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Legendary Broadcaster: Steroids Work For Athletes

According to legendary sports commentator Brent Musburger, steroids work for athletes.

Speaking to students at the University of Montana, Musburger said that more research on steroids is necessary before judgment on their use in sports can be passed by the media.

“Here’s the truth about steroids,” he said. “They work.”

Musberger usually stays out of the spotlight, a capable narrator for sports events bigger than himself. But when he came out recently and told a group of journalism students that athletes can safely use steroids under medical supervision to enhance their performance, that quickly changed.

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“I’ve had somebody say that, you know, steroids should be banned because they’re not healthy for you,” he told the students Tuesday. “Let’s go find out. What do the doctors actually think about anabolic steroids and the use by athletes? Don’t have a preconceived notion that this is right or this is wrong.”

Given a chance to backtrack the next day, Musberger stood by his comments:

Asked by The Associated Press to expand on his comments Wednesday, Musburger said through a publicist at ESPN that he stood by the comments he made to the students and that his main point was that “the issue of steroids belongs in the hands of doctors and not in the hands of a journalist.”

Musberger’s comments are surprising, to say the least. We have seen a very colorful firsthand account of what steroid abuse can do to a body, and doctors have found a number of adverse side effects for steroid abuse – testicular shrinkage, acne, heart problems, liver problems – and those aren’t good no matter what the athletic benefits are.