NFL Should Be Tougher on Drug Users, Starr Says

As a National Football League player and coach for a quarter-century, Bart Starr, the Hall of Famer from Green Bay, has been a close-up witness to the American surge in drug use.

And he thinks the NFL should administer stronger punishment to players who use drugs.

“I think the league should be tougher on offenders,” he said. “It should take a harder line. A 30-day suspension--during the preseason--isn’t much of a punishment.”

Starr, whose 24-year-old son Bret died a cocaine-related death in July, said recently at his home in Arizona:

“For all practical purposes, the word (drugs) means cocaine now. Or sometimes marijuana. They were both unheard of when I came into the league. There were players who used what we called bennies and other amphetamines, but it was nothing rampant.

“Today, surveys show that more than a quarter of the U.S. population--27%--have tried cocaine. More than 58% have used marijuana.

“Trends show that one out of eight of the students who are now in high school will become addicted to drugs or alcohol. That’s more than 10% What we’re talking about is an epidemic.”

It isn’t that bad in the NFL, Starr said, but it’s bad enough. Awarding the NFL high marks for education and low marks for enforcement, he said:

“When you’re talking drugs, you don’t get the attention of a football player without the threat of expulsion.

“The fault doesn’t lie with Pete Rozelle--he’s an outstanding commissioner, the best sports commissioner we’ve had in this country--but no one man makes NFL policy in something like drugs.

“Rozelle bases his action on the advice of attorneys and owners and drug experts. My quarrel is with them.”

Specifically, Starr is opposed to letting any player off with a warning.

“When you enter the league as a rookie player, the NFL’s position on drugs is clearly stated,” he said. “It’s stated again at training camp every year. To me, that constitutes the warning.

“Then, for the first offense, there should be more than a warning. There should be a suspension. For the second offense, there should be a one-year suspension. For the third offense, he’s out.”

As in permanently.

“Of course, it takes more than the threat of punishment to fight drugs,” Starr said. “The fight starts with education and (promoting) awareness of the hazards. And no organization in the country does a better job than the NFL.

“Their clubs do just about all that could be done to upgrade the awareness of their coaches and players and to assist in counseling, detection, and how to react after detection.

“The league’s drug programs are helping. They’re working. The only thing I’d like to see strengthened is the punishment.”

Starr said drugs are more than an NFL problem.

“It’s a big national problem,” he said. “An athlete can come into the NFL as a (user), and then it’s harder to solve than if the league could start with a clean slate of (non-users).

“The league can impress (non-users) with the truth that even one experiment with drugs can lead to expulsion down the road and the loss of millions in income. A (non-user) with a million-dollar contract sees that threat very clearly.

“It’s harder to make the case when you’re talking to a football player who used drugs before he entered the NFL. His (addiction) may lead him to take foolish chances, regardless of what you say to him.”

Still, regardless of whether pro football players are drug users before they enter the NFL, Starr said they should all be challenged with the promise of early suspension and certain expulsion.

“I’m a great believer in challenges,” he said. “Challenges work. For years, Americans have responded really well when challenged to improve themselves.

“When we’re serious enough--angry enough--we react successfully to the biggest challenges, even wars and depressions. And I’m confident that when we really get serious and angry about drugs, we’ll respond effectively to that threat, too.”

Starr is sure that it’s all in the attitude.

“You can be what you choose to be,” he said. “I don’t mean to minimize the temptation of (drugs), but at the bottom, this is an attitude problem. Nobody has to choose cocaine.”