Butkus encourages high school athletes to make the pledge to play clean
Founder of the anti-steroid program “I Play Clean”, Dick Butkus, encourages high school student athletes to visit his website IPlayClean.org to make a pledge against steroids and to stay clean and focus on training hard.
“I Play Clean” is an anti-steroid campaign that aims to educate high school students against the dangers and effects of steroids use.
Dick Butkus, a Hall of Famer, used to play for Chicago bears as middle linebacker. However, he was forced to retire due to a serious injury.
According to Butkus, steroids were considered taboo in the old days. Today, he aims to end steroid abuse at the high school level.
Since he heard about the steroid problem in high school, he decided to make it his mission to get the message across. He wanted to help parents cope with the loss of their children to steroid- related suicides. He would also want to help parents see the signs that their children are into performance-enhancing drugs.
Aside from giving formal information regarding steroids, Butkus also extended his prestigious Butkus award to deserving high school linebackers. This acts as a vehicle to spread his anti-steroid message.
From My Central Jersey:
“When I was with the Chicago Bears we never weight trained,” Butkus said in a recent phone interview. “That was still taboo in the old days. There was not talk about (steroid use) during my days. It’s not to say it wasn’t around maybe, but I didn’t know about it or hear about it.”
