SALAAM: POT SMOKING LED TO DOWNWARD SPIRAL

NAPA -- Coach Jon Gruden confirmed Monday that the Raiders were aware of
running back Rashaan Salaam's battle with marijuana addiction when they
signed him in May.

``There's a guy that has had a difficult time the last couple of years,''
Gruden said. ``We're not going to let that be a distraction. We support
Rashaan Salaam 100 percent.''

In an ESPN interview first broadcast Sunday, Salaam said an addiction to
marijuana made him withdrawn, caused him to fumble and nearly ended his
career. He said his 14 fumbles in 31 games with the Chicago Bears in
1995-97 were due in part to his smoking marijuana.

``It probably had me out there lackadaisical instead of being out there 100
percent,'' he told the cable network. ``Everybody thinks getting high is
cool, you can let it go when you want to let it go. But it's just as potent
as alcohol. It's just as potent as cocaine.''

Salaam told a Raiders media-relations official Monday that he would not
discuss the interview with reporters, then hurried out of the team's
clubhouse after the afternoon practice.

Salaam said his drug use intensified after he suffered a broken leg in the
third game of the 1997 season.

``When I got hurt, I knew it was a problem because it pretty much consumed
all my time,'' he said. ``I wasn't going to practice or anything like that,
so I pretty much spent my time sitting around getting high, and that's when
I knew I had to let it go.''

Salaam told ESPN that he informed the Bears of his problem in early 1998
and entered a rehabilitation program. The team later cut him, and Salaam
was out of football last season.

``It was hard,'' he said. ``It was embarrassing. My pride was shot. It was
just a nightmare to be 23 years old and out of football. I couldn't believe
what was going on.''