By Ray Buck
CBS SportsLine National Columnist
July 23, 1998
When former NFL tough guy Lyle Alzado died in May 1992 of brain cancer -- a disease he blamed on his longtime abuse of anabolic steroids -- he still had his dignity and his courage. He also had the strength of a toddler.
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It was a rare form of brain lymphoma that -- 13 months after it was diagnosed -- took the life of the former All-Pro defensive end for the Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Raiders (1971-85).
HE WAS IN the prime of his life, ready to get serious about an acting career after making an aborted comeback attempt with the Raiders in 1990. He had just married for a third time when the deadly diagnosis was made.
Alzado spent his final days futilely trying to find a miracle cure ... while at the same time hoping to get the message out to football players at all levels -- high school, college, pro: Anabolic steroids kill.
"All the NFL has to do to keep players from using (anabolic) steroids is to include the 'Lyle Alzado story' in every player's playbook," said Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson, a former NFL linebacker with the Dallas Cowboys (Super Bowls X, XII and XIII) and a recovering alcoholic and cocaine addict who has been sober since 1983.
But what remains consistent with other forms of substance abuse is that not everybody learns the lesson.
Last summer, Artie Ulmer, then a rookie Minnesota linebacker, tested positive for steroids and received a four-game league suspension. This from a player without imposing size (6-feet-2, 239) or cause for high expectations (seventh-round pick, Valdosta State), which goes to show that anyone is capable of falling into the steroid trap.
ACCORDING TO HIS AGENT, Ulmer had heard from a former NFL player that "a lot of players do (steroids) ... and don't get caught." Better advice might have been that the league conducts random training-camp drug testing -- anabolic steroids included.
Anabolic steroids are synthetic compounds of the male sex hormone testosterone. The drug especially appeals to bodybuilders, weightlifters and football players because it increases physical strength and builds muscle mass.
Alzado
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Lyle Alzado spent his last days trying to get the message out to all ages: Anabolic steroids can kill. (Allsport)
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Retirement for former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Steve Courson has meant living with a debilitating heart condition, which he blames on steroid abuse during a nine-year NFL career (1977-85), which he finished up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He took as much as 56 ounces of the performance enhancement drug per week and gained as much as 30 pounds per month. He played for the Steelers and Bucs at 300 pounds -- up from 230 pounds as a college player at South Carolina.
In '85, once he had gone public with his story about taking steroids, Courson was cut by Tampa Bay.
Sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of his world record and gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1988 Seoul Olympics when he tested positive for steroids.
TO GIVE THAT MOMENT historical perspective, fellow Canadian Donovan Bailey set a world record and won a gold medal in the 100 meters at the '96 Atlanta Olympics. Bailey's time was 9.84 seconds.
Eight years earlier, Johnson was clocked in 9.79 -- on steroids.
It's very tempting.
And with steroids, that's the continuing problem.
Ray Buck is CBS SportsLine's national columnist.