DRUG-TEST DODGER

Thirty years ago, American draft dodgers found refuge from the
Vietnam War in Canada.

Now, here in the 21st century, the Great White North seems to have
become a haven for disgraced drug offenders from the National Football League,

One could argue that in the case of draft dodgers, we were opening
our doors to people who could not or would not fight in an unjust and
ill-conceived war halfway around the world.

It's tougher to justify the current trend of putting out the welcome
mat for players who have worn out their welcome in the NFL because
they can't stay off drugs.

This week, the Toronto Argonauts signed Miami Dolphins running back
Ricky Williams who has been suspended from the NFL for the entire
2006 season. The most recent failed test, the one that resulted in
his current suspension -- not his first, by the way -- is for an
undisclosed substance.

Williams came out of the University of Texas with great expectations
and he was supposed to be one of the great running backs of our
generation. In fact, the New Orleans Saints traded all their picks in
1999 and their first and third round picks in 2000 to get the U.S.
college star. But he was a bust and ended up in Miami as a Dolphin
where he failed four drug tests, the first three for marijuana use.

The signing of Williams has garnered the most attention, but it is
important to know that he is certainly not the first disgraced and
suspended NFL player to find a job in the CFL. In fact, earlier this
month, Minnesota Viking Onterrio Smith was suspended by the NFL and
found employment with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

And the Argonauts have two other former NFL first-round draft choices
who have been barred from that league for violating its
substance-abuse policy too many times: receiver R. Jay Soward and
defensive end Bernard Williams. The Argonauts also have receiver
Robert Baker, who spent 10 months in prison for distributing and
trafficking cocaine.

Reports after the Argos signed Williams said his acquisition will put
the number of currently suspended NFL players in the CFL at nine for
the upcoming season. CFL teams have taken chances in recent years on
troubled players like running back Lawrence Phillips and quarterback
Todd Marinovich.

Another U.S. college great who came to Canada to play football for
the Argonauts says enough is enough. Joe Theismann came to Toronto
from the University of Notre Dame and was a CFL player before going
on to have a great career in the NFL. He has always had a certain
affinity for the Argos and the CFL and this week he let loose about
the signing of Williams.

He said the signing was a "disgrace to the game" and added he is
"embarrassed now to be a Toronto Argonaut."

And Theismann didn't stop there, blasting the organization.

"This is a feeble excuse for the Toronto Argonauts to sell tickets."

Argos coach Pinball Clemons defended the organization.

"Someone much smarter than I, a former president (Roosevelt),
suggested it's not the critic that counts," Clemons said. "It's not
the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or how to do their
deeds, (how they) could have done them better. The man who counts is
the man who is in the arena. Right now, we are in the arena and I
think we are doing a great job."

And that's the situation in a nutshell. If the Argos and the CFL are
trying to provide a place to play for someone who is aimed at turning
their life and career around, it is admirable.

But if it is merely a move to improve the chances of your football
team and sell tickets while turning a blind eye to the previous
indiscretions of the player, it is far less honourable.

Given that there are now three players suspended by the NFL on the
Argos alone and possibly as many as nine in the league, the latter is
more likely the case.