I'm Stun: Manrdarich Used Steroids

[MickeyDavis]

Tony Mandarich, who was taken No. 2 overall by the Packers in the 1989 draft, says in an interview he was addicted to alcohol and painkillers the entire time he played in Green Bay.

Mandarich also admits for the first time he used anabolic steroids while he played at Michigan State.

Mandarich, a tackle, played for the Packers from 1989 to '91. He was drafted one spot behind Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman and one spot ahead of Detroit running back Barry Sanders.

Mandarich made these revelations during an interview with Armen Keteyian, the chief investigative correspondent for CBS News. That interview is to air Wednesday night on Showtime's "Inside the NFL," a program produced by CBS Sports.

[MajorDad]

I'm kind of shocked that he didn't keep using them as a packer. Let's be real. at that time there were about 1,000 different masking agents he could have used to hide his steriod usage. or he could have just gone straight to HGh usage like every other NFL offensive lineman. I'm kind of disapointed mandarich felt he had to rinse his body once he became a packer. was there somebody on the packers staff that told him to stop? if so, he should be fired.

so what % of current offensive lineman have switched from steriods to HGH? only about 80%.

[paulpressey25]

As one of the few guys on this board to see Mandarich play, I wanted to weigh in.......This guy was being viewed back then as the savior. What a letdown.

And it got worse when you look at who we passed on:

1) Troy Aikman
2) Tony Mandarich
3) Barry Sanders
4) Deion Sanders
5) Derrick Thomas

All we had to do was lose a meaningless last game of the season in 1988 against the Cardinals. But we won it. So we moved out of the Troy Aikman #1 slot down to Mandarich at 2 on the last day of the year.

Basically 4 Hall of Fame Players picked in the top five. And we got the one who busted. Ughh.

[MajorDad]

actually, we played the cowboys in either the second to last game, or third to last game, and unfortunately won that game giving the cowboys the tiebreaker should the two teams tie for last. if the packers had only lost that game, the y could have had the first pick. there were many people who said if the packers had the first pick, they would have still selected mandarich over troy Aikman.

What i can't understand about mandarich is that he admitted he faked the drug tests in college. why didn't he continue to fake the tests as a pro? Why did he stop? merriman made all pro the same year he tested positive.

[paulpressey25]

Reed....I'll refresh your memory here with a link:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/t ... b/1988.htm

The Packers were 2-12 and a lock to get the consensus #1 overall pick Troy Aikman.

The second last game of the year, they stunned the Vikings who were one of the best teams in the league that year. Then they beat the Cardinals in another meaningless win on the last day of the season. They finished 4-12 and out of the Aikman pick. Bob and Brian have a great "All My Packers" disc of that terrible move. I remember listening to Brian just crying on the air about those last two wins.....

[Balls2TheWalls]

God Barry Sanders would have looked sweet running the ball with Brett Favre. Brutal.

[MickeyDavis]

[MickeyDavis]

[Jollay]

That's hilarious. I'll never forget the first cover and the hype surrounding Mandarich.

Wasn't the hype so great that year that we almost didn't even care we didn't get Aikman?

And we had Majkowski, but I guess we didn't know he could play until the next year.

Good stuff.

[paulpressey25]

Wasn't the hype so great that year that we almost didn't even care we didn't get Aikman?.

Yes. The hype was over the top. I remember after being drafted they had the cameras following Mandarich through Austin Straubel airport. He was carrying a large boom box on his shoulder that a cassette tape of "Welcome to the Jungle" was playing on.....

Then we had to deal with the summer long hold out.....then when he got on the field, we figured out he really couldn't play all that well. I remember the late Pat Sheridan could never quite come to grips with what a bust he was. Pat was too much an old school gentleman to come out and say it, but we all knew that he quit the roids when he got to the NFL. And his game went down the drain.

[eagle13]

He was one of the biggest busts in the history of the NFL - probably THE biggest for Pack. Guys like him are why players are now justifiably scrutinized with a microscope now.

[MickeyDavis]

There were many, even a majority that felt the Cowboys should have taken Mandarich over Aikman.

I remember his holdout, he was "considering" becoming a boxer.

[MajorDad]

Paul - look at your own link. The cowboys and packers played each other in what was labeled the battle for the first draft choice in the third to last game of the year. unfortunately, the Packers won that game. The packers then won the next two games finishing 4-12. The cowboys went on to finish the year 3-13. if the packers had just lost to the cowboys, they would have finished 3-13 and won all possible tiebreakers and received the first pick. the win over the cowboys hurt more than the wins over the cards and vikings. if the packers had lost to the cards, the cowboys would have still received the first pick based on their loss to the packers.

the sad part of beating the Cowboys was that the packers would have still drafted mandarich with the first pick.

[Jollay]

There were many, even a majority that felt the Cowboys should have taken Mandarich over Aikman.

I remember his holdout, he was "considering" becoming a boxer.

A boxer. Wow. This is pre-Buster over Tyson as well-hope nobody took that seriously...

I seem to remember that--while Aikman was indeed the majority consensus--alot of people not sold on Aikman, at least over Mandarich certainly.

If I recall it was because of the whole Oklahoma to just one good year? (maybe) at UCLA and another concern, which I forget...

In any case, I don't remember the national hype outside of Wisconsin being the battle for Aikman necessarily in such a good draft.

God, the Cowboys scored that year in so many ways though. I'm pretty sure they got Darryl Johnston and some other very good player in the 2nd or 3rd that year also...

While we got energetic but overmatched Matt Brock.

[emunney]

I was too young at the time to remember him playing at Mich. St., but I very clearly remember watching his little highlight reel when the Pack picked him. Flat out knocking guys down, driving them 10 yards downfield. He was ridiculous.

And also, once he couldn't play, I thought it was common knowledge that he had stopped steroids in the NFL. I had no idea that it was never official until now.

The way I always look at it, though, is that if we took Barry over Mandarich, sure, we'd have Barry... but we might also have Tom Braatz. He'd probably be gone by now, but I doubt we'd have made the switch to Wolf, who brought us a Super Bowl. Can't really complain about how the big picture shook out.

[rilamann]

I was only 10 at the time when the Packers drafted him but I still remember the hype.I remember my uncles bragging about him and how they thought he was going to be a huge force on the o-line.



The '89 draft wasnt a total waste though we did get Jeff Query dont forget lol,I still get a chukle saying his name.


Heres a great piece on Mandirch I found on youtube,theres a couple nice clips of him getting absolutly embarassed by Reggie White.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0insrWWjvPo

[paulpressey25]

Paul - look at your own link. The cowboys and packers played each other in what was labeled the battle for the first draft choice in the third to last game of the year. .

Can some of you other guys look at this link to the Packers game by game results of the 1988 season?

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/t ... b/1988.htm

Where do you see us playing the Cowboys in the third to last game of the year? Or see the Cowboys even on the 1988 schedule?

Reed, maybe I'm going blind, but I don't see it. I do remember though watching those Viking and Cardinal games we won at the end of the year.

[emunney]

You're not going blind, press.

[ReasonablySober]

We played the cowboys in 89, not 88. That year Green Bay finished 10-6.

[MickeyDavis]

We played the Cowboys twice in 1989 which is weird. We weren't in the same division.