Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the...

Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Assn., said Commissioner Pete Rozelle does not have the power to implement a league-wide drug program that includes random testing, as Rozelle has said he might do.

Rozelle told both Upshaw and Jack Donlan, the owners’ chief negotiator, that he has “certain steps in mind that I intend to take” if the two sides are unable to agree on a drug program. Rozelle implied that he wanted a program in place soon, possibly within three months, when National Football League mini-camps open.

Rozelle was quoted by the New York Times as saying that any drug policy he might implement would supersede the existing bargaining agreement because the integrity of the game is at stake.