Cesar Tordesillas

Former Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon has revealed that he and teammates were regularly injected with a legal but controversial painkiller during his stint with the team.

Papelbon, who played for the Red Sox from 2005 to 2011, said he was regularly received a shot of Toradol, a legal anti-inflammatory drug whose use has become increasingly controversial in sports.

The closer said he could not recall who introduced him to Toradol and the exact year he started using it. In his own estimate, Papelbon said he started using it in 2007 when the Red Sox won the World Series.

"It was kind of a word-of-mouth thing," Papelbon said. "You got in the clubhouse and said, 'Man, I feel like crap,' and somebody would say, 'Oh, you should get a Toradol shot.' All players talk about what gets you through a 162-game season."

Papelbon never saw another player get injected, but he is convinced that many teammates were using Toradol back then.

"It made me feel better. You had to get it about 30 minutes before a game, and it made me feel pretty damn good. It only lasted about four hours maximum. But I never saw anyone else get injected -- that's the God's honest truth," he said.

Papelbon said he stopped using Toradol when he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as a free agent after the 2011 season.

"They told me, 'We don't do that here.' That kind of surprised me," Papelbon said. "I haven't had a single Toradol shot since".

However, Papelbon emphasized that every sport use Toradol, including football, basketball and hockey.

"But here's the thing you have to understand. There are so many organizations that do it…It's not just the Red Sox," he clarified.

A Red Sox official, speaking on condition of anonymity, admitted that Toradol is used by Red Sox pitchers before their start.

The official also said the club was in full compliance last year with the legal stipulation that only a doctor inject the medication.

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Papelbon Claims Red Sox Injected Players with Toradol