Roberts was among 19 current or former Orioles named in December in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in major league baseball. Roberts was included after former Orioles outfielder Larry Bigbie relayed a 2004 conversation to investigators in which Roberts allegedly admitted injecting himself with steroids "once or twice" in 2003.
"I don't know how familiar you guys are with the thing called the Mitchell Report," said Roberts, who wore jeans and a button-down shirt as he paced back and forth on the stage of a hotel ballroom in front of the students.
"All over the TV, all over everywhere, people were saying that I was wrongfully thrown in this report, that this was crazy, that I should sue. For a day or two, I didn't know what to do. I was as confused as anybody," he said.
"I knew the truth, obviously, deep in my heart, but I was trying to seek counsel from people around me, my family and friends. And I had some people that I trusted very much who were saying, `Don't tell anybody. They don't need to know. This is your life. This is your business.' And in the end, I said, `You know I can't live with it like that.' "
The number of Orioles linked to steroids has led some observers to wonder whether the drugs were a bigger problem for the team than for others. "I don't know that anyone knows," Orioles owner Peter Angelos replied when asked that question by reporters in January.
Roberts said the climate was different when he used steroids than today.
"I think it was fairly open five years ago, and I would definitely say it's not anymore. I think there was a time period where it was the cool, in thing," he said.
Baseball has toughened its steroid testing and penalties since 2003, largely in response to congressional concerns.
Brenda and Frank Marrero, whose son, Efrain, used steroids before committing suicide in 2004, said Roberts' candor contrasts with years of angry denials by such players as home run king Barry Bonds and pitching great Roger Clemens.
The Marreros, who addressed students at yesterday's conference, said their son had looked up to Bonds and that many high school athletes take their cues from their professional heroes.
"These [athletes] need to come forward. They need to say, `I made a mistake,' " Frank Marrero said. "I want them to speak to the kids directly."
Roberts said he has paid a price for his error.
"I went to meet my girlfriend's parents for the first time ... in December," he told the students. "I was sitting on the couch with a bunch of her parents' friends and my name is crawling across the bottom line of ESPN. And she's looking at me like, `Why did I bring you here?' "
Roberts, who said his father always had high expectations for his son's baseball career, had often been told growing up that his size - 5 feet 9, 175 pounds - would keep him from achieving his dream of playing big league baseball.
He said he initially believed he would resist the drugs. "I knew the way that I was raised," he said.
After using steroids, Roberts said, he didn't initially consider disclosing it. "Honestly, it's not really anybody's business what I do on a daily basis," he said in an interview before speaking to the students. "I dealt with it the way I needed to between myself and between God and between the people closest to me."
jeff.barker@baltsun.com
