Crackdown on Abusers Puts NFL on the Spot

If all goes well, Ram tailback Charles White will return from his 30-day suspension for substance abuse--beer, White says--on Oct. 7, just nine days before his team’s balloting for the annual NFL lineman-of-the-year award sponsored by Lite beer.

There seems to be a paradox in the National Football League these days, particularly in the wake of White’s suspension. On the one hand, the NFL has cracked down on drug and alcohol abusers this season. On the other, it is substantially supported by advertising profits from the alcohol industry.

White’s suspension for alleged alcohol abuse left some Rams scratching their heads Thursday.

“Is it a contradiction?” linebacker Mel Owens asked. “That’s a good question. That’s just the rule of the league. They’re running it, and we’re running around in it.”

White said Wednesday night that he didn’t know that alcohol was considered among the substances whose abuse could lead to his suspension.

However, the penalties for alcohol abuse, particularly for past substance offenders such as White, are clearly defined in the league’s statement on drug policy, copies of which are distributed to each player before the season.

The league, in fact, states that although alcohol is legal and not a prohibited substance in moderate quantities, it is “without question the most abused drug in our sport. . . . If a urine testing reveals an unusually high concentration (above 40 mg/dl at the time of testing) . . . (the player) will be subject to reasonable-cause urine testing . . . in addition to whatever disciplinary action the Commissioner may deem appropriate.”

The NFL also prohibits players from endorsing alcoholic products. Alcoholic beverages, including champagne-popping ceremonies after Super Bowl wins, are also banned in NFL locker rooms.

Yet, a recent article in Sports inc. magazine reported that Budweiser will sponsor 18 of the 28 NFL teams’ telecasts this year.

“We’re living in the reality of the economy,” Jim Heffernan, the NFL’s director of public relations, said Thursday. And that reality, he said, is that more than 60% of each team’s profits comes directly from television revenues.

“The time is sold to the networks,” Heffernan said. “We realize who sponsors our games. But it’s their choice. There’s no question, these people help keep our league in operation. They pay a lot of our salaries.”

Heffernan said the league deals with an uncomfortable situation as best it can. He said the NFL contributed more than $1 million to the drug program last year, a program designed to help individuals with drug and alcohol problems.

And there apparently is a connection between alcohol and drug problems.

White admitted that alcohol was the trigger in his cocaine relapse last year. New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor, among the 17 NFL players who have been suspended for 30 days so far this summer, admitted recently that his recent return to cocaine started with a few beers.

“I can’t say how many patients I’ve seen that say they don’t use cocaine until they start drinking,” Dr. Ted Williams, medical director of CareUnit in Orange, said.

The difference, of course, is that one substance is legal, the other isn’t. Yet use of one may lead to use of the other.”

For problem abusers, alcohol’s widespread influence in society remains the ultimate tease, Williams said.

“The advertising is subtle, that’s the thing that bothers me,” he said. “It isn’t just that our beer tastes good, it’s that beer is our reward after a hard day’s work. You can’t have fun without drinking, it’s the macho thing to do. Except with our patients, and it’s the rule more than the exception, is that they don’t know how to have fun without drinking.”

And what of the league’s role as image shapers?

Last year’s Lite beer defensive lineman of the year was Buffalo’s Bruce Smith, currently serving his 30-day suspension for substance abuse.

Some lessons come hard, as Charles White, a CareUnit graduate, can attest.

Greg Bell, White’s replacement at tailback, said he sometimes resents his role in alcohol’s unique partnership with the NFL.

Bell, a non-smoker and non-drinker, won the Seagrams Sports Award as the NFL’s top rookie in 1984. Seagrams is a brand of whiskey.

“I never acknowledged the award,” Bell said.

Some players said White’s suspension changed their thinking about alcohol.

“Before, players didn’t realize the seriousness of the program,” LeRoy Irvin said. “Now we know that alcohol use is not recommended. So it’s orange juice, no vodka. Sorry, Smirnoff.”

Other Rams viewed White as a unique case because of his previous drug problems.

“They’re only testing if they have a reason to think you’re abusing something,” guard Tom Newberry said. “They’re not just testing you randomly to see if you had a beer.”

Receiver Michael Young agreed: “We’re talking about abuse, not use. You have to agree with the rule if someone is abusing.”

It became clear Thursday that White had been abusing. For White to reach the levels necessary to be suspended would have taken more than drinking “a few beers,” as White claimed Wednesday night.

Coach John Robinson confirmed that fact.

“It wasn’t a one-beer thing,” Robinson said. “It was, though, a one-time episode.”

Robinson again voiced his support of the NFL’s efforts in combatting a serious problem.

“The league is clearly stating that the continued use of drugs just won’t be tolerated,” he said. “Once you establish an episode with drugs, you are, in effect, a parolee. You lose some of your rights.”

White, of course, has a history of cocaine problems and was arrested for misdemeanor charges of being under the influence of a foreign substance in August 1987.

He has been tested by the league three times weekly for more than a year now. According to the team, he tested positive for alcohol during one of his regular tests at training camp in August.

“I’m disappointed this happened,” Robinson said. “But Charlie’s had a lot of good days. He’ll never escape this. It’s a life-long thing.”

Ram Notes

Donald Evans, the Rams’ second-round pick in 1987, was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles. Evans was released by the Rams last week after an unsuccessful attempt to switch him from defensive end to fullback. He will be used as a defensive end by the Eagles. . . . Coach John Robinson said he will not immediately fill Charles White’s spot on the roster. Greg Bell will start at tailback Sunday against the Detroit Lions, with rookie Gaston Green backing him up. Robinson said the Rams will try to sign another running back next week. . . . More than 21,000 tickets remained available for Sunday’s game, meaning that the local blackout won’t be lifted.