The Sunday, January 6, 2008 edition of 60 Minutes featured a teaser of Mike Wallace’s interview with Roger Clemens. In the clip, Clemens admitted to receiving lidocaine and B-12 injections from former trainer Brian McNamee, but stated he had never been injected with steroids. When Wallace asked about the possibility of a lie detector test, Clemens got wide-eyed, swallowed hard — and then they cut away.
STAY TUNED!
Notes from the interview:
- Clemens begins the interview complaining of disrespect. “24 or 25 years, Mike, you’d think I’d get an inch of respect. … The benefit of the doubt.”
- Clemens asks that the individual who sold him his needles for his alleged steroid injections.
- This interview sucks. Wallace is just letting Clemens deny everything.
- Clemens wonders why he “never broke down” from steroid use. What would he call 2007?
- Clemens says McNamee called him in the week prior to the release of the Mitchell Report for permission to use Clemens’ fishing equipment in Cabo.
- Here comes Wallace. “Why would McNamee lie?” Clemens notes it was to keep him from going to jail. “Why would McNamee tell the truth about Andy Pettitte and lie about you?” Clemens is again evasive, but claims to have had no knowledge of Pettitte’s HGH use.
- Clemens swears — at Wallace’s request — that he never was injected with HGH or steroids by McNamee.
- “I was eating Vioxx like it was Skittles!” Clemens notes. He “trusted it wasn’t harmful,” and noted he didn’t want to put anything harmful in his body.
- Wallace strikes again. Clemens wonders why he’d put something harmful into his body, and Wallace explains it was to keep his body from breaking down. Clemens objects, saying it’s a quick fix and that it breaks the person down just as quickly as he is built up.
- Asked what penalty he would recommend for steroid users, Clemens says that the built-in punishment of the rapid decline he mentioned “should be enough.”
- Clemens claims poverty on the issue of a lawsuit. Seriously. He also expresses disdain towards the litigious nature of 2008 America.
- Clemens is “probably” retiring. “If I had to sit here and tell you right now, … you’ll never see me pitch again.”
- The interview concludes as Clemens notes he “will do everything he can” to clear his name, but is unsure that it will be enough for “some people.”
- He noted earlier in the interview that he would repeat these exact same points — and probably be more detailed with relation to his Vioxx-eatin’ habit — should he be asked to appear before Congress later this month. Perhaps this prove a useful checklist should that, in fact, occur.
