POSTED 4:58 p.m. EDT; UPDATED 6:33 p.m. EDT, April 21, 2006
WROTEN, SCIFRES TEST POSITIVE AT COMBINE
Three league sources with knowledge of the results of the drug tests administered at the February scouting combine tells us that, this year, only two players generated positive results.
Per the sources, the two positive results were generated by LSU defensive tackle Claude Wroten and Missouri State kicker Jon Scifres. The sources have requested anonymity due to the confidential nature of the NFL's drug testing protocol.
ESPN's Mel Kiper has Wroten listed as No. 3 among defensive tackles, behind only Brodrick Bunkley and Haloti Ngata. Kiper pegs Scifres as the No. 2 kicker.
Scifres' brother, Mike, is the punter for the San Diego Chargers.
Coincidentally (or perhaps not), Wroten wrote a letter last week to the lead decision maker of each of the 32 NFL teams, reportedly due to an arrest in January of possession of marijuana, with intent to distribute. The charges were dropped. He said in the letter that he made a mistake, but is not a bad guy.
It's not known whether Wroten knew at the time of writing the letter that his test result from the combine would be positive, or whether his letter addressed the matter in any way. Last year, Northwestern tackle Luis Castillo arguably slowed his own draft slide by disclosing via letter a positive result at the combine for androstenedione. Castillo was selected by the Chargers in round one.
A positive test doesn't necessarily mean that the player was found to have a prohibited substance in his urine. An excessively diluted sample also can be regarded as a positive test.
As we've explained in past years, the test imposed at the combine is announced in advance. Thus, anyone who tests positive at the combine -- and whose positive test was the result of using a prohibited substance -- is either a moron or has a problem.
Unless, of course, it's a false positive.
