It's no secret the professional sports leagues have their hands full in terms of keeping the game clean from performance-enhancing drugs. You have testing, player suspensions, breaking scandals and staying ahead of the curve with technology. NFL Hall of Famer Dick Butkus, the legendary middle linebacker of the Bears who preceded Mike Singletary and Brian Urlacher up the middle in the Windy City, is attacking the problem at its root: adolescents. Butkus and his son, Matt, are teaming with Old Spice and Sports Nutrition Brand EAS to continue promoting "I Play Clean." The goal is to spread the word to every single high school athlete and ensure each one of them knows the pitfalls of steroid use and abuse.
The idea came about a few years ago for Butkus. He was visiting with his cardiologist, Dr. Lawrence Santora, at the Dick Butkus Center for Cardiovascular Wellness in California. Dr. Santora had been researching steroid abuse in body builders and informed Butkus the hearts of steroid users appeared to have aged 30 years more than the average person.
Butkus further looked into the problem and discovered a staggering amount of use amongst teens.
Butkus' son, Matt, approached him about putting together a program to promote playing clean in high school. The initial goal was to make more than 5,000,000 impressions by the end of 2008, and Butkus believes they've more than done so. An impression is a kid they have reached through school visits, electronically (the website) or through educational mailings to coaches across the nation. This past weekend, they were at Kirk Herbstreit's Varsity Football Series at Dallas Cowboys Stadium with an educational booth. They are hoping word of mouth from coach to coach and speaking to the media helps to spread the word even further. As for future goals?
"We just want to continue educating the students as they come through high school athletics," he said. "I'd really like to see the NFL become involved, even if it's just putting an 'I Play Clean' logo in certain places during games or in stadiums."
"As an alum of the league," Butkus went on, "I hate seeing Senate hearings and things of the sort taking place in hopes to clean up the game. The players should be clean on their own without the government telling them to be. We want to take control of the problem before it starts."
It's definitely worth noting that Butkus doesn't want a dime from the NFL. His ultimate goal is to help educate the youth and keep them off things dangerous to their long-term well-being. Sometimes, simply counting on facts and figures from parents and coaches isn't enough. Not only are kids going to use if they want to, but sometimes there are unexpected benefactors.
"I heard about a kid from Texas whose Dad was providing him with steroids and other drugs all through high school and college," Butkus said. "He ended up not getting drafted or signing on as an undrafted free agent, which caused his Dad to disown him."
It's hard to even put into words how despicable that is, but it illustrates the issue Butkus discusses on his website:
"There is a myth out there that somehow anabolic steroids can turn a cub into a bear. Steroids won't make you tough and competitive. What they will do is ruin your health. It's that simple."
The "I Play Clean" mantra is to train hard, eat well and play with an attitude. We all know Butkus played with an attitude during his era, too. His fierceness on the field was only rivaled by his clean play. He wanted to pulverize the opposition, as long as it was legally done. Hopefully the word of "I Play Clean" works itself around the country and into enough high schools to breed our next generation of football players in the same mold.
Click here to take The Play Clean Pledge and pass it on to everyone you know. It's a good cause and it's free. Once taking the pledge, follow it. We could use 100 percent cleanliness in professional sports.
Finally, I did stray slightly from the topic of Butkus' current work for just a few questions. His thoughts ...
On the Bears acquiring Jay Cutler and the possibility he'll be a distraction in the locker room:
"I don't think he'll be a distraction at all. The Bears obviously weren't sold on [Kyle] Orton or [Rex] Grossman, so they saw the opportunity and made a good move. With a player like that, just give him the ball and let him make plays. Hopefully we can now forget about Sid Luckman," he said with a laugh. "Now, the real test is for the defense to get back to how they were a few years ago and to get Devin (Hester) back on kicks (how he was a few years ago)."
On the UFL, channeling his involvement with the now-defunct XFL:
"They might find a small clientele. It's hard to fight against the NFL early on. Vince [McMahon, the XFL's founder] wanted to play a few years before we even went to TV, but NBC pushed us live the first year. It does seem a bit familiar, with San Francisco and Las Vegas having franchises. But it's good for some of the players who haven't been able to catch on in the NFL."
On what player in today's game most resembles the player he was:
"Ray Lewis," Butkus said without an ounce of hesitation. "Well, other than the pre-game antics. I don't even know what that is."
