Alex Rodriguez, Major League Baseball’s big-money behemoth, admitted using performance-enhancing drugs during the time he was at the top of his game, ESPN reports.

In 2003, the third year of his 10-year, $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers, Rodriguez won his first AL MVP award. He was traded to the New York Yankees before the start of the next year.

When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure, felt all the weight of the world on top of me to perform and perform at a high level every day,” Rodriguez told ESPN. “Back then, it was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid, I was naive and I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth, you know, being one of the greatest players of all time. And I did take a banned substance. For that, I'm very sorry and deeply regretful. And although it was the culture back then in major league baseball overall ... it was very ... I just feel that ... I'm just sorry. I'm sorry for that time, I'm sorry to my fans, I'm sorry to my fans in Texas. It wasn't until then that I thought about substance of any kind, and since then I've proved to myself and to everyone that I don't need any of that.

When asked if his usage took place from 2001-2003, Rodriguez said, "That's pretty accurate.

When asked what kind of performance-enhancing drugs he was taking, he said: "It was such a loosey-goosey era. I'm guilty for a lot of things, for being negligent, naïve, not asking the right questions. To be quite honest I don't know exactly what substance I was guilty of using.

Rodriguez tested positive for testosterone and Primobolan, an injected or orally administered drug. Primobolan "is detectable for a shorter period of time than the steroid previously favored by players, Deca-Durabolin," according to Sports Illustrated.