Drug Abuse In The Nfl Essay Research

Drug Abuse In The Nfl Essay, Research Paper

The National Football League and Drug Abuse

It’s nothing new for the National Football League’s players to be abusing anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. Drug abuse in the league has recently focused around recreational drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol. The newest drug being abused is painkillers. The commissioner and his personal need to change their policies. Will they wait until many more players start to die before they tighten up their drug policies. The National Football League (NFL) can stop most of these drug problems by having more random drug tests given, enforcing stricter punishments when players are caught using drugs, and requiring every team to educate its players annually on the effects and consequences of all drugs.

The number of players abusing drugs in the NFL is increasing every year (www.cbs.sportsline.com). This is concerning because it seems like more and more players each year get caught either using drugs, or being involved in some kind of drug activity. The only drug being used that is on the decline is anabolic steroids. This decline is due to several players in the 1970’s and 80’s dying before they could see their kids make it to high school. The first player to publicly come clean about being addicted to drugs was Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson. He was a Dallas Cowboys linebacker who played in three Super Bowls. He told the world about his addiction in 1981. He claims that a player using cocaine and marijuana was very uncommon at his rookie season. The more he played, the more drugs he began to take. He claims that since he came clean, the problems have been getting worse. More and more players keep doing drugs even after they hear of players having drug problems. If these problems keep getting worse, there could be major implications of young athletes all over the world.

Professional athletes with drug addictions are a major problem because these players are role models for young athletes all around the world. Many children see their idols getting caught using drugs and alcohol. This causes them to think that if their favorite player is using that drug, well then they should be using drugs also. (Nattiv and Puffer). There would be less young athletes experiencing with these dangerous drugs if the players would spend more time talking about the negative side of drugs. All the blame cannot be pinned on the players only. The NFL itself and its high officials are also to blame. If they would take action and acknowledge the drug problems, they could help the players stay away from these potentially fatal mistakes. If other corporation’s (except alcohol and tobacco companies) were leading children towards drugs and alcohol, they would probably do anything they could to prevent that from happening.

Major corporation’s require drug tests for people applying for a job position. This is a good way for companies to make sure they don’t hire employees with substance abuse problems. Hiring people with substance abuse problems is common in the NFL. This is concerning because the NFL requires a drug test for all players entering the league. Collegiate players entering the draft are tested before they can become eligible for the NFL. If a person applying for a corporate position gets caught with drugs in his system, they will be dismissed as a candidate for the job they were applying for. This is true for most corporations in America, but this is not true in the NFL. If a player entering the NFL draft is caught with drugs in his system, they only go down a few places in the draft. Many players each year are found to have traces of drugs in their bodies. The most famous collegiate player to get caught with drugs in their system is Warren Sapp. Sapp was supposed to be chosen in the top five of the NFL draft in 1995. In his drug test, traces of cocaine and marijuana were found (Price 50). Instead of being drafted in the top five, he was drafted in the top ten. A team used its number one draft choice (the player they thought would help their team out the best) on a known drug user. Any corporation in America would not hire a drug user to fill a major executive position. If a team decides to choose a player like Sapp, they need to monitor his drug abuse and test him until they are absolutely positive he is clean.

The NFL needs to test its players more. They also need to give random drug tests to all the players throughout the year. If the players have not been caught for drugs in the annual urine screening in training camp, that is probably the only time they will have to be tested all year (Adams 19). The player’s know they are tested in the pre-season so they can prepare themselves to pass the test. If they knew sometime during the year they were going to get tested, they would be forced to stop using drugs during the season. If not random tests during the entire season, the NFL should test its player’s quarterly. This would cause players to limit their drug use during the season to a minimal amount. This sounds like a good idea, but is testing the players that often really fair.

Testing the players more often would probably reduce the players using drugs. Testing people for all jobs annually would reduce the amount of drug users in society. That is not fair and not constitutional either. During an interview with John Mobley, a player for t