Mandarich: I Was Never Sober In Green Bay

Former Colts and Packers offensive lineman Tony Mandarich finally came clean about his drug use last year, but he offered further details into his painkiller addiction in an interview with ESPN.com’s Kory Kozak. “I spent four years in Green Bay and never [had] a sober day,” Mandarich said. “Every day I was ever in Green Bay I was not sober.” Mandarich also told Kozol that he would shoot himself up with painkillers -- Stadol, Fiorinal #3, Percodan, Percocet and Valium are mentioned -- during practice and then return to the field. “I was getting really paranoid about people finding out, so what I would do with that bottle and a syringe, I would put it in my jock strap,” Mandarich said. “I’d say, ‘Hey, I’ve got to go to the bathroom,’ lock myself in the bathroom, take a shot, and then come back out to practice and get ready for one-on-one pass drills with the defensive line, and I’m half in the bag.” Mandarich switched from injections to pills over time, because they were cheaper, and after he left the Packers he was taking up to 70 pills a day and washing them down with alcohol. He went to rehab in 1995 and joined the Colts the next year. He played until 1998, and says he’s been clean ever since his initial trip to rehab.