Manley Out After Third Drug Strike : Football: Redskin defensive lineman banned from NFL in Tagliabue’s first major action as commissioner.

WASHINGTON —  Dexter Manley of the Washington Redskins on Saturday became the third player suspended for life under the National Football League’s drug abuse policy.

His attorney, Bob Woolf, said Manley will take about a week before deciding how to respond to the ruling, which automatically bars three-time offenders.

Woolf said Manley’s options include challenging the decision in court or waiting one year to apply for reinstatement, a provision of the league’s policy.

“He needs some time to consider all of the ramifications of this ruling,” Woolf said. “This is something new to all of us, and he needs a week to consider any possible remedies.”

Because the NFL’s player union has asked to be decertified, Manley apparently has no recourse through grievance procedures, although the NFL Players Assn. could not immediately be reached for comment.

“He could bring a court action questioning the authority of the commissioner or the policy itself,” Woolf said. “It’s a unilateral policy that was never collectively bargained with the players’ association.

“Dexter feels there are grave doubts in many areas. . . . There were several questions raised that he feels uncomfortable about.”

Manley, a defensive end, will not address the media on the issue until he has time to absorb it all, Woolf said, because “he’s very upset.”

So were many of his teammates and Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs.

“Everybody here at Redskins Park feels the same,” Gibbs said Saturday. “Hopefully, he can get himself squared away. The most important thing right now is his life and his family. I will do anything personally that he wants me to because I, like everyone, am worried about Dexter.”

Manley, 30, a starter for the Redskins since his rookie year of 1981, tested positive for cocaine a few days after the Redskins played the Raiders on Oct. 29, although the results were not made available to the NFL until Thursday.

Manley and Woolf met with Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and league counsel Jay Moyer for about 1 1/2 hours Friday, and Tagliabue deferred his decision until Saturday.

Tagliabue, faced with his first major action since taking over for Pete Rozelle this month, announced the suspension in a statement from the league office in New York that also set forth conditions of a possible reinstatement.

“The Commissioner’s decision on reinstatement will be conditioned on several factors, including total avoidance of further drug involvement and any other conduct detrimental to the integrity of professional football or to public confidence in it,” the statement read.