Sports

Alex Rodriguez Admits To Steroid Use in ESPN Interview

by Jon Azpiri | February 9, 2009 at 11:41 am

530 views | 14 Recommendations | 1 comment

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez admitted that he took steroids while playing for the Texas Rangers. In an interview with ESPN's Peter Gammons, A-Rod admitted to taking steroids but wasn't sure which performance-enhancing drugs he took.

"When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day," Rodriguez told ESPN's Peter Gammons in an interview in Miami Beach, Fla. "Back then, [baseball] was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid, I was naïve. I wanted to prove to everyone I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time.

"I did take a banned substance. For that, I'm very sorry and deeply regretful."

Rodriguez then said that he stopped using steroids after he was traded from the Rangers to the New York Yankees. According to A-Rod, all of his years with the Yankees "have been clean."

Rodriguez's mea culpa comes after a report in Sports Illustrated report that named Rodriguez as one of 104 players who tested positive for banned substances in 2003. The SI report quoted sources who said that Rodriguez tested positive for testosterone and Primobolan, an anabolic steroid also known as Metenolone Enanthate. The report also suggests that Major League Players' Association COO Gene Orza may have aided A-Rod in evading drug tests.