He told little white lies ... and he took little blue pills.
Roger Clemens, whose claims he never took steroids are under federal investigation, has apparently discovered the benefits of another performance-enhancing drug sweeping the sports world -
Viagra.
Clemens stashed the clearly marked, diamond-shaped pills in a GNC vitamin bottle in his locker at
Yankee Stadium, according to a source familiar with the clubhouse, perhaps keeping the drug undercover to avoid the inevitable wisecracks about all the girlfriends he needed to please.
Clemens wasn't alone. The pitcher, who is believed to have scored the drug from a teammate, joined the burgeoning number of athletes who have turned Vitamin V and its over-the-counter substitutes into one of the hottest drugs in locker rooms.
The drug is so widely used for off-label purposes that it has drawn the attention of anti-doping officials and law-enforcement agencies in the
United States and beyond.
"All my athletes took it,"
BALCO founder
Victor Conte, whose acolytes included
Jason Giambi,
Barry Bonds and
Marion Jones, said of an over-the-counter supplement he claimed mimicked the effects of Viagra.
"It's bigger than creatine. It's the biggest product in nutritional supplements."
Among the off-label uses for Viagra, which first went on the market in 1998, it:
- Helps build endurance, especially for athletes who compete at high altitudes
- Delivers oxygen, nutrients and performance-enhancing drugs to muscles more efficiently
- Counteracts the impotence that can be a side-effect of testosterone injections
Many jocks even use Viagra for its intended use - as an erectile dysfunction drug, particularly as a remedy for too much partying.
The wildly popular lifestyle drug is legal and not banned by
Major League Baseball or other leagues. Clemens violated no drug-testing rules by using the drug.
Clemens' lawyer
Rusty Hardin did not return a call for comment.
Clemens told at least one friend the drug made him feel flushed and caused his heart to race.
All too aware of the Viagra trend, the
World Anti-Doping Agency is funding a new study to determine if Viagra can be used to cheat in sports competition.
Researchers at the
University of Miami,
Tufts University and
Marywood University in
Scranton, Pa., are trying to determine if Viagra - officially known as sildenafil citrate - aids training and improves performance.
Anecdotal evidence suggests it does.
Cycling, a sport long tainted by doping, has suffered its own Viagra scandal.
Last month at the Giro d'Italia,
Italy's biggest bike race, pro cyclist
Andrea Moletta was suspended after the national police searched his father's car and found 82 Viagra pills and a syringe.
Barry Bonds used Viagra to counteract sexual dysfunction, a side-effect of steroid use, his then-girlfriend,
Kimberly Bell, told Playboy. Bonds tried Viagra several times but didn't like it because it affected his vision and stuffed up his nose, Bell said.
In March of this year,
NFL draft prospect
Heath Benedict of
Florida was found dead at his home. A local medical examiner's report described the suspicious circumstances of the death, including a syringe and needle found nearby and bottles that were labeled "L-Dex" and "L-Via" - which the report interpreted as anabolic steroids and liquid Viagra.
