Says Steelers of 1970s triggered outbreak
Thursday, March 24, 2005
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Jim Haslett went from a 160-pound quarterback at Avalon High School to a 230-pound defensive end at IUP, but he said it wasn't until he reached the NFL that he took steroids.
Haslett, the New Orleans Saints' coach, discussed the rampant steroids use in the NFL 25 years ago at a time when Major League Baseball is attempting to rid that sport of the illegal drugs. He detailed his use of steroids yesterday over breakfast at the NFL meetings in Maui.
Haslett estimated that half the NFL players, including all the linemen, used steroids in the 1980s when they were not banned by the league and legal if prescribed medically. He claimed steroids began in the NFL with the Steelers' players in the 1970s and mentioned Barry Bonds as having tell-tale signs of use.
Haslett said it wasn't long after he was drafted by Buffalo in the second round in 1979 that he felt he needed to take steroids to stay competitive in the league.
"They tossed you around, they were strong. So everybody wanted an advantage, so you tried it; I tried it. I mean I tried it, everybody tried it."
The league did not begin steroids testing until 1987; suspensions were issued for the first time in '89 and random year-round testing began in '90. The current steroids policy was negotiated with the players as part of the collective bargaining agreement of 1992 and remains in effect today.
A first positive test draws a four-game suspension. A second brings a six-game suspension and a third a one-year ban. No one, however, has tested positive more than once under the program, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.
Haslett said he believes the league long ago gained control of the steroids problem that was rampant when he played.
"If you didn't [take steroids], you weren't as strong as everybody else, you weren't as fast as everybody else," Haslett said. "That's the only reason to do it. Everybody's looking for a competitive edge."
Haslett said the Steelers of the 1970s were big steroids users.
"It started, really, in Pittsburgh. They got an advantage on a lot of football teams. They were so much stronger [in the] '70s, late '70s, early '80s ... Steve [Courson], Jon [Kolb] and all those guys. They're the ones who kind of started it."
Dan Rooney quickly and strongly refuted that accusation.
"This is totally, totally false when he says it started with the Steelers in the '70s," Rooney said between meetings yesterday. "Chuck Noll was totally against it. He looked into it, examined it, talked to people. Haslett, maybe it affected his mind."
Rooney pointed out that Noll's offensive lines were noted for their speed and trapping ability and not their size -- they were among the smallest lines in the league in the 1970s.
"Chuck Noll told the players, hey, this stuff doesn't do you any good," Rooney said. "If you just do the work, lift, things like that, you'll be all right."
Haslett, a Pro Bowl linebacker in the NFL, said he took steroids for only one offseason around 1979 or '80, then got off them. He estimated his playing weight at 252.
"I didn't think it was very good for you. I was hyper all the time. Got bloated, a fat face. I'll tell you one thing about steroids, if you take them you still have to eat right and you have to work your ass off. If you take them and you don't do anything, that doesn't do anything for you."
Haslett said he was a college coach when he first met Barry Bonds and saw a different player when Bonds returned to Pittsburgh with the San Francisco Giants when Haslett was the Steelers' defensive coordinator from 1997-99.
"I met Barry Bonds, he was about 185," Haslett said. "Next time I saw him, I was a coach at the Steelers and he was about 210. A big 210. You get so much stronger. Your bat speed [increases], everything."
Asked if he thought Bonds took steroids, Haslett did not answer.
"I promise you, if those guys did take them, they're working their ass off anyway," Haslett said. "So they were going to get gains anyway, but probably not to the magnitude they did when they take the stuff."
The main advantage to taking steroids, Haslett said, is they help players lift more often and thus get stronger and possibly bigger.
"I didn't put weight on, I just got strong. If you lift on Monday, usually you lift Wednesday, Friday. [On steroids], you can lift like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. You never got tired.
"Your muscles recovered from it. When you lift, your muscle tears down and the blood comes in and repairs it. It takes bout 28 to 40 hours for the blood to repair the muscle. When you take steroids and it rips the muscle, the blood immediately flows in there, and it repairs itself right away. That's why you never feel tired, you never feel sore.
"You can lift every day, you can recover right away. My bench went from 440 to 480 in about 6 weeks."
Haslett acknowledged he was more volatile than usual when he took steroids and that "I've seen guys snap. Somebody says something, they'd snap. You get hyper all the time, sweating."
He described the introduction of steroids by the Bills to one of their new teammates in the 1980s.
"I played with a guy who came into the league, he came out of the USFL," Haslett said. "He was 270, and he would never have made our team if he didn't get up to 300. The linemen got him together, got him a little supplemental pill for the week and he got up to about 305 and made our team. And he's probably one of the all-time great players in Bills history. He was a great player."
While his description fits former Bills center Kent Hull, Haslett would not name him. Hull joined the Bills from the USFL New Jersey Generals in 1986 and played 11 seasons in Buffalo.
Haslett has been New Orleans' head coach since 2000.
(Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3878. Click here for more National Football League news.)
NFL Notebook: Haslett apologizes to Steelers for steroid remarks
Saturday, March 26, 2005
From local and wire dispatches
New Orleans Saints coach Jim Haslett has apologized to the Steelers and team owner Dan Rooney, saying he didn't intend to harm anyone or any team when he said this week that steroid use was rampant at one time among NFL players.
Haslett, speaking to a small group of reporters Wednesday at the NFL owners meeting in Hawaii , admitted that he had used steroids, and singled out the Steelers of the 1970s, saying "it started, really in Pittsburgh."
Rooney responded that it was "totally, totally false when he says it started with the Steelers."
Haslett released a statement Thursday saying that his earlier comments "were intended to express my understanding of the NFL's Drug Testing Policy, which is the best in all professional sports.
"As a former player and now a coach in this league, I have a tremendous amount of respect for our game both now and in the past. We would be naive to think that enhancing drugs were never used in our league, but the difference here is that the NFL recognized that steroid use was detrimental to our league and has implemented policies to ensure that it never would be an issue.
"I was not intending to do any harm to anyone or any organization or the NFL with these statements and if I did I offer my sincerest apology. I have the utmost respect for Mr. [Dan] Rooney and what he has meant to the NFL and offer my apologizes to him and the Steelers."
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