NFL Defending Itself Against Potentially Game-Changing DEA Probe

If the feds find what they're looking for, the NFL could change forever. 

On Sunday, agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) stopped NFL teams for surprise inspections following their games, according to The Washington Post. Not every team was subject to these intrusions, but those who were didn't face much of a delay at all. From ESPN.com:

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Bengals officials said that Drug Enforcement Administration agents in New York visited the Bengals at an airport in New Orleans and asked to see registrations and paperwork for controlled substances being carried by Cincinnati's medical staff. No problems were found.

Detroit coach Jim Caldwell says the Lions also were one of the teams whose medical staffs were interviewed and subjected to spot checks of their bags by federal agents.

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It's tempting to wonder if this whole thing is just much ado about nothing. Nothing was found. Plus, even if something were found, would it lead to anything more than a slap on the wrist and another thing for the media to talk about other than the game on the field?

No...not even close. 

People always seem to dislike when the government gets involved with sports, whether that's the president commenting on it, Congress making laws about it or the different agencies investigating it. It's one of the great bipartisan issues of our time! People want sports to be simple and free of the issues that permeate different walks of life. 

Yet, anywhere massive amounts of money are thrown around, we see issues—legal, moral, cultural, economical and otherwise—creep to the forefront from time to time. 

In a year where it seems we've talked more about off-the-field issues than those on it thanks to commissioner Roger Goodell, running backs Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson, receivers Wes Welker and Josh Gordon and so many more, it might be maddening for another issue to draw our attention away from our Sunday rituals, but that's no reason to ignore this story. 

The NFL has allegedly played fast and loose with painkillers for a long time. 

Painkiller abuse costs our nation over $193 billion a year, according to DrugAbuse.gov, and it's a trend that's not going in the right direction, as the following CDC graph shows: 

Source: CDC

It makes sense that as the DEA continues to fight the war on drugs, it takes a long, hard look at one of the biggest businesses in the world that may actually be an opponent right on the front lines. 

Acts Alleged Are Crimes...Very Serious Crimes

The DEA did not just decide to stop NFL teams at airports for no reason. This is actually an escalation of what has been a long process for the agency. Michael O'Keeffe of the New York Daily News reported back in July the DEA was "quietly investigating" the league. 

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Agents from the DEA’s New York division are reaching out to former players to learn how NFL doctors and trainers get access to potent narcotics such as Percodan and Vicodin or anti-inflammatories such as Toradol, a nonaddictive prescription drug widely used around the league to treat pain.

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This is still that investigation. It's nothing new; it's just less quiet.  

Right away, simply understanding the power of some of the narcotics listed above and the damage they do to people and families should highlight the seriousness of this matter. Otherwise legal drugs, when used illegally, are just as dangerous as so-called street drugs. In many cases, perhaps more so. 

Vicodin alone is a bigger problem than most people realize (or care to admit), with abuse of the drug quadrupling in the last decade, according to AddictionHope.com. In a way to bring these things to the cultural forefront, CNN's Anthony Bourdain even tackled the issue on his show Parts Unknown on a trip to Massachusetts where the issue looms large over daily life. Those he spoke to implicated their own doctors who were too quick with the prescription pad, as well as patients who seek a quick fix. 

Is the NFL much different?

This entire situation stems from a lawsuit filed by a number of ex-players, alleging and seeking damages for a culture of drug abuse that can and has ruined lives. Among the litigants are former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon and offensive lineman Keith Van Horne. 

Really, the best way to describe some of the crimes are to let the allegations speak for themselves. Emphasis is mine throughout, to point out legal and ethical actions of the NFL and its doctors.  

From McMahon:

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While playing in the NFL, Mr. McMahon received hundreds, if not thousands, of injections from doctors and pills from trainers, including but not limited to NSAIDs such as Toradol, Percocet, Novocain injections, amphetamines, sleeping pills and muscle relaxers. No one from the NFL ever talked to him about the side effects of the medications he was being given or cocktailing. Over the course of his career and 18 surgeries, Mr. McMahon became dependent on painkillers, a slow process that overtook him without him realizing it. At one point, he was taking as many as 100 Percocets per month, even in the off-seasons.

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From Van Horne:

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Plaintiff Keith Van Horne played an entire season on a broken leg, the first month of which he a required special medical boot to reduce the swelling before he could suit-up. He was not told about the broken leg for five years, during which time he was fed a constant diet of pills to deal with the pain.

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Former Bears defensive end Richard Dent:

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In 1990 while playing in Seattle, Mr. Dent suffered a broken bone in his foot. He was told by team doctors and trainers at the time that he had done all the damage that could be done to that foot and that, while he therefore could have surgery, they could also supply him with painkillers to allow him to continue playing. Trusting that the doctors and trainers had his best interests at heart, he chose to continue playing and for the following eight weeks, he received repeated injections of painkillers as well as pills to keep playing. Today, Mr. Dent has permanent nerve damage in that foot.

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Former San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Jeremy Newberry:

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No one from the NFL ever talked to him about the side effects of the medications he was being provided or cocktailing. He currently has Stage 3 renal failure and suffers from high blood pressure and violent headaches for which he cannot take any medications that might further deteriorate his already-weakened kidneys.

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Finally, former Buffalo Bills wide receiver J.D. Hill:

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No one from the NFL ever talked to him about the side effects of the medications he was being given or cocktailing. He left the League addicted to painkillers, which he was forced to purchase on the streets to deal with his football-related pain, a path that led him to other street medications. He eventually became homeless and was in and out of 15 drug treatment centers for a period of over 20 years until overcoming his NFL-sponsored drug addiction.

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Do all of these men share in the blame for their painkiller usage and addiction? Absolutely, just as every single NFL player submits in some way to the rigors and dangers of the game once he steps on the field. However, no young man signs up for what these older men are now going through, and it shouldn't be enabled by the very doctors who are trying to protect them. 

If the DEA proves NFL team doctors are guilty of inappropriately pushing, illegally obtaining or falsely prescribing serious drugs, people will go to jail. Massive fines will be paid. This issue will not go away. There will be more lawsuits. 

If concussions were the last courtroom football issue de jour, it is almost certain painkillers will be next. 

A Serious Conflict of Interest

The prime directive of every physician is: "First, do no harm."

That might be a simplistic and idealistic look at the profession and is far more of a guideline to ethical behavior than an actual rule (see: all elective surgeries). Sometimes, patients are well within their rights to ask a doctor to inflict what some might see as harm to obtain a favorable outcome—even if the tradeoff can have serious consequences. 

But who is the patient of NFL doctors and trainers anyway?

The person receiving care is the player, but that isn't the only person benefitting from said care. The team itself needs its players healthy (from star quarterback to backup punter). The head coach could get fired if he doesn't have the full complement of players and loses games because of it. The general manager could get fired for the same reason, or even if a prized pick flames out because he can't get on the field. 

From those tight rings of influence, we can expand into examining how the league office and sponsors also benefit. Heck, one could say a healthier and active NFL even affects us in the media, since I'm not getting my paycheck if there's nothing to write about. 

Maybe all of this doesn't go through the mind of every team doctor every time he's writing a prescription, but it's worthwhile to remember the name signed on his paychecks can influence his signature on the prescription pad. 

Do no harm? Or, get them back on the field as soon as possible? 

In the case of many of the litigants, it's clear they believe the NFL acted not in their best interests, but in the interests of the team. It's clear the decisions were not medical in nature, but football-related. It's clear the doctors did not take a long-term holistic approach to the care of these men, but rather a short-term view to help their employers win football games. 

Dave Einsel/Associated Press

Former Denver Broncos tight end Nate Jackson wrote a book titled Slow Getting Up. I've cited this book on this matter in the past but keep coming back to it because it is a must-read for any NFL fan who is willing to believe these players are human beings and not just crooked numbers on a box score or fantasy game. 

In Jackson's book, he describes—repeatedly—how later doctors would tell him his body only needed rest to get better (you know, like actually better), even though team doctors threw treatment after treatment at him only to make his injuries worse. Team doctors and employees also hid his medical history from him, making his injuries seem less severe. 

Jackson is not alone. He is not the only player. 

This is not a new practice for the NFL, either. The NFL is also currently dealing with a concussion settlement with players, and a big issue there is that the league allegedly hid what it knew about the effects of concussions to keep players on the field. 

The league needs to move toward a system of healthcare where time missed is not the only factor in care. Understand, too, this might upset both teams and the players who (like Jackson) want to get back onto the field not only for competitive reasons, but also to keep their jobs. 

This also means the league needs to find (read: create) ways to get rid of the pressure injured players feel to get back on the field when they are less than 100 percent ready.

I'm not talking about players who are simply sore, and I can hear some of the more diehards out there already complaining about the "sissification" of football. No, I'm talking about players who should not be out there and are seriously risking reinjury because they're so hopped up on Percocet they can't tell the difference. 

Bigger rosters, bigger practice squads, more guaranteed money in contracts, minimum sit times for certain injuries and better disability pay are just some of the many ways this could be achieved. 

Is this good for football? 

In the short term, probably not. It'll mean needing bigger rosters just to field competitive teams. It means star players not "gritting" it out through injuries, but resting for long stretches. It means your fantasy team might not score enough points in your championship game. 

Long-term, though, it means a healthier league that is more sustainable, and healthier players who are not feeling the effects of the game to the tune of addiction and disability for the rest of their lives. 

Physician, Heal Thyself

John Minchillo/Associated Press

The NFL has always been very worried about what players put into their bodies.

Except when they aren't.

Earlier this year, I wrote about Josh Gordon's suspension and how it highlights the hypocrisy of the NFL's drug policies. The same NFL that bans amphetamine use today used to put the amphetamines out in bowls for players to take with their morning coffee.

In a similar fashion but in reverse, the same NFL that bans marijuana usage today is eventually going to have to soften its stance on the drug far more than it has recently. In the same way public perception and laws have changed on amphetamines over the past decades, they're going the opposite direction on marijuana, and the NFL has yet to come close to keeping up with the times. 

The NFL cannot continue to push drugs on its players in such an irresponsible manner, as the aforementioned ex-players lawsuit alleges, while talking out of the other side of the mouth as if it's a positive partner in the U.S. government's war on drugs. Especially when it's clear the DEA isn't exactly sure if the NFL is the good guy or the bad guy at the moment and appears to be leaning more and more toward the latter. 

For years, the NFL has sought to refine and enhance its various drug policies. The lack of an HGH policy until recently has been stuck in the craw of Roger Goodell and league officials as they've bickered with the NFLPA on some terms and stonewalled on others. 

The NFL will leave no stone unturned when it comes to legislating what a player can or cannot take. 

Right up until it wants to inject that drug into the player itself. 

We've reached a point, and the NFL is more than big enough, where player care needs to be almost entirely divorced from the team that is paying for the cost of said healthcare. Think about it: In most walks of life, employers provide insurance, not direct healthcare. The best and closest example out of professional sports is the military and its VA hospitals, and we've recently seen how poorly that can go. 

Realistically, we cannot expect a "team doctor" to completely ignore the fact he works for the team. Yes, some do, and I laud them for their ethical ability, but players come and go. It's practically a MASH unit in most trainers rooms, and the ability to effectively churn them out is the exact reason the team has hired these people. 

A player gets repeatedly hurt? That must be on the player. 

A trainer can't get players back on the field? That means the trainer gets fired. 

In addition to creating processes to keep players off the field as proposed above, the NFL also needs to start strictly outlining how involved teams can be in the care of their players. This means more independent doctors who are going to have the athlete's interest first and foremost in their minds and not wins and losses. 

If the NFL spent half as much time policing its own conduct with issues like this, we might not have DEA probes or gigantic scandals like the league is also dealing with thanks to its handling of domestic violence incidents. 

The NFL attempts to have a code for everything a player could potentially do wrong. 

It's time for it to start holding itself to as high a standard. 

Frankly, with the DEA involved, it might be past a time where that is even up to it. 

Michael Schottey is an NFL National Lead Writer for Bleacher Report and an award-winning member of the Pro Football Writers of America. Find more of his stuff on his archive page and follow him on Twitter.