A congress committee set up to check the use of steroids in sports praised the efforts made by National Football League (NFL) for curbing the menace. It, however, expressed its dissatisfaction with the penalties for steroid use to NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue.
The House Government Reform Committee, calling NFL’s policies ‘a breath of fresh air’, has plans to recommend a uniform testing policy for all sports leagues.
But commissioner Tagliabue is not supportive of this suggestion. On being asked how average Americans seeing the ‘size, strength and speed of today’s NFL linebackers’ not conclude that they were using steroids, he said, “We don’t feel that there is rampant cheating in our sport. When it comes to process and other considerations, including discipline, we can deal with our own sport better than a uniform standard, which in many cases can become the lowest common denominator.”
The NFL, who started testing for steroids in 1987, revised the policy in 1989 to add bans, and started the system of all year long random testing in 1990. So far, it has suspended 54 players for testing positive. A first time offender is banned for four subsequent games.
Earlier, the committee had pulled up Major League Baseball (MLB) for its steroids policy. MLB commissioner Bud Selig was given a dressing down for his lackadaisical policies. “With all due respect, the commissioner of baseball hadn’t even read the document that he had given us,” said Christopher Shays, a Republican from Connecticut.
After NFL, it is National Basketball Association’s (NBA) turn to face the committee. NBA commissioner David Stern, however, already has plans to strengthen the testing practices of the association.
“I don’t know how the public feels about this, but I think members are pretty united on this. It’s a huge issue, and it needs to be taken care of. That’s why it’s important consulting with the NFL, Major League Baseball – we’ll be doing the NBA next – talking about what their policies are so we don’t do something stupid as we implement it,” said Tom Davis, chairman of the committee.
While the NBA has a policy of banning positive players for five games, the National Hockey League has no system of testing players for steroids.
