After reading Jeff Kirik’s sports column (“Gather them up and ship’em out”), that appeared in The Northern Star, Sept. 7; I began to think about the column more deeply. Certainly, the intent of Mr. Kirik’s column is to satirize the recent NFL suspension of several players for testing positive for drug usage, by creating a ridiculous solution to the problem.

Possibly Mr. Kirik means conversely to show the severity of the drug problem in the NFL, as an example of the overall drug problem in the U.S. If this is the example being given, then in accord to President Bush’s get tough policy on drugs, the NFL should stop babying their over-priced million dollar babies and treat them like the fully-grown males they are. Certainly the rest of us in society would not be given the same treatment as the NFL players.

One way to curb undesirable behavior is to apply sanction to those who have committed the act. If these individuals continue their undesirable behavior, after receiving sanction for the act(s), then the next alternative is expulsion or a lifetime prohibition from participation. The NFL is a business that exists for the fans, the fans pay the bills through their patronage. Who wants to watch a bunch of drugged-out millionaires thrusting their bodies at each other?

Professional athletes in the U.S. are deified; they owe something back to society for the privilege of being in the position they are in. Yes, these men are still human beings capable of making mistakes. But, you and I do not appear on national television or play the roles in dreams of children. The NFL players, and all professional athletes, should grow up, think for themselves and JUST SAY NO TO DRUGS!

Stewart Penoyer

Senior

Public Law