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Know Your Drugs

We may look back to the beginning of 21st century sports as The Years of the Drug.  Baseball has suspended players for steroids and human growth hormone use while football has repeatedly suspended players for violating its substance abuse policy.  Agents need to be aware of what their clients are taking and what the rules are in various sports.

For instance, starting in the 2007 season, amphetamine use will be tested in the NFL and will carry the same fines that are now handed out for steroid use [NFL, union may beef up drug testing this season].  New Commissioner Roger Goodell is already talking about increasing the amount substances tested and number of tests given [New commish says tougher drug program in talks].

If you do not think that the NFL is serious about not having the same sort of drug scandal that MLB has dealt with, just check out the amount of players that are listed in the Nightmare Clients of the Week section for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.  You may find a lot of Cincinnati Bengals!

[tags]drugs, nfl, football, mlb, baseball, substance abuse policy[/tags]

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.