When the draft ends, the NFL door has not been blown shut: the best front offices do more than draft well—they find college free agents who can help their teams

Sporting News, The, May 13, 2005 by Dan Pompei

NFL vs. MLB: A juicy comparison

Just because the NFL's steroid policy was scrutinized by Congress last week doesn't mean the NFL and Major League Baseball should be lumped together with regard to performance enhancers. Whereas baseball was shamed into instituting a policy recently, the NFL has had a program in place for 15 years.

Baseball has suspended one major league player; the NFL has suspended 54 players. A first-time baseball suspension is for about 6 percent of a season. A first-time football suspension is for 25 percent of a season. Though the Major League Baseball Players Association tried to avoid steroid testing because it viewed it as an infringement on players' rights, the NFL Players Association has embraced it with the belief that steroids are a threat to players' health and competitive fairness.