Butkus Fights Steroid Use

Former Chicago Bear Dick Butkus was known for his intensity and tough attitude, but the Hall of Famer is showing he has a caring side as well.  He has teamed up with his son Matthew and Old Spice to run the “I Play Clean” campaign, which educated teens to know the dangers of steroid use.  Currently, the program is targeting high schools from the Chicago area and Indiana.  He was motivated by a story of a dad whose son committed suicide after being on steroids.

Butkus escaped the height of steroid use and says its popularity began after he was there.  His opinion is that steroid use came in when coaches decided to focus on strength training for athletes and they brought in professional weight lifters as trainers.  He said, “And that could have been the worst choice because training for weight lifting is a little bit different than just getting yourself strong to play a particular sport. So I think that’s when East Germans and Russians were fooling around with steroids and stuff like that, I think that’s how it filtered down to football and everything else.”  With Butkus being such an amazing player for the Bears, he should be able to get through to athletes the way doctors or other professionals cannot.

Get your Chicago Bears tickets from StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 11, 2008 - Post a comment