Mandarich Apologizes for Steroid Use

The cover of Sports Illustrated's April 24, 1989 issue featured NFL prospect Tony Mandarich, a massive offensive tackle from Michigan State. Mandarich was dubbed "the best offensive line prospect ever." Rick Telander wrote the cover story, titled "The Big Enchilada", in which he described Mandarich's workout routine and published Mandarich's denials of steroid use.

While common sense had long ago labeled Mandarich a liar, it was only some 20 years later, at the age of 42, that Mandarich finally came clean.

In that 1989 piece, Mandarich scoffed at the notion that he used steroids. He seemed content to pass such accusations off as pure jealousy.

"No one's ever seen a guy who's six-six, 320, who can move, who can abuse people," says Mandarich. "People everywhere would love for me to be on steroids. They'd love for me to get arrested going 120 miles an hour, drunk, with steroids in my glove compartment."

With a book due out this month, Mandarich spoke to Telander about his past, only this time he was open and apologetic about what he had done. The full interview appears in the March 9 Sports Illustrated.

The steroid world keeps expanding, with testers lagging behind the cheats. I show him the SI article I wrote in 1988 with South Carolina football player Tommy Chaikin, in which Chaikin detailed his own steroid abuse. "I can relate to the mind racing," he says. "I can relate to the anxiety attacks. I can't relate to the near-suicidal part. I was much more homicidal than suicidal." He stops. "Really, Rick, I am sorry."

He says steroids ruined his first marriage. Mandarich remarried and now has four kids. He runs a marketing business with his wife.

Mandarich is an example of redemption. He will never be able to redeem his reputation as a football player, but he has clearly taken steps toward being a better man since the end of his career. He told Telander that he hopes his book will help others, and he calls himself a "bust" and a "no-good liar".

Meanwhile, Packer fans can still be heard occasionally rumbling about the organization taking Mandarich second overall in 1989, ahead of Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, and Deion Sanders.