UNION TAPES SUGGEST DEAL WITH NFL ON DRUG LENIENCY

The cameras were rolling, and no one needed to yell, "Action." There
was plenty to go around over three days at the 1995 annual meeting of
the National Football League Players Association in Hawaii.

There was bickering, infighting and union politics. There was a union
official offering to instruct players on how to beat the salary cap.
There was a lengthy debate about the implicit racism some union
members believed was behind the league's plan to ban players from
wearing bandannas. And there were candid discussions of substance
abuse, including an assertion by one official that alcohol abuse was
the biggest problem among players.

Most startlingly, the union informed its membership that a significant
number of players had failed drug tests that year but were not
punished or suspended because of a secret agreement between the league
and the union.

All of the proceedings at the union meeting four years ago in Maui
were captured on more than 40 hours of videotape by a Florida company
hired by the players association to film the meetings. The intention
was to create a promotional package that could be distributed to
players and perhaps improve the union's standing with its
constituents.

After the videotapes were done, however, the NFLPA was sued by the
film company in a dispute over payment, and the union never took full
control of it. The videotapes were recently made available to The New
York Times at its request and viewed in their entirety.

A league official last week confirmed that players who should have
been penalized for failing drug tests under the old agreement were
not. The official, who requested anonymity, said that decision was a
concession the NFL gave to the union as part of the negotiations in
forming a more comprehensive drug policy. He put the number of players
who failed tests and should have been suspended at 16; however, one
owner put the number at "more than two dozen" players.

The videotapes offer a rare glimpse into the inner workings of a major
sports union. The activities -- from power struggles to consensus
building -- presumably take place behind the scenes at any number of
high-level meetings. Still, what unfolded frame by frame at the 1995
NFLPA meeting was an often raucous ride through the issues that define
the landscape of the pro football labor front.

Even though those present were told the proceedings would be
videotaped, few of them held back or showed caution in their words and
actions. Of course, no one had any reason to believe the film would be
seen by anyone who was not at the meeting.

Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the union, said in an interview
last week he was not defensive or ashamed about any statements made on
the tape. "It is what it is," Upshaw said. "We want players at the
meetings to be open and speak their minds. If we had something to
hide, we would not have filmed it."

The biggest revelation from the videotape comes during the discussion
by Doug Allen, the union's assistant executive director, about the
differences between the league's old drug policy and the new one that
was to take effect later that year.

The tape shows Allen saying the union was informed by the NFL that a
significant number of players had failed drug tests and faced
suspensions. Allen goes on to say that because of a private agreement
with the league office, the players would not be suspended and in fact
would be given another chance under the new policy.

"I will tell you there were a number of players who were notified of
suspensions under the old policy and those suspensions were held in
abeyance until we got the new policy done," Allen says on the tape.
"We convinced them not to suspend those players."

Allen goes on to say "a number" of those players would have been
suspended for one year.

Reached by telephone last week, Allen declined to comment because he
said the tapes were confidential.

The league official who insisted on anonymity said there were 16
players who faced suspensions, varying from four games to one year,
but who were not suspended. One of those players, the league official
said, is still active today. He would not name the player.

It took the union and the league two years to form the new drug
policy, which went into effect at the beginning of the 1996 season.
Much of the policy remains in effect today and is considered the most
comprehensive among the major sports.

At the meeting, Allen also informed the player representatives that
there were a "dozen alcohol situations" from that year.

On the tape, Allen said, "Frankly the biggest problem we have with
substance abuse is not marijuana, or cocaine, but alcohol."

Privately, players and team officials have claimed for years that
alcohol abuse is far more problematic than illicit drug use. But no
union or league official has ever made such a statement publicly.

The meetings continued with union leaders briefing the player
representatives on various salary matters. One union official, who was
not identifiable on the tape, told the representatives that if they or
other players wanted to find loopholes in the salary cap system, union
financial analysts would help.

"If you want to know how to beat the cap," the official said, "come to
me."

An intense portion of the meetings came during a nearly four-hour
discussion about a proposed rule that would have prohibited bandannas,
or "do-rags," as the players call them, popularized by cornerback
Deion Sanders.

"It's a black and white issue," Upshaw said on the
tape.

Last week Upshaw said: "The black players did feel it was racist. I
just wanted to make sure their concerns were heard."

A league official denied race was a factor, but said some black
officials in the league were concerned that black players wearing them
perpetuated negative stereotypes. The league mainly wanted uniform
conformity, the official said. The NFL did allow players to wear
bandannas as long as they were tucked under the players' helmet and
mirrored the team's colors.

Despite the raucous nature of this meeting, the NFLPA, after surviving
two strikes in the 1980s, is stronger than ever. The average player
salary is about $1 million, compared with $800,000 in 1995 and
$352,000 in 1990. In a decade of labor contentiousness in pro sports,
pro football's labor front has been relatively calm.