Teacher: Football Star Just Jovial, Not Stupid

by Erika Waddell

In an interview that aired last week on HBO's "Costas Now," Washington Redskins tackle Jon Jansen (left) said that "maybe 15, 20 percent" of NFL players use illegal performance-enhancing substances including human growth hormone. Less than 24 hours after the broadcast Jansen backed down from his initial estimate, saying, "What I meant by it was that it was a small number of players... being a football player, I'm not real good at math." Twenty percent of the NFL would translate into about 300 players.

But Jansen's high school math teacher thinks his former student was just flustered. He says Jansen knows percentages well enough.

"I think he was in the middle of an interview and probably came up with some small numbers thinking that they were small enough to cover the situation," explains David Waddell of Clawson High School in southeastern Michigan. Waddell, who retired in 1999, taught advanced algebra and trigonometry to Jansen when the future NFL star was in the eleventh grade. "I just think his math was off, and I can see that happening," he says.

According to Waddell, whose daughter, Erika, is a reporter for the Hollywood Heat web site, Jansen was actually "one of the smarter people," in his classroom. "He was a playful giant [who] was very respectful and did a good job in math... He was one of my favorite students, him and his brother."

Regarding Jansen's self-depreciating comments about his math skills, his former teacher says: "I enjoyed him saying that because that's the kind of jovial, fun person he is."

Though he took back his initial estimate, Jansen, 30, stands by his statement that it would be "very naive and foolish" to think players in the league aren't using human growth hormone. The league does not test for HGH.

Jansen joined the Redskins in 1999 after playing for the University of Michigan.

(Published on CourtTV.com Sept. 11, 2006)