The NFL released a statement yesterday responding to a
N.Y. Times report stating that at an NFLPA meeting in Maui
in '95, the NFLPA "informed its membership that a
significant number of players had failed drug tests," but
the players "were not punished or suspended because of a
secret agreement" between the NFL and the Players
Association (See THE DAILY, 8/30). The statement read that
while a new drug 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" (NFL).
NFL VP/Communications Greg Aiello said that only one of the
16 players remains in the NFL. Aiello: "They did get a
break, that is true. But they were in the program and being
treated" (Leonard Shapiro, WASHINGTON POST, 8/31). In
Chicago, Don Pierson writes that the NFL "maintains the
negotiations were not a secret agreement." Aiello: "We're
not hiding from something" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/31).
