COCAINE AND A SUPER BOWL TEAM: THE LAST STRAW : Patriots’ Action Brings a Swift Reaction : Drug Abuse by Players Is Not That Surprising Anymore, the Fans Say

The admission by New England Coach Raymond Berry that at least five and possibly a dozen of his Patriot players have serious drug problems came as little surprise to a sampling of Southland sports fans who have heard perhaps too many similar stories in recent years.

Questions about some of the other issues involved, however, provoked more varied responses.

“I’m not surprised,” said Eddie Kafafian, 52, of Los Angeles. “There’s no reason why the Patriots are any different than any other team. It seems to be a common practice these days, whether in sports or business or any field. When you make a great deal of money, you turn to new highs.”

Said Stann Findelle, 35, a Century City attorney: “It doesn’t concern me that much. But it (the Super Bowl game) sure looked like someone was on drugs.

“You don’t want to ruin something that has become a kind of national holiday. Maybe these (games) should come with a warranty.”

Frank Malfitano, 24, of Los Angeles, said: “A few more athletes on drugs doesn’t surprise me. It upsets me, but it doesn’t surprise me.”

Said Ken Booth, 29, of Lancaster: “It’s everywhere else in society, why not sports?”

Marcia Simonson, 44, of Los Angeles said that the damage has long been done. “I’m thinking all pro sports have this problem. It has gotten out of hand.”

Ira Nickerson, 61, of Van Nuys was surprised that the problem had hit the Patriots. “Yeah, I was a little surprised,” he said. “(Coach Raymond) Berry is a Mr. Clean. A dedicated guy.

“But they played kind of dopey. It really did appear the team was down in some way. They spoiled what should have been a great game.”

It’s a story that Ed Mannion, 60, of Twentynine Palms has heard before. “We almost expect it,” he said. “I’m a little surprised it was the Patriots. But, every time you pick up the paper you read something about it.

“When I was a kid, the stars in baseball and whatever, we looked up to. Now that’s gone. They are so overpaid it’s ridiculous. They should live up to what they are.”

Most of the fans contacted by The Times were in agreement that some kind of drug testing will be necessary if the NFL, and indeed all sports, is to overcome the problem.

“I think at this point mandatory testing is the thing,” Malfitano said. “If five guys are on it, 50 guys are suspected. If I drop a pass in the end zone, people will wink and say aha!

“Like any celebrity, they get the applause, the money, the groupies. It sure beats working at the 7-Eleven. Taking drugs hardly excuses their problems.”

Said Simonson: “I would think the players, for their own self-interest, should go for a plan. They should have a voluntary plan. It’s excellent.”

Nickerson, who would like to see NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle take a more active role, said: “I think Rozelle has to do something to clean it up. . . . The league has its own investigators. They’ve busted guys for gambling. Why not drugs?”

Findelle, the attorney, sees the issue from both sides. “(Mandatory testing) can be an unfair intrusion in people’s privacy. There has to be a balancing of equities.

“(Drug abuse) is very destructive to individuals, and it is unfortunate,” he said. “I like the idea (such as the NBA drug abuse program) that once they come forward and get help, they are given another shot at a career.”

Booth, who works for a defense contractor that has a drug testing program, nevertheless opposes mandatory testing. “I don’t believe in it,” he said. “You shouldn’t be tested unless it affects your performance on the job. What you do on your own time, on the weekend, is your own business. As for voluntary testing, anyone who agrees to it is either clean or very stupid.”

Did drugs have anything to do with the outcome of the Super Bowl, which the Chicago Bears won, 46-10?

“They (the Patriots) were fighting crippled,” Kafafian said.

Ernest Lusk, 64, a retired electrical engineer from La Verne, said: “I think anytime you have a drug problem, people have a right to be upset. But I’ll say it again--I don’t think it had anything to do with the outcome of the Super Bowl. Nobody was going to beat the Bears.”

Malfitano agreed. “I don’t think drugs had anything to do with (the outcome),” he said. “But if (Patriot starting quarterback Tony) Eason was involved, I might change my mind.”

Julie Ball, 25, a secretary from Pasadena, was upset about the timing of the story, saying:

“I think it’s ridiculous he (Berry) didn’t take any action against it. . . . I could see his feelings and concerns about wanting to win, but yet he’s cheapened it a bit. Integrity-wise, it’s a big minus.

“I would have liked it to come out before the Super Bowl, then we wouldn’t have heard so much about (Bear quarterback Jim) McMahon.”

But even as the story continues to unfold, one fan thinks he knows how it will end.

Said Kafafian: “The American public is very forgiving. We forget very fast and go on to the next thing. The proof of that is the baseball strike. In the long run, this will all mean nothing. It’ll be old news.”

Staff writer Scott Howard-Cooper contributed to this story.