Steve Courson

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Steve Courson
No. 77, 72
Position:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died:November 10, 2005(2005-11-10) (aged 50)
Farmington, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:274 lb (124 kg)
Career information
High school:Gettysburg
College:South Carolina
NFL draft:1977 / Round: 5 / Pick: 125
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:103
Games started:73
Fumble recoveries:6
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Stephen Paul "Steve" Courson (October 1, 1955 – November 10, 2005) was an

guard for the National Football League (NFL)'s Pittsburgh Steelers
.

Early years

Steve Courson grew up in

lines and graduated in 1973 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. His #71 was retired, and he is the only football player in Gettysburg High School history to receive such an honor.[citation needed
]

After graduating from Gettysburg, Courson went on to play on the offensive line at the University of South Carolina.

Football and steroids

During his freshman year at the

University of South Carolina
, Courson later stated that:

"I got banged around by older, stronger kids. I knew at the time I had to do a lot of work. I knew I had to go on drugs. I wasn't going to be out there just to be out there. I had to be the best. I only did steroids the summer before my sophomore year. My body weight went from 225 to 260 in a month and a half. I didn't need them after that."[1]

He played for the Steelers from 1978–1983 and retired in 1985 after two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 1991, his book False Glory: The Steve Courson Story, about his life in football when he used steroids, was published. He was one of the first American football players to admit to using steroids and harshly criticized them, making nearly 100 speeches a year to high school and college athletes about their dangers. Courson bench pressed 605 pounds (274 kg) but came to feel ashamed and guilty that he really didn't lift the weight – it was the power that steroids gave him.[citation needed] Courson was one of the first players to confess he had been using steroids during his playing career. He suffered from a heart condition which was believed to have been caused by his steroid use.[2]

After his career Courson was effectively

blackballed by the NFL because of his outspoken stance on steroids.[citation needed] He had a spell as a high school football coach
in the 1990s. Courson's wife Cathy died by suicide.

Death

Courson lived near

Labrador retriever, was found alive guarding Courson's body when the tree was removed.[3]

In the months before his death in 2005, Courson wrote a 5,000-word letter expressing disappointment that more players weren't open about their steroid use and saying the league's enormous popularity relies on a "myth" of its players as drug-free heroes. "I believe the NFL is a prisoner to their own public relations myth," Courson said in the letter, which was found on the computer of his western Pennsylvania home after his death. "The level of deception and exploitation that the NFL requires to do business still amazes me." Courson, who became one of professional sports' first steroids

whistleblowers by detailing his use in a 1985 Sports Illustrated
interview, wrote the letter to a former Pittsburgh Steelers teammate he played with on Super Bowl-winning teams in 1978 and 1979.

Courson is buried in

Evergreen Cemetery, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
.

See also

References

  1. ^ William Oscar Johnson (1985-05-13). "Getting Physical-and Chemical". Sports Illustrated. Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2012-04-16. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  2. ^ See Courson v. Berte Bell NFL Player Retirement Paln, 214 F.3d 136 (3d Cir. 2000)
  3. ^ "Steelers lost 18 former players since 2000 - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review". Archived from the original on 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2007-06-16.

External links

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