‘I’m Not Speaking on His Behalf’- 5-Time World Series Champ Derek Jeter Sounded Off While Addressing Yankees Teammate Alex Rodriguez’s PEDs Scandal

Derek Jeter will go down as one of the finest ever to grace the game of baseball. Jeter was never the best player in the ballpark, and he never claimed to be so. However, in a century-old sport, there has not been a better leader in the game than Derek Jeter.

Dating back to the time when Jeter’s teammate and star slugger, Alex Rodriguez, was facing backlash for the infamous PEDs (performance-enhancement drugs) scandal, the former Yankees captain backed A-Rod.

Jeter tried his best to defend A-Rod for his mistake. Because being the captain of the team, it was Jeter’s responsibility to speak for one of his teammates. However, little did Jeter know that his words will not be enough to protect A-Rod from his mistakes. He sounded off while addressing the matter to the media.

Derek Jeter stood for Alex Rodriguez when it mattered the most

While addressing the matter to the media, Derek Jeter tried to protect A-Rod’s image. The former Yankees captain said everyone makes mistakes. But when you have to address your mistakes to an entire country, it’s a different thing.

“It can’t be an easy thing to do, you know what I mean… I am sure everybody here has made mistakes. And when you have to address it to the entire country, that’s probably something; it’s pretty difficult to do,” Derek Jeter said in 2009.

The former Yankee appreciated A-Rod for being honest and accepting his fault. Jeter also clarified that he was not speaking on A-Rod’s behalf.

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“I think he did a good job. He was honest, he is trying to move forward. He is trying to move past it. But I’m not speaking on his behalf…,” Jeter added. “I can only imagine something like that would be pretty difficult.”

Notably, despite having a rift with Alex Rodriguez, Jeter stood for his friend-turned-foe teammate. However, it was not enough to protect A-Rod from the MLB ban. 

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Later, in 2013, MLB suspended Rodriguez for an entire 2014 MLB season.