Like nearly all major sports leagues, the NFL has gone out and instituted a stricter drug policy in recent years. To varying degrees, all of the major North American pro sports leagues have taken steps to show the public (and US Congress) that their players are not cheating the system, and are not using Performance Enhancing Drugs (or PEDs). Of course the NFL is no different and has taken their own steps.
The latest NFL/NFLPA CBA, signed in the summer of 2011 took steps to address the issue. One of the major steps was the supposed implementation of a plan to test for Human Growth Hormone (HGH). Unfortunately, ever since the agreement has been signed, the NFL and NFLPA have been bickering on how exactly to test for HGH. Now unlike most PEDs, HGH can not be detected in urine, and so blood tests are necessary. The timing and frequency of these tests has been in dispute between the league and its union, and so no HGH testing policy has ever actually been implemented.
Now while this is one problem, the league has another elephant in the room. As part of the CBA the league is only allowed to announce suspensions when a player tests positive for a drug (PED or other illegal substance) and can not release the actual drug that the player has tested positive for. This is true whether or not the player decides admit what he tested for in public.
As a result, as the number of suspensions has grown, we see player, after player, after player claiming that they have inadvertently taken a banned substance. The substance of choice is often adderall, however this weekend we saw Josh Gordon claim that codeine in his cough syrup is the reason for his two game suspension.
Now here’s the thing, the fans, and the general public are having the facts hidden from them. While we don’t want to name individual names, and while we are sure some of the players are telling the truth about using Codeine or Adderall, given the number of players caught for anabolic steroids in MMA, Olympics and Baseball, we find it hard to believe that every drug suspension in the NFL is for an innocent, mistimed, drug such as Adderall or Codeine.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not accusing Josh Gordon of lying. In fact given what we do know, and that the NFL has reduced Gordon’s suspension from the mandatory 4 games, to a mere 2 games; it is likely that Gordon is one of the NFLers who actually did accidently take an illegal substance and no malice was intended. However the problem here is that the NFL’s policy does not even allow the league to confirm this. As such the suspicion remains. Its a giant unanswered, elephant in the room that hangs over Gordon and any player who is suspended for PEDs. What exactly the person has taken, and whether they are a victim of some bad advice, or a cheater, remains unknown to football fans.
The NFL needs to do more. We as the money paying fans deserve better. Let us know what these guys have gotten caught for and the real reason we won’t see the stars on the field.
… and thats the Last Word.
