NFL heads to Capitol Hill with new steroids testing policy
The NFL strengthened its program ahead of its own trip to Capitol Hill — and even that might not be enough for lawmakers already drafting a bill to mandate uniform steroid plans for all U.S. professional sports.
NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and players association chief executive Gene Upshaw planned to tell the House Government Reform Committee on Wednesday that the league is tripling the number of offseason tests players can face.
A player now will be subject to a maximum of six random drug tests during each offseason, up from two, NFL spokesman Joe Browne said Tuesday.
The league and union also recently agreed to add new substances to the list of banned performance enhancers; to put in writing previously agreed-to policies to test for designer steroids; and to lower the testosterone ratio threshold.
“For two decades, the NFL has had very strong programs in place to rid its locker rooms of performance-enhancing drugs,” Tagliabue said in remarks prepared for his testimony Wednesday and released by the league Tuesday. “We have not had all the answers, but we have worked with leading institutions and top scientists to seek to stay ahead of an ever-changing curve.”
Still, leaders of the committee — which heard from Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig on March 17 — have started working with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to draw up legislation establishing standard steroid policies, said David Marin, spokesman for chairman Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va.
“In calling for uniform standards, it will address all elements of a testing program: It will address frequency of testing, it will address a list of substances tested for, and it will address penalties,” Marin said.
The NFL began testing for steroids 15 years ago and since has suspended 54 players for four games at a time. Baseball instituted 10-day penalties for first-time steroid offenders this season. The NHL does not test players for performance-enhancing drugs, while first-time offenders are suspended for five games in the NBA.
If McCain, Davis and the Government Reform Committee’s ranking Democrat — Henry Waxman of California — do produce a bill, it wouldn’t be the first on the topic. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., introduced the Drug Free Sports Act on Tuesday, and his House Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection subcommittee scheduled a May 5 hearing.
“There is every reason to believe that most major sports have athletes using illegal steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs,” Stearns said.
His bill would have the Commerce Secretary oversee drug-testing rules and calls for a two-year suspension for a first offense and a lifetime ban for a second. Leagues that don’t comply would be fined at least $5 million.
Any such bill would be expected to face an uphill fight in a Republican-controlled Congress, given its sweeping nature and the element of government dictating how private enterprise does business.
Tagliabue and Upshaw were among 10 witnesses scheduled to appear before Davis’ panel Wednesday, including one former player, Steve Courson, an offensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1978-85. Since retiring, he has spoken out against steroid use.
The committee’s interest in the NFL increased when CBS-TV reported that Carolina Panthers punter Todd Sauerbrun and center Jeff Mitchell and former offensive lineman Todd Steussie filled testosterone cream prescriptions during the 2003 season, when the team went to the Super Bowl. Along with the cream, which is banned by the NFL, Sauerbrun also reportedly obtained syringes and the injectable steroid Stanozolol, which is banned by the league.
“There have been a lot of stories coming out recently that players have been using steroids and just not getting caught,” said Government Reform Committee member Christopher Shays, R-Conn. “The NFL has had a policy for years, so kudos to football. The questions is: Is it effective?”