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DRUG TESTING & NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE.
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Essay Subject:
Confidentiality, racial issue, effectiveness, types of drugs, impact on performance, punishment. Outline.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Confidentiality, racial issue, effectiveness, types of drugs, impact on performance, punishment. Outline.

Paper Introduction:
Outline I. Introduction A. Drug Testing and the Organizational Entity B. Salient Issues concerning Professional Football and Drug Testing II. Aspects of Drug Testing and the NFL A. The Drugs and their Effects - recreational drugs - performance-enhancing drugs B. Approaches to Drug Testing - public relations emphasis

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Positive Application of Drug Testing B. Once these players havebeen identified, the key question becomes, how should this information beused? This should be the ultimate justification for NFLdrug testing. This practice is utilizedfor two reasons: One, to magnify the deterrent effect of drug testing byexposing players who test positive to public humiliation and censure. Recreational drugs are used simply to stimulate pleasure, relieveanxiety, and eliminate physical pain. This issue is unique becauseit provides the league with a troubling dilemma. The problem occurs indeciding which of these aspects the League chooses to emphasize. The NFL's drug testing program has the potential to actually improvethe lives of its players by alerting them to potential health risks whichmay be associated with performance-enhancing drugs, and by providingadequate therapy for those who have chemical dependencies related torecreational drugs. For example, as soon as league officials publicize aplayer's suspension, that player's confidentiality has been violated. The NFL, which has already implemented anorganization-wide drug testing program has been examined and analyzed as acase study. In principle, the League argues that its drug testing programdoes all these things, and in fact, it does. Some of the key issues facing drug testing in the NFL have beenaddressed; now the types of drugs which are targeted by testing will beexamined. Should it be used as a public relationstool or a way of beginning to help players recognize self-destructivetendencies? The League targets both types of drugs in itstesting program; however, an emphasis is placed on the detection ofrecreational drugs. The NFL's current public relations approach to drugtesting which emphasizes punity, public humiliation, and deterrence throughintimidation is proving highly counter-productive; the problem still existsand many fine players are getting lost in the shuffle. Some issues have moral and legal implications, such as theissues of civil liberties and right to privacy. The types of drugs which the NFL tests for can be placed into twobroad and distinct categories: recreational drugs and performance-enhancingdrugs. By virtue of the factthat most NFL players are highly public figures, upon suspension for druguse the media is alerted that the suspended player must have a chemicaldependency problem. The League's motivation for their brass-knuckles drug policy1 is to"clean up" the image of the NFL, which League officials believe is beingincreasingly tarnished by drug-related scandals involving various players.It cannot be denied that professional football players are high-profilepublic figures who are frequently looked up to, particularly by youth, asrole models. In order for the NFL's drug testing program to become a productivemechanism, all forces within the League--players, coaches, management, andLeague officials/administrators--must work together on shifting theemphasis of the program from public relations to player health and safety.By employing independent testing firms, honoring player confidentiality,providing a qualified staff of physicians and substance-abuse counselors,and finally, by coaches and management actively discouraging the use ofperformance-enhancing drugs, the NFL will experience a much greater rate ofsuccess in eradicating the use of drugs in professional football. Introduction A. Endnotes1Richard Demak and Jerry Kirshenbaum, "The NFL Fails its Drug Test," Sports Illustrated 71 (July 1 , 1989): 38.2"NFL Drug Problem Faces Allegations of Racism," Jet 77 (February 12, 199 ): 46.3Lyle Alzado and Shelly Smith, "I'm Sick and I'm Scared," Sports Illustrated 75 (July 8, 1991): 2 .4"Was the X Factor a Factor?" Sports Illustrated 7 (April 3, 1989): 34.5Demak and Kirshenbaum, 4 .6Ibid., 47.7"Was the X Factor a Factor?" Sports Illustrated 7 (April 3, 1989): 34.8Alzado and Smith, 2 .9"A Doctor's Warning Ignored" Sports Illustrated 75 (July 8, 1991): 21.1 Demak and Kirshenbaum, 4 . "The NFL Fails its Drug Test,"Sports Illustrated 71 (July 1 , 1989): 38-5 ."NFL Drug Problem Faces Allegations of Racism," Jet 77 (February 12, 199 ): 46-48."Was the X Factor a Factor?" Sports Illustrated 7 (April 3, 1989): 34.----------------------- 3 There are several detailed issues which surround the drug testingcontroversy. The consequences for a positive cocaine or marijuanatest are significantly more harsh than a positive test for any type ofperformance-enhancing drug. One of the issues which is particularly salient in the NFL's drugtesting program is the confidentiality issue. The Drugs and their Effects - recreational drugs - performance-enhancing drugs B. This atmosphere of volatility can best be illustrated by examiningan organization which has already implemented a drug testing program. Conclusions A. We know that growth hormones have cancer-growingability".9 The two broad categories of drugs, specific drugs, the effects ofthese drugs on individual players, and the emphasis of League testing haveall been addressed. In an effort to preserve the NFL's polished public image, thetrue problem which the NFL drug testing program has been designed to solveis in effect compounded; i.e., players are being publicly humiliated andsuspended and they are not receiving adequate care for their problems ofchemical dependency or other types of long term health problems. Should drug testing be viewed as a punitive mechanism or the firststep of a therapeutic process? Salient Issues concerning Professional Football and DrugTestingII. OutlineI. TheNational Football League has had a drug testing program in effect since1982.1 During the past ten years, the NFL has experienced many trials andtribulations which have been associated with their fledgling drug testingprogram. There is no doubt that drug testing can be a useful and effectivetool for identifying players who are using drugs. This typeof public image is not conducive to ticket sales or commercial televisionsponsorship. Alzado's physician, Dr. RobertHuizenga who was also one of the Los Angeles Raiders' team doctors from1983 to 199 , clearly states, "We know anabolic steroids have cancer-forming abilities. It was not until 1989, seven years aftertesting began, that the League implemented an official policy forpenalizing steroid users.4 It is also instructive to note that in the 1986and 1987 seasons the number of NFL players which tested positive forrecreational drugs never exceeded 1.8%5, while the rate for performance-enhancing drugs exceeded 6% according to League records.6 According tocurrent and former players' estimates this figure is closer to 4 %, as ofthe 1989 season.6 The tie which binds recreational and performance-enhancing drugs istheir ability to inflict players with severe physiological andpsychological damage. Drugtesting also involves technical issues such as a means of effectivelystoring and transporting test samples and determining standardizedmetabolite levels (this term refers to the amount of a given drug which isfound in a person's system). Drug Testing and the Organizational Entity B. The ill effects of recreational drugs on the body and mindare well documented; however, the devastating consequences which may beassociated with performance-enhancing drugs are just now being discoveredand addressed. The League views each player as an individual reflection ofthe entire organization; therefore, if individual players do not conform tothe social and legal norms of society it appears to the public (or at leastto League officials) that the entire NFL is corrupt and amoral. The second type of drug is usedsolely to increase athletic performance through maximized hormone inputresulting in rapid construction of desired muscle mass. Concern for player safety and well-being are secondary considerations. The NFL as a Case Study in Organizational Drug Testing The NFL and Approaches to Drug Testing Drug testing in the work place has become an extremely volatileissue. Some players and several journalists have unceasingly assailedthe program with criticism, but in spite of its critics the program doesseem to be achieving some positive results. Now the focus of this paper will shift to therationale behind League testing policies and practices, and alternatives tothe existing policies will also be suggested. TheLeague places its strongest emphasis on the punitive and public relationsaspects of its drug testing program. It has also been asserted which approaches seem to be mosteffective, and why they are effective. The NFL's drug testing programhas proven itself useful in two significant ways: 1) it has shown thatvarious organizational approaches can be used concerning drug testing, and2) it has shown which of these approaches are most useful. Works Cited"A Doctor's Warning Ignored," Sports Illustrated 75 (July 8, 1991):21-23.Alzado, Lyle and Smith, Shelly. Two cases in point are: Steve Courson, former offensiveguard of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who now has dilated cardiomyopathy (atype of heart dysfunction)7, and the more recent case of Lyle Alzado whonow has brain cancer.8 Both of these former players and their physiciansattribute these illnesses largely to the extensive use of anabolic steroidsand other performance-enhancing drugs. Examples ofperformance-enhancing drugs are anabolic steroids and human growth hormone(HGH).3 These two categories of drugs are not only distinct in their uses andeffects but they are also distinct because of how they are characterizedand monitored by the League. Thispractice of releasing players' names to the media is very unethical,bordering on illegal, so why does the NFL do it? While the NFL's testing program hasmany deficiencies and is in need of reform and amelioration, it hasprovided itself and other organizations with valuable informationconcerning the obstacles, pitfalls, and the plethora of complex issueswhich must be considered when trying to run an effective and useful drugtesting program. Two,to satisfy the public relations aspect of drug testing by showing that "badseeds" of the NFL can be identified and weeded out. Approaches to Drug Testing - public relations emphasis - individual health and safety emphasisIII. These fundamental issuesare not limited to drug testing in professional football but are alsoapplicable to the larger question of drug testing in the work place. In the year 199 , eightypercent of the players who were suspended from league play were black; butGene Upshaw, Executive Director of the National Football League's PlayersAssociation who is a black former player himself, said that the drugtesting program in the NFL is inefficient, but not racially biased.2Apparently this issue was perpetrated by Washington D.C.'s local media, andsubstantiated by three former white players who tested positive for cocainebut were not suspended or publicly censured. Through this detailed analysis we have found that there arevarious approaches which can be used in an organizational drug testingprogram. "I'm Sick and I'm Scared," Sports Illustrated 75 (July 8, 1991): 2 -27.Demak, Richard and Kirshenbaum, Jerry. Examples of recreational drugsinclude, but are not limited to, marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, and variousprescription and over-the-counter drugs. A final issue which merits at least cursory examination is the issueof racial bias in the NFL's drug testing program. Aspects of Drug Testing and the NFL A. This paper strongly asserts that drug testing can be an extremelyuseful and productive tool for helping individuals identify problems ofchemical dependency and alerting them to potential health risks associatedwith certain types of drugs.

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