Barry Bonds Calls Himself Stupid For The Way He Treated The Media During His Playing Days

If you’ll remember, Barry Bonds wasn’t always the nicest guy to be around during his playing days. He often copped an attitude with the media and it led to him being disliked by many. In a recent interview with Sports on Earth, Bonds takes all the blame for the way he handled things with the press.

“Me. It’s on me. I’m to blame for the way I was [portrayed], because I was a dumbass. I was straight stupid, and I’ll be the first to admit it. I mean, I was just flat-out dumb. What can I say? I’m not going to try to justify the way I acted toward people. I was stupid. It wasn’t an image that I invented on purpose. It actually escalated into that, and then I maintained it. You know what I mean? It was never something that I really ever wanted. No one wants to be treated like that, because I was considered to be a terrible person. You’d have to be insane to want to be treated like that. That makes no sense.”

Bonds said he tried to change his ways, but always ended up coming back to this persona that he created.

“Hell, I kick myself now, because I’m getting great press [since being more cooperative], and I could have had a trillion more endorsements, but that wasn’t my driving force. … So I just said, “I’ve created this fire around me, and I’m stuck in it, so I might as well live with the flames.”

It all started, says Bonds, when he felt the pressure on his shoulders to return the Pittsburgh Pirates to greatness. That mounting weight helped create his poor attitude.

While he’s not happy with the way he treated the media during his playing days, Bonds says he wouldn’t change a thing when it comes to how he played on the field.

“The one thing that I would never, ever reflect on and talk about changing from the past is my ability with what I did out there on the field. When it came to [preparing for and playing the game], I did that right. But as far as my attitude and the way I handled things, I just didn’t do it the right way.”

I’m guessing we’re never going to hear this type of remorse for the whole steroids thing, right Barry?