Milwaukee, WI – Ryan Braun broke his silence Thursday regarding his suspension for violating the Basic Agreement and its Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
Braun's lengthy apology briefly detailed which performance enhancing drugs he took during his MVP season of 2011. The Brewers outfielder said he took them during the end of the year as he was trying to heal from a "nagging injury."
"The products were a cream and a lozenge which I was told could help expedite my rehabilitation. It was a huge mistake for which I am deeply ashamed and I compounded the situation by not admitting my mistakes immediately," the statement read.
Braun was suspended in late July for the remainder of the 2013 season -- 65 games -- after having 50-game suspension overturned in February 2012. He tested positive for elevated testosterone levels the previous October, but won the appeal of that test when he challenged the chain of command protocols regarding how the samples were stored.
Following the revoked suspension, Braun was adamant about his innocence and addressed those statements on Thursday.
"I deeply regret many of the things I said at the press conference after the arbitrator's decision in February 2012," the statement read. "At that time, I still didn't want to believe that I had used a banned substance. I think a combination of feeling self righteous and having a lot of unjustified anger led me to react the way I did. I felt wronged and attacked, but looking back now, I was the one who was wrong."
Braun specifically apologized to the collector of his sample, Dino Laurenzi, Jr., near the end of his statement.
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