Former NFL Great Butkus Backs Texas Steroid Testing Bill
March 8, 2007
AUSTIN, Texas -- With a publicity boost from Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst rolled out a Senate plan Wednesday to require mandatory random steroid testing for Texas public school athletes.
"Taking steroids doesn't make you tougher," Butkus said at a news conference to announce the bill. "It puts your life at risk."
Steroid testing in high schools has been a major issue for Dewhurst, a Republican who announced his plan in the 2006 campaign.
The bill sponsored by Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, would require public school athletes to agree not to take steroids and to submit to testing if randomly selected.
Lawmakers hope to test as many as 22,000 students per year or more. Texas has about 733,000 students in approximately 1,300 high schools. Testing would be conducted at 30 percent, about 390, of the schools.
"This will send a message to stop illegal steroid use in our high schools," Dewhurst said.
Studies have shown as many 1 million high school students nationwide have taken steroids and as many as 40,000 in Texas, Dewhurst said.
Steroids can lead to dramatic mood swings, heart disease and cancer among other complications.
If approved, the bill leaves most of the testing details, such as which schools are selected, how and when samples are collected and punishment for positive results, to the University Interscholastic League, the state's governing body of high school sports.
Dewhurst, however, said punishments for positive tests should include a ban from playing in sports.
The program wouldn't be the first of its kind nationally, but it would be the largest.
New Jersey started a limited program last fall that tests athletes and teams that advance to the postseason. Dewhurst said Texas should have a broader, longer testing program.
The plan is supported by Don Hooton, who became an activist after his son Taylor committed suicide at age 17. Doctors said they believe Taylor Hooton became depressed after he stopped using steroids.
"It's going to provide a meaningful deterrent for these kids," Hooton said. "The only way to know who is using steroids is testing. This approach is right on target."
Texas lawmakers considered a testing program in 2005, but it failed when local school districts balked at the costs. Dewhurst said the new plan is for the state to pay up to $4 million per year for testing.
Some estimates have put the cost as high as $200 per test, but Dewhurst said the state may be able to get them for about $100 each.
Some Texas schools already are testing, and their numbers are growing. A UIL survey in 2005 found that 53 schools tested athletes for steroids. By 2006, that number rose to 127.
Butkus, who has teamed with the Taylor Hooton Foundation to fight steroid use in high schools, said he became interested in the issue after talking to a cardiologist who had studied the effects of steroids on bodybuilders.
"It turns (the heart) to jelly," Butkus said. "It's really a health issue."
Butkus, a Chicago Bears standout for nearly a decade in the 1960s and '70s, said he realizes kids may take the drugs hoping to chase dreams of becoming a professional athlete.
"It's a very long road into that stardom," he said. "Do you really want to jeopardize your life for something that's way out there? Do what athletics are supposed to do for you. Enjoy it, have fun, learn about life."
The steroid testing bill is SB 8.
