The National Football League has battled a number of criticisms over the years with how it handles the health of its players, and this latest report from The Washington Post will only add a little bit of gasoline to the fire.

Citing sealed documents from a federal lawsuit filed by more than 1,800 former players against the league, The Washington Post reports the NFL was in violation of federal laws regarding prescription drugs, disregarded guidance from the DEA and provided powerful painkillers and anti-inflammatories to players.

According to the information revealed in the documents, team doctors throughout the league testified they had violated at least one federal drug law and regulation while employed by an NFL franchise. One team doctor, Anthony Yates of the Pittsburgh Steelers, testified a majority of the teams in the league since 2010 had a trainer with access to handling prescription medication when they should not have, according to federal regulations. That is certainly not a good look, especially for a league hit hard by former players accusing the league of negligence concerning long-term effects of the sport on players.

Worst yet, some doctors appeared to be going out of their way to fool those in charge of oversight for the league’s drug policies. From The Washington Post;

In August 2009, for example, Paul Sparling, the Cincinnati Bengals’ head trainer, wrote in an email: “Can you have your office fax a copy of your DEA certificate to me? I need it for my records when the NFL ‘pill counters’ come to see if we are doing things right. Don’t worry, I’m pretty good at keeping them off the trail!”

What would possess a doctor or trainer to go around acting like this when it potentially does more to harm a player’s well-being in the long-run than anything else? Like many jobs, the pressure to seemingly be doing a good job. Getting players back on the field appears to be the sign of a good trainer or doctor, but how that is being done is worth scrutinizing and confronting when something doesn’t feel right. Rushing a player back on the field is hardly an advisable procedure, especially when it involves using drugs that could have a long-term impact on that player’s future on and off the field.

The information in this report suggests this has been a problem for decades, not just a few years. If that is the case, the NFL absolutely needs to review its internal operations and have teams do their own due diligence to assure the public and their players that all health-related manners are being handled appropriately. Will this stop the problem entirely? Doubtful, as there will always be some bad eggs in the bunch looking to find shortcuts, but the NFL cannot just ignore this and hope it all goes away. If the allegations in this lawsuit are accurate, this problem has been around for a long time and may not be going anywhere too soon either.

The NFL took measures to provide better compliance in 2015, so hopefully, the page has been turned.

[The Washington Post]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.