ome private way to get help without the public finding out about their problems. They could get help through their teams and from their fellow players. Along with these meetings, the NFL should require every team to start a semi-secret, self-help, peer group of teammates and front office personal. This group could help players discuss and get help on their drug problems. The Baltimore Ravens have already started a group like this. This group has turned Bam Morris (who was caught with cocaine and six pounds of marijuana in his car) away from drugs and back on the football field (Anderson 69). If every team would start a group like this, there would be more players turning there careers and lives back around. Players find it easier to talk to their teammates because other players are experiencing the same on and off field pressures. This might be the only way to stop players abusing painkillers like vicodin. A team that desperately needs a group like this is America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys. They have had more drug suspensions and fines then any other team in the 1990’s (www.cbs.sportsline.com). Their star player Michael Irvin was caught in a hotel room with several ounces of both cocaine and marijuana. He only received a small fine and a short suspension. Leon Lett and Clayton Holmes were both suspended for testing positive for illegal substances. Erik Williams was charged for sexual assault on a 17-year old girl while he was intoxicated (WWW). All of these criminal problems occurred within a year. If the Cowboys a semi-secret, self-help, peer group of teammates and front office personal, they wouldn’t experience so many drug problems. The National Football League’s players have been abusing steroids for decades. The players now are abusing all kinds of drugs. Some of the drugs being abused are forced on them by injuries. New problems continue to develop every year. If the league doesnR...
