Steroids, Blood Doping, and Deflated Footballs

If it wasn’t for steroids, blood doping, and deflated footballs – plus a plethora of well-publicized misbehaviors from adultery to drug abuse to gambling – our sports heroes would still be our heroes.

In a distant past and far away galaxy, reporters would protect the reputation of a raging, self-destructive alcoholic like Yankee great, Mickey Mantle. (Those were his own words.)

The 60s and 70s brought a different brand of reporting that was a mix of a more robust and aggressive investigative journalism with a heaping dose of shock appeal. The “shock” part of that mix exploded first with the internet boom and then went from a hydrogen bomb to a nuclear bomb with the eruption of social media. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and a host of others are Barry-Bonds-level steroid injections for the TMZ-reveal-all world we live in.

The latest scandal to rock the world of sports is the revelation that the New England Patriots used under-inflated footballs in the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, a game which they won, to reach Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Arizona, against the Seattle Seahawks on February 1, 2015.

“Deflate-Gate” is a big deal because less air pressure makes a football easier to grip – and thus throw and catch – giving a big advantage to Patriot QB Tom Brady. Brady has been interviewed by the press and denied any knowledge of the footballs not complying to NFL league rules. His proclamation of innocence is being met with serious skepticism by the press corp and players.

Mark Brunell, an ESPN analyst and former NFL QB who started 151 games, said, “Those balls were deflated.  Somebody had to do it.  And I don’t believe there’s an equipment manager in the NFL that would on his own initiative deflate a ball without his starting quarterback’s approval.  I just didn’t believe what Tom Brady had to say.”

Just an aside: why the heck does the NFL allow each team select and bring its own game balls to the game (for use on offense) and give them an air pressure range instead of a set number? But I digress.

So what do I think about Tom Brady’s guilt or innocence? What about you? What do you think?

I do know I’ve been wrong before.

I basically believed Roger Clemens – the “Rocket” – didn’t use steroids because he was long known for his ferocious workouts (to go along with his nasty fastball). But even though he has beat perjury charges legally (on the basis of prosecutorial misconduct), based on the inconsistencies of his own testimony and the reports of others, the conventional wisdom is he abused steroids and is lying about it.

There was a simple reason I wasn’t nearly so confident that Lance Armstrong was telling the truth about not blood doping – though I hoped he was. I don’t know that much about professional cycling, but I have a couple of friends who follow the sport closely. Both said the reason they were certain Armstrong was doping was that everyone in the Tour de France and other major ICA or UCI events are doping. I don’t know how they can be so sure they know that, but it did plant the seed of doubt in my want-to-believe-in-Lance mind.

So back to it? Do I believe Brady? I certainly don’t want to slander the man. The truth is I don’t know and don’t feel any need to take a stand. But let’s just say I’m prepared to be disappointed if it is discovered he deliberately cheated and then lied about it. (By the way, if the NFL found a “smoking gun” to prove Brady cheated before game time of Super Bowl XLIX, would they have to suspend him?)

I’m not going to succumb to the temptation to automatically believe the worst in response to reports that this or that person is cheating, lying, stealing or whatever else they are charged with. I also don’t completely buy into the notion that “where there’s smoke there’s fire” – though that often proves to be the case. But I still won’t be surprised if Brady is found to be lying. I do have experience that traces all the way back to my childhood.

The first year I attended a Cincinnati Reds baseball game was in 1963. I was five-years-old – and Pete Rose was a rookie. Even though he has the most hits in Major League Baseball history, he’s still not in the Hall of Fame due to gambling on games while manager of those same beloved Reds – a charge he vehemently denied and later admitted to. (Another aside: there are many guys in the HOF of dubious character; just put Pete in and be done with it.)

Despite a litany of fallen stars – and Charles Barkley’s wise warning to fans to not put athletes on a pedestal when he said, “I’m no role model” – we’ll continue to lionize our sports heroes. Thankfully there are plenty of stars with great character and service that we can look up to.

But Barkley was right. The arena … the field of play … the track … the rink … that is not where we should look for role models. We need to look for role models in everyday people … everyday people who are faithful – though probably not perfect – in everyday life at home, at work, and in their community.

Mark Gilroy is a veteran book publisher and author of the bestselling Kristen Conner Mystery Series.