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ATLANTA (SI.com) -- Four Oakland Raiders have tested positive for the designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), sources told SI.com on Sunday.
The NFL Today first reported that Raiders defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield, center Barrett Robbins, linebacker Bill Romanowski and defensive tackle Chris Cooper were informed via letter of their positive THG tests. Pending an appeal, each faces a four-game suspension by the NFL.
On Thursday, Oakland running back Tyrone Wheatley hit a photographer outside a federal courthouse, hours before testifying before a grand jury probing a nutritional supplements lab.
Wheatley was one of five NFL players -- including four Raiders -- to appear Thursday before the panel. Others included Stubblefield, a former defensive player of the year, and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Johnnie Morton.
Also appearing before the grand jury Thursday was Marion Jones, who won an unprecedented five track medals in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
The discovery of THG, which had heretofore escaped detection by standard screening tests, is at the center of perhaps the biggest doping scandal ever in sports. However, Sportsline.com noted the suspensions of the four Raiders are not immediate and would not take effect until after an appeal process that could include testing of another sample, as well as a hearing. The players' union will fight the suspensions, the Web site said.
THG has been sold in the guise of a dietary supplement when it is in fact a drug that lacks federal permission for sale in this country, the Food and Drug Administration said. It is a drug derived from another steroid long banned in athletics, the agency said.
The FDA's official designation of THG as illegal, which had been anticipated since the scandal over the previously undetectable steroid emerged, puts manufacturers on notice that the government will crack down on anyone caught selling it.
It also is the strongest warning yet that using THG is risky. Anabolic steroids can have dangerous side effects, including liver damage, heart disease, anxiety and rage. While little is known about THG's specific effects because it is new, its close chemical similarity to other well-known steroids means it poses the same risks, FDA Associate Commissioner John Taylor said.
The NFL Today first reported that Raiders defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield, center Barrett Robbins, linebacker Bill Romanowski and defensive tackle Chris Cooper were informed via letter of their positive THG tests. Pending an appeal, each faces a four-game suspension by the NFL.
On Thursday, Oakland running back Tyrone Wheatley hit a photographer outside a federal courthouse, hours before testifying before a grand jury probing a nutritional supplements lab.
Wheatley was one of five NFL players -- including four Raiders -- to appear Thursday before the panel. Others included Stubblefield, a former defensive player of the year, and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Johnnie Morton.
Also appearing before the grand jury Thursday was Marion Jones, who won an unprecedented five track medals in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
The discovery of THG, which had heretofore escaped detection by standard screening tests, is at the center of perhaps the biggest doping scandal ever in sports. However, Sportsline.com noted the suspensions of the four Raiders are not immediate and would not take effect until after an appeal process that could include testing of another sample, as well as a hearing. The players' union will fight the suspensions, the Web site said.
THG has been sold in the guise of a dietary supplement when it is in fact a drug that lacks federal permission for sale in this country, the Food and Drug Administration said. It is a drug derived from another steroid long banned in athletics, the agency said.
The FDA's official designation of THG as illegal, which had been anticipated since the scandal over the previously undetectable steroid emerged, puts manufacturers on notice that the government will crack down on anyone caught selling it.
It also is the strongest warning yet that using THG is risky. Anabolic steroids can have dangerous side effects, including liver damage, heart disease, anxiety and rage. While little is known about THG's specific effects because it is new, its close chemical similarity to other well-known steroids means it poses the same risks, FDA Associate Commissioner John Taylor said.
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