Tony Mandarich

Mandarich was born and raised in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, the son of Croatian immigrants. After his older brother John received a scholarship to play football at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, John convinced his parents to allow Tony to play his senior year of high school football at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent to improve his chances of receiving a scholarship. Recruited to Michigan State University by defensive coordinator Nick Saban, Mandarich helped lead Michigan State to its last outright Big Ten Conference title in the pre-championship game era, and a berth in the 1988 Rose Bowl. He was a unanimous first-team All-American in his senior year, an Outland Award finalist and a two-time Big Ten Lineman of the Year. == Professional career ==

Upon his entry into the 1989 NFL draft, both scouts and media (most notably Sports Illustrated, which did a cover story on him, nicknaming him "the Incredible Bulk") Mandarich was selected second overall by the Green Bay Packers. Drafted as an offensive tackle, Mandarich never lived up to the stellar expectations set for him. After a lengthy holdout, which was not settled until the week before the regular-season kickoff, his play was so slovenly that he only played for nine series in his first year; he spent most of the season on the special-teams unit. He was also known for having attitude issues. He was quoted as saying, "I am not like other players, I am Tony Mandarich, and they have to understand that. If they don't like it, that is just the way I am and they are going to learn to like it." He would not play at all that season due to post-concussion syndrome. Despite his underwhelming play, head coach Mike Holmgren and general manager Ron Wolf were still willing to support him. However, when he left Green Bay after the season and skipped several workouts, Wolf lost patience and cut him. The question of steroid use has been discussed as a possible factor in Mandarich's professional struggles. Mandarich did not admit his steroid use until 2008, though according to SI, he told at least one Packer teammate that he did use steroids. Until then, he publicly blamed his work ethic in a 2003 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article: "I wanted to create as much hype as I could for many different reasons—exposure, negotiation leverage, you name it. And it all worked, except the performance wasn't there when it was time to play football." The first Sports Illustrated cover story included allegations of steroid abuse in college, however, mentioning acne of his arms and premature balding. After being cut by the Packers, he went to Traverse City, Michigan for two years, addicted to drugs and alcohol. His family checked him into a rehabilitation clinic on March 23, 1995, and he became sober. Mandarich returned to football in 1996 with the Indianapolis Colts, seeing his first meaningful game action in five years. He started all 16 games during the 1997 season and retired from football as an Indianapolis Colt in 1998 due to a shoulder injury. ==Post-football career==

After his career was over, he moved back to Canada. He owned a golf course and remarried his wife Char in 2004. Mandarich has expanded his business, named Mandarich Media Group, to include photography, video production, web design, search engine optimization, and Internet marketing. Mandarich went further in 2009, saying he used steroids from late in his senior year of high school until the 1989 NFL Combine. According to Mandarich, at least one team, the Kansas City Chiefs, passed on drafting him when they suspected he was using steroids. He only stopped because NFL testing procedures even then made it impossible to cheat. The end of his steroid habit combined with his poor pass blocking sunk his NFL career. Tony Mandarich's older brother John made his own reputation in professional football in the Canadian Football League. John Mandarich's early death from skin cancer is documented in Tony's memoir. In the March 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated, Mandarich spoke about his use and addiction and about his book called My Dirty Little Secrets — Steroids, Alcohol & God. In 2019, ESPN broadcast an hour long documentary on Mandarich as an episode of its sports newsmagazine series E:60. ==References==