Four Oakland Raiders Including Barret Robbins (Superbowl No-Show) Suspended for Steroids

ESPN.com ^

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Four Oakland Raiders have tested positive for the newly discovered steroid THG and face four-game suspensions, CBS reported Sunday.

Oakland senior assistant Bruce Allen told The Associated Press that he knew of no suspensions. He criticized the report but wouldn't confirm or deny the reports of the positive tests.

"The league's program on testing and information on testing are extremely confidential," Allen said before the Raiders' game against the Minnesota Vikings. "So any reports out of that, someone's either violating the law or making them up. I hope they're able to find the people who spread false rumors."

CBS' "The NFL Today" and SportsLine.com reported that defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield, center Barret Robbins, linebacker Bill Romanowski and defensive tackle Chris Cooper were notified in letters from the NFL this past week that they tested positive for THG, or tetrahydrogestrinone. It wasn't clear when the tests were conducted or the urine samples were taken.

Allen said he wouldn't know if the players received such letters.

Agents for the players didn't immediately return calls from the AP on Sunday. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wouldn't comment.

Stubblefield and Cooper, along with running back Tyrone Wheatley and fullback Chris Hetherington, appeared Thursday before a grand jury probing a nutritional supplements lab -- the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.

An attorney for BALCO founder Victor Conte has confirmed his client is the target of the grand jury probe. Conte has been accused by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency of supplying athletes with THG. He has denied the report.

[mylife]

This is a Warning Shot by the NFL to all those on the juice to get off NOW while they can

Yup! There ya go!!

[mylife]

This is a Warning Shot by the NFL

Hard to believe that carmen policy has any merit but he understands that this is not sustainable. lets get some honesty in the game....I'll call ya and raise ya 20

[pointsal]

Anyone test Al Davis?

[zarf]

How long will this suspention last...? yeah, right.

[rabidralph]

If you can have a year without Santa Claus, you can have a league without linemen. Actually this would be the perfect time for all those weekend athletes to suit up and become the replacement players like we had in '87.

[b4its2late]

If they suspend 4 more of them, maybe the raiders can win a couple more games.......

[Yossarian]

...he might retire because he's been suffering from post-concussion syndrome...

In Romanowski's case, I guess that would be the concussion he gave fellow teammate Marcus Williams with a punch in training camp....

Man, I hate this. I love football, but I'm sick of

• the "fake-scholars" that the schools merrily take advantage of in the college game,
• the roids at all levels of the game, and
• the raising of linemen like Japanese sumo-wrestlers, with total disregard for their health.

I wonder what football would be like with "normal" athletes. It'd be interesting to see a league with stringent drug testing and weight-to-height limit standards enforced. Oh, yes, and one that cuts out half the rules that currently infest the game today...the rulebook now being biblical in scale....

[governsleastgovernsbest]

According to the article, it's a four-game suspension.

[hollywood]

Why do you ask about Al Davis? Is it illegal in the NFL to use 10W40 in one's hair?

[zarf]

Yeah right. Hopefully football will enforce their rules a bit more stringenly than MLB.

[Enterprise]

I would like to see the fake scholars eliminated from all college sports, and I would like to see a lifetime ban on sports competetion for anyone caught with more than one violation of roids or illegal drugs. Enough of this crap.

[Enterprise]

Al Davis gets away with it because he uses WD40. I know, it's outrageous, but it's a technicality.

[Newbomb Turk]

If you want to hate former Denver Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski for being a jerk, fine. He is. If you want to hate Romanowski for being racist, well, evidence certainly points to that being a strong possibility.

But if you want to hate Romanowski for taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs as per allegations , you had better be prepared to hate a ton of pro athletes.

If memory serves me correctly Romanowski was busted while at Denver for obtaining Perscription Steroids under his wifes name or an assumed name.

I would bet as many as half of all NFL player are using some type of preformance enhansing substance. While not all of these substances are legal some like ZMA and Creatine are.

[battlegearboat]

I came in here thinking it was a Baskin & Robbins.

[xJones]

LOL!

[battlegearboat]

Oh well, I'll have the Strawberry Steroid Sunday with plenty of nuts.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

This is shocking. Next thing you're gonna tell me that there's steroid use in bodybuilding and professional wrestling.

[NittanyLion]

Judging by their performance, it's clear the Nittany Lions are not taking performance-enhancing drugs!

You got that right! I'm hoping every Division I program except PSU will be implicated...LOL.

[Uncle Hal]

You have to wonder if Barry Bonds is the next guy to test positive.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

I'm listening to the Dan Patrick show on ESPN right now, and they had as a guest the head of the Olympic anti-doping commission. He mentioned that he had offered their services to basbeball commissioner Bud Selig, and that Selig expressed no interest and claimed there was no drug problem in MLB.

The Olympics official also mentioned that the NFL had a fairly decent anti-steroids program, particularly compared to the farce that MLB recently adopted.