RAIDERS' RUSSELL SUSPENDED FOR VIOLATING NFL DRUG POLICY

The defensive tackle will be out for the first four games of the season.
He missed a follow-up drug test that was required after he tested positive
for marijuana early last year.

Russell's agent says his first positive drug test, last year, was the
result of breathing second-hand marijuana smoke. Is that possible?

NAPA -- Darrell Russell insists he didn't inhale. But the Raiders defensive
tackle will miss four games for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy.

Russell, his agent and the team said Tuesday that the suspension did not
come from a positive drug test. Rather, they said, Russell was not
available when testers came to Oakland last year, and he did not contact
them within 24 hours afterward, as was required because of a previous
positive drug test. Russell's agent, Leigh Steinberg, attributed the
positive test, in early 2000, to second-hand marijuana smoke.

NFL officials announced the suspension in a written statement but did not
discuss it, adhering to a confidentiality agreement with the NFL Players
Association.

Russell, who is coming off a subpar 2000 season after making the Pro Bowl
in 1998 and '99, can finish training camp and play in exhibition games. But
he cannot have any contact with the team from Sept. 2 to Oct. 1.

"I did not test positive,'' Russell said. "Someone showed up at my house
unnotified, and I wasn't there.''

Steinberg blamed the NFL's ``Draconian'' drug program and its director, Dr.
Lawrence Brown. Russell's case is similar to that of New England Patriots
wide receiver Terry Glenn, whose agent said Glenn was suspended because he
returned a phone call within 36 hours instead of 24. A missed test counts
as a positive test.

"The only abuse that's occurred here is an abuse of power,'' Steinberg
said. ``It's a bureaucrat who's obsessive-compulsive who is abusing Darrell
Russell. He has passed a couple hundred tests that prove conclusively that
he doesn't have a problem.

"What they're saying is he did not return a phone call quickly enough.''

Players are subject to random testing after one violation. Russell's
positive test meant automatic enrollment in the substance-abuse program,
which requires up to 10 urine tests per month.

Russell appealed the punishment at a hearing during the off-season but
lost. Russell will miss a quarter of the season and lose $447,000, the
prorated portion of his $1.9 million salary.

"This is embarrassing to myself, my family, my friends, my family friends
and my team,'' Russell said. "But this is going to be a good way to weed
out all the real friends that I have and all the fake friends.''

Although Russell's fourth NFL season was his worst -- a career-low three
sacks and 31 tackles -- he is just 25, and the Raiders saw hope in the
off-season that he could return to the dominating level of his first three
seasons.

"We're going to support him, and hopefully he can come back with this
resolved and resume what I think is going to be a tremendous NFL career,''
Coach Jon Gruden said.

With Grady Jackson recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, Russell's
absence will test the Raiders' depth. They run a rotating system that uses
as many as eight linemen. They have gotten regular-season contributions
from Rod Coleman and Josh Taves, and second-year tackle Junior Ioane was
one of the top attention-grabbers in the first exhibition game.

Russell will work with the third team in practice this month. After that,
he will be on his own. He will miss games at Kansas City and Miami and in
Oakland against the New York Jets and Seattle; he returns during the bye
week, with his first game at Indianapolis on Oct. 14.

"My main motivation is going to be to try to be in better shape than I
would be if I were able to play the four games,'' Russell said. "I have to
take all the negative energy that's coming to me at this point, turn it
into a positive, and just work my butt off and get ready.''

Charles Woodson can identify with the frustrations of Russell and Glenn.
Woodson was arrested for drunk driving in May 2000. He must check in with a
psychiatrist once a week, notify the league when he takes a vacation and
provide a contact number. If he gets a call for a test and doesn't check
in, he could be suspended.

"It's ridiculous,'' Woodson said. "They treat you like you're out on parole.''

But Raiders defensive end Trace Armstrong, the president of the players
association, said there are no surprises with the policy.

"We consulted, when it was developed, the leading specialist in the world
in this area,'' Armstrong said. "The policy is the policy, and guys know
the rules once you get in.''

In other Raiders news:

The team signed offensive lineman Aaron Graham and waived receiver Diaello
Burks. Graham started at center for the Arizona Cardinals in 1998 and '99.