The Local newsletter is your free, daily guide to life in Colorado. For locals, by locals. Sign up today!
Toronto-based Dr. Anthony Galea—who has been linked to treatment of former Denver Broncos Chris Simms and Javon Walker and Colorado Rockies pitcher Huston Street, among many other athletes—has been charged with providing an unnamed, retired NFL player with human growth hormone and a current NFL player with an unapproved drug, according to the New York Times. Galea allegedly distributed human growth hormone and Actovegin to several athletes between July 2007 and September 2009, according to court records, with a client list that includes professional football and baseball players and golfers.
In early March, Rockies pitcher Huston Street told reporters that he might be contacted by federal authorities in the case, since Galea diagnosed his elbow injury in 2007 and then treated Street with oxygen and platelet-rich plasma therapy to help with recovery. Neither procedure is against league rules, and Street said at the time that everything he did with Galea was “100 percent within the law.”
Chris Simms, the Broncos backup quarterback last year and now a member of the Tennessee Titans, has also been linked to Galea. Simms says that the doctor helped him recover from a 2007 devastating spleen injury and that all the treatments he received were legit (via USA Today).
“Listen. I’m a big fan of Dr. Galea. I think he’s a great guy. He’s helped thousands of people out, not just athletes,” Simms says. “He’s truly a great doctor. I guess he’s made a mistake or two, and I feel bad for him.” Simms jokes about whether he took human growth hormone, saying, “If I’m on HGH, I’m getting ripped off because I don’t really look the way I should with my shirt off.”