Brent Musburger, the play-by-play man for some of college football's biggest games, told a group of college journalism students that professional athletes under a doctor's supervision could potentially use steroids to improve performance.

Musburger, on the lead announcing team for ABC and ESPN, told students at the University of Montana that steroids have no place in high school athletics, but they could be used in the pros under the proper care and doctor's advice.

"Here's the truth about steroids: They work," he said in a story reported by The Missoulian.

"I've had somebody say that, you know, steroids should be banned because they're not healthy for you," he told the students Tuesday. "Let's go find out. What do the doctors actually think about anabolic steroids and the use by athletes? Don't have a preconceived notion that this is right or this is wrong."

Musburger said negative stories about steroids are mainly the fault of "journalism youngsters out there covering sports (who) got too deeply involved in something they didn't know too much about."

Asked by The Associated Press to expand on his comments Wednesday, Musburger said through a publicist at ESPN that he stood by the comments he made to the students and that his main point was that "the issue of steroids belongs in the hands of doctors and not in the hands of a journalist."

Dr. Gary Wadler, who leads the committee that determines the banned-substances list for the World Anti-Doping Agency, said he was "kind of surprised Brent would make that statement."

"He's categorically wrong, and if he'd like to spend a day in my office, I can show him voluminous literature going back decades about the adverse effects of steroids," he said. "They have a legitimate role in medicine that's clearly defined. But if it's abused, it can have serious consequences."