NFL ADMITTEDLY WITHHELD DRUG SUSPENSIONS TO WORK OUT STRONGER POLICY

NEW YORK - The NFL withheld drug suspensions for 16 players
during contract negotiations with the players union in 1993, hoping to
work out a stronger policy on substance abuse.

The league said Monday the players would have been suspended had it
not been for the negotiations. Instead, they were put into a mandatory
counseling and treatment program when negotiations were completed in
1995. League spokesman Greg Aiello said six were eventually suspended
for later violations.

The NFL said in a statement it agreed to withhold the suspensions in
order to get the union to agree to a stronger policy, which was
included in the 1995 agreement.

The deferrals were first disclosed by The New York Times, which
reviewed 40 tapes from a NFL Players Association meeting in Hawaii in
1995. They were made by a film company hired by the union in an effort
to improve its relationships with its players, the Times said.

However, the film company sued the union in a dispute over payment,
and the NFLPA never took control of the tapes.

The videotapes reportedly show Doug Allen, the union's assistant
executive director, discussing differences between the new drug policy
and the old one. Allen told the players that a number had failed drug
tests and faced suspensions, but because of a private agreement with
the NFL, the players would not be suspended.

"While the new policy was being negotiated, there were 16 players
whose discipline under the old program was deferred pending completion
of the negotiations," the league said.

"In 1995, all 16 players were slotted into the new program, tested
regularly, treated by professional counselors and physicians and
subject to suspension for any further violations ... The 1995 program
is the most comprehensive in professional sports."

Other discussions on the tapes included assertions that some union
members believed racism was behind the league's push to ban players
from wearing bandannas; an offer by a union official to teach players
ways to circumvent the salary cap, and debates on substance abuse.

League sources told the AP that the two men behind the ban on
bandannas are both black -- Gene Washington, the league's
disciplinarian, and Minnesota coach Dennis Green.