RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
NPR's Tom Goldman has more.
TOM GOLDMAN: Clemens' lawyer, Rusty Hardin, knew what people were thinking. If Clemens really were innocent, why wouldn't he come out and say it himself right away? So yesterday, Hardin explained, it was he who muzzled Clemens.
RUSTY HARDIN: I understand you all wanted instant denials. But as is real clear, this is an issue that has implications not just for his reputation and his career as he goes into the sunset, but for his human jeopardy. Why in the world would we want to start talking to anyone before we, the people advising him, were totally comfortable?
GOLDMAN: Unidentified Man: 1998 you were 16-6 and you go 14-0. Do you feel the need to tell your side of that story for the...
ROGER CLEMENS: Let me just stop you right there. This is not about records and heroes and numbers. I could give a rat's (bleep) about that. This is about my health. I have always been concerned about my health, what I put in my body. Okay?
GOLDMAN: It was a much more subdued Clemens earlier in the press conference on tape. Hardin played a recording he'd made last week of a phone conversation between McNamee and Clemens, who speaks first.
(SOUNDBITE OF RECORDING)
CLEMENS: Like I said, I'm numb. My family's numb.
MCNAMEE: I know that. I know that.
CLEMENS: Like I said, I'll fly out tomorrow to talk to you face to face, whatever you want me to do. What do you want me to do?
GOLDMAN: Tom Goldman, NPR News.