And NFL’s big burly guys don’t get slammed at all when it is so obvious that their quarterbacks reek with PEDs. One would wonder why the media isn’t cutting the Major League Baseball some slack when the NFL is equally guilty of having players on dope.

According to statistics in an anonymous survey 16% offensive linemen and 15% defensive linemen have admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. If the NFL officials rounded up the players that represented the numbers it would cost the sports industry its business.

The nature of both games make the big difference. NFL is a contact sport where you see tackles and muscled creatures wrestling each other on the field. Their use of the steroids seems valid. With baseball, players hardly need the brawn to be able to pitch or bat. The extra muscle could hamper their performance in the game.

From USA Today:

No one is screaming “Kill the pitcher!” in baseball. A much more refined, nuanced game, baseball doesn’t cover its players’ faces (other than the catcher’s), allowing the one-on-one, pitcher-hitter matchup to become a masterpiece played over and over. When the pitcher leans in to get the sign, we can see his eyes narrow. The batter, too, is on display for all to see in a way an NFL player never is, be he the quarterback, the kicker or the return man.

Thus, we feel we know the baseball player better than the football player. It follows that those we know better, we care more about, and perhaps even begin to trust more. So if they cheat, it bothers us more.

“In baseball, it’s one person,” said Michael Yessis, a specialist in athlete training. “In football, it’s the entire line buried in there somewhere. We look at them and judge them very differently.”

NFL at least had tested their players to find out who’s on the “juice.” Major League Baseball had to wait til a big story like Alex Rodriguez leaks out to the press.

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Tags: Alex Rodriguez, baseball, football, Michael Yessis, MLB, NFL, PEDs, steroids

Posted in Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in NFL, Steroids in Sports, steroid nation