Brian McNamee recently told a group of high school guidance counselors that coaches were the biggest “pushers” of anabolic steroids. The convicted steroid dealer argued that coaches had a greater influence on a young athlete’s decision to use steroids than street corner dealers. He suggested that the “win-at-all-costs” attitude pressured student-athletes to use steroids.
“Most coaches don’t care about you as long as you put yourself in a position for the team to win,” said McNamee.
McNamee was invited to speak before the Nassau Counselors Association’s annual conference. He made his remarks during a presentation entitled “Creating a Safe Environment for Our Student-Athletes”. While he was paid a $200 guest speaker honorarium, McNamee donated the money to the Taylor Hooton Foundation.
McNamee is best known as the trainer who claimed to have injected baseball All-Star Roger Clemens with anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (hGH). He bizarrely saved the steroid syringes, vials and gauze pads that he allegedly used on Clemens for over seven years. He turned over the physical evidence to federal prosecutors to support his steroid accusations against Clemens.
The testimony of the former assistant strength and conditioning coach for the New York Yankees was instrumental to the publication of the $20 million Mitchell Report on steroid in Major League Baseball in December 2007. McNamee’s and Kirk Radomski’s testimony provided the bulk of the evidence of steroid use by MLB players in the report. McNamee and Radomski were forced to cooperate with the Mitchell Report investigators as a condition of their federal plea agreements on steroid charges.
Another condition of McNamee’s plea agreement requires his testimony as the government’s star witness in the Roger Clemens’ steroid perjury trial. A gag order prevented McNamee from discussing specifics of the Clemens’ case during his presentation before the Nassau Counselors Association. However, McNamee will soon have an opportunity to tell his side of the story.
While United States District Court Judge Reggie Walton declared a mistrial in the first Clemens’ trial, a new trial is scheduled for next month.
Source:
O’Keeffe, M. (March 16, 2012). Roger Clemens’ former trainer Brian McNamee rages against steroids. Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/roger-clemens-trainer-bian-mcnamee-rages-steroids-article-1.1040249
