August 30, 1999

NFL STATEMENT ON NEW YORK TIMES STORY:

The NFL and its players union in 1993 agreed to negotiate the first collectively bargained drug program in league history. When it was adopted in 1995, it resulted in a program considerably stronger than the prior league-implemented policy. While the new policy was being negotiated, there were 16 players whose discipline under the old program was deferred pending completion of the negotiations. In 1995, all 16 players were slotted into the new program, tested regularly, treated by professional counselors and physicians, and subject to suspension upon any further violations. This was done to allow those players to take advantage of the new program’s mandatory counseling and treatment provisions. These mandatory aspects of the new program were not part of the old program. The 1995 program is the most comprehensive in professional sports