The Devil
EOG Master
Roger Clemens says sorry to friends and family for 'mistakes'
BY TERI THOMPSON AND NATHANIEL VINTON
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERS
Monday, May 5th 2008, 3:04 AM
<A href="http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/galleries/mindy_mccready/mindy_mccready.html">
Ferrell/Getty Roger Clemens apologized for his personal 'mistakes,' but said that does not include performance-enhancing drug use. (CLICK PICTURE FOR GALLERY OF OTHER ROCKET RELATED PHOTOS.)
<!-- ARTICLE CONTENT START -->On the eighth day, Roger Clemens. apologized.
Following a week in which the Daily News reported his affairs with several women, Clemens released a statement Sunday night apologizing for "mistakes in his personal life," while again denying he ever used performance-enhancing drugs.
"I need to say that I have made mistakes in my personal life for which I am sorry," Clemens said in a statement handed to the Houston Chronicle, a favorite outlet for Clemens and his lawyer Rusty Hardin.
"I have apologized to my family and apologize to my fans," Clemens said. "Like everyone, I have flaws. I have sometimes made choices which have not been right."
Clemens made it clear he is not admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs.
"I believe my personal life has nothing to do with the accusations of steroid and HGH use," he said. "I have already made clear that I did not use them."
The statement did not address whether Clemens would push on with a defamation suit he and Hardin brought against his former trainer Brian McNamee on Jan. 6, opening the life of both men to scrutiny.
After huddling in Texas all weekend with his family, Clemens came up with what appeared to be an attempt at damage control.
"I realize that many people want me to simply confess and apologize for the conduct that I have been accused of, but I cannot confess to, nor apologize for, things I did not do," Clemens said. "I have apologized to my family for my mistakes. And having offered this apology to the public, I would ask that you let me and my family deal with these matters in private."
On Friday, The Associated Press reported that Hardin would discuss with Clemens whether he should drop the suit, something legal experts all over the country advocated.
Clemens is reeling from The News' reports of his long-term affair with country singer Mindy McCready, with golfer John Daly's ex-wife Paulette Dean Daly, and several other women around the country. The News reported last Monday that McCready met Clemens, then a 28-year-old Red Sox ace, when she was 15 and singing in a karaoke bar, and that she returned to his hotel with him that night, but that the two didn't have a sexual relationship until a few years later. McCready and several of her family members have confirmed the report.
"Now, I have been accused of having an improper relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Nothing could be further from the truth. This relationship has been twisted and distorted far beyond reality. It is just one of many, many accusations that are utterly false," Clemens. said in his statement.
"I cannot refute anything in the story," McCready said of her relationship with Clemens, who did not say what false accusations he was referring to.
Clemens kicked the door wide open on examinations into his character and honesty when he filed the defamation suit against McNamee, the pitcher's former personal trainer who told the government, George Mitchell and Congress that he had repeatedly injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone.
McNamee's lawyers have said they will seek to depose any women Clemens has had relationships with, including his wife, as well as his sons, teammates and club officials for the teams he has played for, including the Yankees. Evidence of infidelity would limit the damages McNamee's statements might have had on Clemens' reputation.
A federal judge in Texas is expected to rule soon on a motion by McNamee's legal team to disqualify Hardin from representing Clemens in that case due to what McNamee's lawyers view as a conflict of interest. Hardin also represented pitcher Andy Pettitte, a potential witness in the defamation case, during the first days surrounding the release of the Mitchell Report.
Should Clemens drop the defamation suit, he will still face federal investigators, who are looking into whether he committed perjury before Congress in February.
BY TERI THOMPSON AND NATHANIEL VINTON
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERS
Monday, May 5th 2008, 3:04 AM
<A href="http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/galleries/mindy_mccready/mindy_mccready.html">
Ferrell/Getty Roger Clemens apologized for his personal 'mistakes,' but said that does not include performance-enhancing drug use. (CLICK PICTURE FOR GALLERY OF OTHER ROCKET RELATED PHOTOS.)<!-- ARTICLE CONTENT START -->On the eighth day, Roger Clemens. apologized.
Following a week in which the Daily News reported his affairs with several women, Clemens released a statement Sunday night apologizing for "mistakes in his personal life," while again denying he ever used performance-enhancing drugs.
"I need to say that I have made mistakes in my personal life for which I am sorry," Clemens said in a statement handed to the Houston Chronicle, a favorite outlet for Clemens and his lawyer Rusty Hardin.
"I have apologized to my family and apologize to my fans," Clemens said. "Like everyone, I have flaws. I have sometimes made choices which have not been right."
Clemens made it clear he is not admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs.
"I believe my personal life has nothing to do with the accusations of steroid and HGH use," he said. "I have already made clear that I did not use them."
The statement did not address whether Clemens would push on with a defamation suit he and Hardin brought against his former trainer Brian McNamee on Jan. 6, opening the life of both men to scrutiny.
After huddling in Texas all weekend with his family, Clemens came up with what appeared to be an attempt at damage control.
"I realize that many people want me to simply confess and apologize for the conduct that I have been accused of, but I cannot confess to, nor apologize for, things I did not do," Clemens said. "I have apologized to my family for my mistakes. And having offered this apology to the public, I would ask that you let me and my family deal with these matters in private."
On Friday, The Associated Press reported that Hardin would discuss with Clemens whether he should drop the suit, something legal experts all over the country advocated.
Clemens is reeling from The News' reports of his long-term affair with country singer Mindy McCready, with golfer John Daly's ex-wife Paulette Dean Daly, and several other women around the country. The News reported last Monday that McCready met Clemens, then a 28-year-old Red Sox ace, when she was 15 and singing in a karaoke bar, and that she returned to his hotel with him that night, but that the two didn't have a sexual relationship until a few years later. McCready and several of her family members have confirmed the report.
"Now, I have been accused of having an improper relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Nothing could be further from the truth. This relationship has been twisted and distorted far beyond reality. It is just one of many, many accusations that are utterly false," Clemens. said in his statement.
"I cannot refute anything in the story," McCready said of her relationship with Clemens, who did not say what false accusations he was referring to.
Clemens kicked the door wide open on examinations into his character and honesty when he filed the defamation suit against McNamee, the pitcher's former personal trainer who told the government, George Mitchell and Congress that he had repeatedly injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone.
McNamee's lawyers have said they will seek to depose any women Clemens has had relationships with, including his wife, as well as his sons, teammates and club officials for the teams he has played for, including the Yankees. Evidence of infidelity would limit the damages McNamee's statements might have had on Clemens' reputation.
A federal judge in Texas is expected to rule soon on a motion by McNamee's legal team to disqualify Hardin from representing Clemens in that case due to what McNamee's lawyers view as a conflict of interest. Hardin also represented pitcher Andy Pettitte, a potential witness in the defamation case, during the first days surrounding the release of the Mitchell Report.
Should Clemens drop the defamation suit, he will still face federal investigators, who are looking into whether he committed perjury before Congress in February.
