Alex Rodriguez admitted this week that he used a banned substance for three seasons, but in a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, nearly half believe the New York Yankees slugging superstar doped for a longer period of time.

In polling of 1,023 adults conducted Wednesday, 46 percent believe Rodriguez used performance-enhancing drugs in years other than 2001, 2002 and 2003; 32 percent believe Rodriguez used banned substances only in the years he said he did, and 22 percent had no opinion.

Among the 438 baseball fans in the survey, the numbers were 47 percent, 38 percent and 15 percent, respectively.

"Rodriguez is not just bearing the burden of what he might have done, but also that of everybody before him," said Harry Edwards, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. "He has all those players who went in front of Congress on his back. He has a long way to go to regain the trust, confidence and status he had with the American public."

Just 28 percent of all respondents had a favorable view of A-Rod, but one year after Roger Clemens was linked to the use of performance-enhancing drugs, 34 percent of respondents had a positive view of the seven-time Cy Young Award winner; 25 percent had a negative perception.

The numbers improved to 43 percent and 39 percent, respectively, among baseball fans.

But Clemens and Rodriguez fared better in two measures than Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time home run king who goes on trial next month for allegedly lying to a federal grand jury about steroid use.

Bonds' favorability rating was just 23 percent among all respondents and 27 percent among fans. He also fared worst among fans asked if he should be voted into the Hall of Fame.

Just 35 percent think Bonds should be elected to the Hall, compared to 47 percent for Rodriguez and 50 percent for Clemens.