Izzo Was Solo

Great. Just what we needed.

In Tuesday’s Boston Globe, a story said LB Larry Izzo would testify on behalf of the government in their federal perjury case against former Major League Baseball player Barry Bonds.

According to court documents, Izzo would say he contacted Bonds’ former trainer Greg Anderson, they met in person, Izzo submitted a few urine samples, Anderson told Izzo how to use the performance enhancing drugs, and Izzo received the PEDs. Nowhere does it say whether Izzo used any of the products he received from Anderson.

So everybody, repeat after me: Don’t jump to a conclusion.

Yeah right.

As if the anti-Patriot faction needed more reason to doubt New England’s excellence in the 2000 decade. Now we have this to go along with unkempt fields, the snowplow game, and Spygate.

In a week where all the steroid attention is focused New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, Izzo is flying under the radar right now. But at some point he will get asked and Larry will have to spill everything, including whether or not he juiced.

The details make Izzo look very suspicious. After the 2002 season, Izzo first contacted Anderson. The very next season in 2003, Izzo had one of his best seasons: He played all 19 games and led the team in special teams tackles. New England won a second Super Bowl and Izzo was voted as a Pro Bowler.

It doesn’t take an equation for fans to look at the details and do their own math. They know he talked to Anderson and soon afterward had his best season. The logical conclusion is Izzo was juicing.

Next leap would be guilt by association. “Well if Izzo was cheating, then what’s stopping the rest of the team from being juiced?” All of a sudden the Pats are the 1970’s Pittsburgh Steelers.

Sure we can say no one tested positive that year, including Izzo. Then skeptics would argue the team used products that wouldn’t show up on tests. Remember safety Rodney Harrison was suspended for buying human growth hormone, not a positive test result (though Harrison admitted to using HGH).

Think back to all the allegations the sprouted from head coach Bill Belichick being caught in the act: the hand signal’s translations were used in the second half of the same game, hidden microphones on players to record audibles, and so on. Once labeled as a cheater, the possibilities are endless.

It shouldn’t get that far. The first step is Izzo must admit whether he used the products. Next he also has to say if he shared his PED regimen with any teammates or if Larry gave any Patriot Anderson’s contact information.

For all the haters, keep in mind the Patriots roster wasn’t loaded with borderline talents like Izzo. The ’03 and ’04 teams were stacked. One of the best rosters in the league those two years, hands down. It wasn’t by accident they went 14-2 for two consecutive seasons.

If Izzo did juice, he’s probably the only Patriot that did so. He’s the only NFL witness for the government. That doesn’t mean he’s the only NFL player that used performance enhancers. But until more players are revealed as users, we must leave the conclusions to the court and assume nothing.