Mandarich reveals addiction
By Bob Wolfley
Tuesday, Sep 30 2008, 11:44 AM
Tony Mandarich, who was taken No. 2 overall by the Packers in the 1989 draft, says in an interview he was addicted to alcohol and painkillers the entire time he played in Green Bay.
Mandarich also admits for the first time he used anabolic steroids while he played at Michigan State.
Mandarich, a tackle, played for the Packers from 1989 to '91. He was drafted one spot behind Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman and one spot ahead of Detroit running back Barry Sanders.
Mandarich made these revelations during an interview with Armen Keteyian, the chief investigative correspondent for CBS News. That interview is to air Wednesday night on Showtime's "Inside the NFL," a program produced by CBS Sports.
Mandarich says he entered the NFL as an addict.
"There's other factors that were involved that nobody knows about that were way more of an effect on why I had the huge downfall in Green Bay than steroids (such as) drug and alcohol abuse. ... I was injecting a drug called Stadol ... and it was euphoric. I went from doing one injection on that one day, and a week later I was doing between five to seven shots a day for the next three years."
Mandarich says he preferred getting high to working out when he was in Green Bay.
"(I) was not the same person they drafted. ... I got to the point where it was a struggle to work out three or four times a week because the priority of getting high was above the priority of working out," Mandarich said.
Mandarich says he supplied a fake urine sample to the NCAA prior to the 1988 Rose Bowl while he was at Michigan State.
"That is correct," Mandarich said. "You got to improvise. You got to improvise."
Mandarich, who was suspected of using steroids, has repeatedly denied he used them.
"I used them," Mandarich said. "I used them ... and this is the first time I ever said it. ... If I would have come out and said it, I think it would have affected a lot of other people that were doing the same things."
Mandarich plans to publish a book about his life in March. But he said he will not name names in the same manner Jose Canseco did in his book.
"I don't think that you should benefit off other people's shortcomings," Mandarich said. "In my opinion, Jose Canseco is an (expletive) for what he did, the way he did it. I mean that's chicken (expletive)."
In his 1988 season for the Spartans, Mandarich was a first-team All-Amercan for the Spartans and was named the Big Ten Conference lineman of the year for the second consecutive season. He was touted by some as the best offensive line prospect in history. Sports Illustrated in a cover story called him "The Incredible Bulk."