Roger Clemens Interview on 60 Minutes Re-Cap

It seems like the more Roger talks the bigger his hole becomes. (60 Minutes Screenshot / SawxBlog Illustration)

Watching Mike Wallace interview Roger Clemens on 60 Minutes was almost as painful as it was watching Vince Young try to lead the Titans back against the Chargers yesterday. Simply put, it was painful for me to watch. I find it rather obvious that Clemens did indeed use steroids, and it seems like he's contradicted himself in every step along the process of his denial.

Everything seems so calculated on Clemens part, and it appears that his lawyer has his hand up his a$$ and is really the one who is making him talk. Clemens and his camp have handled these allegations horribly from step-one. From the loud silence that permeated from the Clemens camp upon the release of the Mitchell Report, to the forced speech he gave via his website, to the "hard-hitting" interview on 60 Minutes last night. Between these two videos Clemens has directly contradicted himself on numerous instances.

On being injected with Drugs by former trainer Brian McNamee
12/23 Video
CLEMENS: I did not provide Brian McNamee with any drugs to inject into my body.

60 Minutes Interview 1/06/07
WALLACE:  Did your former trainer, Brian McNamee ever inject you with anything?
CLEMENS: Yes he did.
WALLACE:  What?
CLEMENS:  Lidocaine, and B12.  It's for my joints and and B12 I take still today.  A lot of trainers—
WALLACE:  And that's all.?
CLEMENS:  That's it.

So not only did McNamee "provide" Clemens, but he did indeed, as the Mitchell Report states, have them injected by Brian McNamee. Liar. Of course according to Clemens he was only injecting him with vitamins...yeah...right...just like Miguel Tejada....yeah sure Rog, we believe you, whatever you say champ.

Benefit of the Doubt
CLEMENS: I'm angry that that what I've done for the game of baseball and the personal, in my private life, what I've done that I I don't get the benefit of the doubt The stuff that's being said, it's ridiculous. It's hogwash for people to even assume this. 24, 25 years Mike. You'd think I'd get an inch of respect. An inch. How, how can you prove your innocence?

I couldn't roll my eyes back hard enough after he said this. Why Roger? Why do you get the benefit of the doubt? Why would the American public not just look past your contradicting statements just because you played baseball for over two decades? Why would we not trust a report made by the man who brokered peace in Northern Ireland? Why would we not believe you used steroids after countless other ballplayers in the report named by McNamee admitted that what was written in the Mitchell Report was true, even your best friend in baseball, and workout buddy (who also had Brian McNamee as his trainer), Andy Petite. Kinda gives some credibility on the McNamee side of things though huh? But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt Rog 'cause you played baseball for 24, 25 years. What a joke.

And That's Our Country
CLEMENS: And that's our country, isn't it? Guilty before innocent. That's the way our country works now. And then everybody's talking about sue, sue sue. Should I sue? Well, let me exhaust. Let me, let me just spend. How about, let's keep spending. But I'm gonna explore what I can do and then I want to see if it's gonna be worth it, worth all the headache.

Roger didn't even give himself 24 hours to contradict himself here. I'll just paste the headline title that's on ESPN.com right now at this very instant below, which in turn links to an article about Clemens suing McNamee. For some reason all I can hear right now is John Melloncamp singing, "This is our Country!". Also only our country could a man make $20+ for a few months of work. Poor Roger, I feel bad for him...

I honestly could breakdown the 60 Minutes interview even further but it's almost a waste of time. I mean the guy looked Mike Wallace in the face and basically said he didn't care about making the Hall of Fame. Now THAT has to be the lie that people on all sides of the argument can conceded to.

The saddest things about this is that when it's all said and done, the reason people are so upset with Clemens is not because he used steroids, but because he isn't man enough to step up to the plate, or mound if you will, and admit that he made some mistakes in the past. Look at Giambi, Andy, and even Rodney Harrison. These guys all admitted and they as well as the public have basically moved on. It's the people like Clemens and Bonds that make it really easy to dislike them because their integrity and word are meaningless. And yes if didn't already know, Clemens is in that Bonds category if he likes it or not.

This is drama that's going to drag for awhile now, and it'll be interesting to see how Clemens tries to get out of the corner he's painted himself in. This thing's going to be going on for an exhausted amount of time I'm sure (why Clemens is suing), but if and when they're both (Clemens & McNamee) are in front of congress, that'll be some of making the finger wagging of Rafael Palmeiro look like childs play.

• Click Here to Watch the 60 Minutes Interview
• Click Here to Read the Transcript
• Dan Shaughnessy Article

Comments

[Chris]

One thing that altheletes and celebraties should realize that "innocent until proven guilty" only applies to a COURT OF LAW. It has no bearing whatsoever in the court of public opinion. Futhermore, the standards of proof for defamation lawsuits are higher for celebraties than for the average person.

I have not been keeping up the the Clemens story, but I do agree that Mr. Clemans has contradicted himself, which is a very big screw up if he sincerely wants to clear his name.

I believe that Roger Clemans did use steroids. The reasons are: 1) His silence for the first week or so. 2) Andy Pettitte has admitted to using Human Growth Hormone. Why would Mitchel lie about Clemens, but be truthfull about Pettitte. 3) To the best of my knowledge, Brian McNamee is under federal indictment for steroid distribution. As I understand it (and I have not verified) is that part of McNamee plea bargin is that he has to tell the complete truth to federal investigators. Why would McNamee lie to federal investigators? The consequences would be harsh. McNamee's plea bargin would be revoked and he could face charges of lying to the feds. That is what landed Martha Stewart in prison.

[Derek Hixon]

Chris, your point in 2) is dead on.

Why would McNamee lie about only Clemens using steroids? He was closer with Clemens, and dare I say friends, then any of the other players he indicted in the Mitchell Report. This is ever clear in the taped conversation between them (which I thought was absolutely fruitless).

Those other players, including Clemens best friend, work out partner, and teammate in New York and Houston, Mr. Andy Pettitte, admitted to the truth of the report....so why lie about Roger? Esp. when Brain could face jail time because of it.

It looks like McNamee was just playing ball and tell the truth, while Clemens is the one calling foul, and muddying his rep in the process even more.