WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Walking tall out of a House of Representatives hearing on the scourge of steroids in professional sports, former Steelers offensive lineman Steve Courson on Wednesday reiterated claims dating back to the early 1990s that the Pittsburgh dynasty was fueled by drugs and that both coach Chuck Noll and founder Art Rooney tolerated the free use of "juice" to hike performance.
Noll, like other NFL coaches, was under great pressure to win, said Courson, but he stopped short of blaming Steelers management for decisions players made on their own "to become bigger, faster and stronger" by using substances that were legal at that time.
"What they knew, I don't think they understood it real well," Courson said in remarks after the hearing. "Basically, they were victims of a lack of strong policy, as much as the players were. Not until the '80s did the league pay real close attention to it. So coaches, owners and players of that time were victims of a lack of policy. Fortunately, the NFL since then has been more proactive."
Fourteen years after an autobiography detailing steroid abuse throughout his playing days -- admissions that made him the "poster child" for use of performance-enhancing drugs in the NFL -- Courson has become a noted expert on the corrosive social effects of steroids. He was lauded by Congress for his frankness and knowledge on a subject often hidden from public scrutiny.
"I never thought I would survive to see something like this happen," said Courson, 49, who blames steroid use for indirectly weakening his heart, a condition that put him on the organ transplant list from 1985-89 before nonsurgical therapy saved his life.
"It's good to see Congress taking such an interest in kids," he said. "Back in the early '80s, when I was on the transplant list, going out and talking to schools, I was a voice in the wilderness. (Oakland Raiders star) Lyle Alzado got sick shortly after that, and Lyle started talking. That kind of motivated me."
Alzado died of brain cancer in 1992 at age 42.
In Pittsburgh, Steelers President Art Rooney II yesterday quickly sought to distance the Steelers organization from any past illegal drug use, saying that neither executives nor coaches tolerated doping by players.
"Now, what Steve is saying about the fact that he knew people were using steroids, and maybe other people do, that may be true, I don't know," Rooney said. "But as I said before, I am absolutely certain, without equivocation, that at no time was there a position that steroids were to be condoned.
"In fact, I'm aware that Chuck Noll on many occasions said they were not to be used, and that the people that used them were endangering themselves, so I think that was the environment that existed.
"It's a fact that Steve was a player at a time when there was not a steroids policy, and through mistakes that probably were made back in those days we wound up with one.
"So I'm glad we wound up in that place. But if there's any implication on Steve's part that they were being condoned, or people were looking the other way, I disagree with that strongly."
For Courson, the Steelers were but a milepost in a long journey to steroid abuse that began before he was drafted into the league.
"Limited use" of steroids as a defensive lineman at the University of South Carolina rocketed to regular injections toward the end of his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the early 1980s, when age and injuries forced him "to rely on them" to stay in the league.
"I looked at it naively. It's like other strength athletes of my era -- a lot of us got into them, and they worked," Courson said.
In written evidence presented to Congress, Courson traced the migration of substances designed to hike the performance of Soviet weightlifters to American gyms. By 1963, Courson wrote, steroids reached the San Diego Chargers through strength coach Alvin Roy, who worked before with the U.S. Olympic weightlifting team.
When Roy later joined the Chiefs, Cowboys and Raiders, steroid use followed in his wake, eventually reaching the Steelers dynasty and every other NFL team, according to Courson.
Roy died in 1979.
"By the time of our dynasty, it was pretty widespread throughout the league," said Courson.
Courson played for the Steelers and Bucs from 1978-85. In his book "False Glory," published six years after he left the league, Courson wrote that Noll "conveniently and most definitely turned his head to it." At one time, Courson wrote, he injured his hamstring and Noll yelled that all the lineman wanted to do was ingest steroids and lift weights -- two years before Courson confessed to drug use in a magazine article.
Noll could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Courson's memories echo recent disclosures by New Orleans Saints coach Jim Haslett, an Avalon native, that a large number of NFL linemen took steroids during the 1980s, a trend he said began with the 1970s Steelers. Haslett, who played linebacker in the NFL from 1979-86, was the Steelers' defensive coordinator from 1997-99.
Today, Courson believes the Steelers of the '70s would have won their Super Bowls without steroids, "as long as everyone else wasn't on the juice. That's the issue."
"It's hard to understand the pressure you're under to compete," he said. "This is a competition-driven problem. It's really hard to understand that pressure unless you're out there, having to deal with it. It's a race to be the best. And the NFL, as we know, is a game where size, speed and aggression are very important."
Back in the limelight today, Courson has settled into a quiet life in Farmington, Fayette County, in the Laurel Highlands. He said he has a newfound commitment to public service.
Currently, he's working closely with Penn State University researchers to stiffen anti-doping regulations for Pennsylvania high school athletes and lectures widely on the dangers of drug abuse.
And he says he's in great shape, steroid-free, with a weights and aerobics program that would tire most kids a third his age. He's hoping to convey to coaches that they are "training camps for life."
"We have to get away from the 'win at all costs' mentality," said Courson. "'Win at all costs' is what drives the train."
