MESO-Rx Exclusive 1970s - Rampant steroid use in the NFL

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Anabolic steroid use flourished in the NFL during the 1970s. Former players, such as Steve Courson and Joe Klecko, discuss the rampant use of these muscle-building drugs.


This is another article in a series by Matt Chaney, author of Spiral of Denial, about the evolution of muscle-building drugs in American football since as early as the late 1950s.
 
The denial of drugs in sport is such a strange thing - because a ton of people would stop watching sport if everyone’s performance massively dropped and personal bests regressed 80 years.

Drugs in sport are kind of like pornography - almost everyone has had some enjoyment from porn, it’s a multi multi billion $ business, yet it’s taboo to openly discuss it.

In the same way almost everyone has had enjoyment from drugs in sport - by watching progressively better performance year after year and the excitement of that.

It’s such a bizarre thing to reconcile - basically using PEDs for sport is normal human nature - using tools to do things better (like a car for commuting instead of walking).

But it’s still hard to see how it could be completely open. At the moment the best we have is some spectators know, some deny, and officials play a game of catching a few people to suspend disbelief.
 
The denial of drugs in sport is such a strange thing - because a ton of people would stop watching sport if everyone’s performance massively dropped and personal bests regressed 80 years.

Drugs in sport are kind of like pornography - almost everyone has had some enjoyment from porn, it’s a multi multi billion $ business, yet it’s taboo to openly discuss it.

In the same way almost everyone has had enjoyment from drugs in sport - by watching progressively better performance year after year and the excitement of that.

It’s such a bizarre thing to reconcile - basically using PEDs for sport is normal human nature - using tools to do things better (like a car for commuting instead of walking).

But it’s still hard to see how it could be completely open. At the moment the best we have is some spectators know, some deny, and officials play a game of catching a few people to suspend disbelief.
Becasue usually people who havent taken them dont realize. Its pretty obvious, normal people whoe workout and train hard, cant look like many who take them and do, or play as well.
 
I really like the reading material Meso has. Some great research went in this article.
It's really an honor to publish Matt Chaney's work on MESO. He is THE Authority on PEDs in American football. There is no one who has done more thorough research into this story.

His book Spiral of Denial was the definitive work on the topic when it was published over a decade ago. But Chaney realized it needed revision after more and more historic newspaper databases have been made available and additional information has surfaced.

Chaney has shared a lot of that new information exclusively for MESO readers
 
It's really an honor to publish Matt Chaney's work on MESO. He is THE Authority on PEDs in American football. There is no one who has done more thorough research into this story.

His book Spiral of Denial was the definitive work on the topic when it was published over a decade ago. But Chaney realized it needed revision after more and more historic newspaper databases have been made available and additional information has surfaced.

Chaney has shared a lot of that new information exclusively for MESO readers
Yeah fascinating stuff thanks a lot!

Could you get someone in to write about the recent boom in super hero movies and PEDs in Hollywood?

PED use in movies seems to have exploded since 2011 and Thor with Chris Hemsworth.

Of course as a big shift towards gym culture it started with Conan and The Terminator, but Marvel introduced multi multi billion $ PED use.

Do you think it’d be possible to get such authorities writing about a range of sports also?

I’d love to know about Olympic gymnastics, Olympic weight lifting and soccer would be epic - hardly anyone seems to get busted in soccer - presumably because it’s too lucrative to want scandals.
 
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PED use in the Olympics (or in most sports) is nothing new, and even the Russians have abused PEDs to get an edge over the other competitors for examp
Gle. Anyone remember the PED scandals in MLB?

Great article and thanks for sharing this, Millard.
 
Could you get someone in to write about the recent boom in super hero movies and PEDs in Hollywood?

PED use in movies seems to have exploded since 2011 and Thor with Chris Hemsworth.

Of course as a big shift towards gym culture it started with Conan and The Terminator, but Marvel introduced multi multi billion $ PED use.
I think this would be very interesting too. Obviously, I have a strong interest in the history of AAS/PEDs in sports, culture, and society. So I've been partial to researchers, like Matt Chaney, who do deep dives into these subjects.

John Hoberman is another expert, who's widely considered one of the top historians of steroid use in sports and society, who has written exclusive articles for MESO. He addressed the general issue of AAS use in Hollywood and entertainment for MESO:


But I agree that a deeper dive specifically into the superhero phenomena and impact with regards to AAS use would be fascinating - perhaps even from a body image angle too.
 
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I think this would be very interesting too. Obviously, I have a strong interest in the history of AAS/PEDs in sports, culture, and society. So I've been partial to researchers, like Matt Chaney, who do deep dives into these subjects.

John Hoberman is another expert, who's widely considered one of the top historians of steroid use in sports and society, who has written exclusive articles for MESO. He addressed the general issue of AAS use in Hollywood and entertainment for MESO:


But I agree that a deeper dive specifically into the superhero phenomena and impact with regards to AAS use would be fascinating - perhaps even from a body image angle too.
I think this would be very interesting too. Obviously, I have a strong interest in the history of AAS/PEDs in sports, culture, and society. So I've been partial to researchers, like Matt Chaney, who do deep dives into these subjects.

John Hoberman is another expert, who's widely considered one of the top historians of steroid use in sports and society, who has written exclusive articles for MESO. He addressed the general issue of AAS use in Hollywood and entertainment for MESO:


But I agree that a deeper dive specifically into the superhero phenomena and impact with regards to AAS use would be fascinating - perhaps even from a body image angle too.
Brilliant thanks will go read now. Superhero / body image is a very good idea. I know Reddit often has students design and post these kinds of surveys. Perhaps someone here in the psychology field could do this.
 
Anabolic steroid use flourished in the NFL during the 1970s. Former players, such as Steve Courson and Joe Klecko, discuss the rampant use of these muscle-building drugs.


This is another article in a series by Matt Chaney, author of Spiral of Denial, about the evolution of muscle-building drugs in American football since as early as the late 1950s.
Interesting story!
 
Well, I thought I knew a lot about Alvin Roy, first reading about him as a young teenager in an article written about him in Muscular Development Mag and subsequent articles over the years. Turn out, anything I ran across only scratched the surface. Nice find, Millard, thanks for posting this. As it turns out, Alvin Roy has a pretty large tree branching off in a lot of directions in terms of a Who's Who in the history of college and professional football and AAS use.
 
Really appreciate the author putting the references at the bottom, saves loads of time and avoids miscommunication!
 
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