Doping in American football

The use of performance-enhancing drugs and anabolic steroids dates back to the late 1960s in the National Football League (NFL). The case of Denver Broncos defensive lineman Lyle Alzado notably exposed early use among NFL players. In the last years of his life, as he battled against the brain tumor that eventually caused his death at the age of 43, Alzado asserted that his steroid abuse directly led to his fatal illness, but his physician stated it could not possibly be true. Alzado recounted his steroid abuse in an article in Sports Illustrated. He said: Former player and NFL coach Jim Haslett said in 2005 that during the 1980s, half of the players in the league used some type of performance-enhancing drug or steroid and all of the defensive lineman used them. One of the players from the Super Bowl winning 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers team who had earlier confessed to using steroids (in a 1985 Sports Illustrated article) was offensive lineman Steve Courson. Courson blamed a heart condition that he developed on steroids. However, Courson also said that some of his teammates, such as Jack Ham and Jack Lambert, refused to use any kind of performance-enhancing drug. U.S. sprint coach Trevor Graham had given an anonymous phone call to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in June 2003 accusing a number of athletes being involved in doping with a steroid that was not detectable at the time. He named BALCO owner Victor Conte as the source of the steroid. As evidence, Graham delivered a syringe containing traces of a substance nicknamed The Clear. Shortly after, then-director of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory Don Catlin, developed a testing process for The Clear (tetrahydrogestrinone (THG)). With the ability to detect THG, the USADA retested 550 existing urine samples from athletes, of which several proved to be positive for THG. A number of players from the Oakland Raiders were implicated in this scandal, including Bill Romanowski, Tyrone Wheatley, Barret Robbins, Chris Cooper and Dana Stubblefield. Recently, many players have confessed to steroid use. One of these players was former Oakland Raiders player Bill Romanowski. Romanowski confessed on 60 Minutes to using steroids for a two-year period beginning in 2001. He stated that these were supplied by former NFL player and former head of BALCO Victor Conte, saying: A notable occurrence happened in 2006. During the season, San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman failed a drug test and was suspended for four games when his primary "A" sample and backup "B" sample both tested positive for a banned substance. The incident led to the passage of a rule that forbids a player who tests positive steroids from being selected to the Pro Bowl in the year in which they tested positive. The rule is commonly referred to as the "Merriman Rule". However, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has tried to distance the policy from being associated with the player, stating that Merriman tested clean on 19 of 20 random tests for performance-enhancing drugs since entering the league. The NFL drug testing season commences on 4/20 of each year. The NFL is known to take drug tests seriously. When an athlete is selected for a drug test, they must have it completed within 4 hours of notice, or else the league will start to impose fines and suspensions for not complying. If athletes fail to complete the test in the 4-hour window, the NFLPA will still treat it as if they tested positive, even if no drugs were found. The NFL has drastically increased the frequency of testing athletes. In the past 10 years, the NFL has begun to crack down heavily on athlete's use of performance-enhancing drugs and has further improved their testing methods each year since. The drug testing season closes at the end of the season; up until Super Bowl week, players may be subject to random drug tests. Appeals process If an athlete is deemed positive for PEDS, every player has the option to appeal the result. The most noticeable appeal that has been won in recent years was Richard Sherman, who in 2012 avoided a 4-game suspension because of wrongful practices when he was being tested. The likelihood of an appeal going the player's way is low. Very few players that are tested positive end up winning the appeal, and only a few have won the appeal in recent years. ==NFL banned substances policy==

The NFL banned substances policy has been acclaimed by some and criticized by others. Critics argue that the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, set by the NFL and by the players' union (National Football League Players Association) instead of an independent agency like USADA, bans a specific list of stimulants rather than a "catchall" approach like the World Anti-Doping Agency, and uses random testing instead of the globally accepted intelligence-driven testing. The policy is one of the longest running in professional sports, beginning in 1987. The NFL employs isoform blood tests for Human Growth Hormone instead of the more precise biomarker test, which only has a detection window of 24 to 48 hours, and when notified at home, a player may take up to 24 hours to submit a sample. ==Use in college football==

Steroids and performance-enhancing drugs have been reportedly used by many college football players in the NCAA. According to a recent drug test and survey, about one percent of all NCAA football players have tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug or steroid, and about three percent have admitted to using one sometime during their college football career. Controversy arose in 2005, when former Brigham Young University player Jason Scukanec, although never admitting to using steroids himself, stated that steroids were used in many notable Division I programs. Scukanec, who is the co-host of a sports talk radio show "Primetime With Isaac and Big Suke" on KFXX-AM (AM 1080 "The Fan") in Portland, Oregon, made these statements: Portland State University coach Tim Walsh commented on the situation, declining the remarks: The number of players who have admitted using steroids in a confidential survey conducted by the NCAA since the 1980s has dropped from 9.7 percent in 1989 to 3.0 percent in 2003. During the 2003 season, there were over 7,000 drug tests, with just 77 turning up as positive test results. Scukanec claims that methods were used to get around the drug testing, whether it be avoiding the tests by using the drugs during the off-season, or flushing the drugs out of your system. This was used with a liquid he referred to as the "pink." He stated: ==Health issues==

, which can occur after the use of a performance-enhancing drug. Performance-enhancing drugs, most notably anabolic steroids can cause many health issues. Many American football players have experienced these health issues from using anabolic steroids, which have even resulted in some player's deaths. Most of these issues are dose-dependent, the most common being elevated blood pressure, especially in those with pre-existing hypertension, and harmful changes in cholesterol levels: some steroids cause an increase in LDL cholesterol and a decrease in HDL cholesterol. Anabolic steroids such as testosterone also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease or coronary artery disease. Acne is fairly common among anabolic steroid users, mostly due to stimulation of the sebaceous glands by increased testosterone levels. Conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) can accelerate the rate of premature baldness for those who are genetically predisposed. Other side effects can include alterations in the structure of the heart, such as enlargement and thickening of the left ventricle, which impairs its contraction and relaxation. Possible effects of these alterations in the heart are hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, heart attacks, and sudden cardiac death. These changes are also seen in non-drug using athletes, but steroid use may accelerate this process. However, both the connection between changes in the structure of the left ventricle and decreased cardiac function, as well as the connection to steroid use have been disputed. High doses of oral anabolic steroid compounds can cause liver damage as the steroids are metabolized (17α-alkylated) in the digestive system to increase their bioavailability and stability. When high doses of such steroids are used for long periods, the liver damage may be severe and lead to liver cancer. There are also gender-specific side effects of anabolic steroids. Development of breast tissue in males, a condition called gynecomastia (which is usually caused by high levels of circulating estrogen), may arise because of increased conversion of testosterone to estrogen by the enzyme aromatase. Reduced sexual function and temporary infertility can also occur in males. Along with this the use of anabolic steroids also leads to an increased risk for prostate cancer. Female-specific side effects include increases in body hair, deepening of the voice, enlarged clitoris, temporary decreases in menstrual cycles, and male pattern baldness. When taken during pregnancy, anabolic steroids can affect fetal development by causing the development of male features in the female fetus and female features in the male fetus. ==See also==