O.C Register, September 8th 1989

 Patches worn by the Los Angeles Rams last year warning that "Drug Use is Life Abuse" have been ordered removed by the National Football League.

The reason: NFL officials say the emblems are uniform abuse.

"We don't want our team uniforms ending up looking like race car drivers' uniforms," NFL spokesman Jim Heffernan said Thursday, referring to those eye-straining automotive duds cluttered with endorsements for everything from motor oil to pizza.

"There has to be some code of dress," Heffernan said. "There always has been some code of dress. And anyone who cares to change it can ask permission."

That's what the Pittsburgh Steelers did when they asked for and got a patch commemmorating late owner Art Rooney.

And that's what the Chicago Bears did when they wanted to honor late owner George S. Halas by wearing his initials on their jerseys.

But that's not what the Rams did. At the request of Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates, and after Rams owner Georgia Frontiere gave the go-ahead, the team merely added the patches to its jerseys last October.

The NFL told team officials last year that the patches violated league rules against unauthorized uniform changes, but decided to allow the anti-drug slogan to be worn for the rest of the season, Heffernan said.

The NFL stood firm on its no-slogan rule this year, ordering the insignia stripped off before the exhibition season. Rams officials were not pleased.

"It has been very widely received and well accepted. We even received a commendation from the president," said Marshall Klein, Rams' vice president for community and media relations. "The first negative feedback we got was from the league."

Cognizant of their lack of options, Rams officials complied with the NFL's order, removing the patches not only from the team uniforms but from the cheerleaders' outfits as well.

"Obviously, we thought -- and still think -- that it's the right thing to do,

and our commitment will not lessen on the issue because of this," Klein said. "We're sorry about it, we're disappointed, but so be it."

Jason Shanker, 16, a Corona del Mar High School student and a member of the Orange County Student Advisory Council Against Drug Abuse, wrote to the NFL in August, asking for an explanation of the ruling.

His response arrived this week from NFL Executive Director Don Weiss, who said the league commends the Rams for its efforts but still considers the patches inappropriate.

Weiss also pointed out that the NFL devotes portions of is telecasts to public-service announcements, including anti-drug messages, that it tests its players at least once a year and that it is the first professional sports organization to punish athletes for steroid use.

The league suspended 25 players last season and four this year for substance abuse. Thirteen others were suspended recently for taking steroids.

"But our rules and policies, developed in conjunction with the member clubs, draw the line at a proliferation of special-message patches or insignia on team uniforms," Weiss wrote.

Shanker said he plans to write back, still hopeful of changing NFL officials' minds.

"It didn't hurt anyone and if it helped one kid stay off drugs, then obviously it was worth the effort," Shanker said. "We just don't understand why the program is to be stopped at this point."

Gates, whose anti-drug campaign got the patches stitched onto the uniforms in the first place, also was chagrined by their removal.

He praised Frontiere and the Rams for taking "a courageous step and a giant step" in support of his program, which is geared toward school-age athletes and other youngsters throughout the county.

Thousands of them wear "Drug Use is Life Abuse" emblems similar to those banned by the NFL, he said.

"I'm just disappointed that the NFL commissioner and the National Football League and other teams in this country aren't willing at this point in time to take that giant step with the rest of the kids in this county," Gates said.

The NFL's Heffernan, however, would argue that his employer is getting a giant bad rap in the patch-removal flap.

"It has nothing to do with drug programs or charity programs or raising money for worthy causes at all," he said. "It is a simple rule."