Dedicated to my friends, Bev, Mike and Marie

STEROIDS, ALCOHOL AND GOD

By Peter Vuono

     Steroids ,Alcohol and God is the subtitle of an amazing book written by NFL great Tony Mandarich entitled-"My dirty Little Secrets- Steroids Alcohol and God". In 1957, after living under an oppressive communist regime, Tony's parents fled Yugoslavia after their infant daughter perished from malnutrition. They settled in Ontario and had two sons- John and Tony. Both boys would excel in football. The boys moved to Ohio so that Tony could play for an American high school. His talent grew along with enormous size. Tony was given a scholarship to Michigan State and grew to a height of 6'6' st 315lbs. He became an all American and was put on the front cover of Sports Illustrated in April of 1989 with the caption-"The Incredible Bulk"
   He was the second round draft pick behind Troy Aikman and in front of Barry Sanders. Tony was brash , outspoken and fearless. He intended to destroy all opponents who would dare challenge his pass or running block. He was easily the strongest man on the team with a 535 bench press. However, this strength was partially fueled by the use of anabloic steroids. Tony had ingenious ways to beat drug testing. Unfortunately, testing in the NFL was random and he knew that when he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers, he would have to get off permanently. He would have to work harder and this would lead to a far worse addiction.
   Somewhere along the line, Tony took up drinking. He pretty much had it under control until he started to experience pain in his furious, off-season workouts. At the recommendation of a trainer, in order to kill pain, Tony started injecting the pain killer Stadol. It got to a point where he injected it 5 times per day! It didn't stop there, however as Tony exacerbated his condition with a concoction in pill form known as Fiorinal #3. This is a combination of codeine, barbiturates and caffeine. For the entire 4 years he played for Green Bay, Tony was high each and every day at a salary of 4.4 million.
  To make matters worse, he met and married an addict. Even on his wedding day, he injected Stadol moments before he took his vows. Soon after, his daughter Holly was born and she would spend the first 4 years of her life living with addicted parents. Tony, as one would imagine played terribly for Green Bay and was released.
   He would now live his life pursuing every connection he had to get drugs. He would sometimes drive 7 hours one way to get a prescription from a contact. Even when his brother was hospitalized and dying, Tony would look at the Morphine drip and was authentically tempted to pull the drip out, inject himself and return the drip before the nurse came in!! After his bother's death, tony was confronted by his friend and neighbor John. John, in a mini-intervention convinced Tony and his wife Amber to go to rehab.
  While in rehab counseling, Tony told the members of the group, that he couldn't wait to go home and have pizza and beer with his pals. They laughed him to scorn! He was told that he had to stay off everything and for good. He was ordered, upon his release to go to AA 90 times in 90 days. It was the beginning of a new life.
  After some soul searching, Tony decided that he would once again pursue his lifelong dream of playing in the NFL. He would do it, this time, however. clean. He trained with a vengeance with weights and drills. He went from 266lbs to a clean and solid 325! He  was ready.
  His old offensive line coach, Lindy Infante was now the head coach of the Colts. Tony was tested and given a chance to make the team which he did! This was a milestone for Tony. He did it clean and sober. He became the strongest man on the Indianapolis Colts clean with a 435 bench press and a 680 squat. He went from a year's contract to a 3 year contract at one million dollars a year. Today, he lives with his wife and 4 children in Arizona and happily runs a website business. In a 13 year period, he spoke 100 times at AA meetings and continues to go.
  Tony's story is not just for the addicted or for addicts and drinkers. It's for all of us. To me the most important  line in Tony's book is on P. 139 where he says "God does allow do-overs!" This is a message for us all. Some of us will fail a test, or a class, or a marriage or a relationship or at a job or even a dream. However, if I can paraphrase Bruce Lee, Tony is telling us that if we fall down 9 times, we must get up ten times. Tony got up and achieved the goal he dreamed of. His football career will be forgotten by most but I'm hoping that if you read his book or this blog, that his message will live on. God does allow do-overs!


AUTHOR'S NOTE: This book can easily be found on line. It's VERY inexpensive and should be read by everyone.