Although the NFL is considered the pinnacle of sporting excellence, the league has faced its fair share of problems throughout its 105-year history. Especially in the 1970s, when the league was marred by major problems surrounding the use of performance-enhancing dr—gs. Reflecting on this period, Hall of Fame and former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw recently opened up about how teams used st—roids during an interview with comedian Joe Rogan.

“We played Cincinnati one year, and the night before the game, there was a lineup of players going into a room to be shot up,” Bradshaw said during an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, sharing an anecdote about players going into a room before a game.

As Terry Bradshaw alluded to, the NFL was notorious for having teams and players use st—roids. The first team to be involved in a st—roids-related scandal was the 1963 San Diego Chargers, who went from a 4–10 record in 1962 to winning the American Football League the next year with an 11-3 record.

The team’s head coach, Sid Gillman, and Strength Coach Alvin Roy reportedly mandated that each player take 5 mg doses of the PED compulsorily three times a day during training camp.

According to Hall of Fame OT Ron Mix, Gillman attributed the use of these pills to the player’s protein intake, noting,

“He said, ‘Because you’re going to be lifting weights in addition to working out twice a day, you’re going to need more protein.’ And he said, ‘When I was a trainer for the U.S. team in the Olympics, I learned a secret from those Rooskies.’ And he held up a bottle of pink pills, and he says, ‘It’s going to help assimilate protein and you’ll be taking it every day.’ And, sure enough, it showed up on our training tables in cereal bowls.”

A decade later, the Pittsburgh Steelers also faced similar allegations when they went on to win four Super Bowls (IX, X, XIII, and XIV) under legendary coach Chuck Noll. However, these accusations weren’t made public until the 2005 season when then-New Orleans Saints head coach Jim Haslett released a series of comments accusing the Steelers of using st—roids at the NFL’s annual meeting.

“It started, really, in Pittsburgh. They got an advantage on a lot of football teams. They were so much stronger (in the) ’70s, late ’70s, early ’80s. They’re the ones who kind of started it,” stated Haslett, per Bleacher Report. “You had so many people using them because they were legal.”

Haslett also revealed “that when he played in the NFL, st—roid use was rampant because the league had no policy banning such dr—gs,” and according to him, nearly half the players were taking them. Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton also accused the Steelers of using st—roid during a radio interview on 790 The Zone in Atlanta.

“We’re playing the Steelers in the Super Bowl in ’75 or ’76, and I’m warming up with my center, Mick Tingelhoff, who’s an eight-time all-pro,” Tarkenton said. “He’s my roommate, he’s about 6-2, 245, we’re on the field warming up, and I see these Steeler offensive linemen with their sleeves rolled up, and they’ve got these bulging muscles. Later, we found out that it was Mike Webster and these guys were juiced. Steve Courson, these guys were juiced, all of them.”

The NFL’s st—roid era remains one of the darker chapters in league history, and Bradshaw’s recent comments serve as a reminder that those questions are far from forgotten.