Panthers took massive steroids, report says

[IcyPatriot]

Players using ' alarmingly high amounts' during run to 2004 Super Bowl and we still kicked their butt sideways. In hindsight...there's was lots of anger on that field...these guys were drinking it like KoolAid.

Our D-Line and linebackers were toast by the end of that game. So, now we have proof that we were playing against 12 offensive players the entire game. It was strange how we put little to no pressure on the QB that game...very strange indeed. Also, our guys were as fit as any in the NFL and it was strange how much they had tired by the 4th quater.

So we won...if we had lost this story would have been huger...but that much more respect for our guys...who manned up that day and did us proud.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14555260

Several Carolina Panthers used many different kinds of performance-enhancing drugs during their 2004 Super Bowl season, the Charlotte Observer reported Sunday.

The Observer reviewed medical records and court documents released in conjunction with the federal steroids case against Dr. James Shortt, who was sentenced to one year and one day in prison last month for distributing steroids and human growth hormone.

"Several of [the players] were using disturbing, particularly alarmingly high amounts with high dosages for long durations — some in combinations," said Dr. Gary Wadler, who prepared a U.S. Attorney's Office report, which was used to prosecute Shortt. "This wasn't just a passing flirtation with these prohibited substances. When I see [prescriptions] 'renewed five times,' I say, 'What are you trying to accomplish?'"

The Observer said six Panthers, including three of the five starting offensive linemen, were taking performance enhancers. On Wadler's report, the players' names were blacked out.

The newspaper also said two players were given prescriptions for a total of five substances banned by the NFL one week before the team left Charlotte for the Super Bowl in Houston.

The Observer said Wadler's report links two other teams to the scandal. Two Panthers received prescriptions for performance enhancers when they played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins, respectively.


"There is no question I am concerned some of these drugs, when abused, will impact the long-term health of these athletes and manifest either in chronic illness, premature death or disability," Wadler told the Observer. "These are not little minor medications that people are talking about. These are very substantial drugs."