NFL players who strive for years to get to the league often find themselves doing almost anything to stay. They push their bodies to the limit, but that drive sometimes takes them only so far.

So they look elsewhere for help -- even if that help is unnatural or artificial.

It is the NFL's poorly kept little secret: Players take pills and powders to find the added boost to excel, or perhaps simply keep their jobs.

Green Bay's LeRoy Butler says Ripped Fuel caused him to hallucinate during a game.(Allsport)

The search has led some to a little brown bottle with bright red lettering, packed with pills that are both legal and dangerous. Perhaps deadly dangerous.

The supplement, which can be purchased over the counter at any nutrition center, is called Ripped Fuel.

But as one prominent NFL player said: "It should be called R.I.P. Fuel."

Ripped Fuel is the most prominent of a group of dietary supplements containing the substance ephedra, supplements NFL players use to shed weight and mostly to improve their energy level.

It's the league's legal amphetamine. It is chic, trendy and penalty-free under terms of the league's drug policy, because ephedra is not a banned substance.

Estimates by players are that as many as 50 percent of their colleagues have used some form of a supplement with ephedra during their careers. Many are still using.

"There are a lot of guys in this league taking it, but who won't admit," said Green Bay Packers safety LeRoy Butler. "You see guys taking those pills all the time."

"It's a legalized stimulant," said Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber, who says he hasn't used the supplements but has seen players who have. "It was big when I first came into the league (four years ago). A lot of guys were taking it. I don't know if it's as bad as it was then, but I know there are guys still taking it."

Other ephedra-enhanced supplements include Ultimate Orange and Xenadrine, which has been endorsed by NFL players Marshall Faulk and Edgerrin James. Like Ripped Fuel, both are diet supplements that feature both ephedra and caffeine (guarana) -- a potentially deadly formula.

"Anytime you take this type of product, you are putting yourself at risk," said Bill Gurley, an associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Arkansas and considered a leading authority on the subject. "Ephedrine and caffeine can be a deadly combination. These substances can have all kinds of adverse effects on people. They are dangerous beyond what most people think."

Now comes word that Rashidi Wheeler, the Northwestern football player who died during a workout two weeks ago, might have been taking some sort of ephedra-based supplement. The Los Angeles Times reported that Wheeler had, in the months before his collapse, taken Ultimate Orange on top of his asthma medication.

Ephedrine is banned by both the NCAA and the International Olympic Committee, but NFL players are currently free to use it as they wish.

"I think guys look for something that can get them over the hump on game day," said Titans linebacker Eddie Robinson, who said he hasn't taken the supplement. "You see it. But ultimately, you have to get your mind prepared and ready to play naturally."

The NFL Management Council and the NFL Players Association have discussed the possibility of banning ephedra products, perhaps this year. They took a small step Tuesday, agreeing to prevent players from endorsing supplements from companies that also make products containing banned substances.

Tampa Bay's Ronde Barber calls Ripped Fuel a 'legalized stimulant.'(Allsport)

Xenadrine is in that category.

There are more talks planned, according to NFL vice president of public relations Greg Aiello.

"It's not on our banned list because it's not a performance-enhancing drug," said Aiello. "It kind of falls into a gray area. But we are looking into it."

Added Carl Francis, director of public relations for the NFLPA: "The more we educate ourselves about the different supplements, we'll look to see if they should be recommended to be included in our banned substance list."

The products in question contain ma huang, a plant grown mostly in the hills of China and the botanical source for ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and norpseudoephedrine. Ripped Fuel and Ultimate Orange both contain the three ephedra alkaloids.

Those same substances happen to be the active chemicals in the illegal drug crystal methamphetamine, or crystal meth. Street name: "speed."

"The authorities busted labs making methamphetamine in the early 1990s with pure ephedra," Gurley said. "You can make speed out of this product. It's being done. These are basically weak amphetamines these players are taking."

Calls to TwinLab, the makers of Ripped Fuel, were referred to the Ephedra Education Council. Wes Siegner, the legal counsel for the EEC, defended the products.

"Ephedra and caffeine aren't an amphetamine any more than a Yugo is a Ferrari," Siegner said. "They're both cars, but nobody will mistake one for the other."

Siegner did say that the products are made for two reasons: weight loss and sports nutrition. But the EEC wouldn't be opposed to the NFL banning the substance.

"The effort here is not to get athletes to take the product to get a leg up on the competition," Siegner said. "I don't have any problems with professional sports or the IOC or college sports saying they don't want their athletes to take the product."

The fact that these products are controversial led many NFL players interviewed for this story to decline to discuss Ripped Fuel or similar supplements on the record. But privately, many said they know or have seen players who take the substances for added energy and/or weight loss.

"I know there are guys who have taken Ripped Fuel and things like that," said Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl linebacker Zach Thomas. "They have to take it for practice."

So is it an epidemic? (... Continued ...)

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