Former Spartans football player admits to steroid use during '88 Rose Bowl win
Former MSU football player Tony Mandarich has admitted to using steroids and cheating on a steroid test administered in conjunction with the 1988 Rose Bowl, which the Spartans won.
Mandarich was an offensive lineman for MSU in the late 1980s and was selected by the Green Bay Packers with the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft in 1989. Mandarich, dubbed “The Incredible Bulk” by Sports Illustrated prior to the draft, was a bust in the NFL during his three seasons with the Packers.
Mandarich tells of his steroid use and the Rose Bowl steroid test during an interview on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL” that will air Wednesday at 9 p.m. Mandarich has a book scheduled to be released in March 2009 that is expected to detail his steroid use.
Mandarich denied a report that several MSU football players also cheated on their drug test, telling “Inside the NFL” that he “can’t speak for other players.”
It is not clear what impact, if any, Mandarich’s admittance would have on the 1988 Rose Bowl title. Paul Dee, vice chairman of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions, declined to comment on the procedures and investigations of the committee. He added that he was not aware of Mandarich’s situation.
Mandarich was never declared ineglible for the Rose Bowl because he did not fail the drug test. He was thought to have passed the drug legally and was therefore eligible.
Calls made to MSU Athletics Director Mark Hollis, a member of MSU’s athletics compliance department and several members of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions regarding any impact of Mandarich’s admittance were not immediately answered Tuesday night and messages left had not been returned.
Published on Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Comments
Philly
09/30/08 @ 10:17pm
Half the undergrads at MSU weren’t even alive when this happened. Hell, I was 9 years old and I don’t care. Why does the State News make it a point to feature this story? The last thing the promising Spartan football team needs is more attention to this story. It’s inevitable that some dumbass reporters are going to ask Dantonio about this. 20 years ago?!? Does it make any difference? Is this a story?
SoCal Spartan
09/30/08 @ 10:52pm
I love that he was withholding in his contract trying to get more out of the Packers, said he’d fight Tyson before playing and all this other crap. Even funnier was looking at his undergrad underclassmen picture vs. his Rose Bowl picture. Talk about easily apparent! To bad big fat Georgie didn’t call him on his BS anti-steroid lie!
Like Philly said though, who cares!
Cheating is cheating
10/01/08 @ 4:43am
It’s not like there is a statute of limitations on cheating. MSU has a Rose Bowl title that wasn’t earned by the rules. We should forfeit it before it is stripped from us. Time isn’t a factor. We are either an institution with integrity or we are not.
Ern
10/01/08 @ 7:29am
I have no idea what dude’s stats were in the Rose Bowl, but last I knew, 1 person can’t win the game for a team. Could not agree more with Philly’s comments, how is this relevant now? It appears that Mandarich is running his mouth now, in the hopes to promote his book and make a buck the only way he can. Sounds like some other familiar deadbeat that used to play baseball. Charles Rogers smoked dope when he was in school too. What should we do about that? The collective effort of the TWO fellas who wrote this article is simply amazing. Seriously guys, why don’t you take turns bitch slapping each other until you get a lead on something that is worth writing about.
jerk...
10/01/08 @ 10:45am
What a jerk. Get on TV, sell your book, screw your alma mater in the process. Guys like him and Canseco should have to give all their royalties back to the institutions and organizations they f*cked along the way.
slen
10/01/08 @ 11:04am
Ern, don’t just focus on Charles Rogers from that doomed 2002 football team. Even worse then Rogers’ NFL behavior was Jeff Smoker’s documented behavior during the actual 2002 Big 10 season (i.e. missing plane ride to Iowa and ending up in rehab for a substance much worse then the “green” Rogers was nailed with).
Steve
10/01/08 @ 4:31pm
Are the rest of you confused and thinking this is a rare occurance? Steroid and drug use among professional athletes is to prevalent it’s unreal. What’s the difference between a professional athlete taking steroids to help speed up their recovery from a grueling workout, versus the rest of us using caffeine to stay awake longer and study hard, get better grades, work more hours, and perform better at our jobs? Everyone wants to see records getting smashed, but don’t want to hear about the other side of what goes on with highly competitive sports.
Get your head out of the sand people. This stuff goes on throughout almost every professional sport, especially football. Football and baseball are two of the biggest culprits.
Michelle
10/02/08 @ 3:49pm
TSN covered the story because as the college newspaper… why would they ignore it? It’s not like they’re desperately searching for stuff to cover. It was out there, they wrote.