Education remains key to combating steroids, By: Sean McClelland

During research for the high school football preview section that will appear in this newspaper Friday, it was not unusual to learn of a player who had packed on 20 or 30 pounds since last season.

For The Flyers

Size matters to college recruiters. You only hope these players have bulked up the old-fashioned way, by spending their offseasons under a pile of weights, as opposed to taking a chemical shortcut.

By now, ignorance of steroids and other substances is no excuse. Try picking up a newspaper or tuning in SportsCenter without some mention of an athlete testing positive for something. Sometimes, as in the case of Barry Bonds and others, we just assume.

But maybe it's a good thing that it's out in the open. Kids need to know the risks, and if they are not getting the information in health class or elsewhere in school, that should change.

Here's an idea: Play the video of a withered Lyle Alzado in his dying days and emphasize the part where the one-time fearsome NFL pass rusher tells kids not to use steroids so they don't end up like him. That's a powerful image.

The pressure to earn a college scholarship can lead to temptation. Linemen obviously need certain physical attributes if they intend to pursue the game at the highest level in college.

And recruiters, of course, let them know it.

You just hope the relative wisdom of parents and coaches prevails, because no college scholarship is worth the potential consequences of doing it the wrong way.