Feds Raid NFL Locker Rooms
HARLOW: A developing story just into CNN coming to us from the world of sports. The "Washington Post" reporting that federal drug agents have carried out surprise inspections today in NFL team locker rooms with their medical staffs. The "Post" reports the inspections are related to an ongoing investigation into prescription drug abuse in the NFL, specifically allegations by former players that powerful and addictive drugs were handed out to players often without a prescription to help them play through those injuries. Here to talk to me about all of it, the sports side, the legal side, we've got HLN legal analyst, Joey Jackson. On the phone with me also, sports business analyst, Keith Reid, he's also a former senior editor with ESPN. Thank you both for being here. Joey, let me begin with you. This comes as part of this class-action lawsuit filed by a lot of former NFL players.</s>JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Absolutely.</s>HARLOW: Who said we were giving these drugs time and time again to play through the injuries and look what has happened to us as a result. What do you make of these raids happening across the country today?</s>JACKSON: Federal government doesn't sleep. They're investigating and they do a great job of it, Poppy. Why? Because they have staffing. They have resources. And listen, when you talk about anything that relates either to criminality, not that this is at this point, or even civil allegations, and you mentioned the lawsuit that was filed in San Francisco, 600 players, right?</s>HARLOW: Right.</s>JACKSON: You talk about, well, what would give you the probable cause to get this information? If you look at the lawsuit, the allegations are just, you know, revealing in terms of what may have been the alleged past practices.</s>HARLOW: And it's illegal for this -- the "Washington Post" article talks about the fact it's illegal for a physician to distribute prescription drugs outside of, say, their office, for example, outside of their territory.</s>JACKSON: Exactly.</s>HARLOW: But that's the legal side of this.</s>JACKSON: And it's more than that, Poppy. That's a major part of it but you're talking about trainers who are in close contact with the players.</s>HARLOW: Right.</s>JACKSON: And they, of course, are there to take care of the players.</s>HARLOW: And if they're not a physician, they can't be handing this out.</s>JACKSON: They can't -- they can't touch it, so therefore it's problematic. If they do, there's regulations on them and the physicians as well.</s>HARLOW: Right. So, Keith, let me bring you in here. This has been an ongoing story. I mean, the development is basically surprise raids, if you will. But what has the NFL been saying about this throughout?</s>KEITH REID, SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Yes, the NFL obviously has been very careful to defend its teams, to defend the medical staff and the individual teams have been very careful to defend themselves against the allegations in this lawsuit. Of course, you would expect the NFL to do that, expect anybody who is facing serious charges like this to be very defensive and make sure that they're saying the right things. The difficulty for the NFL, once again, and this has happened time and time again this year, is that it becomes yet another PR hit for the league. I mean, you know, it's one thing to be sued. It's one thing to have these investigations going on. It's another thing when you've got so many things swirling in the court of public opinion. And the NFL has taken so many blows, so many -- you know, so much damage to its reputation, in particular Commissioner Goodell who already has at least two issues right in front of him with two very popular or two very well known players in Ray Rice and, again, in Adrian Peterson in front of him right now appealing their suspensions in the actions that he took under the collective bargaining agreement that they've got. So right now the NFL can ill afford in the middle of a Sunday where you've got multiple games going on to have federal agents showing up and rifling through bags.</s>HARLOW: Right. Yes, but it has -- it has happened. So, Joey, if improprieties are found, who is in legal jeopardy here? The doctors, trainers, players, teams, owners? Who?</s>JACKSON: It's a great question, Poppy. And we don't know, but it could be everyone. Now, Keith Reid raises a very good point in terms of the public relations. That might be the least of the NFL's concerns here. As you mentioned before, Poppy, doctors have significant -- they're significantly regulated and they have responsibilities. If they go beyond that, certainly there's an issue to their license. These are allegations we don't know. And then depending upon the extent of what they were doing, it could arise to a crime. Same with players. Are you supplying the players with pain pills and telling them to go out? Are players knowingly asking for prescriptions or asking for drugs they should not have? Does the NFL -- are they complicit? What knowledge do they have? So this investigation, I suspect, Poppy, will uncover answers to those questions and those answers will answer your questions.</s>HARLOW: And it doesn't matter if a player wants them. If it's illegal, it's illegal. If it's happening, to you, Keith, you're -- you know, former senior editor with ESPN. From what you've heard from these players, you got 600 of them who filed this lawsuit, this class- action suit saying this happened to us, former players saying that. Did they talk to you at all about what drives this? If there's a culture of pressure within the league?</s>REED: Well, sure, certainly. I mean, listen, you're being compensated a tremendous amount of money and your value decreases tremendously if you're not on the field. And so there is tremendous pressure for you to be on the field, and not just only because of your compensation, but because the NFL is a very much next-man-up league. Right? We talk about teams where you've got, you know, there are 53 guys on every team, you know, at some positions there are three guys waiting in line behind you to take your spot. And if you get hurt, and you've got an injury that's not, you know, that may be serious, but maybe something that you can, you know, get a shot or take a pill or something like that, in the eyes of a trainer, in the eyes of these fans who expect you to be able to play through that pain, there's a tremendous pressure for you as an athlete to continue to be on the field because you don't want to lose your money, you don't want to lose -- you don't want to lose your starting job. You don't want to lose that high profile. So there's -- the players are under a tremendous amount of pressure to make sure that they're on the field. Whether or not it will be born out that they -- that some entity, some individuals in the NFL are actually culpable of doing things that are illegal is a different thing, but you're right, there's a ton of pressures on players.</s>HARLOW: We will see how this all shakes out. Again, this report just coming in that the DEA is investigating and has raided some of the -- some of the NFL locker rooms today during big game day on Sunday. We'll see what it's found as a result. We'll keep on top of this. Thank you so much, Keith and Joey. Good to have you here.</s>JACKSON: Pleasure, Poppy. Thank you.</s>HARLOW: Coming up next, is college worth the cost? Man, it is a big price tag for some schools. That debate has been going on for a long time. And this week after New York's former mayor said some students might be better off not going to college and becoming plumbers. So who gets to go to college in the future? We're going to talk about these comments, next.