A steroid nightmare

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Bob Hazelton spent the days before Christmas in a Minneapolis hospital. He had fallen trying to get into a building not accessible to the handicapped, and doctors had to reflap the bone over the muscle above his left knee.

"They had to cut the bone a little bit and repad it with the major muscle in the thigh ... so if I damage it again it won't hit pure bone," Hazelton said. "The bone is soft, and because the bone is soft you have to be real careful that you don't fall or cause any major trauma."

Hazelton knows all about major trauma. His life has been one major trauma.

Hazelton rested in his hospital bed, each of his legs amputated above the knee. He says his condition is the result of abusing steroids when he was a heavyweight fighter.

That is why he got angry when he saw athletes like Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield and Shane Mosley smiling after they testified before a San Francisco grand jury investigating the illegal production and distribution of performance-enhancing drugs -- the fancy name for what generally are referred to as steroids.

"It is a synthetic sporting world. From hitting the home run to running for touchdowns, it is all drugs," said Hazelton, 55. "Any record that has been broken in the last 10 years in the world of sports, steroids has played a part in it."

Two former NFL players, Steve Courson of the Steelers and the late Lyle Alzado of the Raiders, often are held up as poster boys for the pitfalls of using illegal performance-enhancing substances. Alzado died of a brain tumor that he believed was caused by years of steroid abuse. Courson suffered heart damage he attributed to steroid use.

But perhaps the most disturbing and compelling example of the dangers of steroid use is Hazelton, one of the pioneers of the trend.

The 6-foot-6 Hazelton was a star in high school in the 1960s in Orlando, Fla., a standout in football, basketball and baseball. He grew up a Redskins fan and dreamed of one day playing in the NFL, dreams that still haunt him.