‘Not Picking on’ Irish, SI Asserts

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The publisher of Sports Illustrated says the magazine isn’t singling out Notre Dame football for criticism.

In the current issue, a former Notre Dame linebacker claims that steroid abuse was widespread and that two assistant coaches even recommended the muscle-building drug.

Last season, a Sports Illustrated story held Notre Dame responsible for a pre-game brawl at South Bend between Irish and Southern Cal players.

Publisher Donald J. Barr, a Notre Dame alumnus, denies picking on the Irish. The magazine’s managing editor, Mark Mulvoy, said backup sources confirmed the story of steroid abuse.

“We are not watching Notre Dame any closer than any other school,” Barr said in South Bend Tribune managing editor Ed Perkins’ Sunday column. “We are not camped on the doorstep looking for flaws in a great institution.

“This story was brought to us. We wouldn’t have practiced good journalism if we didn’t pursue it.”

Steve Huffman, who left the Notre Dame football team in 1987 with an injury, claims that nearly half the lettering players used steroids. The muscle-building drug has negative side effects and is banned by the NCAA.

Huffman’s first-person article in the Aug. 27 issue contended that two assistant coaches suggested steroid use and that Coach Lou Holtz must have known of the situation. Huffman also claimed that Holtz pressured him to play despite his injury.

The story began when Huffman contacted Sports Illustrated writer Rick Telander, who flew to Dallas and interviewed him, said Mulvoy.

“Our preliminary work indicated he had a story to tell,” Mulvoy said. “We went to work and confirmed it.”