Steve Courson and the consequences of his Anabolic Steroid use.

I'll try to provide some further information,and links on Steve Courson and his life after the big Sports Illustrated article.He came forward and admitted his long use of Androgenic-Anabolic Steroids  while playing college and Pro football.
This was a period of more light being shined on the subject,and he became a focus of attention.
Courson played for the Steelers from 1978–1983 and retired in 1985 after two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.In 1991 he wrote a book called "False Glory: The Steve Courson Story."
I haven't read it.But I might some day.
He took a hard turn against steroid usage, and expressed regret over "Selling myself out to the system by using drugs to compete.''
Courson also developed a severe heart problem,cardiomyopathy.He didn't say he was certain the drug use was the only cause.But it's certainly possible that it contributed.He was on the heart transplant list for a time.But remarkably he exercised,and lost enough weight to be removed from it.He regained as much of his health as possible under the circumstances and became a personal trainer.

I have to give the man credit for having the incredible will to push himself to recovery.

This article from SI in early 1992 describes the difficult  time after his health deterioration.
In the Aftermath of Steroids.
It does present the hard facts of the impact of steroids on Courson's health.
This is the just of the story;

"Courson gobbled steroids and kept almost 300 pounds on his . 6'1" frame so that he could ;continue, as he says, "to perform in a sport that I would have played for nothing." He knew the drug-taking was wrong and unhealthy, but everyone else was doing it, he claims, so why not? "Without naming names,"writes Courson, "I can state unequivocally that during my time in Pittsburgh 75 percent of the Steeler offensive line took anabolic-androgenic steroids at one time or another.... The fact is, our AAS usage was the same—give or take—as most NFL teams at that time."

"Gobbled Steroids?" Writers love to use words like gobbled food,or guzzled soft drinks when it refers to something disapproved of.The writer must have pictured people swallowing handfuls of pills.
 But yes,he clearly over loaded his body to the breaking point.
This brings up the question of  people's choices,and free will.If Courson had it to do over again would he have taken steroids? Considering his love of football,and his competitiveness, I'd say he would have.Hindsight is 20/20 vision as they say.But we don't know the full consequences of our actions until after fact.At the time he played everyone around him was using AAS.It would have taken an unusual aversion to drugs to reject what was seen at the time as a helpful medicinal aid.The more negative aspects of AAS use were not as widely acknowledged.Nor the long term harms as generally known.Many doctors weren't even very familiar with athletic levels of use.
No one can shout at themselves back in time to say "don't do that!".
But he had to live with his regrets.At least the man was honest,and took responsibility.

He can be seen in this clip from his appearance before the US Senate speaking about his use.

When you take into account what we now know about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy,Steroids may not even be the worst risk in football.
It's a hell of a sport where men bulk themselves up to bash their brains out.
That's a pretty dark way of looking at it.I just hope it's worth it to those who play in the NFL.

In the end Courson's heart didn't give out.He died at the age of 50 in an unusual accident when a tree he was cutting down fell on him.

Steve Courson and 'The Steroid Explosion'.1985 story in Sports Illustrated on steroids in the NFL.

I've been reviewing some of the major steroid stories in Sports Illustrated.It's America's most prominent sports magazine,and a source of high level journalism.The standard is ( usually ) up to the level of top news reporting,and investigative journalism on any subject.They've had some great writers over the years.
I took the magazine from the early eighties to about early 2000's.I was mainly following the tennis stories.But I read a lot of the articles.It was a pleasure to read so many fascinating stories about all kinds of things I wouldn't have thought to look into otherwise.It presented many great human stories through the lens of sports.
Of course I was always interested in anything about bodybuilding,and weight training in general.
Including the revealing stories about football players training,and affinity for the world of weights.
Football players often engaged in power lifting,and general bodybuilding.Many were friends of the gym scene.
I was a football fan when I was a child.My father was a fan of the Dallas Cowboys.Which is a little funny because he was from New York City.He lived the rest of his life in Texas were my Mom was from.
I really enjoyed the drama,and color of football.They seemed like mighty giants fighting it out on the field.And this was the time of the classic Cowboys team coached by Tom Landry.Roger Staubach,Tony Dorsett and others.I think I even had a poster of the team on my wall.
That time in football was great.It was certainly more innocent for the fans.Most people had never heard of steroids.And it was far before the knowledge of CTE.

This was also the time of the great Pittsburgh Steelers teams.They had the reputation of being some of the toughest bastards that ever thundered over the gridiron.
This was the era of Terry Bradshaw,Mel Blount,"Mean" Joe Green,Jack Ham,Franco Harris,Jack Lambert,John Stallworth,Lynn Swan,and Mike Webster.
Mike Webster was one of the main subjects of the film Concussion.
It was was based on the book League of Denial.It was also the subject of an excellent documentary made by PBS Frontline.You might be able to find it free on YouTube.
Webster was the first NFL football player medical examiner Dr Bennett Omalu performed an autopsy on.Which lead him to discover the evidence of catastrophic brain injury in football players named Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy,or CTE.

Steve Courson was one of the players during this era.He was a teammate of Webster.

Steve Courson and Mike Webster

In the May 13, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated Steve Courson was a subject in the three part expose of Anabolic Steroids.
The story is listed on the cover as "The Steroid Explosion."

All the issues of Sports Illustrated are online in the SI Vault.But it's not always easy to find stories.The search system isn't good.
You can see the whole issue with original photos,or easier to read print.( you can just keep going forward in the full issue to view all original images )
The first part is Steroids:A Problem of Huge Dimensions.
Here is the print version.
The story is by William Oscar Johnson, a respected writer.
The main photo is a two page picture of Steve Courson looking like a great burly beast.Doing bicep cable curls,and sweating profusely.He appears to be a fine example of the big lumbering lineman.He's big,and smooth.Not cut with the fine delineation of a bodybuilder.
I would hate to be the opposing player who was on the other side of this genuine hulk.He could run into you like a freight train.Good night buddy.
There's a picture on the next page of a shirtless man holding a tray of various steroids.It's like Jeeves bringing you your morning Winny.Of course there are some current bodybuilders who would look at that picture now and drool.Because those are all real pharmaceutical drugs.Not black market Mexican horse 'roids.Whinny indeed.
So the story goes into the use in college football,the NFL,the USFL ( it was a now defunct football league.Trump owned a team.Yes.Really),and gyms across America.
I'm not sure the writer had the history of steroids correct.He said they were invented  at the University of Alabama! Huh? I didn't know UAB was in Germany!
We have the usual rundown of effects,and side effects.Including the psychological symptoms.Such as a young man named Scott who was suffering from an obsessive case of what we would now call muscle dysmorphia,or 'bigorexia'.

His wife, Kathy, said, "I'm so tired of him asking me, 'Do I look big? Do I look small?' It's annoying."

Sadly steroids made Scott annoying.Maybe Scott was annoying already,and they just helped.
The story does cover the experts,and drug dealers at the time.The serious legal issues that have now buried steroids in the law were starting to blow up.

On to the second part of the series Getting Physical-And Chemical. ( print )
This is the first person account of Steve Courson and his personal experience with using steroids.He is very honest,and open about his reasons for feeling he needed to use.
It's one of the most forthcoming pieces on the issue of steroid use in major league sports you will find.Particularly at that time.

"Football is my business. I take this attitude toward drugs: They give me an edge in my business. I don't regret anything I've done so far as pharmaceutical use is concerned. It's very easy for people on the outside to criticize."

The third part of the series is A Business Built On Bulk. ( print )
It's about a drug dealer named Charles Radler.

"Radler was running the most lucrative steroid-dealing operation in the U.S. His records showed he was grossing $20,000 a week and that in the last nine months of 1983 he had salted away more than $673,000 in four different bank accounts."

He was arrested and sent to prison.
But before they caught up with him he was doing a thriving business.He had been working at a pizza place when he got into lifting.He started using steroids himself.Then got the bright idea to go into selling more than pizza.He looked up names in a powerlifting magazine,and sent out fliers in the mail.Responses came in.He went on to live the movie drug kingpin life.Money,cars,guns,and a ruined life.
He received a surprisingly short sentence.( I'm sure he'd do more time now )
I didn't find further news on him.

Some readers may find the stories generally sensationalistic in tone.Steroid stories almost always play heavy on the negatives,and concerns.But I've seen far worse.It's fair,and accurate about the scene at the time.
I do think it's an interesting insight into the developing story of steroids in sports.

I'm going to do a further post on Steve Courson,and follow his story.
There were serious repercussions in his life due to steroid usage.
Heart problems,and legal scrutiny.

Steve Courson on the field.