Pro Bowl week marked the first time Goodell had a chance to sit down and talk with Merriman, the second-year Chargers linebacker who was suspended for four games in November after violating the league's steroid policy. Merriman tested positive for nandrolone and insisted the positive test resulted from a tainted nutritional supplement. But he said during Pro Bowl week he's in favor of the new rule Goodell and players union chief Gene Upshaw are expected to implement, banning players from eligibility for the Pro Bowl and postseason awards during seasons in which they are suspended for drug violations.

"He's a very straight-up guy, and he recognizes the issue and he's supportive of what we're going to do," Goodell says of Merriman. "He wants to be very active in making sure other people don't make the same mistake. I was very impressed with him."

Calvin Johnson could be this year's Reggie Bush— a dynamic game-breaker who could immediately elevate the championship viability of the team that drafts him.

Johnson will be considered for the top overall pick of the 2007 draft, as Bush was last year, especially if Johnson does what performance coach Tom Shaw expects when he takes part in the drills at this week's scouting combine.

Johnson is among six possible first-rounders working at Orlando-based Tom Shaw Performance Enhancement, which helped prepare Deion Sanders, Michael Vick, Tom Brady and Devin Hester for the combine.

Though the pre-combine buzz has the Raiders taking LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell first overall, no draft board is locked at this point.

In Shaw's mind, Johnson has Randy Moss' athleticism fused with Marvin Harrison's work ethic and character. "He's Peyton Manning at wide receiver," Shaw says. "He's a sure thing.

The NFL recently announced plans to broaden testing for steroids.