The National Football League (NFL) has masterfully handled the public relations of their drug testing program. The NFL has largely escaped the steroid scandals that have engulfed Major League Baseball (MLB) in the past decade. It isn’t because NFL has eliminated steroids from football. It isn’t because steroid use is lower in football than baseball. It’s simply a matter of PR that has created the perception among the general public and sportswriters that the NFL’s Policy on Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances is effective and steroid use isn’t a problem.

Maybe giving football players advance notice of steroid tests helps minimize any problematic failed steroid tests as well. The Wall Street Journal recounts an incident last week during the Green Bay Packers – Philadelphia Eagles playoff  game where a reporter observed a player receiving advance notice of a steroid test from the team’s head trainer [Read more…]