Excerpted from SacBee.com, Sunday, 24 November 2002.

Shadowy Substances: Many Legal Stimulants Are Banned By The Nfl, And Some Players Are Getting Caught In The Confusion

Jim Jenkins, Bee Staff Writer -- By all accounts, Randy Jordan is an upstanding citizen in the NFL.

As a reserve running back and special-teams standout with the Raiders, he does what he's told, plays through injuries, commits few penalties, doesn't get into trouble off the field and is well-liked and respected by teammates and coaches.

So, not much bothers him. Except for one thing: the NFL's strict anabolic steroids and related substances policy, which now includes a ban covering ephedrine and other related, high-risk stimulants such as ephedra.

These aren't black-market substances the league is targeting. Rather, they are often found in over-the-counter dietary products, in some U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved asthma and cold medicines -- Sudafed and Robitussin include pseudoephedrine -- and in strength-building food supplements.

The fact that those products are routinely sold, Jordan admits, is scary for any player.

"You have to be very, very careful to make sure you read the labels on anything you buy yourself, and even then you can't be really sure," said Jordan. "It's a real concern for players who aren't doing anything wrong and don't want to get into trouble."

His worry is well-founded.

Using any of the banned substances, also prohibited by the NCAA and International Olympic Committee, carries the same automatic four-game NFL suspension without pay that has existed with more straightforward steroid violations.

Four players have been hit by that penalty through random testing: rookie defensive end and league sack leader Julius Peppers and defensive tackle Brentson Buckner of Carolina, Kansas City linebacker Lew Bush and Atlanta cornerback Ray Buchanon. Peppers is appealing his suspension, claiming he was an innocent victim after using a dietary supplement. He has been allowed to play today.

The stiff consequences set down by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, more severe than for players caught using illegal drugs, stem from the heat-stroke death last summer of Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Korey Stringer, who had a weight problem.

A postmortem toxicology test determined that Stringer's system was clear. But news reports, quoting Vikings sources, said that bottles of potentially dangerous supplements, which can raise body temperatures, were in Stringer's locker the day he collapsed. The player's family has filed a $100 million wrongful-death suit against the team, which is scheduled to go to court next year.

Jordan is not immune from illness or an occasional need for vitamin supplements or energy-boosting products, but he is taking extra precautions.

"What I do if I need anything now," he said, pointing to the trainer's quarters in the Raiders' locker room, "is to make sure I get it all from in there."

That Jordan would trust the team's screening process flies in the face of reports circulated by ESPN and CBS last week that the Raiders had been disciplined by the league for giving their players supplements, whether they were aware or not of what was on the banned list.

The NFL sent all teams a warning that they are subject to fines if they supply players with banned substances, even if it's an oversight. League spokesman Greg Aiello said the memo mentioned that one team had been cited for violating the policy, but he wouldn't say which one.

The television reports rankled the Raiders, who initially had no comment. But when contacted by The Bee before the team's game today at Arizona, team executive Bruce Allen said, "Someone obviously wanted to plant a story and was very successful."

The Raiders are understandably touchy on the subject of drug use, given the fact defensive tackle Darrell Russell is a repeat offender and on a one-year suspension for using the party drug Ecstasy.

Allen said that the Raiders, contrary to insinuations that they run a loose ship, are working closely with the players union, whose president is Oakland defensive end Trace Armstrong. As such, Armstrong speaks almost daily with the NFL Players Association office. The union's executive director, Gene Upshaw, had a strong response regarding the anxiety and uncertainty players face in avoiding banned supplements.

Upshaw said the union doesn't want to challenge the ban of ephedrine, even though it can be accidentally taken, but does want league-approved companies supplying supplements to players to avoid further risk.

"That's something that a lot of players on this team have been talking about for a while, league-approved substances, and if a player goes outside of those, then he deserves to be suspended," said Raiders tackle and union representative Lincoln Kennedy.

Two 49ers offensive linemen, Scott Gragg and Ron Stone, tend to agree.

Said Gragg, whose mother is a nutritionist: "I'm fine with the current system as long as we know what the standards are."

"It's very dangerous," Stone said. "You're at your own risk. You can go into one of those stores, and they may not list everything in their product. Then you're in trouble, (and) they're not going to get in trouble."

Upshaw, in an interview with the Associated Press, expressed opposition to the four-game suspension and significant financial loss faced by Peppers and others.

Bluntly, Upshaw says the punishment is too harsh, particularly when compared to players who test positive for drugs such as cocaine and marijuana and are given only a confidential warning for a first-time offense. Then they are placed in a counseling program and can't be suspended unless there is a second violation.

"We want someone to certify what is in the bottle is what's in the bottle," Upshaw said, adding that he has spoken with Harold Henderson, the NFL's vice president for player relations, and they agreed to meet on the matter.

Dr. John Lombardo, the NFL's main adviser on performance-enhancing drugs, said that stimulants can give fatigued players a boost but also pose side effects to the cardiovascular and nervous systems, leading to seizures.

Still, players continue to take supplements to gain or lose weight and seek vitamins or other products that will help boost energy or reduce inflammation of joints.

Upshaw said Bush, the Kansas City linebacker, may have been the best-case example for the solutions he is seeking.

In his defense, Bush said he took the same supplement twice but tested positive for a banned substance only the second time. Obviously, the league was not satisfied with his explanation.

"It's not fair to kick a guy out and have him lose a quarter of his salary (when he did something inadvertent)," Upshaw said.

Armstrong, sensitive to the league's and public's concern that steroids can alter the competitive balance in sports, said he is working with Upshaw on an improved program.

"Ephedra is in a lot of products (and) not on the label," Armstrong said of a substance found in strength-building food supplements but found to cause seizures, strokes or death. "So, that's been a problem for a number of the players. Adding ephedra to the list (of banned substances) was to protect players.

"Now, what we're seeing is a bunch of players who are trying to be responsible but, because there is no regulation in that industry, they're still coming up positive and getting popped with a suspension for something that was not on the label."

Buckner said the substance he took was ephedra but didn't know it was in the weight-loss pill he bought at a nutritional store.

"I could see it if I tested positive for a steroid somebody might shoot in their arm -- a hard-core steroid," he told the Charlotte Observer. "If I did that, yes, I deserve not to play because I'd be cheating the game of football. But my thing is that I take a diet pill, and you treat me like a straight-up criminal."

Upshaw said he stands behind keeping the automatic four-game suspension for steroid use but not for supplements.

"If you're trying to get a competitive edge with a supplement, you know how long that will last? About 24 hours," said Upshaw. "With a steroid, it's four weeks or longer."

However, policy changes likely won't take effect until next season, Upshaw explained, because it wouldn't be fair to teams that already had players suspended.

Buckner is eligible to return for a Dec. 8 game against Cincinnati, but he might not play again with Peppers until the regular-season finale Dec. 29 against New Orleans. By league rules, Buckner is not allowed to contact the team or use the team's facilities until the suspension is served. A player who tested positive for cocaine, however, wouldn't be barred from the team unless on suspension.

"I think we've got to sit down and look at that," Armstrong said of the perceived inequity. "But the reason the (steroid-abuse) penalty is stiff is that involves the credibility of the game. And we have to protect that."

Excerpted from SacBee.com, Sunday, 24 November 2002.