Tougher Steroid Testing Could Soon Be in Place

Representatives of the NFL and its players' union met last week and seem to be progressing toward completing an agreement to toughen the league's steroid-testing program.

Officials on both sides of the discussions said yesterday that no agreement had been completed. But the two sides, officials said, are discussing the possibilities of increasing the number of random tests and using a more sophisticated test to detect the presence of synthetic testosterone in a sample obtained via a drug test.

Commissioner Roger Goodell and Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, participated in the meeting with the league's medical advisers. League spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed that the meeting occurred but said no agreement for modifications to the testing program was finished.

Upshaw said the two sides "did not agree on any changes" but discussed methods of strengthening the program involving the frequency of tests, the type of test and the number of players tested.

Under the NFL's current steroid program, seven players per team are randomly selected each week during the season to be tested. The two sides have discussed increasing that number, perhaps even doubling it. They also have discussed making more frequent use of the costly carbon isotope ratio test to determine whether testosterone detected in a sample is natural or synthetic.

Officials said that last week's session was typical of the sort of meeting the parties often have during their annual review of the drug policy. Goodell indicated when he took office in September that he would seek to strengthen the program, and Upshaw said he would agree to any changes recommended by the sport's medical advisers.

These discussions come in the aftermath of one of the league's top defensive players, San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman, being suspended for four games for testing positive for a banned substance that he said was in a supplement he was taking.

Upshaw said the league's leaders were told at last week's meeting that there still is no reliable urine test for human growth hormone. He previously has said that he would not agree to allow players to be blood-tested for growth hormone.

· FALCONS: Patrick Kerney has been the ironman of Atlanta's defense, starting 105 games in a row. The streak is over.

Kerney was lost for the season after tearing his right pectoral muscle in a loss to the Browns. He will need surgery.

· JAGUARS: Quarterback Byron Leftwich was in Birmingham to receive a second opinion on his injured left ankle.