FanHouse BjRaji

Three weeks after it reported that former Boston College defensive tackle BJ Raji had failed a drug test -- and two weeks after serious doubt was cast on the report -- Sports Illustrated has finally issued a correction.

David Cornwell, a lawyer who has represented several NFL players and was a finalist for the job as head of the players' union, is urging the NFL to withhold credentials from the Sports Illustrated web site over its reporting on confidential drug test results.

Eight days after Sports Illustrated reported that NFL draft prospect B.J. Raji had failed a drug test, the magazine says it has removed the story from its web site while it continues to investigate.

The story, which is still available via the Google cache, said that Raji, a former Boston College defensive tackle, "had a positive drug test" at the league's scouting combine in February. The information was attributed to unnamed "NFL team sources." Raji's agent disputed the report, and Sports Illustrated removed the story from its web site.

Last week, Sports Illustrated reported on its web site that B.J. Raji, a former Boston College defensive lineman who is expected to be a first-round NFL draft pick, had failed a drug test at the NFL's scouting combine. Raji and his agents said that report is false, and now the report no longer appears on Sports Illustrated's web site.

But if the editors at Sports Illustrated think the story will end there, then they're stunningly ignorant of the way the media works. A report that an athlete tested positive for drugs lives forever. Just because the URL where Sports Illustrated posted the story has gone dead (the story used to be located at this URL) doesn't mean people can't read the story, and it doesn't erase the fact that several newspapers picked up the SI report. How on earth can Sports Illustrated simply pull the story from its web site and think all will be forgotten?

Former Boston College defensive lineman B.J. Raji has been one of the more rapid risers up NFL draft boards in recent weeks. But you know the old saying about what goes up ...

According to a report published on SI.com, Raji failed a drug test at last month's scouting combine. The report did not name which drug Raji reportedly tested positive for. Raji went sixth to the Bengals in the latest FanHouse mock draft, but his stock is now in danger of dramatically tumbling, as this is not the first red flag in his career.

A recent trend in the NFL is teams picking first overall in the draft signing their pick before the actual draft day. Most recently, the Texans did it with Mario Williams, then the Dolphins with Jake Long.

It's a move that makes sense, since you don't want to be stuck watching your top draft pick holding out. That's pretty embarrassing for an organization. Apparently, even the Detroit Lions are smart enough to avoid such embarrassment.