The list of prosecution witnesses in the government's case against Barry Bonds includes one NFL player: New England Patriots special teams captain Larry Izzo.Izzo, who has played for the Patriots since 2001, will reportedly testify that he received performance-enhancing drugs from Bonds' friend and personal trainer Greg Anderson in 2003. He will apparently not testify that he has any specific knowledge of Bonds' steroid use, but building the case that Anderson distributed steroids is part of the government's effort to prove that Bonds lied to federal investigators about his own involvement with performance-enhancing drugs.
Izzo is a three-time Pro Bowler, and he's the second Pro Bowler from the Patriots dynasty of recent years to be tied to performance-enhancing drugs. Safety Rodney Harrison was suspended for the first four games of the 2007 season for violating the NFL's policy on steroids and related substances. Harrison's violation was related to purchasing human growth hormone over the internet.
According to the Boston Globe, the prosecution's court filing says the following about Izzo:
The fallout from the BALCO case has mostly been limited to Major League Baseball and track and field, but the involvement of NFL players in BALCO was significant. In addition to Izzo, NFL players who have been tied in some way to BALCO include former Chief Johnnie Morton, former Falcon Artie Ulmer and former Raiders Barret Robbins, Chris Cooper, Dana Stubblefield, Bill Romanowski, Chris Hetherington, Tyrone Wheatley and Josh Taves."Mr. Izzo will testify that he was a professional football player and that he first contacted Greg Anderson by phone in approximately January 2003," the prosecution's court filing states. "Mr. Izzo will also testify that he first met Anderson in person in approximately May 2003 at BALCO and submitted a urine sample at BALCO at Anderson's request. Mr. Izzo will also testify that [he] submitted additional urine samples to Anderson at later times as well.
"Mr. Izzo will also testify about receiving performance-enhancing substances from Anderson, about instructions from Anderson about how to administer the substances, about the schedule Anderson gave to him for administering the substances, and about what Mr. Anderson told him about the efficacy of those substances."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-17-2009 @ 10:54AM
Matt Snyder said...
Just as you laid out in the last paragraph, it's a ridiculous double-standard.
A pro-bowler in the NFL does 'roids, and there is little to no public outcry.
When it happens in baseball, the entire fabric of society is unraveling.
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2-17-2009 @ 11:52AM
Hardtimes said...
Here's another misleading headline and story concerning the Barry Bonds upcoming trial. Once again the government is showing its abusing power, by dragging people to court who has nothing to say of any relevance. Drag enough people in, throw enough dirt, keep repeating the same lie and hope somebody will say"he must have did it, why would the government spend all this time and money" The answer is simple, to save face. The case was without merit from the start and they didn't have the courage to say we made a mistake and drop it. And the lazy sports writers gets an easy story.
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2-17-2009 @ 8:08PM
oldflapatsfan said...
How about directing this energy towards the economy.I've had enough of them trying to expose the sports world. Who cares what they do. It's all entertainment and thats it.
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2-17-2009 @ 11:05PM
OneTAZPreacher said...
What a spin,Barry gets assumed guilt and Alex gets mercy for guilt? Baseball has got what they needed...Media.
Bud,there's an old saying,"put a tent, over that Circus"...MLB is coming to your town!What are the real numbers?How many players actually participated ,in the 2003 MLB Drug Survey? And did the pool include minor league players?
104 out of "How many participants"?
Baseball's Most Coveted Milestone,belongs to Mr. Barry Bonds.Now it takes legislation ,to steal it away.Capitol Hill should save us money and stop producing C-SPAN...too much West -wing.
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