The Cleveland Browns were one of the first teams to implement a plan to treat players for drug and alcohol addiction, creating a program known informally as the Inner Circle, though the path to 2019 has had some missteps along the way.
Circa 1980, when Sam Rutigliano became coach of the Browns, the rehabilitation plan was basically the coach or GM cussing out the troubled player, threatening him with being cut from the team and issuing ultimatums. Needless to say, the “get tough” attitude might make management feel better, but it hardly ever worked.
Rutigliano was motivated to create a better approach because one of his players confessed that he was contemplating suicide as a means of dealing with his addiction problem.