Orioles star Brian Roberts said yesterday that his first direct exposure to steroids was when he saw teammates using them after he was called up from the minor leagues in 2001, but he never imagined he would succumb to the temptation to use the drugs.
In an informal talk to high school athletes - and in an interview with The Sun - Roberts, a two-time All-Star and one of Baltimore's most popular athletes, described how he came to use steroids once in 2003, why he kept it quiet for years and why he ultimately admitted his mistake.
His comments contrast with years of equivocation or angry denials by other baseball stars accused of steroid use. Roberts himself denied using the drugs in 2006 after a Los Angeles Times report named him and others as users.
"I saw a couple of my teammates using steroids. I saw them begin to - what I thought was - see benefits from it for a short period of time," Roberts, who did not name the teammates, told about 350 student athletes and coaches.
Roberts, 30, said he fought a battle within himself over the drugs, using them once: "One day, that I wish I could take back for a lot of reasons."
The son of a college baseball coach, he suggested his steroid use was largely the product of pressure and expectations. "In the business I'm in that's so competitive, every move you make is scrutinized on TV and by 50,000 people. Every night you want to live up to those expectations, and you want to feel like you're keeping pace," the second baseman said.
In his remarks, Roberts cast himself as a different sort of role model - one who admits his flaws in the hopes others can learn from them. "What you have to realize is that we all make mistakes," Roberts told the students from Baltimore City and Baltimore County public and private schools.
He seemed to win over an audience that included Nancy S. Grasmick, state superintendent of schools, and U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, who recruited Roberts to address yesterday's conference sponsored by Powered by ME!, a program educating about the dangers of steroids.
"It helped me realize that you don't have to take the easy way out by cheating," said Eddie Scott, a sophomore at City.
Said Cummings: "When he gets up to bat, I hope people will clap a little harder and a little longer."
