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Emily Caplice

Professor Fields

Eng. Comp 105

4 March 2018

Drugs and Professional Athletics: Over-Dramatized or Reality? (Literature Review)

Athletes in professional sports can obtain and use pretty much whatever they want to

because of their wealth and their status as public figures. Anything from steroids to marijuana to

cocaine. Not to say that they do not receive major consequences from the leagues and from the

governments if their habits are discovered. Most of the drugs that are discovered after athletes

have tested positive in drug tests are not even the performance enhancing drugs that the media

tends to report on. Despite the fact there is legal legislation and rules within the individual

leagues, athletes still use the drugs. Is doping really that popular, or are the numbers skewed by

the media.

The intent of this paper is to determine if professional athletes are more susceptible to

illegal drug use (meaning everything from performance enhancers and recreational drugs), and

what the athletes think about themselves or their competitors using the drugs. The reason behind

this research is the pre-conceived idea that I have had since I was a young athlete, and that was to

avoid any repercussions, so I did not miss out on any games or practices. As a high school kid, I

was so focused on school and sports that I barely had time for social events outside of my sport

or cheering on another sport. Parties were not in the plan because so many of the high school

parties were busted by school officials or law enforcement, which forced student athletes to give

up parts or all their season. Therefore, I would like to know what changes between high school
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and professional level, since there are still similar penalties to the professional athletes, but some

still break the rules.

The various legislation that is in place in countries and in the individual leagues are

meant to protect the athletes, since many of these drugs are addictive. It’s not that the drugs that

many of the athletes are using are helping them in their performance, it’s that they become

habitual and become something athletes rely on. The athletes begin to rely on these drugs to keep

them calm or to give them energy, the drug becomes their crutch, and their intake eventually

increases as their tolerance increases (Levy and Kalidas 294). Therefore, the legal ramifications

that are in place are an attempt to deter the drug behavior. But, the legal ramifications and the

judicial system are very inconsistent, which allows for negative behaviors because there is the

idea that professional athletes are above the law or are untouchable (Levy and Kalidas 295).

Therefore, there is the belief that the athletes can get away with whatever they want, even if there

are penalties that would be given to the average-joe.

Professional athletes possess the tendency to want to be the best, to outwork their

competitors, and at any cost to their physical health, mental health and their bodies. Professional

athletes also have the tendency to work and work until there is a doctor or other medical

professional telling the athlete that they cannot compete for how ever long so that their bodies

can heal. One of the main fantasies about using performance enhancing drugs, is that the drugs

“allow athletes to extend their skills beyond their natural capabilities…” (Levy and Kalidas 299).

Thus, the athletes give up trying to care for their bodies, they just want to be the best. This is not

saying that all athletes are like this, these are a specific group of athletes that use performance

enhancing drugs. Levy and Kalidas state that one of the main reasons for athletes to use

performance enhancing drugs is a financial gain. This is a valid statement because the better the
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athletes perform and the better their statistics are the more they get paid, but there is something

else that influences their choices as well. The players are already getting paid millions to play the

sport that they love to play. For instance, in 2016 the average annual salary of an NFL player is

$2.1 million, an MLB player averages $4.38 million, an NBA player averages $6.2 million, a

MLS player averages $316,777.33, and NHL players average $2.9 million (Quintessentially

People). Yes, if they have a few good seasons, their worth increases, thus they get a bigger

paycheck to play for a team. In an article written about an interview Lance Armstrong gave,

known now for doping throughout his cycling career, with Oprah Winfrey, most Olympic

athletes are not as wealthy as most people would think. Before the athletes win anything or are

known to the world, they are paying their coaches, trainers and gyms to train for their dreams.

Once they win the competition or break a record, then the money inflow comes from sponsorship

deals and appearances (Villines). The competitive nature comes back into play. When athletes

are younger, they are coached and trained to win the game or match or race. They are

programmed heavily to do what ever it takes to win. According to Levy and Kalidas, “the desire

for success and the fear of failure…” are big factors in an athlete’s motivation and their

concentration (299). For a professional athlete, it is already hard to concentrate on the game, and

the fact that their family depends on them keeping their position on the team, therefore they must

perform the best that they can. Every time.

In a study researching 57 Australian athletes from different sports, the researchers

intended to look at the different factors that influence even the most honest athletes to turn to

either performance enhancing drugs or recreational drugs. The study looked at the personal

beliefs and the athletes’ social influences. After the interviews were conducted and analyzed by

the researchers, a few things were determined. First, athletes have mixed personal beliefs about
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the consequences of doping, which shows that the athletes will truly weigh their own pros and

cons of using the drugs. However, the data also showed that athletes believe that some of the

banned drugs have both physical and psychological benefits to using them. In turn, this validates

the argument that athletes are ignorant, by choice or chance, to the health effects that these drugs

have in the long run. Sure, the drugs calm them down or make them play better now, but there

are serious health effects. From this angle, researchers found that educating the athletes may be

the best method to deterring the behavior (Chan et al. 252). This way, the athletes know that

there is a healthy way to be better than the competition, and that there are other ways besides

doping. However, “the lack of conclusive medical data that would confirm long-term health risks

fits neatly into the rationale of a steroid user…” (Janofsky). Thus, the athletes who try to educate

themselves cannot find any information about what could happen to them after they are out of

the league and the toll that the extended drug use has on their bodies.

In 1997, there was a study that was conducted with 198 Olympic athletes. Athletes were

asked hypothetically that if they could use performance enhancers without the chance of getting

caught, all but three said that they would use the drugs. And when the same athletes were asked

if they would still use the drugs given the information that they would die within the next five

years, 61% of the athletes said they would continue to use the drugs (Bamberger and Yaeger).

This show that the athletes either have such a deep dedication to their sport or they have no

comprehension of death at the time of interviewing. Given that the specific drugs they would

hypothetically be taking would also take their lives and following what is known as Goldman

Dilemma. The Goldman Dilemma pretty much states that athletes are so dedicated and

programmed to win that they will die for the sport (Moston et al). Thus, the athletes are a

different “species” than a normal human, dying for something that an average human being
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could live without doing or take a break from. But athletes are very focused and dedicated to

their sports that even the thought of taking time off hurts them.

The social influences were the most enlightening, for example, the athletes’ significant

other’s feelings on performance enhancing drugs has a strong influence on athlete’s view on

drugs. The coach was determined to be a significant factor as well as the athlete’s parents. It is

shown that the type of environment has a huge impact on what the athlete believes (Chan et al

252). For example, some of the coaches and parents and significant others create an environment

that encourages winning and therefore increases the chances that an athlete will begin to cheat by

taking drugs to make their families proud. There are also indirect ways that the athlete can be

influenced to use drugs. When the criticism of their performance becomes to negative for the

athlete to handle, the athlete may turn to drugs to shut the critics up, and its is their only hope

(Villines). For example, seeing their highlight reel on Sports Center and having the

commentators say negative things about how they scored the point or pointing out how the

athlete fell or did another accidental action. Thus, the drugs take over their lives, and they cannot

be weaned off them because it becomes a superstition—they believe that they cannot do well if

they are not using the drug. All in all, the study found that “the use of banned performance-

enhancing substances was articulated to be less common in team sports or among players whose

competitive levels were lower…” (Chan et al. 254). Thus, if the levels are lower this can be

assumed to be referring to those athletes who are playing in recreational leagues trying to rehab

their way back into the sport or trying to get themselves noticed. For instance, in recreational

basketball leagues that men and women put on themselves, there is most likely not going to be

much drug use, in terms of performance enhancers.

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If the organization an athlete plays for tries and put winning on the back burner for the

sake of its players, the drugs may become less popular. However, the likelihood of this

happening does not seem practical. General managers want to keep their winning percentage up

to keep their jobs, owners want a better winning record to make their specific organization have

a winning reputation. However, the athletes also put additional pressures on themselves if they

are close to a record. Barry Bonds, for instance, took performance enhancing drugs to up his

game when he was close to meeting the home run records of Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa.

Thus, there was this outside pressure (and maybe internal) that the athlete could not control,

which in turn, may have driven him to start utilizing performance enhancers. The internal side of

it could have been wanting to be the best so that he could please the outside pressure factors.

In a New York Times article, written in 1988, the idea that the athletes receive mixed

signals from their teams is enlightening and very true. On one hand, the athletes, again, have

General Managers and owners who want to win the most games and most championships at any

cost, but they are also bound by the law and by the leagues to have clean drug tests. It is stated in

the article that some of the doctors or other medical professionals are not educated enough to tell

the signs of a steroid user (Janofsky). The player that Janofsky is interviewing continues to state

that he does not believe that coaches were even looking for the signs of steroid use, some of

which are obvious is there is an over-usage. There are incidents where the doctors or coaches or

even teammates know that this is going on and truly turn the blind eye which makes the players

think of those in power as hypocrites, and not practicing what they preach. An investigation

revealed that much of the drug use in sports is due to peer pressure, just like in high school and

sometimes college (Janofsky). Those athletes who are admirable are shammed and harassed and

told that they are not team players. The most interesting part of this article comes at the end,
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Janofsky writes that “some athletes regard the intense pressure to excel and the absence of

genuine prevention as reasons enough to believe that using the drugs isn't cheating…”

(Janofsky). This notion is also studied further in research as well, but this overwhelming notion

is damming to penalties and leagues that deem drug use to be cheating, showing that the

sanctions and the penalties are not strong enough to deter the behavior. The athletes more see

doping as evening the playing field with other competitors they assume are doping as well.

Given that this article is not the most recent written about this subject, it still rings true in

sports today. However, today there are slightly stronger sanctions and penalties and sports that

used to not have policies or penalties regarding drug use in 1988, do now. But there are still

coaches and medical professionals that are still turning a blind eye and pretending that they do

not see the signs and if they are confronted by officials later in the player’s career, there will be a

story that shows no guilt on their part. In the world of professional sports, the motto is deny,

deny, deny (Wertheim). The players deny anything until there’s a test and then there is a

different type of denial. The coaches deny knowing anything or noticing anything different about

their players. And the doctors, they deny being a part of any of the doping or suggesting where to

stick the needle.

What seems to be very interesting is the things that the athletes say after they have been

caught or after they have retired. For example, Chris Andersen, who used to play for the New

Orleans Hornets ran into the NBA’s one strike policy. After Katrina, when the Hornets relocated

to Denver for the time being, Andersen showed up to training unfit to play, twenty pounds

overweight unfit. In the interview, Andersen does not admit which drug was in his system but all

he says is that the weight dropped quickly. This bad choice to lose weight lead to a positive drug

test and Andersen’s dismissal from the league with $12 million left in his contract (Wertheim).
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After the dismissal was held up in arbitration, Andersen permanently moved to Colorado, spent

four weeks in rehab and has fully turned his life around. Some athletes are not this lucky,

however, some of them succumb to their addictions, either by overdose or because their bodies

cannot take the toll the drugs have taken.