By Henry Weitz
Athletes are always looking for new ways to boost their body’s ability to produce muscle while limiting muscle breakdown. Anabolic steroids are the most common form of enhancer in major league sports, such as the MLB, NFL, and NBA. These substances, however, are generally illegal and banned from use. Nevertheless, athletes around the world continue to try to use anabolic steroids, prioritizing their performance over their health and risking breaking the law and being suspended or banned from their sport.
The National Basketball Association “(NBA)” was the first major sport to issue an “anti-drug policy” in 1983 and the National Football League “(NFL)” issued its first performance-enhancing suspension of a player in 1989, and Major League Baseball banned anabolics in 1991. The NBA has had, by far, the fewest violations by any league, with only eight since its policy was adopted. Most recently, 2016 NBA Finals champion Tristan Thompson failed his test for the drug in January 2024 and was suspended for 25 games for the illegal use of Ibutamoren, a human growth hormone (HGH) that stimulates muscle development. Another violation, this time in the NFL, came just a month later with veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo of the Las Vegas Raiders. He was suspended two regular season games for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy. The particular substance Garoppolo used is still unknown.
The use of steroids skyrocketed in the 1990s due to many factors including: increased competition, and the fact that sports leagues had not yet caught up to these changes by creating testing rules. In 1998, two baseball players—Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs and Mark McGwire of the Oakland Athletics—were in hot pursuit of Roger Maris’s 1961 single-season record of 61 home runs. Both Sosa and McGwire topped Maris in 1998, with Sosa landing at 66 final homers and McGwire taking the crown with 70 crushing home runs. Overall, the race of 98’ was spectacular for baseball’s television ratings, as the excitement of the home run count and race for the record drew eyes all summer long.
“I think steroids should be banned because they make the game unfair. No player should get any advantage over another.”
Storm Lickliter (11)
That’s why it was such a tough blow when the euphoria surrounding the great race was marred by revelations of steroid use. Both Sosa and McGwire, along with other prominent players of their era, were implicated in using PEDs. This massive revelation led to various questions, including the legitimacy of the new records and the true abilities of those juiced players.
PED use continues in sports today, and not everyone agrees on what that means. Ponte Vedra High School students weighed in on the use of steroids in sports. Junior, Storm Lickliter says, “I think steroids should be banned because they make the game unfair. No player should get any advantage over another.” On the contrary, Junior, James Salvati, says that, “if players could use steroids, the game would have much more action and be more exciting to fans”.
Sports leagues today have a variety of rules and regulations about PED use, but the overall trend is that it is banned. Nevertheless, athletes will likely continue seeking ways to improve their performance, which means that regulations will have to continue to keep up.
Graphic made by Ryder Navarra
