NYT: N.F.L. Is Seeking Tougher Steroid Rules

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N.F.L. Is Seeking Tougher Steroid Rules
By VIV BERNSTEIN

Published: March 30, 2005


The National Football League said yesterday that it wanted to make its steroids policy more stringent and would seek a meeting with the players union to change the agreement on testing procedures.

The decision comes amid reports that three members of the Carolina Panthers team that reached the 2004 Super Bowl received prescriptions for banned steroids weeks before the game.

The starting center Jeff Mitchell, the former starting left tackle Todd Steussie and punter Todd Sauerbrun were implicated in a "60 Minutes Wednesday" report that will be telecast tonight on CBS. The report stems from a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation of Dr. James Shortt, a West Columbia, S.C., physician accused of prescribing steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. The three Panthers are witnesses to the investigation of Shortt but not prime targets, Panthers General Manager Marty Hurney said.

The N.F.L. spokesman Greg Aiello said in a telephone interview yesterday that the N.F.L.'s pursuit of a tougher policy had no correlation to the investigation.

He said the league was following the Olympics' lead in stiffening standards at which an athlete tests positive. The N.F.L. has been lauded in recent years for its commitment to steroid testing, particularly in comparison with Major League Baseball, which has been criticized for weak policies and whose testing program was the subject of a recent Congressional hearing. Aiello said he did not believe the N.F.L. had a widespread steroid problem. When asked how easy it was for a player to use steroids and not get caught, he said: "It's very difficult based on the program we have, and you can talk to the union and the players. We catch players and we suspend them, and that's the deterrent."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/sports/football/30panthers.html