Drug results delivered to teams
Four players test positive for marijuana use
By Nolan Nawrocki
April 12, 2005
The NFL office mailed out letters to all 32 teams on Friday regarding players who had tested positive for banned substances at the Combine.
The league designates one person with each team to receive the information, and it is highly confidential and protected.
PFW has learned that four players have tested positive for marijuana use, including one potential first-round pick. DT Antaaj Hawthorne was one of two Wisconsin players, along with OG Jonathan Clinkscale, to have tested positive for the drug at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis in late February.
Hawthorne, whom scouts have graded anywhere from the first to fourth round, could be the most adversely affected by the results. One of the biggest knocks on Hawthorne is that he plays lazy, takes snaps off and does not give great effort on every down, despite his natural physical talent. The test results could give scouts a reason to explain his effort.
NFL teams are generally less concerned about marijuana, however, than they are about hard-core drugs like cocaine. Two years ago, suspicions of marijuana use by Michigan State WR Charles Rogers arose when his urine sample was too diluted with water, which was deemed to be a masking agent for drugs. Yet Rogers was still drafted second overall by the Lions. A decade ago, teams tended to be less forgiving when they learned of a positive drug test by a draft prospect. Warren Sapp was regarded as a potential top-three pick in 1995 before testing positive for marijuana and sliding to the 12th spot.
Concerns about Hawthorne could be more prevalent given his erratic effort and lack of consistency. Clinkscales was projected as a mid-Day Two pick prior to the results.
The other two players who tested positive for the substance were Clemson DT Eric Coleman and Bowie State SS Atcheson Conway. Coleman could be pushed from a late-round pick to a priority free agent. Teams were surprised Conway was even invited to the Combine, and after running mid-4.9 times in the 40 in Indianapolis, his chances to be drafted had already been eliminated.
http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/NF ... gtests.htm
