"In the old days when we played, the drugs were legal and penalties for use were nonexistent," he wrote. "The more size and strength played a role in your job, the more pressure there was to use, plain and simple."
Courson, who studied steroid use and its effects after his retirement from football in 1985 and testified before Congress six months before he died, said use of the muscle-building drugs continued as players competed for increasingly lucrative salaries. The league has become more popular and prosperous than ever before.
The NFL began disciplining players for steroid use in 1989. Random, unannounced testing began in 1990.
Apprised of Courson's main points, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy this week defended the NFL's steroid-testing policies.
"We have had year-round random testing with immediate suspensions since 1990, and we conduct approximately 12,000 steroids tests a year," McCarthy said in an e-mail.
Retired quarterback Terry Bradshaw, a teammate of Courson's, recently told Sports Illustrated's Dan Patrick in a radio interview that he used steroids. He later said he was referring to corticosteroids, which are used to reduce inflammation. One Steeler of Courson's era, running back Rocky Bleier, has said he took legal, prescribed steroids but didn't abuse them. Most other players have stayed silent, and a few have questioned Courson's claims.
Courson wrote that he came forward in 1985 because "it was so apparent with my physique and I thought it foolish to try to hide." He had told friends he was worried he had been a bad role model by using steroids.
After his NFL career ended, Courson was a motivational speaker, health-and-fitness educator and youth football coach.
He almost died in 1988 of an enlarged heart and related problems. But he wrote in his letter: "I have regained my health, conquered my addictions and re-affirmed my faith. The part that is upsetting to me is the realization now that I had to defend myself for almost 20 years for telling the absolute truth."
jeff.barker@baltsun.com
COURSON"S LETTER
Below are excerpts from a 5,000-word letter that former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Steve Courson wrote to an ex-teammate. Friends recovered the document from the hard drive of Courson's computer after his death in a tree-cutting accident in late 2005. In April of that year, Courson - a Steeler from 1978 to 1983 and a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1984 and 1985 - appeared before a congressional committee to testify about steroid use in the NFL.
