UNION TO INVESTIGATE COWBOYS

NFL Players Association officials plan to look into allegations that
the Dallas Cowboys administered drug tests to their players, including
quarterback Quincy Carter.

The union on Monday initiated a special-master proceeding to challenge
the Cowboys' abrupt release of Carter, the team's incumbent starter
entering training camp, on Aug. 4. The collective bargaining agreement
between the league and the Players Association prohibits a player from
being released by a club because of a failed drug test, and Carter
reportedly had a recent violation of the NFL's substance-abuse policy.

After his release, there were reports that the drug test he failed had
been administered by the Cowboys, not the league. NFL rules prohibit
clubs from conducting drug tests, and Cowboys officials told members
of the league office after the reports that the team was not testing
its players.

But the union apparently continues to have its suspicions. NFLPA chief
Gene Upshaw initially expressed concern about the reports, then has
declined to comment more recently when asked whether he believes the
Cowboys were conducting their own tests. Richard Berthelsen, the
union's general counsel, declined to comment Monday on the same issue
but said the union would be asking a "whole host of questions'' as
part of its case before Stephen B. Burbank, the University of
Pennsylvania law professor who serves as the NFL's special master and
is in charge of settling disputes arising from the collective
bargaining agreement.

A special-master case is a trial-like proceeding. When Burbank heard
the Terrell Owens case in March, he listened to arguments by attorneys
for the league and the Players Association in a courtroom at the
University of Pennsylvania Law School. The union likely will conduct
depositions of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Coach Bill Parcells for
the Carter case. Jones told reporters Monday at the club's training
camp in Oxnard, Calif., that he remained "very confident'' the Cowboys
would be vindicated in the case.