7 Athletes Who Struggled With Substance Abuse and Alcoholism

The Olympics come round once every four years. Being a major international event at which athletes are expected to perform at their highest ability, the larger public and officials are quick to scrutinize and rally around personal favorites.

Why do we rally around certain athletes? Individuals, like Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps, continuously out-perform all competition in their respective sports. Not only are they exciting to watch, but they gain respect for their countries.

On the other hand, we scrutinize athletes due to controversies. The recurring discussion at the forefront of pre-Olympics coverage is substance abuse and the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The 2021 Olympics were no exception to this popular topic. During Olympics trials, Sha’Carri Richardson, an American sprinter, tested positive for marijuana use. This ultimately led to a month-long suspension and her disqualification from competing in the Olympics.

This is just one example of the damaging impact substance abuse has on a person’s prospects. Neither athlete nor non-athletes can avoid the harm substance abuse causes.

1. Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps won 23 gold medals throughout his Olympic swimming career and replaced Mark Spitz’s 36-year-old record of holding the most gold medals of any Olympian in 2008 following the Beijing Olympics. Evidence arose three months after the Beijing Olympics of Michael Phelps at a party smoking out of a bong. Although he never tested positive before or during the 2008 Olympics, he lost his sponsorship with Kelloggs and was suspended by the U.S. Olympics Committee for three months. Michael Phelps reflected on the picture with regret, labeling it as bad judgment.

Despite being awarded Sportsman of the Year by the U.S. Olympics Committee and the Associated Press’s Male Athlete of the Year for 2008, media coverage labeled Michael Phelps in a negative spotlight. Instances of his past were brought forward, including a drunk driving charge at the age of 19 following the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Fast forward to 2014, and Phelps is again arrested for drunk driving. He entered a treatment facility soon after his arrest.

Michael Phelps attributes each incident involving alcohol and drugs as him coping with depression. Regarding an interview Michael Phelps had with Innovation & Tech Today in 2020 when asked if he was “completely sober today,” his response was, “We don’t drink in our household at all.” His reason was to set a good precedent for his boys during their growing up instead of the issues he faced with his father, a heavy drinker.

2. John Daly

John Daly first began his professional golf career in 1987. Some of his most notable accolades include five tournament wins and two major wins. While continuing to play golf professionally to this day, Daly has a turbulent history of alcohol abuse and gambling addiction. Early in his career, Daly believed that he would win matches if he drank, although never drinking on the course. Instead, he regularly showed up still drunk from the night before or hungover.

His first official win while sober did not come until seven years after first going pro. He has a tumultuous relationship with sponsorships due to his substance abuse going so far as to prohibit him from gambling or drinking while under contract, as was with the case of his past sponsor, Callaway.

Jon Daly’s attitude toward his past drinking and gambling is nostalgic despite entering addiction treatment facilities multiple times throughout his career. He recounts stories of throwing away millions of gambling earnings off a bridge following an argument with his wife and during the height of his drinking days. After quitting as Daly’s swing coach in 2008, Butch Harmon said of Daly’s alcohol dependency that “the most important thing in [his] life is getting drunk.”

Arguably, Daly lives a chaotic lifestyle fueled by alcohol. One of his most famous incidents includes being provided protective custody after being found publicly intoxicated by the police outside a Hooters.

3. Lawrence Taylor

Lawrence Taylor, a retired NFL linebacker, found fame, fortune, success, and addiction early on in his career. Characterized as a wrecking ball, Taylor earned the NFL Defensive Rookie and Defensive Player of the Year awards after his first year of play. He won two Super Bowls and was selected ten times for the Pro Bowl and eight times for All-Pro teams.

Taylor’s bout with addiction manifested when he first tried cocaine in 1981. By his third season playing, he developed an abusive habit toward it. Taylor was caught in 1987 for the first time following a drug test. Previously he used teammates’ samples to pass off as his own. He failed a drug test for the second time in 1988. Taylor soon after sought treatment from a rehab facility.

Lawrence Taylor’s lack of success in recovery is the plague so many others suffering from addiction face. He has been in and out of treatment centers for the last 20 years, admitting to even smoking crack the day after his final game. His struggles continued beyond his playing days, including three arrests since 2009 and a DUI in 2017 after failing a breathalyzer test.

4. Steve Howe

Steve Howe was a professional baseball relief pitcher from 1980 until 1996 for multiple teams, including the LA Dodgers, the Minnesota Twins, the Texas Rangers, and the New York Yankees. He faced a myriad of punishments over the course of his career due to substance abuse and drug-policy violations, including seven suspensions and a lifetime ban in 1992 that was eventually overturned with an appeal. Howe entered and reentered rehab treatment centers throughout his life; however, his help from each visit never quite stuck. Unfortunately, as with so many facing alcohol and drug addiction, Steve Howe died in 2006 while under the influence of methamphetamine as part of a single-vehicle accident.

5. Paul Merson

Paul Merson is a former English football player (as in soccer) and manager, and currently, a football match reporter for Sky Sports. Paul Merson stated he suffers from alcohol use disorder (AUD) and gambling addiction, influenced by his struggle with depression. In November of 1994, when playing for Arsenal, a Football club based in Islington, London, England, Merson admitted to his addiction to alcohol, cocaine, and gambling, which resulted in him attending a rehabilitation facility for three months.

Difficulties involving his life and addiction include a dissolved marriage, an automobile accident in October 2011, and arrest due to drunk driving. While furthering his career, Merson has opened up candidly about his struggles with addiction and how he attends Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings as part of his recovery.

6. CC Sabathia

CC Sabathia is a former pitcher for the MLB teams: New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, and Milwaukee Brewers. He played for 19 seasons from 2001 until 2019. During his career, he was selected on six separate occasions for the MLB All-Star game. He won the Cy Young Award in 2007, was a World Series champion in 2009, and also won the ALCS MVP award in 2009.

During his professional career, CC Sabathia became engrossed in the drinking culture of the MLB. It was not until later in his career when he took notice. In 2015 when he checked into a treatment center for alcohol abuse which resulted in him missing a Yankees’ game before the playoffs. What led him to that decision was the progression of behaviors involving binge drinking in the players’ clubhouse after a game was canceled due to rain and at hotels while his team was on the road.

CC Sabathia’s recovery was a success with only some repercussions. Now sober for six years, his biggest issue was that of his health. During his time drinking, alcohol contributed to his poor cardiovascular health. Sabathia required a stent to be surgically inserted following the discovery of a blocked coronary artery. His actions since being sober, though, show a positive outlook on recovery. He partook in a major exercise and diet program, losing 60 pounds since his surgery.

7. Mickey Mantle

Mickey Mantle played for the New York Yankees for the entirety of his baseball career, from 1951 until 1968. Positions he played included center fielder, right fielder, and first baseman. He is a seven-time world champion, was selected three times as the American League (AL) MVP, was selected twenty times as an All-Star, earned the Triple Crown achievement, and is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, among many other accolades. Mantle had a wife and four children.

During and after his baseball career, Mickey Mantle suffered from alcohol addiction. Unlike his wife and children, who, into adulthood, confronted their own alcohol-related diseases by completing alcohol treatment, Mickey waited until his later life to do so. Only on January 7, 1994, did he admit himself into a treatment center. With forty years of drinking under his belt, the doctor told him he had alcohol-induced cirrhosis, hepatitis C, and inoperable liver cancer. The cancer spread to the rest of his body even after an impromptu liver transplant. Mantle died in 1995 as a result.

Mickey publicly came to terms with his alcohol addiction later in life as he watched not only himself but his sons struggling with it, too. His son, Billy, died due on March 12, 1994, due to heart complications caused by years of substance abuse, and his son, Mickey Jr., died of liver cancer at age 47.

Why Do Athletes Struggle With Substance Abuse?

Addiction is a physical disease as well as a mental disease. When in the throes of addiction, the brain’s neurological pathways change. Abuse and dependency behaviors form when experimenting with alcohol or substances over extended periods. No one type of person is safe from the consequences of it. Like the average joe, even athletes struggle with addiction. What causes athletes to experiment with drugs and alcohol in the first place?

Why athletes struggle with substance and alcohol abuse are the same reasons non-athletes suffer from addiction.

The loss of a loved one, as it was with Sha’Carri Richardson, influences substance use. Significant events in your life that cause changes to your mental health, such as experiencing depression or episodes of anxiety, can push you toward relief in the form of substance use.

Stress is another major factor that causes athletes to abuse drugs and alcohol. Stress manifests as competing at top levels in your respective sport for years on end and the toll that your body and mind take. Drugs and alcohol help athletes numb the physical pain that comes with pushing their bodies to extraordinary limits. However, these things lead to addiction and a plethora of negative side effects affecting the body and mind.

At Real Recovery Sober Living, we provide substance and alcohol abuse treatment for men seeking help. Founded on the principle of providing a safe and stable environment and community for those wanting help for addiction, we are the largest provider of sober living beds in Florida. We operate at six different locations in the greater Tampa Bay area. Ensuring your success in achieving long-term recovery is our goal.

Our ability to help you achieve that speaks for itself. Look to our alumni for proof: After completing all three phases of our program, 81% (163) of our alumni remained sober for a year or more, and 88% (144) of our alumni with at least one year also achieved their two-year sober living milestone. Achieving long-term sobriety should not be done alone. You need a support system to stay on track. The same goes for athletes. Call (727) 290-9156 for more information.

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