Deion Sanders says he tested positive for steroid use after ankle injury

Jet, August 22, 2005

NFL star Deion Sanders recently reported that he flunked a drug test last summer after he came out of retirement to join the Baltimore Ravens.

Sanders, responding to a question about the Baltimore Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro steroid scandal, said that when he took his Ravens' physical, steroids were detected in his system. He said that the result stemmed from medication he had taken for a twisted ankle.

He was not punished, he explained, because he had received the steroid treatment before he rejoined the NFL.

"The next thing I know they're testing me weekly," said Sanders. "I'm like, 'What's going on?' I had never had a prior. They told me I flunked the steroid test. I was on the random steroid test every week because I took something for my ankle."

The Ravens, however, said Sanders had not failed a drug test. Instead, the team said he had been screened weekly because he had skipped a random drug test in 2000. That gave the league "reasonable cause" to test Sanders.