Roger Clemens was once thought of as one of the good guys in sports.  And now that the jury has come back with a "not guilty" verdict in his case regarding lying about his alleged steroid use, the Hall Of Fame surely awaits.

And it should, the career accomplishments are unbelievable.  There are many that think Clemens was the best starting pitcher of all time.  He was an 11 time All-Star with 354 career wins.  He has the third most strikeouts (4,672) in baseball history, won 2 World Series championships, and won an astonishing 7 Cy Young Awards.

He was awesome, no doubt.

But Roger had his fair share of controversy, as well.  He was, by all accounts, quite the diva - and he wasn't afraid to speak his mind, either.  Clemens was busted red-handed cheating on his wife, twice - and has never backed away from taking verbal shots at people of all races and backgrounds.  His former manager in Toronto, Cito Gaston, said that Clemens was the biggest "redneck racist" he'd ever met in baseball.  And then there is the issue of steroids.

Though he was found "NOT GUILTY", let's still look at some of the facts that we know to be true.

Pitcher Jason Grimsley had allegedly named him, as well as Andy Pettite, as a user of performance enhancing drugs. According to a 20-page search warrant affidavit signed by an IRS Special Agent, Grimsley told investigators he obtained amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee.  McNamee was a personal strength coach for Clemens and Pettitte. McNamee was hired by Clemens in 1998.

Clemens' name was mentioned 82 times in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball. In the report, McNamee stated that during the '98, 2000, and 2001 baseball seasons, he injected Clemens with Winstrol.  He had needles with Clemens DNA still on them.

Clemens told investigators that he hardly knew Brian McNamee at all.  But McNamee knew details about Clemens'; house, finances, social life, family, etc, that no mere acquaintance would know.

Roger Clemens is going to be a Hall of Famer - he deserves to be.

But he is still a liar, and a cheater - and his reputation has been tarnished badly, forever.

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