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That's a pretty big conjectural "If" and an even bigger "and," and I'm one of the ones hopin' this train comes in.A new drug testing agreement could benefit Welker, Gordon
Posted by Michael David Smith on September 4, 2014, 7:47 PM EDT
APBroncos receiver Wes Welker is suspended for the first four games of the season, and Browns receiver Josh Gordon is suspended for the entire season. Both players have already appealed, and lost.
And yet there’s a chance that both players could still see their suspensions reduced.
As Mike Florio reported on NBC, Welker, Gordon and potentially other players in the midst of suspensions could benefit from a new drug testing policy that the owners and players could agree upon soon.
The new policy that may be forthcoming has received attention primarily because it would include testing for human growth hormone, which has never before been tested in the NFL. But the policy would also have some other changes.
One change is that offseason use of amphetamines would move from the performance-enhancing substance policy to the substance-abuse policy. That would mean that Welker would switch from a first-time offender in the PED policy (which carries an automatic four-game suspension) to a first-time offender in the substance-abuse policy (which carries no suspension).
Another change is that the threshold to trigger a positive result on a marijuana test would rise. That would affect Gordon because his positive marijuana test was just barely above the NFL’s current threshold for a positive, which is significantly lower than the threshold for other organizations like the World Anti-Doping Agency.
If the NFL changes its policy and agrees to apply it retroactively to players who tested positive this year, Welker and Gordon would benefit. Which means that while the players’ union is stopping short of saying an agreement is very close, Welker and Gordon would be wise to call their union representatives and urge them to get the deal done, and get it done soon.
True... but he does have a pretty solid reputation. I'm sure if he's reporting it he has at least more than a rumor but less than a definite source that this is something that could happen. Possibly something in the range of, unlikely a deal gets done by Sunday but highly likely that if it did the suspensions would be reduced or eliminated.
Yeah, I'd be comfortable betting against this happening, but whatever gets Soulfly out of the coffin is good enough for me.
I'm sure he has three beepers and four cell phones ringing right now on his Gordon Bat Line.
Well, I also wouldn't say that it's "reporting" as much as I'd say that it's speculating. He didn't indicate that he had a source. He's just saying that such-and-such could happen.
By all means, if your last player is Nate Washington, hold Gordon until the byes start. Nothing wrong with that.
It'd be a pretty interesting case if the NFLPA agreed to let the NFL increase Ray Rice's punishment retroactively. I think Ray Rice would have a valid suit in that case, possibly against both the NFL and the NFLPA.
No. Mostly filthy jokes about each other's mothers.
I think the distinction is that the player (Rice) who saw his penalty increased would cry foul while the players who saw theirs reduced (Gordo/Welk) would rejoice.
And that seemed like the import of the original reports.
Just to be clear, he would have no case whatsoever.
