NFL Substance Abuse Report

The NFL suspends its players without pay for any use of illegal substances based on the number of offenses and the suspensions are four games, eight games, and one full season suspension (Dolich, 2013). Each league has improved its policies in recent years, but the support for increased and better testing continues to grow. The MLB can require players to provide blood samples and the NFL had talks of taking blood samples during training camp in order to test for Human Growth Hormone (HGH), but the NBA and NHL have not applied these procedures in their programs (Calcaterra, 2013).

The spectator of this sport has an obligation to the players of the sport, to make sure that the organization is protecting and looking out for them. Yet not only should the viewer be held accountable for the lack of communication in consequences between the player and the pro scene, but the organization of the NFL needs to make sure that their players have a full understanding of what is going on and how they need to protect the players. The current situation that is understood, contents contain implied knowledge that all parties of this table are in uniform knowledge and agreement to what comes of playing football. Finally, this should also happen at the youth level when kids are just getting into the sport, as it would better inform the parents and the kid if they understood the full

Athletes get caught doping in a multitude of ways, most commonly via a drug test. Although most athletes get caught by a drug test, some of the big time athletes like Alex Rodriguez get caught by word of mouth, meaning one too many people knew what he was doing and it eventually came out and he is now

The NFL has decided not to directly address the mental health problems of current and former players in fear of negative publicity and financial consequences league wide. Also, they have not compensated players for their injuries or put in enough time or effort to improve the conditions for players. These things are deemed unethical, because in a sense by being injured, these players are being stripped of their freedom to do things the way that they want. Also, the NFL is putting the greed for money over the health and well being of the community.

An increasingly popular topic in the realm of sports fans has begun to unravel. The National Football League recently has begun to introduce new rules and regulations for their athletes to start abiding by to ensure the continued safety of the player’s health. Although most find this change in the game of professional football as a positive step forward, others see this as a diminishment of the sanctity of NFL football. New rules and regulations that have been introduced into NFL are vital to athletes involved in the sport and help them to play with lowered risks of long term injuries that could possibly affect not only them but also the league in the future as well. The reasons for these

The problem with the NFL not fining its players for PED use it makes the league seem soft. They only give the players a four game suspension which doesn’t help them learn anything for the use of PEDs. The players in the NFL now get away without being caught because they are looking for other drugs too, and the players that are caught is very few because of all the other tests going on. This is relevant today because it affects everyone in the US that watches the sport and makes them want to stop watching it, when the people stop watching the NFL loses money from that, so intern everyone loses out on the players using steroids. With the use of PEDs spreading throughout the NFL it seems like a good idea to start teaching all the rookies early about how fast the use of steroids can to do a players career after some time. With the NFL getting new players every year, some of them seem to pick up on veteran players habits for instance they use steroids to make themselves bigger and better like the older players they look up to.

The use of illegal substances is rapidly increasing in the college sports due to the expansion of supplements used by athletes that are being banned. In a study done, athletes were asked if illicit drugs would negatively impact their performance. Majority of them responded “yes”, their main reasoning being; the effects of illicit drugs were both mental and physically damaging. Illicit drugs come in many forms, but the testing procedures are all the same for any substance. There is almost always a consequence with the use of prohibited substances. Drug testing is appropriate to help ensure the safety of student athletes while they participate in intercollegiate contests. (Krotee, M 555).

Just imagine being 21-year-old making millions of dollars, many athletes can not handle the amount of money that comes their way. These young athletes spend their money on drugs and alcohol. Look at Johnny Manziel a 23-year-old football player. When the money came his way, he became a notorious partier, drugs, alcohol and parties took over his life. His lifestyle caused the Cleveland Browns to release him. Many athletes’ careers are ruined because of their lifestyle; Drugs, alcohol and parties take over their lives. This bad lifestyle all starts off in college where binge drinking, drug use are the norms for an athlete. Many college sports teams and many fraternities and sororities team up and throw wild parties every weekend. “It is reported that up to 70% of college athletes take part in binge drinking and 47% smoke cannabis.” (Verger,2003). Last season the NFL suspended 26 players for abusing the substance abuse policy, of the twenty-six twenty-five were suspended for smoking marijuana. The average age of the players was 24.6 years old. Most players leave college to play in the NFL when they're 20-22 years old. This means that bad lifestyle habits are in fact carrying over into the NFL from college, It is not only from college I would have to worry about the lifestyle, many ex-NFL players are addicted to painkillers and other drugs to cope with the pain from playing. “Up to 70% of players have taken opium or another pain killer without a prescription to deal with the physical pain from playing.” (Strain, 2011) Many players develop a dependence on opioid once their careers are over to cope with the pain. The combination of numerous hits to the body and post career drug use means that the average lifespan of an NFL player is “55 years,”(Maki, 2012) while the average life expectancy in Canada is 81 years. Every hit adds up. To have a long

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

In Dylan Bennett's article, The NFL Drugs policy came into effect in 1971 but it was not really in forced. Until 1989 when Regan had the "war on drugs" going on. This NFL Drugs policy has a strict no drug policy and it still used in today's NFL. The NFL's policy for drugs is that if a player has 35 NG/ML in his system which to the NFL is contact high there are punished. For the first time an athlete fails a drug test in the NFL they are "referred to the league's abuse program" (8). And that is stage one of the NFL's drug policy. The second stage leads to a two-game fine of the players pay, and then a four-game suspension of the player's pay. In the second stage is a two-game suspension, then it increases to a four-game suspension, and if the

Personal conduct in the NFL, National Football League, is an issue that is starting to spiral out of control. Late September, 2014, “the league [had] suspended at least 20 players for actions including assault, substance abuse and use of performance-enhancing drugs” (White); this was only a few weeks into the regular season of play for the league. The NFL has grown enormously since it was founded on August 20, 1920 in Canton, Ohio. But, this league has become more and more lenient with its players and personnel. Many professional athletes in the NFL receive special treatment regardless of their improper actions, thus allowing them to elude the consequences and in turn setting a misleading example for their young fans. In order

Since much of a player’s life is manage by his team, whenever a player obtains an injury, all of the player’s medical treatments are handled by the team and the team doctor. Furthermore, the organization is required to report that an injury has occurred and the type of injury. The doctors responsible for treating the players should be focused on regaining the player’s health and strength so the player can continue with his life and football career as quick as possible with no long term effects. However, this idea does not seem to be a reality among NFL teams. Many NFL doctors have been obeying the directions of the same stingy owners that neglected Dexter Manley. With this direction, NFL doctors have been losing sight of any concept of ethics, and the doctors have been aiming to get the players back on the field as soon as possible. This aim does not solely affect the treatment of players, but also the reporting of injuries. For example, Calvin Johnson, an All-Pro wide receiver and future Hall of Famer for the Lions, could not even count the number of concussions he has had. In fact, when he was asked about whether or not he had an exact number he answered “It’s simple to get a concussion, you know. … I don’t know how many I’ve had over my career, you know, but I’ve definitely had my fair share” (qtd in “Calvin Johnson’s Retirement”).

I found the research on EBSCO host. He reflects on how performance enhancing drugs affected him and a lot of people in his life. In addition to his use of performance enhancing drugs, he blames his deadly disease of cancer on the drugs. Stakeholder #2 is the college athlete and my research came from Sport Illustrated article “The Nightmare of Steroids” written by Tommy Chaikin and Rick Telander. The research was found on EBSCO host. The article is about how performance enhancing drugs told over a college athlete’s life by driving him to violence and almost too committing suicide. The governing body of college football The National Collegiate Athletic Association is stakeholder #3. The article I used is “N.C.A.A Stiffens Drug Penalties and Expands Testing in Football” written by William C. Rhoden from the New York Times. This research was found on EBSCO host. The article deals with why drug penalties and expanding testing had to be made in football. The year round testing is being tried in football first then will process to other college sports. Football was chosen first for the year round drug testing because of the prominent coverage of performance enhancing drugs being used in football. Finally something needed to be done because of the threat to the athlete and fair play in sports from the use of performance enhancing drugs. The fan is stakeholder #4 and I got research from two articles one is “Steroid Suspicions

Unfortunately, maintaining this "machine" often meant that athletes would use drugs such as amphetamines, barbiturates, steroids, or cortisone injections not for the purpose of treatment and cure, but for the purpose of stimulating the mind and body in order to perform more violently as a professional. (Meggyesy, 1970) The prevalence of these drugs in the NFL could be seen in Meggyesy's words, "Most NFL trainers do more dealing in these drugs than the average junky." (Meggyesy, 1970, p. 83)

Did you know that there are many pro athletes participating in sports today that are getting away with drug use. In fact it is estimated that 95% of players in the NFL use a performance enhancing drug such as Steroids.