Doctors prescribed Lortab after off-season surgery to repair his damaged shoulder. He was given direction on how to use the pills but wasn't monitored closely.

"It all falls on the athlete," Tate said.

The Skyline High grad saw members of his family struggle with prescription drug abuse. He was determined that it would not happen to him. "I've learned to use it and not abuse it," he said.

Stories for years have circulated about schools having a doctor or trainer who freely dispenses painkillers — the "candy man."

Two University of Arkansas athletic trainers were placed on probation in the 1990s for keeping poor records of federally controlled painkillers. The university could account for only 332 of 10,059 doses in a 15-month period, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Local team medical staffs, though, say drugs are tightly controlled.

"Our athletes have very little access to pain medications," Powell of the U. medical team said. Tate affirms that, saying players practically have to sign their lives away to get a Tylenol.

U. team doctor Liz Joy said prescription pain medication isn't indiscriminately dispensed. Athletes with non-surgical injuries don't get narcotics, she said. Dosages for those who go under the knife are carefully measured. She doesn't issue refills for OxyContin and Percocet but does allow them for Lortab and Tylenol with codeine.

The law prohibits athletic trainers from dispensing prescription drugs, though they can give players over-the-counter pain relievers. Only licensed doctors may prescribe narcotics.

"Of course, the stuff is locked up. You might have your part contained. I won't dispute that," Amos said of team medical staffs. But there are always other sources.

Easy availability

"With athletes, one of the biggest problems is people want to be around them. All they need to do is autograph a jersey, and they can go into the doctor's office and get what they want," he said.

Medical professionals aren't so easily bought, says longtime Utah State University trainer Dale Mildenberger.

Doctors and trainers, he said, aren't going to compromise personal and medical ethics to keep players on the field or the court.

"The athlete always wants to play. The coach always wants the athlete available. Do they want them at the expense of their health and welfare? No, they don't," he said.

"It's just awful easy to blame the doctor or trainer. Those are the things of movie scripts," Mildenberger said. "There's little basis to all the myths."

Not at the University of Washington.