"At least he acknowledged something" - Sportscaster Bob Costas once publicly endorsed former MLB All-Star Mark McGwire's live PED admission of 2010
Mark McGwire's PED use was the topic of a February 2022 discussion with Emmy Award-winning sportscaster Bob Costas on the "In Depth with Graham Bensinger" talk show. During the episode, he reflected on his controversial 2010 interview with the former MLB player.
In an hour-long interview with Bob Costas in 2010 on MLB Network, McGwire confessed to using steroids during his MLB career, which spanned from 1986-2001.
McGwire stated:
"I wish steroids never came into my life. I apologize to everyone in MLB. Today was the hardest day of my life.”
McGwire also claimed that he used PEDs in an effort to recover from his ailments more quickly and to justify his high contract.
“You don’t know that you’ll ever have to talk about the skeleton in your closet on a national level. I did this for health purposes. There’s no way I did this for any type of strength use.”
Interview with Mark McGwire about his career and steroids. https://t.co/y2R2KW8Zrd
"Interview with Mark McGwire about his career and steroids." - Chase Denton
Speaking of McGwire's gutsy revelation, Costas said to Bensinger:
"Mark McGwire is a really nice guy. I think he’s very sincere in the way he lives his life. Not approving of taking steroids. But I think he has a lot of virtues as a person.
"I’ve always liked him. He and I always had a good relationship. So when the time came that he wanted to come clean at least to the extent that he did about this.”
Bob Costas added:
“I don’t think he’s being consciously dishonest. I think that he’s convinced, that is the truth. But at least, even if he didn’t fully come around on what most of us would like to have seen him acknowledge, at least he acknowledged something. Almost nobody else has acknowledged it.”
"Bob Costas: Mark McGwire’s steroids admission omission." - Graham Bensinger
Surprisingly, McGwire's tell-all emotional interview with Bob Costas is still a topic of discussion in 2022.
Mark McGwire's interview with Bob Costas came after his confession to The Associated Press
Mark McGwire admitted to using steroids intermittently during his MLB career in a statement emailed to The Associated Press before appearing for the MLB Network interview with sportscaster Bob Costas.
Part of his statement read:
“It’s very emotional, it’s telling family members, friends and coaches ... that I’m coming clean and being honest. It’s the first time they’ve ever heard me talk about this. I hid it from everybody.”
Post McGwire's confession about using performance-enhancing drugs, he went on to serve as a coach for the St. Louis Cardinals (2010–2012), Los Angeles Dodgers (2013–2015), and San Diego Padres (2016–2018).