BRETT FAVRE, last season's NFL MVP, voluntarily entered the
league's substance abuse program due to a dependence on pain
killers he developed over the last two seasons. Favre, who had a
seizure following an operation on his ankle in February: "I
think the best thing to do was get help." ESPN's Chris Mortensen
reported the Packers did not learn of Favre's problem until last
Friday (due to confidentiality policies), but he added there had
been rumors during the off-season that Favre was suffering from
some sort of difficulty. Mortensen: "The NFL claims it is
addressing the pain killers and all the problems we've seen
surface in the NFL in recent years. But we've had the Raiders
former team doctor, Dr. Huizenga, write a book about this type of
problem recently, so I think it's something you can't ignore that
it still exists in the NFL" ("SportsCenter," 5/14)....Olympic
track star CARL LEWIS and baseball legend HANK AARON have been
named National Spokespersons for the '96 U.S. Transplant Games,
presented by the National Kidney Foundation and sponsored by
Sandoz (National Kidney Foundation)....Although he can't say
anything with the NCAA Championships approaching, sentiment is
growing that TIGER WOODS might turn pro after defending his U.S.
Amateur title in August (USA TODAY, 5/15).
