Steve Courson Stephen Paul " Steve " Courson ( October 1 , 1955November 10 , 2005 ) was an American football guard for the National Football League ' s Pittsburgh Steelers . Early years . Steve Courson grew up in Longmeadow , Massachusetts and went to Longmeadow High School . He played on the offense and defense lines and graduated in 1973 in Gettysburg , Pennsylvania . His # 71 was retired , and he is the only football player in Gettysburg High School history to receive such an honor . After graduating from Gettysburg , Courson went on to play on the offensive line at the University of South Carolina . Football & steroids . During his freshman year at the University of South Carolina , Courson later stated that : He played for the Steelers from 1978 – 1983 and retired in 1985 after two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . In 1991 , his book " False Glory : The Steve Courson Story " , about his life in football when he used steroids , was published . He was one of the first American football players to admit to using steroids and harshly criticized them , making nearly 100 speeches a year to high school and college athletes about their dangers . Courson bench press ed but came to feel ashamed and guilty that he really didn ' t lift the weight – it was the power that steroids gave him . Courson was one of the first players to confess he had been using steroids during his playing career . He suffered from a heart condition which was believed to have been caused by his steroid use . After his career Courson was effectively blackballed by the NFL because of his outspoken stance on steroids . He had a spell as a high school football coach in the 1990s . Courson ' s wife Cathy committed suicide . After her death he met Denise " Dee " Masciola , who became his girlfriend . Death . Courson stayed near Pittsburgh for the rest of his life . In November 2005 , he died in an accident at his home in Farmington , Pennsylvania . Courson had been cutting down a tree on his property , but a gust of wind changed the direction of its fall , and he moved into its path while attempting to prevent his dog from being struck . The dog , a black Labrador retriever , was found alive guarding Courson ' s body when the tree was removed . In the months before his death in 2005 , Courson wrote a 5 , 000 - word letter expressing disappointment that more players weren ' t open about their steroid use and saying the league ' s enormous popularity relies on a " myth " of its players as drug - free heroes . " I believe the NFL is a prisoner to their own public relations myth , " Courson said in the letter , which was found on the computer of his western Pennsylvania home after he was crushed to death at age 50 by a tree he was cutting down . " The level of deception and exploitation that the NFL requires to do business still amazes me . " Courson , who became one of professional sports ' first steroids whistleblower s by detailing his use in a 1985 " Sports Illustrated " interview , wrote the letter to a former Pittsburgh Steelers teammate he played with on Super Bowl - winning teams in 1978 and 1979 . Courson is buried in Evergreen Cemetery , in Gettysburg , Pennsylvania .