Tell us a little about the “I Play Clean” Campaign and what its goals are.
I Play Clean is a campaign formed by my son Matt and I to encourage teens to choose eating well, training hard and playing with attitude instead of resorting to dangerous and illegal steroids and performance-enhancing drugs. We want to make it cool to Play Clean.
What made you decide to found the “I Play Clean” Campaign?
I became aware that steroids had reached high school while working with high school athletes on a reality show. Then my cardiologist conducted a study on body-builders and found that their heart had prematurely aged by about 30 years. Lastly, what really got me was when I spoke with parents who had lost children to suicide when they were coming off of steroids.
We had the Butkus Award for the top college level linebacker. My son Matt came to me and said why don’t we make a Butkus award for the high school and pro levels as well to help drive this message. Now, we utilize the Butkus Award as a platform to educate young athletes.
How big of a problem is steroid use among teenagers today?
The latest academic surveys suggest there are about 500,000 teens who have experimented with steroids, and about one-fourth of them are young girls. About 85 percent of kids feel they are not getting proper education about the dangers of steroids. That’s very alarming. That’s why we are doing this. We’ve partnered with a brand like EAS to help us teach kids about proper sports nutrition and putting the right types of things in your body. The EAS brand handles the nutrition component and hosted several nutrition clinics for high school football players, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised about the response from the kids. They want to learn more about the role of nutrition. That’s a positive step.
What are the dangers a young athlete faces in using steroids?
First of all, it is illegal. Second of all, it is costly to your health – your heart, your liver, short-term and long-term. You go through physical changes. It affects you mentally. Roid rage is a very dangerous thing. Additionally, if you are in college and get busted for using steroids, you can lose your scholarship.
Is there anything parents can watch for that might tip off the use of illegal substances?
Don’t wait until then. Talk now to your kids and coaches about competing without using steroids. Most parents will notice emotional swings, physical changes, intense acne and bad breath. It is important that their withdrawal from steroids is supervised by a doctor.
What is the motivation of today’s teenager to use performance enhancing drugs?
The pressure comes from a number of places. Their peer groups – they see their teammates and friends doing them and then getting more playing time and more attention due to their physical growth. Sometimes it comes from parents, who want their kids to earn a scholarship. Sometimes it’s coaches, who want to be successful and raise their profile. That’s very disturbing.
The truth is you need to have skills first before size. And ultimately hard work is what will help you become successful. To be a real athlete, you have to work hard and get the playing time you deserve.
How big of an influence on today’s youth is the use of steroids by professional athletes?
It’s huge – kids look up to these guys and see their success. They want to reach that level. And they also see the punishment as a little slap on the wrist – that doesn’t scare the young athletes at all. The key is helping teens understand that training, nutrition and playing with attitude are the answer – not steroids.
How does a clean player today stay competitive with the athlete who uses artificial means to enhance their game?
Eat well, play hard and play with attitude. There are many, many players doing it right who can be examples. Larry Fitzgerald, Matt Hasselbeck – players who are successful and play clean -- and Aaron Curry, drafted number four by Seattle this year, did well for himself playing clean and working hard.
In addition to staying away from illegal performance enhancing products, what tips can you give the young athlete?
There are great nutrition and training programs that weren’t available when I played. But first and foremost, you must have the love of the game and the desire to get better. You need to work hard to achieve your goals and there are no shortcuts.
How prevalent do you think steroid use has been in the NFL?
I don’t know. My focus is educating young athletes to stay away from steroids during their key developmental years.
How much has the use of steroids tainted the game of football?
It’s tainted not just football, but sports in general. Young people need to understand that there are no shortcuts – success means training hard, eating well and playing with attitude. There are a lot of pressures – peer pressure, the money – so kids can easily be swayed. We need to educate them on the right way of being successful and accomplishing their goals.
What do you think the NFL should do about steroids, above and beyond what they are now doing (if anything)?
We could use their help raising awareness and educating young athletes on the dangers of steroids. It would be great to get some key players on board with the message. Role models such as Matt Hasselbeck, Larry Fitzgerald and Brady Quinn support the message through their relationship with EAS, an organization that has partnered with us to help deliver the message effectively. If we get to young people early on, we can hopefully help solve the problem once and for all.
Why is it important for the NFL to rid itself of steroid use?
It’s illegal, first and foremost. It’s dangerous to the long-term health of players. It is cheating. And it’s a horrific example for young athletes.
Is there anything else you’d like to add that we haven’t already covered?
Take the lesson from sports and apply them to your whole life – the values you learn, the importance of hard work, teamwork and taking care of your health. There’s a lot of life to enjoy after your sports career is over.
