Dallas Asst Coach Suspended For Performance Enhancers

[Warpath]

Wilson joins Harrison on suspended list
NEW YORK -- Dallas quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson was suspended for five games by the NFL on Saturday for buying and using performance-enhancing substances.
Wilson, a 48-year-old former NFL quarterback, also was fined $100,000. He said he took the drugs to try to "improve the quality of my life" after living with diabetes for more than 20 years. He acknowledged he acted without "proper medical supervision."
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Wilson would return to his job after his suspension ends Oct. 9.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said both Wilson's suspension and the suspension Friday of New England safety Rodney Harrison stemmed from the investigation by the Albany (N.Y.) district attorney's office. Authorities there have been looking into an Internet ring involving performance-enhancing drugs and allegedly involving athletes from a number of sports.
Aiello said the third NFL person involved in the investigation was Dr. Richard Ryzde, one of the Pittsburgh Steelers' team doctors. He had earlier been fired by the team. Rydze and Wilson fall under a provision of the NFL's drug policy that makes any league employee possessing or using performance enhancers subject to discipline.
Harrison, who missed much of last season with shoulder and knee injuries, was suspended Friday night. He said during a conference call that he never used performance-enhancing drugs but added: "I did admit to the commissioner that I did, in fact, use a banned substance."
Wilson said in a statement issued by the Cowboys that the "situation is the result of an uninformed decision that I made."
"I accept responsibility for my mistake," he said. "Clearly, as a coach and former player, I had no intention of trying to circumvent the boundaries of competition or fair play. I now realize that this is something I should not have done. I acted without proper medical supervision and I would urge others not to make a similar mistake."
Jones said Wade - who played in the NFL from 1981-99, mostly with Minnesota - had "absolutely no intention of breaking any league rules."
"He has a long track record of quality service to the NFL and community service to the cities where has played and coached," Jones said. "We recognize and support the importance placed on these matters by the National Football League. We also support Wade Wilson during this time and look forward to his contributions to the future of the Dallas Cowboys."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

[AlvinWalton'sNeckBrace]

I wonder what kind of substance...if it was HGH he's a retard, because that would make his diabetes worse!

[Warpath]

Originally Posted by AlvinWalton'sNeckBrace

I wonder what kind of substance...if it was HGH he's a retard, because that would make his diabetes worse!

Well he is a coach for the Cowboys.

[NicknacK89]

what if romos on roids... if he is and hes still a puss after juicing i have no respect. i know this is a complete speculation because theres no proof that he gave it to any players but still

[70Chip]

Does HGH make you call better plays? He was obviously a conduit to others on the team.

[Luxorreb]

Since he is QB coach will we see mandatory tests for their QBs?

The name Michael Irvin would never exist in Roger Goodell's NFL. Kills me to think he's in the HOF.

[dmek25]

i think there was more to it then Wilson actually taking HGH. probably in the middle of distributing it to the players

[Skins fan 44]

If he is the only one taking it, what is the big deal? He is a coach not a player. Now i am all for busting players and only hope that there is a trail thru him to get more cowpukes, but come on, if a coach wants to roid up let him.

[wilsowilso]

The "I self prescribed steroids to treat my diabetes" excuse is pure garbage. There are all kinds of legal ways to treat both types of diabetes. What is this guy some kind of doctor? He is lying through his teeth.

[Beemnseven]

Originally Posted by wilsowilso

The "I self prescribed steroids to treat my diabetes" excuse is pure garbage. There are all kinds of legal ways to treat both types of diabetes. What is this guy some kind of doctor? He is lying through his teeth.

I don't know why, but for some reason, I always think of Wade Wilson whenever I see your screen name. Weird.

How did you come up with it, anyway?

[Oakland Red]

Yes, it seems obvious that he was going to distribute it to the other players.

I remember a wonderful vignette from Dexter Manley's autobiography of interest. The NFL official in charge of inspecting players for use of banned substances was going around to each team to give talks. All the Redskins' players were assembled to hear this man give a talk about the drug testing process, but the coaches were not in the room, including Coach Gibbs.

The NFL official actually started telling the players how to beat the drug testing process. When this happened, Coach Gibbs came into the room. He was shocked and angered, and then took the NFL official aside and indignantly said, "Don't tell them how to beat the testing!"

This was widely reported in the newspapers after appearing in Manley's autobiography, and denied to my knowledge by no one.

The event happened during the period when Pete Rozelle was commissioner of the NFL. I'm not saying there is any information indicating he was abreast of what his drug testing official was doing, but I would imagine he did know.

This is what is missing from the discussion about steroids in sports - the fact that the sports leagues in the past have condoned secretly the use of these substances, while hypocritically appearing to oppose them publicly.

Major League Baseball has long known about the use of steroids by its players and implicitly condoned it. Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire are two of a huge number of players in baseball who used steroids, pitchers included. This has taken place with the leagues' knowledge and implicit, hypocritical support, so as to get players to perform at a higher level. Of course, better play from the players gets fans more interested in their business product. But of course it is dishonest. The league says one thing publicly, and then does another behind the public's back.

The real issue in the steroid debate is what the leagues have done.

[wilsowilso]

Originally Posted by Beemnseven

I don't know why, but for some reason, I always think of Wade Wilson whenever I see your screen name. Weird.

How did you come up with it, anyway?

Lots and lots of beer.

[skinsfan69]

If he thinks it improves his quality of life then who cares?

[hooskins]

I dont think anyone cares if he wants to take it for himself, but I was not aware that HGH helps diabetes. He was taking HGH also for those who dont know what he was taking.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who knows a bit more about HGH and what it exactly does biologically. Because if HGH doesnt help diabetes then this guy is full of shit and is obviously supplying it to Cowboys players.

[Redskins]

Although I don’t’ want to be the spokesman for diabetes, being that I am an insulin-dependent diabetic, I might be able to shed a little light on this.

First, I’m 32 now and I was diagnosed with diabetes when I was about 26. I knew something was wrong because I dropped 20 pounds in about a week…pretty much whizzing it away. Prior to taking insulin, I was a 6’6” 250 athlete who played both D1 football and basketball (both after switching schools). After I started to take insulin, my body began to essentially fail. Workouts were much harder and I simply couldn’t build muscle. Food, no matter how healthy, became fat. My sleep was always interrupted, I sweat at pretty much anything, my eyesight was going quick, and minor injuries seem to never heal. You see, diabetes makes things harder and insulin is only supposed to control my glucose levels to save the organs I do have from further failing. In diabetics, food essentially doesn’t get processed in the same way it does in non-diabetics. As such, it is usually stored as fat, rarely manifests itself in energy, and usually my body (especially my kidneys) have a rough time processing anything.

MY POINT – when a diabetic says, “I took ‘x’ to better my life”, you have to put it in context. In this case, Wade Wilson is a quarterback coach for an NFL team (i.e. the greatest sports league in the world). Perhaps to him, he needed something to increase his energy level to keep up with the rigors of the game. Perhaps he needed to be in better shape to function as a coach. Perhaps he thought it would help him heal quicker from minor injuries. Perhaps whatever “x” was merely leveled him out, gave him more energy, and made him feel normal. I highly doubt he was doing it to bulk up. In the same breath, diabetics know that most medicines and things we ingest hurt us because either it spikes our sugars or it creates more difficulty for our bodies to process something. For example, when I’m in pain, taking an Ibuprofen is actually something I have to seriously consider as I know it will further damage my kidneys. Therefore, usually diabetics just have to "grin and bear it" unless we want to further hurt our future. Having said that, when you are a professional athlete or in that environment, often times people think they have to do something to keep up with those around them. Athletes know the risks of taking things like steroids, but they do it because their immediate happiness outweighs their desire for a healthy future. It’s called fame and ego. Wade Wilson is probably no different, but you also never know how distressed or uncomfortable he is in his own skin because he is diabetic, and at times, I think many diabetics would prefer to eat a handful of broken glass then feel the way we do on a day-to-day basis.

Enough with the lecture. Let’s face facts though, when The Tuna was in town, no one really cared too much about their own physique when their coach looked like a bowl of pudding who smelled like burnt hair….

I’m anti-steroids in any light as it trounces on the achievements of each of our grandfathers who worked full time jobs, used inferior equipment, ate unhealthy diets, had limited exercise, built the professional sports franchises we have now and still maintained records which stand today. For people like Wade Wilson, regardless of the reason for their action, they should be fined or kicked out as appropriate simply to maintain the integrity of the game, the integrity of those who didn't CHEAT, and the image these games need to hold for impressionable youth.

Amen.