Pills A Problem In Nfl

The use of painkillers is so widespread in the NFL that a few players trade game tickets for black-market pills, The New York Times reported.

The newspaper said in its Sunday editions that dozens of players, coaches and league executives surveyed for the story estimate that as many as 10 percent of the NFL’s 1,500 players have “serious addiction problems with painkillers.”

Many of those surveyed were quoted anonymously and noted that the addictions most often come from pills obtained from those outside the team and its medical staff. It noted that some players get them from representatives of pharmaceutical companies in exchange for game tickets, access to locker rooms or invitations to parties with players.