BREWER: FAILED DRUG TEST COST HIM 2009

FORT COLLINS - Newly elected Colorado State defensive captain Ricky
Brewer just wanted closure on a painful experience.

The senior linebacker announced Saturday that a failed drug test at
the 2008 New Mexico Bowl cost him his junior year of eligibility with
the Rams.

"I tested positive for a banned substance, which was marijuana,"
Brewer said after practice. "That's a tough situation. It was a tough
lesson to learn."

Brewer looked like an all-Mountain West Conference candidate coming
out of that bowl game, a 40-35 win over Fresno State that completed
CSU's 7-6 season. Instead, his junior year was spent on the Rams'
practice squad in the spring and fall of 2009. He had politely
deflected all questions about the reason for his suspension.

The NCAA conducts drug testing at bowl games and NCAA championship
events. It is a zero-tolerance policy mandating a season's suspension
for a first offense. A school can take further steps.

"Steve had the right to yank his scholarship," CSU senior associate
athletic director Gary Ozzello said of Rams coach Steve Fairchild.

CSU tests its student-athletes four times a year with a three-step
sanction process, the first of which is counseling and education.
Ozzello said athletic director Paul Kowalczyk instituted the policy -
not as a punitive program, but to identify and correct any issues.

Brewer said he didn't have a positive drug test before or since the
one in Albuquerque.

More than not being able to play, Brewer said the worst part was
letting down his teammates and family members. He attended every team
meeting and practice and spoke to church and school groups about his
mistake.

Brewer guarded his privacy until Saturday because "I didn't feel like
it was the right time (before). I feel this season is part of a
resurrection for me because I was in the shadows for a whole season. I
didn't want to bring any of that baggage along with me, any of that
speculation."

Brewer was asked about societal hypocrisy, given the proliferation of
medical marijuana outlets on the Front Range. "What I did has nothing
to do with that situation," Brewer said. "That's a political issue,
and that has nothing to do with the mistake I made."

UNLV basketball player Matt Shaw recently announced he could not
return for his senior year because of a failed drug test at the NCAA
Tournament in March. Shaw had no remaining eligibility.

Brewer was elected one of CSU's three captains, along with wide
receiver Tyson Liggett and special-teams contributor John Mosure.
Brewer, a former Mullen High School star, always is the first to
fist-bump a CSU teammate for a good play or pull aside another for a
botched assignment. It's part of being a team captain.

"I take it as a great responsibility. It was a moment of humility," he
said. "I have such a great weight to carry. It's a good weight. . . .
Any of the great players you see out there, they lead their team."

Fairchild said Brewer's disclosure was strictly the player's decision.