TATUM O'NEAL SAYS JOHNNY MAC USED STEROIDS

[Louis Cypher]

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Tatum O'Neal said in a television interview airing this week that her ex-husband, temperamental tennis great John McEnroe, used steroids during his career on the court and became violent as a result.


McEnroe, now a TV sports commentator, said in a statement he was "disappointed" with O'Neal's remarks, and a representative disputed her allegations of steroid use.

O'Neal, who shot to fame with an Oscar-winning feature film debut in 1973's "Paper Moon" and left acting years later to marry McEnroe, discussed her marital woes and her own battle with drug addiction in a segment of the ABC News program "20/20" airing on Friday.

Excerpts of the Barbara Walters interview, O'Neal's first on national TV since publication of McEnroe's recent memoir, "You Cannot Be Serious," were released by ABC News on Tuesday.

In one of her most startling comments, O'Neal, 38, said McEnroe used steroids "when he was coming back after (their second son) Sean was born" in 1988. Asked by Walters if tennis officials knew about it, O'Neal said, "I never read about it. I made him stop because he was becoming violent." The Association of Tennis Professionals, the governing body for men's pro-tennis, bars players from using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs on the tour, a spokeswoman said.

O'Neal, who lost custody of their three children to McEnroe after their eight-year marriage ended in divorce in 1994, said his famous on-court temper flared often in their home as well. She described him as verbally abusive and said she ultimately left McEnroe after "he kicked me down the stairs."

In a written statement to "20/20," McEnroe, 43, said he was "disappointed" with O'Neal's remarks but did not address any of them directly. "I had hoped that after all these years she would see things more accurately and that she would share my concern for the welfare of our children."

A representative for the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion later declined to go beyond his ABC News statement except to dispute O'Neal's allegation of steroid use. "My knowledge from speaking with him is that he has not knowingly taken steroids," the representative told Reuters by telephone from England, where McEnroe is serving as a television commentator for BBC and NBC coverage of the Wimbledon ( news - web sites) tennis tournament.

McEnroe, who has three other children, including two with his second wife, rocker Patty Smyth, has acknowledged attending anger-management classes since his divorce and admitted to using drugs in his autobiography. He also alluded in his book to suspected steroid use by other players.

O'Neal said that losing her children and her drug addiction were her biggest regrets but she is undergoing drug rehabilitation and has "been clean now for a few months."

[pmj18]

"She described him as verbally abusive" No way, I can't believe that. LOL

[C.M.]

If what she said is true, then he really is a jerk. That guy is so critical of every tennis player, and it looks like he was nothing but a cheater. I can't stand people like him who are always on their high horse.

C.M.

[alysheba88]

So you automatically believe that drug using kid losing backbiting women?

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Must have been a different kind of steroid. Because McEnroe never had any size to him at all. Did he?

[alysheba88]

Exactly Chucky. He had a scrawny frame.

He has admitted smoking pot and doing other drugs. She is just looking for publicity.,

[Sportsbank]

I don't know about the steriods part, but imagining him losing his cool at home isn't a stretch.

[C.M.]

If is a conditional clause, and the legalese used by his spokesman isn't exactly what I would call a firm denial.

"My knowledge from speaking with him is that he has not knowingly taken steroids"

C.M.

[buckeye]

Not that I know that much about it, but steroid use doesn't have to just be to gain great muscle bulk. I believe that it has been "legally" prescribed for rehab to re-build atrophied muscle due to injury, in the past. You don't have to be a 300 lb fb player or 250 lb homerun hitter to get benefit. It wouldn't surprise me if he did use them to rehab and try to comeback! But then I've always thought his outbursts were a form of cheating as they just always "happen" to come when he was struggling and needed a breather and a momentum changer. So he'd go on a rant at a linesmen or the chair ump and cool his opponent down and not have to run around for a few minutes. He's a classless whiny punk anyway, IMHO!

I knew it all along. All you had to was look at Johnny Mac's physique. I mean, he was the Arnold Schwarzenegger of tennis. The guy must packed at least 140 LB on his 5' 11" frame. Seriously, if they want to discourage the use of steroids, just show pictures of Mc Enroe, Mr. Scrawny himself, in his prime.

Steroids...Johnny Mac. ?
This was a while ago, so maybe. He probably thought that all that you needed to do was take them, drink and play . The 'Roids would do the rest.
He certainly never carried any defined muscle.

[Mort]

I remember once seeing John McEnroe on tv a few years ago commenting on how he did lift weights when he was on the tour, but he was disappointed in his results.

If I am not mistaken, a lot has to do with your muscle fibers. If you have a lot of one of the two possible muscle fibers, you can barely work out lifting weights and you can still get great well defined results, whereas if you predominatly have the other type of fibers, you can lift till your blue in the face and almost nothing will show. Maybe the same thing holds true when taking steroids.

However, there is an advantage to having the latter muscle fibers, because these type of fibers give you ability and stamina. This could explain why when you take many of those who you see out at the pool with their shirts off all nicely cut out to any athletic court of play, they are total duffeses.