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"There are guys who take it now, but there a lot of guys who have taken some ephedrine supplement at one time or another," Butler said. "You hear about abuses all the time."

Said Aiello: "We would have no way of knowing where the numbers have been or are in terms of the players using the supplements."

The NFL did send a memo to its 32 teams last December, warning of the dangers of supplements with ephedra.

Keenan McCardell tried Ripped Fuel once but didn't like the way his body reacted.(Allsport)

"It was a health bulletin on the dangers of ephedra," Aiello said.

Butler knows first-hand the dangers of the supplements. He was a regular user of Ripped Fuel, taking it before practices and games, usually two pills at a time. A bad experience during a regular-season game two years ago ended his use, he said.

"I was hallucinating on the field, getting really dizzy," Butler said. "My body was too revved up, and I couldn't take it. Taking Ripped Fuel is dangerous. It gets your heart-rate going. It gets your body temperature up. It will give you a little energy, but it's not worth the risk."

"You can get paranoid, hallucinate, go into total psychosis," Gurley said. "The fact he hallucinated isn't surprising."

Butler's use, he said, was moderate compared to that of some players he has seen. The label on the Ripped Fuel bottle says to take two pills before workouts on an empty stomach twice a day, but Butler said he has seen abuses.

"I've seen guys take 8 to 12 pills a day," Butler said.

"Wow!" Gurley said when told that number. "That player can really be heading for trouble."

That player might also be hooked, Gurley said.

Like any drug, players can build up a tolerance, taking more and more to get the feeling they desire. One NFL offensive lineman who took Ripped Fuel regularly said he upped his dosage simply because he felt he was becoming immune to it.

"He's probably addicted," said Barb Michal, who founded Halt Ephedrine Abuse Today (HEAT) after the death of her son in 1997 from over-the-counter pills containing ephedrine. "It's just like other addicts. All these companies are really selling is speed."

Jaguars wide receiver Keenan McCardell wasn't addicted, but he did take Ripped Fuel during the 2000 season. He said he initially tried it as a fat-burner, although the lean McCardell isn't exactly in real need of weight loss.

He says he gave them up when he began feeling strange after taking the pills several times.

"I had a bottle of it, but I didn't like the feeling," McCardell said. "It made you a little more overanxious than you should be. Things just sped up too much. I tried it, but it got me going way too much. I didn't like the way it made me feel."

One player said his training staff has provided Ripped Fuel at times.

"You see a lot of guys who are trying to take off weight using it," said the player. "It's definitely around. Guys take the stuff."

Leigh Steinberg, an agent for many NFL players, favors a ban -- soon.

The Titans' Josh Evans says, 'Everybody takes something to keep up the stamina.'(Allsport)

"They have to do something about this," Steinberg said. "This is a dangerous issue."

Yet many in the league remain naïve about the subject. Two coaches asked about the Ripped Fuel usage on their teams said they had no idea that type of thing even existed.

Herman Edwards, coach of the Jets, said he planned to talk to his team about the supplements after being informed about the dangers. Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin was shocked when he heard some of his players were taking pills that could put their lives at risk.

"To be honest, I don't know anything about that," Coughlin said. "I certainly will talk to Mike Ryan (Jags trainer) about that. Anything that puts the players in harm's way is a concern to me."

Barber said the Tampa Bay training staff urged that any player using supplements with ephedra should stop immediately. There was, however, no talk of penalty.

"We've been informed of the risk," Barber said.

"Guys know what's up," said Titans defensive tackle Josh Evans. "But when it's stuff you can get over the counter, guys don't worry so much about it. There are no tests for it. It isn't as big as it used to be, but guys take it."

Evans said he doesn't take Ripped Fuel. But he did get suspended for a year by the NFL for taking amphetamines during the 1999 season, the third drug infraction of his career. He said he used an amphetamine that was prescribed but still was on the league's banned substance list.

Evans later told SportsLine.com that he played three playoff games and the Super Bowl that year high on amphetamines.

"Look, it's a tough sport, so everybody takes something to keep up the stamina," Evans said.

So what are the risks?

Death is a distinct possibility, as in the case of Curtis Jones, a lineman for the Arena2 League, who had ephedrine present in his system when he died recently of cardiac arrest.

The autopsy performed on Minnesota lineman Korey Stringer following his recent death did not reveal any ephedrine-based supplements in the system, but some players say his death could nonetheless be a wakeup call when it comes to the use of supplements.

"I can tell you this," said a defensive starter for one NFL team. "Guys who were taking these things won't be taking them as much now. Death can scare guys into stopping a lot of things."

The Food and Drug Administration has received 80 reports of ephedrine-linked deaths, according to a report in the New York Daily News. Gurley said that number is way too low.

"That's the tip of the iceberg," Gurley said. "There have been studies done that say that 10 percent of all the deaths related to ephedrine supplements get reported. That's because people usually don't make the connection between something natural and what happens." (... Continued ...)

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