Don Hooten, a Texas father whose 17-year-old son killed himself after taking anabolic steroids, held a conference call with Connecticut reporters today to highlight steroid abuse within the world of professional wrestling.
Hooten was sharply critical of Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment who is now the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate. "She has a profound responsibility to address this issue head on and send a clear unambigious message to the youth of this nation - that the use of anabolic steroid by any athlete is illegal and dangerous,'' he said.
A number of WWE performers, including McMahon's husband, current CEO Vince McMahon, have acknowledging using steroids in the past [Vince McMahon said he had a doctor's precription for the drugs.]
The company says it now has strict testing requirements and a zero-tolerance policy toward steroid use. But Hooten cited Linda McMahon's recent statement to Businessweek that "I still don't think we know the long-term effects of steroids'' as evidence that she continues to deny the deterimental health impact of performance-enhancing drugs.
In past interviews, McMahon has