IS THE NFL TELEGRAPHING DRUG TESTS?

In Some Cases, Players Are Given A Day's Notice Before A Test;
Experts Call It 'Concerning'

After the Green Bay Packers' Jan. 9 playoff win against the
Philadelphia Eagles, Pepper Burruss, the team's head trainer, wove
through the locker room carrying a piece of paper with a list of
names. When he reached Scott Wells, the team's starting center, he
stopped. "I'll see you tomorrow," Mr. Burruss said.

Mr. Wells instantly knew what the trainer meant and was mildly
annoyed. "I just had one," he said. Before moving on, Mr. Burruss told
Mr. Wells he should be ready "between 10 and two."

When the trainer left, Mr. Wells turned to a reporter and shrugged.
"Drug test," he said.

The NFL has long maintained that its drug testing program, which
administers some 15,000 tests a year, is one of the toughest in North
American sports. But anti-doping experts say exchanges like the one
between Mr. Burruss and Mr. Wells earlier this month raise serious
questions about the general effectiveness of the program.

The problem, they say, is that by giving an athlete notice of a drug
test the following day, one that would not be conducted for at least
15 hours, the Packers give the player ample time to take measures to
"beat" the test by distorting his sample. When Olympic athletes are
visited by collectors, they're required to produce samples immediately
and without leaving the testers' sight. "If you're going to do
advanced warning, you might as well not test," said David Howman,
director general of the Montreal-based World Anti-Doping Agency, which
oversees drug testing in all Olympic sports. "Half an hour is a lot of
warning. That's how quickly you can manipulate the tests."

The advance notice appears to violate the NFL's Policy on Anabolic
Steroids and Related Substances, which states that all players who are
subjected to in-season drug testing will be notified "on the day of
the test."

"It's obviously concerning," said Travis Tygart, head of the U.S.
Anti-Doping Agency. "The world knows you can't give advanced notice
for testing for it to be effective."

Mr. Burruss, through the team, declined to discuss the matter. Mr.
Wells, through his agent, declined to comment further. A Packers
spokesman confirmed that the notifications were for league-mandated
drug tests, but deferred comment to the league office.

The NFL said the Packers had not violated any NFL rules by notifying
Mr. Wells of his test in advance. A league spokesman said these
advance notifications were a "limited exception" to the league's
normal testing procedure that had been implemented by the National
Center for Drug Free Sport, the agency the league hired to conduct
tests. The spokesman said the NFL and the NFL Players Association had
input on the procedures. The NFLPA did not respond to requests for
comment. The Center for Drug Free Sport declined to comment.

Adolpho Birch, the NFL's vice president of law and labor policy, said
teams are notified about individual tests this far in advance only on
game days. The reason, Mr. Birch said, is that many players are given
days off after a game, and the league wants to make sure they show up
to meet the collectors. Under the policy, if a player is notified of a
test but fails to appear, the NFL can take disciplinary action.

Mr. Birch said he does not agree that the advance warning compromises
the accuracy of the tests. He said NFL players are given surprise
tests on other days of the week and that the two laboratories the
league uses to test samples screen them to make sure the players
haven't tried to manipulate the results by diluting their urine or
taking so-called "masking agents" that can hide or remove traces of
banned substances.

Mr. Birch said the NFL does not conduct drug tests on game days
because the teams are travelling and the logistics are too
complicated.

Anti-doping experts say that if athletes know they won't be tested on
the day of competition and will be warned about an upcoming test a day
after the event, it makes it easier for them to cheat. For instance,
an NFL player who has a Sunday game could take the endurance-boosting
drug EPO on Saturday night, knowing all traces would have left his
system in time for a Monday morning drug test.

Experts also say there are some powerful stimulants players could take
on the morning of a game with no fear of failing a test the next day.

Andy Parkinson, chief executive of U.K. Anti-Doping, the national
doping agency that also handles drug testing for the English Premier
League and Rugby League, said game-day testing is crucial. "As soon as
you start making it predictable, or providing advanced notice, which
makes it predictable, you start to allow the small minority of
athletes to change their behavior to get around the system," he said.

Don Catlin, the founder of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory,
which still tests some samples for the NFL, said there are masking
agents available that can't be detected. Mr. Catlin also said that
people who help athletes cheat have found new ways to control the
volume and consistency of athlete's urine, especially given enough
time. "It's amazing what they can do," says Mr. Catlin. "If you don't
have surprise testing, they can run rings around you."

This isn't the first time this season that anti-doping officials have
expressed concern about the NFL's program. In August, Cincinnati
Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco posted a photo on Twitter that
showed a printed notice hanging in his locker telling him to report
for a drug test.

Anti-doping experts said this method of informing players gave them
too much time to take evasive measures. The Bengals declined to comment.