He is considered as “the best offensive lineman prospect ever.” Green Bay Packers made him the second overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft. And now, Tony Mandarich is so different from what he used to be, standing beside a lectern inside the Natrona County High School Auditorium. Mandarich is said to have lived a life of Bacchanalian excess which ultimately led to addiction, disgrace, near-ruin, and deliverance. He however admitted that he lived a good life after experiencing the “extremely high highs and extreme low lows.”

The story of Mandarich as a former junkie, now clean is hoping to inspire especially the athletes who also suffered addiction. In the said event, with almost 100 people in attendance, Mandarich bravely told his tale with a blend of humility and endurance that common addict who has found recovery. In his story, he tackled about his boyhood dream of being a professional athlete, works hard in attaining that dream, his use of steroids to achieve the goal, and its demise. Mandarich’s story is actually a representation of the state’s annual Methamphetamine and Substance Abuse Conference which started last Wednesday and ended in Thursday evening.

Mandarich’s story is not just about his painful story of addiction as it also shows how he redeemed himself. “I knew that I had to share this message with others,” he said. Born in Canada, He admitted to have a really good childhood. With everything that he needs, it seems that he can’t ask for anything more. But tragedy is inevitable. At 11, he is already a big fan of football and spends his Sunday watching it and finally decided to want to play in the NFL. With that dream, his life revolved around lifting weights, running and training for the football field.

He later on moved to Ohio during his senior year of high school to attract college recruiters. It was also that same year hat Mandarich had experience his very first steroid. That time, he was pressing 315 pounds, and three weeks later, he had 330 pounds. “I just did a little bit and I got great gains. So my next thought was, ‘If I do a lot, I’ll get greater gains.’ ”

During college, he was a star offensive lineman at Michigan State University. And still, steroids was his companion as he injected his body with cocktails of steroids. With the 1989 NFL draft approaching, he dropped out of college and moved to California to work with his personal trainer, who is a chief steroid provider. In one of his days of weightlifting, he complained that his body was aching, and it was right then and there that he got his first painkiller injection. After that, he disclosed, that he injected painkillers six to seven times a day for the next six years.

He also had the chance to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated and finally made it into the NFL. “I was the second pick (in the draft), and I was a drug addict,” he said. “And I hid it very well.” But in 1992, the Packers cut him. “I embarrassed myself, I embarrassed my family and I embarrassed the Green Bay Packers,” he said. He added that at the time, “I felt they had wronged me, when in fact I was the one doing all the wronging.”

He spent the next three years living with his family in Michigan, drinking and popping 60 to 70 painkiller pills a day. He wanted to clean up, he said, but the addiction spoke louder than everything else in his life. With the help of a treatment program, Mandarich, overcame his addiction in 1995. And finally his chance at redemption is near when Indianapolis Colts offered him a two-year contract. After three sober years with the Colt, Tony Mandarich finally retired due to a shoulder injury.

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