Tim Layden On Michael Phelps And His Substance Abuse Problems
Tim Layden is a Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated who primarily covers the NFL and the Olympics.
Tim joined Ken and Steve to talk about Michael Phelps and his struggles with alcoholism.
Steve asked Tim about Michael Phelps' struggles with becoming a world famous Olympic athlete. Tim acknowledged that being a star Olympian is much different than being a star professional athlete, "its a strange thing to be an Olympic television star every 4 years and he struggled with that. He didn't know how to deal with being in the limelight and then kind disappearing for a while. Eventually it turned around to bite him."
Ken asked Tim about the relationship between Michael Phelps and his coach Bob Bowman and their training before the London Olympics. Tim noted that Michael did not prepare for the London Olympics as well as he did for the Olympics in Beijing, "these two guys know how to push each others buttons. Basically Michael won all the medals he did in London based on his training from Beijing. He wasn't showing up for a lot of practices and at times when he did he wasn't sober."
Tim went on to discuss Michael Phelps' drinking problem, whether he really is in the best shape of his life and if he can still dominate in the pool, and the role that Ray Lewis played as a mentor for Michael Phelps to help get him back on track.