NFL Steroid Policy 'Not Perfect'

House Committee Praises Tougher Testing Policy, But Still May Act

(CBS/AP) 
Courson delivered his statement to dozens of empty chairs: Only one member of the committee was present, because others left for a floor vote. Later, when asked by Waxman what percentage of pro football players use steroids today, Courson said: "That would be very hard for me to determine. I've been out of the game for 20 years."

"We will never — because of both institutional and individual denial — know ... the extent of steroid use in football," Courson said.

Fuss added that the committee was also told that a widespread cultural message in youth and pro sports that winning is everything is feeding steroid abuse.

Arizona High School Coach Bobby Barnes testified that he got grief from parents when he kicked 10 players off his team because they were using steroids.

Willie Stewart, the Head Football Coach at Anacostia High School in Washington D.C., added that he had two players he suspected of using steroids and one just died.

Baseball banned steroids in September 2002 and instituted mandatory 10-day suspensions this season. The National Hockey League does not test players for performance-enhancing drugs, while first-time offenders are suspended for five games in the National Basketball Association.

In the NFL, a first positive test draws a four-game ban — a quarter of the season — and a second gets a six-game suspension. Only two players failed tests twice, and they both retired.

"It's a policy with tough penalties that's getting tougher all the time. But it's not perfect, and that's one of the reasons we're here today," Davis said. "The NFL's testing program has come under heightened scrutiny in recent weeks."

He mentioned a CBS report that a South Carolina doctor wrote steroid prescriptions for three Carolina Panthers in 2003.