WLAF Dragons Waive Voorhees at His Request

Out on bail and awaiting appeal of a drug trafficking conviction, Barry Voorhees thought he could continue his career as a professional football player in Europe.

This week, he learned otherwise.

Voorhees, a former Cal State Northridge star, was put on waivers late Monday by the Barcelona Dragons of the World League of American Football.

Dragon officials say Voorhees was released at his own request. They say the 6-foot-5, 302-pound offensive lineman asked to be traded to one of the WLAF’s six American teams on March 16, less than 24 hours after arriving in Spain. When no trade could be arranged, Voorhees asked to be released.

“Barry came to us and requested to either be traded or released for two reasons,” Dragon Coach Jack Bicknell said. “One, he said his mother was ill--that she had a serious disease and needed his help. And two, that he had some personal problems that had come up in the press which he needed to be in the U.S. to take care of.”

In Los Angeles, a call to Voorhees’ mother was returned by his attorney, who said he had not been aware of Voorhees’ release by the Dragons.

Both the WLAF and Dragon officials said they were unaware of the extent of Voorhees’ troubled past. An all-WLAF second-team selection at guard last season Voorhees, 28, is a convicted cocaine dealer who also dealt in steroids, amassing a small empire in the late 1980s that included real estate and several expensive vehicles. He was sentenced to four years in prison for drug trafficking on Dec. 17, 1990--the charge that Voorhees is appealing--and has been subpoenaed to testify at the trial of a West Los Angeles steroid distributor on June 23.

A story in The Times last Wednesday, large portions of which were reprinted in the Spanish press, spelled it all out.

“The first I ever heard of it was when somebody faxed me the article,” said Joe Bailey, the WLAF’s chief operating officer. “We have no provision against somebody playing in the league when they are appealing a court ruling, so we wouldn’t have been able to stop (Voorhees) from playing, anyway. We can’t take his passport away. But I can safely say I was very surprised.”

Jack Teele, Dragon general manager, added: “I was stunned. When I read the article, I thought, ‘Do I know this guy?’ Barry was always a model citizen with us.”

Voorhees started at right guard and played the entire game Saturday in the Dragons’ 1992 season opener, a 17-0 loss to the Frankfurt Galaxy. And even though Barcelona surrendered five sacks, Bicknell said that Voorhees was not the problem.

“Heck, Barry was playing well,” Bicknell said. “Let me just say right now that the (story) had absolutely nothing to do with this decision. In fact, if I thought this kid needed my support, I would’ve kept him on the team at all costs.”

Voorhees left Spain without talking to reporters, or, in most cases, his teammates. Many were shocked by the scope of his drug-related past.

“Our hearts go out to him, but the guy has to lead his own life,” tackle Ike Harris said. “When the coach told us about it, it was a hell of a shock. We never knew anything.”

Dragon center Bobby Sign roomed with Voorhees at the team’s hotel in Sitges, a seaside resort about 20 miles south of Barcelona. Sign said that Voorhees had confided in him back in the room after the season-opener, but said that even he never got the full story.

“I just thought it was his mom that needed help,” Sign said. “Not him.”

WLAF officials say they were duped by Voorhees. Earlier this month at the Dragons’ training camp in Orlando, Fla., Voorhees met privately with Bicknell, WLAF security coordinator Larry Wansley and WLAF drug adviser Ian McDonald to discuss his history of steroid use. Voorhees acknowledged a six-week cycle of steroid use in 1988.

But Voorhees never mentioned his cocaine conviction, his armed drug deliveries to a Colombian connection or his stint as a federal informant in a sting operation against Walter F. Jekot, the alleged steroid dealer, against whom Voorhees is to testify June 23.

“We try to check these players out thoroughly, but you can never be 100% sure,” Wansley said.

There is some doubt, however, whether Voorhees was even administered a drug test this season by the WLAF. Although the league conducts random urinalyses, several Dragon officials say privately that they doubt Voorhees was picked for testing during training camp. McDonald will say only that Voorhees did not fail a drug test in 1991, and that no Barcelona player has failed one in 1992.

Although Voorhees asked to be either traded or waived the day after the team arrived here, events picked up speed once word of The Times article got out. Faxed copes of the stories began appearing in the team’s offices on March 19, after Voorhees had met briefly with Bicknell to discuss his options. After the Galaxy game, however, Bicknell and Voorhees met at 7 a.m. at the team’s hotel to discuss the story.

Twenty-four hours later, Voorhees was gone.

The episode has left Bicknell shaken.

“When we were in Orlando, Barry was happy and like his old self,” he said. “But when we got to Spain, Barry wasn’t as happy. . . . I couldn’t figure it out. And honestly, he was not himself. He was changed, and you could tell he was having some real problems. When I read the story, it was like, ‘My God, how could he possibly keep his mind on football?’

Times staff writer Mike Hiserman, in Los Angeles, contributed to this story.