New NFL Drug Policy: Testing/Punishment Questions Answered
The new NFL Drug Policy will likely be released some time today. At that point it will officially address Josh Gordon‘s suspension that everyone is reporting will be for 10 games and that he will be allowed back in the facility.
Questions have been raised about why Gordon will be suspended at all if his test would not have counted as positive according to the new policy. Eric Winston, the President of the Players’ Association, was on Mike and Mike earlier this morning and gave some details to help answer that question. We don’t have exact audio but I was listening to it live to give you the basic premise that Winston explained:
- Players who tested positive before the new NFL Drug Policy is in place will still be considered positive.
- That means Wes Welker, Josh Gordon, Orlando Scandrick and others will have those positive tests still on their records.
- Those players will be disciplined under the new rules of the NFL Drug Policy.
- That means Welker, Scandrick and others, while still considered positive, won’t be suspended because the new policy calls for them not to be.
- It means Gordon will be suspended based on his positive test but only at the level the new NFL Drug Policy calls for.
While many will still not be satisfied it is nice to know the NFLPA didn’t give special treatment to anyone, instead looked to be as fair as possible. The players technically did violate the policy by testing positive when they did. While that would be different moving forward, the NFLPA is okay with them being held accountable.
Yet the Players’ Association recognized that the negotiations with the NFL delayed the new policy going into place. The players violated the old policy but are punished under the new policy. Since most/all of the suspended players tested before the new league year, they all could technically be suspended based on the old policy. This process seems a win-win to some extent.
What do you think of the way the NFLPA and the NFL made this decision?