Kentucky DE Fails Test, College Career Over

Jeremy Jarmon, who has the third most sacks in Kentucky history, will not be allowed to add to that total following a positive test for a banned substance. The defensive end was tested in February and appealed the positive test result; the NCAA denied his appeal.

Jarmon claimed he inadvertently took a banned substance found in a dietary supplement bought at a nutrition store. After taking the supplement for 15 days, he inquired with the training staff and they advised him to cease taking it.

Jarmon did not identify the substance or take any questions during a press conference announcing the results. He read from a prepared statement that said he was unaware that the supplement contained the banned substance and that he does not need to cheat to get ahead.

The university was very supportive of Jarmon, filing an appeal on his behalf with the Athletic Director, Mitch Barnhart, hoping that the NCAA would make an exception in Jarmon’s case due to “extenuating circumstances.” Barnhart said, “The NCAA rules are the rules that we all live by and they're consistent, based on precedent and we've got to honor this. It may not always feel right, but there is precedent and it is consistent."

Every time one of these stories breaks, there’s always someone else to blame: a teammate, the store clerk, the coaching staff or the training staff. Enough is enough. Take responsibility for yourself. You are on the cusp of entering the big time: the NFL and earning some serious scratch. Make it an unofficial elective to know what you can and cannot put it your body. If you are not sure, ASK. As that advertising campaign said, there’s sure and then there’s not exactly. The risks are too great to be anything other than sure.

Tony Mandarich Owns It...After the Fact

In this week's Sports Illustrated, Rick Telander, follows up on the Tony Mandarich cover story he wrote in 1989. Mandarich comes clean and admits to steroid and HGH use back in the day both while playing in the NFL and college football for the Michigan State Spartans (MSU). He also admits being hooked on painkillers throughout his NFL careear. All of this is detailed in his book, My Dirty Little Secrets-Steroids, Alcohol and Painkillers: The Tony Mandarich Story.

It was primarily Mandarich's size and SI's initial coverage that led NFL scouts to drool over him at the 1989 NFL Draft where the Green Bay Packers selected him second, ahead of Barry Sanders, Derek Thomas and Deion Sanders. He lasted three years with the Pack, considered one of the biggest busts until Ryan Leaf hit the 1998 draft and redefined the word.

Mandarich in his book alleges that 15 members of the MSU Rose Bowl squad were on the juice. Similar to the crisis in baseball where no one knew that anyone was using roids, the former coach at MSU, George Perles, has a similar recollection: "I wouldn't know about steroids. The NCAA did all the testing. They're the ones you should talk to." Perles is now a member of the school's board of trustees.

In the article, Tony states how he essentially created the Whizzinator in eluding the NCAA from detection after roiding up before the 1988 Rose Bowl. Per Mandarich: "[For] the Rose Bowl in 1988, we were tested two weeks before on campus, and then we heard there was going to be a second test [in Pasadena]. I'd already gotten back on Anadrol-50 (brand name for oxymetholone), a steroid which makes you significantly stronger within a day or two, and now I'm freaking. I'm in this large 24-hour store, about midnight, brainstorming, thinking how am I going to beat this test?

"In the pet area I see this rubber doggy squeaker toy. I get that, then I go to another area and get a small hose, and in the medical area I get some flesh-colored tape. I'm like the Unabomber getting supplies. Back home I rip the squeakers out of the toy, tape the hose into one end and experiment by filling the thing with water. At the Rose Bowl I taped the toy to my back, ran the hose between my butt cheeks, taped the end to my penis, and covered the hose tip with bubble gum. I had gotten some clean urine from somebody else. The tester stood behind me, couldn't see anything, and when I removed the gum everything worked fine."

Mandarich improved upon his Rose Bowl invention at the Gator Bowl the following year by customizing a squeezable glue bottle to replace the doggy toy. "A quarter twist of the cap, no leak, no moving parts—it was almost too easy," he says.

At least Tony is being honest now. Let's ignore for the moment that he lied all throughout his career and as recently as 2003 when he was quoted in article as not living up to the expectations on the football field. I'm sure this admission had nothing to do with selling a book.