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| No. 77, 72 | |||||||||
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| Position | Guard | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1955-10-01)October 1, 1955 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | November 10, 2005(2005-11-10) (aged 50) Farmington, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 274 lb (124 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Gettysburg | ||||||||
| College | South Carolina | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1977: 5th round, 125th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Stephen Paul Courson (October 1, 1955 – November 10, 2005) was an American professionalfootballguard for theNational Football League (NFL)'sPittsburgh Steelers.
Steve Courson grew up inLongmeadow, Massachusetts and went toLongmeadow High School . He played on theoffense anddefenselines and graduated in 1973 inGettysburg, Pennsylvania. His #71 was retired, and he is the only football player inGettysburg High School history to receive such an honor.[citation needed]
After graduating from Gettysburg, Courson went on to play on the offensive line at theUniversity of South Carolina.
During his freshman year at theUniversity of South Carolina, Courson later stated that:
"I got banged around by older, stronger kids. I knew at the time I had to do a lot of work. I knew I had to go on drugs. I wasn't going to be out there just to be out there. I had to be the best. I only did steroids the summer before my sophomore year. My body weight went from 225 to 260 in a month and a half. I didn't need them after that."[1]
He played for the Steelers from 1978 to 1983 and retired in 1985 after two seasons with theTampa Bay Buccaneers. In 1991, his bookFalse Glory: The Steve Courson Story, about his life in football when he usedsteroids, was published. He was one of the first American football players to admit to using steroids and harshly criticized them, making nearly 100 speeches a year to high school and college athletes about their dangers. Coursonbench pressed 605 pounds (274 kg) but came to feel ashamed and guilty that he really didn't lift the weight – it was the power that steroids gave him.[citation needed] Courson was one of the first players to confess he had been using steroids during his playing career. He suffered from a heart condition which was believed to have been caused by his steroid use.[2]
After his career Courson was effectivelyblackballed by the NFL because of his outspoken stance on steroids.[citation needed] He had a spell as ahigh school footballcoach in the 1990s. Courson's wife Cathy died by suicide.
Courson lived nearPittsburgh for the rest of his life. In November 2005, he died in an accident at his home inFarmington, Pennsylvania. Courson had been cutting down a 44-foot (13 m) tree on his property, but a gust of wind changed the direction of its fall, and he moved into its path while attempting to prevent his dog from being struck. The dog, a blackLabrador retriever, was found alive guarding Courson's body when the tree was removed.[3]
In the months before his death in 2005, Courson wrote a 5,000-word letter expressing disappointment that more players weren't open about their steroid use and saying the league's enormous popularity relies on a "myth" of its players as drug-free heroes. "I believe the NFL is a prisoner to their own public relations myth," Courson said in the letter, which was found on the computer of his western Pennsylvania home after his death. "The level of deception and exploitation that the NFL requires to do business still amazes me." Courson, who became one of professional sports' first steroidswhistleblowers by detailing his use in a 1985Sports Illustrated interview, wrote the letter to a former Pittsburgh Steelers teammate he played with on Super Bowl-winning teams in 1978 and 1979.
Courson is buried inEvergreen Cemetery, inGettysburg, Pennsylvania.
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