[Tommy]

Washington, DC (Sports Network) - NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue addressed Congress Thursday morning and stood by the league's substance abuse policy in the second of two days of hearings.

The NFL was appearing in separate congressional hearings on proposed steroid legislation one day after several professional sports leagues, including the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball, were grilled on Capitol Hill.

Tagliabue appeared before the House Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee and expressed how the league's current policy works and that there would be no reason to change the NFL's drug testing procedure, which started in the late 1980's.

Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, also addressed the subcommittee and backed Tagliabue's words.

"We believe it has worked. We have done what we need to do," Upshaw said. "If you are guilty in the National Football League, you will be suspended. It is an important issue. We all understand that as role models."

Under the NFL's substance abuse policy, there are more than 9,000 tests a year, including about 1,600 during the off-season. A first-time offender will be suspended four games or 25 percent of the season. A player who violates the policy twice will be suspended eight games, while third and fourth-time violators will be handed a one-year suspension without pay.

Each team also tests seven random players a week after a computer-generated list is released, according to Tagliabue.

Tagliabue also noted that masking agents or any form of disguising samples is grounds for penalty. He stated that a player must be "naked from knees to nose" when providing the league with a sample for testing. If a player refuses to give a sample, he is automatically suspended.

In late April, Minnesota Vikings running back Onterrio Smith was caught in an airport for allegedly transporting a masking device.

Tagliabue later confirmed that there have been 54 suspensions in 15 years under the NFL's policy.

"I think that shows you a very effective program," Tagliabue added. "It is working."

On Wednesday, Congress began the hearings on proposed steroid legislation and most leaders from the sports world said the penalties involved would be too severe.

The proposed legislation -- the Drug Free Sports Act of 2005 (H.R. 1862) -- would force uniform testing throughout sports in the United States.

Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig and baseball union chief Donald Fehr were among those Wednesday who gave statements before the House Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee.

The bill provides for random testing of each athlete at least once per year, as well as testing for substances on the prohibited substances list issued by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

"We don't believe they are the goal standard," Upshaw said Thursday in reference to the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The penalties are severe -- a two-year suspension for the first offense and a lifetime ban for a second positive test.



05/19 13:40:28 ET

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