Notre Dame Football Players Deny Report of Rampant Steroid Abuse

SOUTH BEND, Ind. —  Notre Dame football players closed ranks behind their boss Wednesday, defending Coach Lou Holtz--and themselves--from published charges that Holtz tolerated widespread steroid abuse.

“I know the guys on this team don’t use steroids, and that’s all there is to it,” co-captain Todd Lyght said.

Chris Zorich, a senior nose tackle who bench-presses 500 pounds, said former Notre Dame player Steve Huffman has a “chip on his shoulder.”

Huffman wrote a first-person account for Sports Illustrated in which he claims steroid use was rampant among Notre Dame players. He claimed Holtz must have known and implied the coach tolerated the situation.

Holtz and other university officials denied the allegations.

But Notre Dame revealed Wednesday that five players have tested positive for steroids since 1987 among 466 tests conducted by the university.

The players were disciplined, although athletic director Richard Rosenthal refused to say whether they were thrown off the team or expelled from school.

Nevertheless, several players say they have never witnessed scenes described by Huffman of dozens of steroid bottles and hypodermic needles littering dormitory rooms.

The players also rejected Huffman’s claim that Holtz forced athletes to practice and play through painful injuries. “Yesterday I was injured and I took myself out of practice, and Coach Holtz didn’t seem to have any problem with that,” Lyght said.