He's not backing away from the fact that he fucked up. His first paragraph is him taking responsibility for that and not blaming anyone else but himself.

He explains the entire situation. Not that he had to go to a bar to get a drink, not that he had to cop some malt liquor. He had drinks on the team plane after the season was over. He thought his suspension ended when his season ended. He admitted he was wrong entirely.

The thing he's doing is pointing out to the outrage (especially at Charles, CC and Stephen A.) that they actually "care" about him, when he's barely ever met them. He's also disputing the fact that he's an alcoholic or has a drug problem (which are VERY STRONG accusations).

To say he's trying to skirt responsibility for him making a mistake is cats not reading what he said.