Steroid probe launched, By: Rod Walker
Madison Central football player cooperating with investigation, police say
November 17, 2006
Madison Central High School quarterback Jared Foster is cooperating with police in an investigation that has resulted in an arrest for sale of a controlled substance believed to be steroids, Madison Police said Thursday.
Foster, 18, was arrested Saturday and charged with two counts of minor in possession of alcohol and 13 counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He is out on bond, said Lt. Rod Eriksen of the Madison Police.
Eriksen said an alleged controlled substance found at Foster's home the night he was arrested is "purported" to be steroids. "We are having it analyzed," Eriksen said.
According to a news release, Madison Police and the Madison County Sheriff's office are conducting a joint investigation into the presence of the controlled substance found when police broke up a party at Foster's Madison home.
The release said Foster and his attorney have "cooperated fully with respect to the investigation, and at least one person has been arrested in connection with the sale of controlled substances."
Police would not release that person's name because of his age, said the release.
Foster could not be reached.
Mike Kent, the Madison County School District Superintendent, said because Foster's arrest was not related to school activities, he is not being disciplined by the school and has continued to attend classes.
"We're certainly disappointed and disheartened, but at this stage in the game it's just an allegation and we're just going to have to let the process play out and see what happens," Kent said.
Foster is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 1.
Foster transferred to Madison Central this year from Canton Academy. In a July 16 story in The Clarion-Ledger, Foster said he transferred from the small private school to one of state's largest public schools to face better competition in hopes of enhancing his chances of earning a football scholarship from a major college.
The 6-foot-4, 212-pound Foster is a C-L Top 125 Senior and was a key player on an MC team that went 8-4 this season. The Jaguars' season ended with a 14-10 loss at Olive Branch last Friday in the Class 5A playoffs.
Foster completed just 21 of 52 passes for the run-oriented Jaguars, but he scored 11 touchdowns and was the team's No. 3 rusher with 689 yards on 108 carries.
First-year MC coach Bobby Hall would not comment about Foster's situation but said he counsels his players about football and life.
"I talk to them not only about illegal things, but I talk to them about making good decisions," Hall said.
All Madison County School District students who participate in extracurricular activities are subject to random drug-testing. According to the school district's Web site, the tests are looking for the use of illegal or performance-enhancing drugs.
Hall, also the school's athletic director, said the tests are conducted once a month and that this fall anywhere from six to 12 football players were tested each time. Hall said he didn't think Foster was among the players who were tested. "I don't remember him being tested, but I'm not 100 percent sure, either," Hall said Thursday night. "I don't remember."
Kent said on average Madison County School District students test positive for illegal drugs about 1 percent of the time. He said the national average for high school students is 2 to 2.5 percent.
The illegal use of steroids by athletes has long been an issue, primarily at the professional level.
Barry Bonds, the San Francisco Giants' slugger closing in on Henry Aaron's all-time major league home run record, has been dogged by alleged steroid use for the last five years. On Thursday, Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, was ordered to jail for refusing to cooperate with the government's investigation into BALCO, the Bay Area lab that has become the face of performance-enhancing drugs in American sports.
Ennis Proctor, the executive director of the Mississippi High School Activities Association, said a DVD aimed at educating coaches and athletes about the perils of steroids was distributed this year.
"It's something that is very serious (but) ... nobody really knows how much of a problem it is right now," Proctor said. "Any time you have something available like that, you just don't know. I don't think it's in wide mass. I'm sure there is some use of it nationwide."
