1. nfl action figures
Bill Kostroun/Associated Press
Patriots defensive end Jermaine Cunningham, right, is among the seven N.F.L. players
linked to Adderall, a stimulant.
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Barton Silverman/The New York Times
Buccaneers cornerback Eric Wright, returning an interception, is among the seven N.F.L.
players linked to Adderall.
“ ‘You’ve got to get some of these,’ ” Becht recalled the player saying. “I was like, ‘What the
heck is that?’ He definitely needed it. He said it just locks you in, hones you in. He said,
‘When I have to take them, my focus is just raised up to another level.’ ”
Becht said he did not give Adderall another thought until 2009, when he was playing in
Arizona and his fellow tight end Ben Patrick was suspended for testing positive for
amphetamines. The drug he took, Patrick said, was Adderall. Becht asked Patrick why he
took it, and Patrick told Becht, and reporters, that he had needed to stay awake for a long
drive.
Those two conversations gave Becht, now a free agent, an early glimpse at a problem that is
confounding the N.F.L. this season. Players are taking Adderall, a medication widely
prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, whether they need it or not, and are
failing drug tests because of it. And that is almost certainly contributing to a most-troubling

2. result: a record-setting year for N.F.L. drug suspensions.
According to N.F.L. figures, 21 suspensions were announced this calendar year because of
failed tests for performance-enhancing drugs, including amphetamines like Adderall. That is
a 75 percent increase over the 12 suspensions announced in 2011 and, with a month to go in
2012, it is the most in a year since suspensions for performance-enhancing drugs began in
1989.
At least seven of the players suspended this year have been linked in news media reports to
Adderall or have publicly blamed the drug, which acts as a strong stimulant in those without
A.D.H.D. The most recent examples were Tampa Bay cornerback Eric Wright and New
England defensive lineman Jermaine Cunningham last week.
The N.F.L. is forbidden under the terms of the drug-testing agreement with the players union
from announcing what substance players have tested positive for — the urine test does not
distinguish among types of amphetamines — and there is some suspicion that at least a few
players may claim they took Adderall instead of admitting to steroid use, which carries a far
greater stigma. But Adolpho Birch, who oversees drug testing as the N.F.L.’s senior vice
president for law and labor, said last week that failed tests for amphetamines were up this
year, although he did not provide any specifics. The increase in Adderall use probably
accounts for a large part of the overall increase in failed tests.
“If nothing else it probably reflects an uptick in the use of amphetamine and amphetamine-
related substances throughout society,” Birch said. “It’s not a secret that it’s a societal trend,
and I think we’re starting to see some of the effects of that trend throughout our league.”
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