Former Dallas Cowboys Player Says Team Used Horse Ointment in 1990s
How about them Clydesdales? On the heels of last week's alleged deer antler spray use by NFL players, Tony Casillas, a defensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys during their dominant run in the 1990s, told a Dallas radio show that players on the team used to use an anti-inflammatory horse ointment to ward off muscle aches.
Speaking to Elf and Slater on KRLD-FM 105.3—FM earlier this week, Casillas said:
"That’s nothing. We used to use this stuff called DMSO. That’s what veterinarians put on horses’ muscles and we used it in the locker room. We had a bottle and you’d take it. It goes right to the blood stream. I’m not sure about this deer antler stuff, but it was prevalent in our locker room."
Casillas's admission came after last week's Sports Illustrated story claimed several NFL players, including Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens, had used deer antler spray to enhance their on-field performance or recover from injury. The spray contains a substance banned by the league called IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor-1). The maker of the spray later said he had never seen Lewis use it (most likely because he didn't want to end up murdered).
Modern training methods have allowed NFL linemen to grow to the size of small horses, so perhaps it's not a total surprise that they some times used the same ointment. We'll worry when quarterbacks start stomping their feet as a snap count. (Looking at you, Peyton Manning.)