SAN DIEGO-- Officially, they're called Drug Program Agents. To the players, they're simply known as the "pee guys."

Whatever the moniker, they provide a constant reminder of the NFL's stance against performance-enhancing drugs as they rove team practice facilities typically twice a week. To players these days, DPAs are almost as common a sight as reporters or guys collecting dirty laundry, so much so that players don't seem too put off by their presence.

Until they inevitably get that note taped to their locker: Steroids Test This Morning Photo ID Required

Whenever the note finds Torry Holt, it elicits the same response from the St. Louis Rams wide receiver.

"I'll always be like, 'I don't know why you all keep testing me -- I'm totally not on steroids,' " Holt said with a laugh during a recent conference call.

Levity aside, Holt contends the NFL's drug testing policy is no joke.

The league's policy of urine tests for steroids was lauded last year by the same congressional committee that had grilled baseball on its lax policy. And while that credibility has since taken a hit with steroid allegations involving Carolina Panthers players, the NFL's testing program now has a high-profile catch after Chargers star linebacker Shawne Merriman's positive steroid test came to light last month.

Many players seem convinced that the current system of testing works.

"We feel, as a union, it's a great way of doing things," Holt said. "Our drug testing policy is great and we think it's one of the better ones in professional sports."

Said Chargers tackle Shane Olviea: "There's really no way to beat the test."

That may be true for part of the process, but how air-tight the entire system actually is remains subject for debate.

Collection

The most visible enforcers of the NFL's steroid policy are the DPAs, independent contractors whose job is to collect urine samples from players. Two or three are assigned to each team.

During the season, the tests take aim at performance enhancing drugs, and that constitutes a wide spectrum of substances. On the NFL's Policy on Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances for 2006, the list of banned anabolic/androgen steroids, masking agents and certain stimulants spans four pages.

Players from each team -- whether they are on the active roster, practice squad or reserve list -- are tested for steroids every week, selected on a random basis by a computer.

Tackle Roman Oben, who was recently voted the Chargers representative to the NFL Players Association, said the DPAs can test "four to five guys a day."

"You might get tested two or three times in a month and then might not get tested again for the rest of the season," Oben said. "Or you might get tested once a month. It's all up to them."

In the end, it all boils down to one fairly basic routine. On a test day, a player finds out when he arrives at the team's facility, typically with a note placed in his locker. He then has four hours to produce a sample.

"Bring your ID, go pee. That's it," said Olivea, who said recently that he had been tested "three or four times" already this year.

Players are allowed to have some oversight during the process. Under the policy, a player is entitled to select a sealed specimen cup to use. After filling the cup, they can watch as the specimen is divided into an "A" and "B" sample.

On the other hand, to ensure the samples are not fraudulent or otherwise tampered with, players must be supervised as they urinate. Some NFL players, like Holt, say they've grown accustomed to the routine; others are understandably bothered by the watchful eye of the DPA.

"Let's see, another grown man staring at me going to the bathroom? I don't know how comfortable I (should) feel," Olivea said. "But like I said, it's just the process you deal with."

"It's not the highlight of the day," added Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. "But obviously it's a process and it's something that they do to protect this game. So you understand why and respect that."

The importance of a witness to testing was underscored in 2005 when Vikings running back Onterrio Smith was detained by police at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for possessing "The Original Whizzinator" -- a device that includes a fake penis and bladder intended to deceive those who administer drug tests -- and vials Smith allegedly told police contained dried "clean" urine.

Oben remembers a time, not so long ago, where the collection of samples wasn't so strict. When he started his NFL career in 1996, players were practically on the honor system.

"I've seen it go from, take a bottle and go pee to and bring it back, to where you've got to present your ID now, you've got to lift your shirt up," Oben said. "It's like they make addendums (to the policy) every year."

One of the most recent provisions requires players to present identification to the agents supervising the test, which has brought about the farcical situation of superstar LaDainian Tomlinson being carded at Chargers Park to prove he's not an imposter.

"These guys, they know us all by name, so it's a joke," Oben said. "But he's got to do his job, so no one takes offense to it."

Detection

Once the DPAs have finished their task, the samples are given tamper-resistant seals and shipped by Federal Express to laboratories in Los Angeles or Salt Lake City.

It is at this stage of the process that many have doubts about the NFL's effectiveness at catching the cheaters in its ranks.

Recent scandals have revealed chinks in the armor. Of the six Carolina Panthers players who the Charlotte Observer reported this year had received steroid prescriptions from a doctor, none had previously tested positive for steroids.

The story was much the same for several players caught in the Feds' BALCO designer steroids net.

The league, however, boasts of the strong credentials of its testing facilities --- the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory and the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory at the University of Utah. The UCLA facility is a certified testing center under by the World Anti-Doping Agency while the Salt Lake City lab was created in 2004 with funds from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the NFL.

NFL vice president of public relations Greg Aiello said in an email that recent scandals do not indicate the league's testing is vulnerable.

"That speaks to the limits of science, not the limits of the program," Aiello said. "Once a test was developed for THG (the substance produced by BALCO) by our UCLA testing lab, we went back and tested 2,000 samples. Four were positive and those players were disciplined.

"No drug testing program is perfect, but ours is a strong and effective program that we continue to improve at every opportunity."

But skeptics, such as World Anti-Doping Agency president Dick Pound, persist.

"The NFL applauds itself for having the best program," Pound said in the Boston Globe last year, "But you look at it and say, 'How is it you're not finding what some of those guys are using?' "

One banned performance enhancer that remains undetectable is Human Growth Hormone. While other steroids decrease testosterone levels in the urine, detecting HGH usually requires a blood test. NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw has spoken out against blood testing, suggesting it is too invasive a procedure.

Aiello added there is no fully validated test for HGH available in the U.S., though the league is working toward that end.

"We are funding the research into the development of a urine test for HGH and we hope the federal government will become involved because this is a public health issue that goes beyond sports," Aiello said.

In other words, there's still some catching up to do.

That's not unusual, said Scripps Clinic endocrinologist Ken Fujioka, a former team doctor for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s who has since treated steroid abusers outside the world of professional sports. Marveling at the "amazing chemistry" the BALCO lab used to produce THG, he said that the science of those trying to cheat will always outpace that of the testers.

"It's impressive the way they can get around detection," Fujioka said. "They come up with compounds so similar to what the body produces naturally.

"But I think if you put in enough money, leagues could probably find a way to catch up."

Punishment

Once a sample has tested positive for steroids, it becomes the job of the NFL's Advisor on Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances -- currently John Lombardo -- to verify the result with the laboratory and then notify the player in writing of the positive test.

The player can then choose to have his "B" sample tested. If the "B" sample also comes up positive, the player is notified he is subject to disciplinary action, leaving him five days to appeal the ruling and request a hearing.

Many Chargers fans are now well aware of this process, as well as the league's penalty for an initial violation the steroid policy -- a four-game suspension without pay. Merriman began his four-game ban last week after dropping his appeal to his positive steroid test.

Merriman's days of facing purely random testing are over. Once a player has a positive result in his past, the random system of in-season testing no longer applies as violators become subject to year-round "reasonable cause testing" at the discretion of the advisor. A second violation would mean an eight-game suspension; a third would bring a 12-month ban.

Another aspect of the policy brought to light by Merriman's situation is its inflexibility. He initially appealed his positive test, claiming that it was caused by unknowingly taking tainted supplements.

But in the eyes of the policy, that would not have mattered. In its section on positive tests caused by supplement use, the policy uses an underlined font for the sentence: "Players are responsible for what is in their own bodies."

Merriman acknowledged his slim chances of winning as one of the reasons he dropped his appeal last week, characterizing himself as "a victim of the policy."

Could be. But as it stands, it's a policy the league actively trumpets.

"We have a very effective program," said Aiello, "that deters and detects the use of banned substances."

Contact staff writer Michael Klitzing at mklitzing at nctimes.com.

Testing for steroids

The following applies to NFL layers without previous documented steroid involvement:

Pre-employment: Tests may be administered to free agent players (rookie or veteran) and at testing and timing sessions of draft-eligible players.

Preseason: All players are guaranteed of being tested at least once during the year. This usually occurs during training camp.

Regular season: Players on every team are tested each week, selected randomly by a computer program.

Postseason: Random testing continues into the playoffs for teams still competing.

Offseason: Players under contract can be tested up to six times.

Source: NFL