Benched Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman said he has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and that he voluntarily entered the NFL substance abuse program more than a year ago after mistakenly taking a medication to treat the condition.

Freeman said in a statement released on Monday by his agent that he has passed all 46 drug tests he's taken for the league since once using Ritalin instead of Adderall to treat ADHD.

The fifth-year pro was benched last Wednesday after the Bucs got off to an 0-3 start that included a pair of losses on last-second field goals.

Freeman said he has been "prescribed and permitted to take medication" to treat ADHD for the entirety of his NFL career.

"Let me be very clear: I have never tested positive for any illegal drugs or related substances," the 2009 first-round draft pick said in the statement released by agent Erik Burkhardt.

The testing has been conducted at the Buccaneers training facility, and Freeman believes someone there leaked information about it.

"Since the confidentiality of my medical status has been publicly violated, I am choosing to address this matter so that grossly erroneous assumptions about me do not persist," the quarterback said.

"Like millions of Americans, I have ADHD and I have been prescribed and permitted to take medication to treat this condition for the entirety of my NFL career.

"Well over a year ago, I took a different medication for the same condition (Ritalin rather than Adderall), and to assure everyone that the error was a one-time mistake, I agreed to be voluntarily tested.'"

- Associated Press

(China Daily 10/02/2013 page12)