 2003 season. Sauerbrun was not implicated in any lawsuit or disciplined by the league.

Police said last week Sauerbrun was cited Dec. 8 for allegedly hitting a cab driver, who had ordered Sauerbrun to get out of his cab because of his belligerent attitude. He was taken to the city's detox holding cell for a few hours before he was released. He played the next day against Kansas City.

His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 15.

"Things like this get blown out of proportion," Sauerbrun said last week at Broncos camp. "I will be exonerated."

Sauerbrun meant 'excommunicated' not 'exonerated'.

Broncos punter Todd Sauerbrun still going all 'roid rage

He's gone and done it again.  Denver Bronco punter Todd Sauerbrun arrested in the past for DWI and suspended for steroids, may have combined both proclivities Sunday night.  The Rocky Mountain News reports the impetuous punter perpetrated a public (PED) pummeling.

...Sauerbrun was cited for simple assault early Saturday for an incident outside a Cherry Creek restaurant, according to the Denver Police Department...

Denver police spokesman John White said Sauerbrun was cited and taken to a detox facility before being released. He was not jailed.

The charge is a municipal ordinance violation, and Sauerbrun will be required to appear in Denver County Court in two weeks, White said.

Sources said Sunday night that Sauerbrun had called for a cab as he was leaving a Cherry Creek North restaurant, believed to be Ocean, at about 12:30 a.m., but he was asked to get out of the cab shortly after it arrived because of what was described as belligerent behavior.

Sauerbrun in detox; can they detox him from Gramatica hatred?  Does the Sauerbrun need to reduce his dose of anabolic steroids about now?

(Deadspin link)

Minnesota Vikings DE Ray Edwards gets lump of purple coal: To miss December for steroids policy violation

Minnesota Viking defensive end Ray Edwards will receive an unexpected holiday almost the entire month of December, complements of the NFL steroids policy.  Edwards apparently tested positive, the Vikings announced today. To the AP Wire via the Miami Herald:

Minnesota Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards has been suspended four games for violating the NFL's policy on steroid use.

Edwards has been a starter for most of the season, but was replaced by Erasmus James for last Sunday's game against Detroit. Coach Brad Childress said that decision had nothing to do with Edwards' violation, which the coach learned of on Wednesday morning.

Childress said he was disappointed in Edwards and could not comment further because of the confidentiality surrounding the policy.

"It's disappointing, but there are policies in place and our players have to adhere to those policies," Childress said. "Every team goes through challenges as you go through the year. We've been through some of our own. It's an opportunity to have others step up."

The Vikes started Edwards at DE much of the season.  The former Purdue Boilermaker stands 6-5 at 268 from Cincinnati OH; he had 29 tackles with 25 solos this year. (image=Ben Garvin, Pioneer Press)

The Edwards news comes on a day when the USA Today headlined that supplements can be contaminated with anabolic steroids  (which has been known for some time now).  Wonder if the 'Shawne Merriman contaminated supplement' defense will be used by Edwards?

Stay away from supplements.  Anabolic supplements tend to be under-impressive, unless actually contaminated with real drugs.  (which is always our question: sloppy manufacturing or clever contamination of real anabolic steroids to produce 'results')

Priest Holmes: suffering yet from a juiced Shawne Merriman hit, calls it quits

One of the NFL's truly gracious players, threw in the towel yesterday when Priest Holmes retired from the game he graced for a decade.  NFL fans know well the story of Holmes, a backup to Ricky Williams for the Texas Longhorns, later a backup to Jamal Williams on the Baltimore Ravens.  Playing for the Kansas City Chiefs, Holmes captivated the NFL as the best running back in the universe from 2001 - 2005.  In 2005, Holmes season was cut short when he suffered a serious neck injury in a helmet to helmet hit by San Diego juicer Shawne Merriman.  It appears that the injury left Holmes vulnerable and exposed; he suffered another injury during the game at Indianapolis last week as he attempted a courageous comeback with the Chiefs.

The Charger's Merriman delivered the fatal blow to Holmes in 2005, a year before 'Lights Out' tested positive for nandrolone, leading to a 4 game suspension.  It would be illogical to assume Merriman's positive test represented a brief flirtation with juicing;  indeed under scrutiny, Merriman's 2007 performance seems to be inferior to his prior 'roided-up career (With Leather).

If we seem bitter about 'Lights Out' putting Holme's lights out, it is because we are tired of records by respectable and honest athletes falling to drug-cheating juicers (re: Hank Aaron), as the media offers excuses for juicers.

Juicing is cheating, and perjury is lying.  A little honesty and a little integrity would be extremely valuable in the world today.

Is that a little gynecomastia on the GQ man up there?

Ex-Cowboy Matt Lehr may be implicated in Plano steroid bust

Reports surfacing from Florida implicate reserve Tampa Bay Buc lineman Matt Lehr in the Plano TX bust.  A steroids dealer in Plano TX said he dealt the Dallas Cowboys steroids.  A report from Tampa.com:

Matt Lehr's name hasn't appeared in the Bucs' starting lineup, but it is among those supplied by a Plano, Texas, trainer to authorities investigating a steroid ring.

The Dallas Morning News reported Lehr, a reserve center and guard, was one of the players who was supplied steroids by David Jacobs.

Jacobs, 35, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Texas to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute anabolic steroids. He admittedhe trafficked more than 40,000 units of the drug as well as several thousand units of human growth hormone from February 2006 to April.

Lehr was suspended last year for steroids, then dropped out of the league.  He reappeared in Florida this year as a lineman, and 'reappeared virtually' in a Dallas courtroom.  Lehr's attorney answers:

An attorney for former Dallas Cowboys lineman Matt Lehr issued a statement Thursday related to allegations that a Plano-based personal trainer had named him in connection with a federal investigation into an illegal steroids ring. Mr. Lehr was suspended last year for violating the NFL's banned-substances policy while playing for the Atlanta Falcons.

"Matt made a mistake and paid a heavy price for it with a four-game suspension," said Dallas attorney Paul Coggins. "Since then, he has been tested for banned substances on a weekly basis and has passed every test. He will continue to be tested for the rest of his NFL career and will pass every time. He learned from a past mistake and has grown from it."

So, more trouble for the NFL.  Appears the steroid dealer from Plano does have names.

Did supplement store supply 'roids to the Cowboys?

Reports say a Dallas-area 'trainer' will plead guilty to steroid trafficking; the man says he will cooperate with federal officials to name players on the Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons who ordered PEDs from his website.  The Dallas New/AP carries this story.

Local television station Channel 11 reported Monday night that a Plano-based personal trainer will plead guilty today to a federal charge involving steroids.

David Jacobs claimed on his supplements store's Web site that he offered guidance to Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons players.

Jacobs did not identify any players, but he told the station that as part of a plea deal, he will tell federal investigators about professional athletes who use steroids...

According to court documents obtained by the station, Jacobs is accused of conspiracy to possess anabolic steroids with the intent to distribute them from his East Plano home from October 2005 through last spring.

The indictment, filed in May, names Jacobs and three others. Jacobs also faces a charge of unlawful user of a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm

This story appears to be generated by the accused/guilty man.  Might be something there, might not.