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Updated: Apr. 6, 2005, 9:57 PM ET


Associated Press


CHICAGO -- Bo Jackson filed a defamation lawsuit Wednesday against a California newspaper that quoted a dietary expert who said the former two-sport star used steroids.

The lawsuit was filed in Cook County against the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, MediaNews Group Inc., MediaNews Group Interactive, Inc., sports writer Jim Mohr, who is now sports editor, and three other employees of the newspaper.

"I've got nothing to hide," Jackson said at a news conference before the White Sox's game against the Cleveland Indians. "If anyone wants to check into my medical past, go get blood tests, go check up on those blood tests and see if there was any anabolic steroids in it. You're more than welcome."

Jackson is suing for unspecified general and punitive damages. His lawyer, Dan Biederman, also said they want the newspaper to print a retraction.

Steve Lambert, the editor of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and The Sun of San Bernardino, said it was too early for the newspaper to comment on the lawsuit.

"We're still investigating the situation," he said.

Mohr did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday night.

In a story published March 24 under Mohr's byline, dietary expert Ellen Coleman was quoted as saying she knew personally that "Bo Jackson lost his hip because of anabolic abuse."

Jackson, the only player to be named to the NFL's Pro Bowl and appear in baseball's All-Star game, injured his hip playing for the Oakland Raiders in 1991 in a playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He did play baseball that season for the Chicago White Sox and had a hip replacement the next year. He returned to baseball in 1993 and spent one more season in Chicago before signing with the California Angels and then retiring in 1994. He won the Heisman Trophy as a running back for Auburn in 1985.

Jackson said he found the story from the newspaper online, and at least one person called him about it. Biederman said he then contacted Coleman, who denied making any statements about Jackson. She provided the lawyer with a videotape of her speech at a Riverside, Calif., sports forum to back up her claim.

"At no time during my speech or while speaking individually to Jim Mohr did I use or mention the name Bo Jackson," Coleman said in a signed affidavit.

Jackson, now a businessman who lives in suburban Chicago, talks to children about health and nutrition issues. He denied ever using or even seeing steroids in any form.

"I'm not going to sit here and say, 'Maybe I did or maybe I didn't,"' Jackson said. "I didn't. Never did. Never had to do."

I heard the dietitian has come out and said she never told the newspaper that. The newspaper could be in trouble since that was their only source.

The only way Bo Jackson used steroids is if he did them in elementary school. He was huge from high school on. There are no before and after sports cards for him.

Yeah, I think she said in the article that she even has a videotape of her speech that proves she never said it.

Looks like Bo Jackson might own this little newspaper before it's over.

I hate steroids and what they have done to sports and athletes. That said, I really doubt that Bo was involved in them... as said above, the before and after is not there.

I think Bo Jackson was arguably the best pure athlete I ever saw. The guy was incredible.

UAB Band Dad Wrote:I hate steroids and what they have done to sports and athletes. That said, I really doubt that Bo was involved in them... as said above, the before and after is not there.

I think Bo Jackson was arguably the best pure athlete I ever saw. The guy was incredible.

I agree. Sports record since the early 90s could be totally fake due to steroids.

I would say more around 93-95 is when they became popular.

Ryne Sandberg led the major leagues with 40 hrs in 1990. 40 hrs became nothing for someone to hit just a few years after that.

I remember there were stories about a "juiced ball" but nothing ever on the players.

STLouis Blazer Wrote:I would say more around 93-95 is when they became popular.

I'd say the 70's Steelers made steroids popular.

STLouis Blazer Wrote:I would say more around 93-95 is when they became popular.

Ryne Sandberg led the major leagues with 40 hrs in 1990. 40 hrs became nothing for someone to hit just a few years after that.

I remember there were stories about a "juiced ball" but nothing ever on the players.

Yeah, I vaguely remember the whole "corked bat" saga with Sammy Sosa back in the late 90s.

Um, the corked bat was last season.

I agree with what Matt Coulter said on WJOX this morning. If Bo had been juiced, you'd have seen 700ft home runs.

The words that best describe the guy are "freak of nature."

Sarahbelle18 Wrote:

STLouis Blazer Wrote:I would say more around 93-95 is when they became popular.

I'd say the 70's Steelers made steroids popular.

heritic!

thou shalt not take thy Steeler's name in vain.

Sarahbelle18 Wrote:

STLouis Blazer Wrote:I would say more around 93-95 is when they became popular.

I'd say the 70's Steelers made steroids popular.

<a href='http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05085/477982.stm' target='_blank'>Clarification / retraction of Haslett's remarks</a>

NFL Notebook: Haslett apologizes to Steelers for steroid remarks
Saturday, March 26, 2005

From local and wire dispatches

New Orleans Saints coach Jim Haslett has apologized to the Steelers and team owner Dan Rooney, saying he didn't intend to harm anyone or any team when he said this week that steroid use was rampant at one time among NFL players

Haslett, speaking to a small group of reporters Wednesday at the NFL owners meeting in Hawaii , admitted that he had used steroids, and singled out the Steelers of the 1970s, saying "it started, really in Pittsburgh."

Rooney responded that it was "totally, totally false when he says it started with the Steelers."

Haslett released a statement Thursday saying that his earlier comments "were intended to express my understanding of the NFL's Drug Testing Policy, which is the best in all professional sports.

"As a former player and now a coach in this league, I have a tremendous amount of respect for our game both now and in the past. We would be naive to think that enhancing drugs were never used in our league, but the difference here is that the NFL recognized that steroid use was detrimental to our league and has implemented policies to ensure that it never would be an issue.

"I was not intending to do any harm to anyone or any organization or the NFL with these statements and if I did I offer my sincerest apology. I have the utmost respect for Mr. [Dan] Rooney and what he has meant to the NFL and offer my apologizes to him and the Steelers"


Go Steelers!!! Draft Roddy!!!

STLouis Blazer Wrote:I would say more around 93-95 is when they became popular.

Lyle Alzado (1949 - 1992) was a U.S. football player. He played defensive line for the Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, and Denver Broncos during the 1970s and early 1980s. He was noted as a colorful and popular figure with each team.

He is probably most remembered today for being one of the first major U.S. sports figures to admit to abuse of steroids. In the last years of his life, as he battled against the brain tumor that eventually caused his death, he asserted that his steroid abuse directly led to his final illness.

<a href='http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Lyle-Alzado' target='_blank'>http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Lyle-Alzado</a>

The timeframe I listed was when they became more popular in baseball.

In football they have been around for decades.