When former NY Yankees star Alex Rodriguez accused teammates of steroid use to cover-up his PED scandal

Note: This article was amended to clearly state that Curt Schilling was not among those named in the Mitchell Report. Schilling was one of five players with no evidence of PED use who declined to be interviewed by Mitchell because he "would have nothing to offer" "other than personal opinion and hypotheticals". We apologize for the error in the previous version and hope our corrective actions have addressed any concerns that this may have raised.

Alex Rodriguez, who was the poster boy for the steroid era, tried to dodge suspicions about his steroid use by shifting the blame to his teammates.

The Mitchell Report that came out in 2007 revealed the names of MLB athletes who were taking steroids. Many big names were released in the report, such as Barry Bonds, Kevin Brown and Roger Clemens. Rodriguez's name, however, did not appear in it.

Back in 2003, Sports Illustrated reported he had tested positive for steroids. However, suspicion was still cast on him four years later.

The Texas Rangers signed the biggest contract of that time with Rodriguez back in 2003. Rodriguez signed a 10-year deal worth $275 million with the team. He was also particularly close with Tom Hicks, the owner of the Rangers.

Alex Rodriguez admitted in 2009, after denying it in 2007, that he'd used steroids from 2001 to 2003. He said it was due to the enormous pressure he faced signing such a big deal.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Hicks revealed how betrayed he felt by the admission. He also divulged how Rodriguez accused his teammates of using PEDs to shift the attention away from him.

"In fact, Alex used to tell me negative things about other players around the league who were suspected [of drug use]," Hicks said. "So it's ... I feel very betrayed."

Rodriguez's name was bought up again in the Biogenesis scandal that broke out in 2013, which was another MLB drug scandal.

When Alex Rodriguez admitted he used steroids because of the pressure of signing with the Rangers

Alex Rodriguez initially denied that he had ever taken steroids back in 2007 when he was asked the question. However, in a 2009 interview with ESPN, A-Rod admitted he took steroids, beginning in 2001, for a three-year period because he felt massive pressure to perform well.

"When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure," he said. "I felt like I had all the weight in the world on top of me, and I needed to perform and perform at a high level every day."

Rodriguez apologized for taking steroids in that ESPN interview. But as it is, A-Rod didn't learn from his mistakes and repeated them again.

He would go on to take substances that were prohibited by the MLB from 2010 to 2012. He officially retired in 2016.

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